ActiveCollab vs. Meta4 PeopleNet

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ActiveCollab
Score 4.4 out of 10
N/A
Active Collab is a project management solution built around features such as task management, collaboration, time tracking, and invoicing.
$8
per member/per month
Meta4 PeopleNet
Score 7.0 out of 10
N/A
Meta4 PeopleNet is an all-in-one integrated HR Solution providing Core HR with personnel administration, total talent management, compensation management with payroll, as well as workforce management (time and attendance, analytics). Meta4 is a Cegid company (acquired late 2019).N/A
Pricing
ActiveCollabMeta4 PeopleNet
Editions & Modules
ActiveCollab Project Management
$8
per member/per month
Self-Hosted Plan
$999.00
license
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActiveCollabMeta4 PeopleNet
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup Fee$6.25 per member, per month, annual billingNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Features
ActiveCollabMeta4 PeopleNet
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
3.7
13 Ratings
68% below category average
Meta4 PeopleNet
-
Ratings
Task Management5.912 Ratings00 Ratings
Resource Management1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Gantt Charts3.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Scheduling1.011 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow Automation7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Team Collaboration6.513 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology7.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Document Management3.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Email integration4.09 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Access1.510 Ratings00 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking2.09 Ratings00 Ratings
Change request and Case Management1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management2.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
5.7
8 Ratings
26% below category average
Meta4 PeopleNet
-
Ratings
Quotes/estimates6.97 Ratings00 Ratings
Invoicing6.96 Ratings00 Ratings
Project & financial reporting1.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with accounting software7.94 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
-
Ratings
Meta4 PeopleNet
7.0
2 Ratings
11% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
-
Ratings
Meta4 PeopleNet
6.2
1 Ratings
26% below category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
-
Ratings
Meta4 PeopleNet
6.3
1 Ratings
25% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
-
Ratings
Meta4 PeopleNet
7.2
2 Ratings
12% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
-
Ratings
Meta4 PeopleNet
7.0
2 Ratings
8% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
-
Ratings
Meta4 PeopleNet
9.0
1 Ratings
12% above category average
New hire portal00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
-
Ratings
Meta4 PeopleNet
9.0
2 Ratings
10% above category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
-
Ratings
Meta4 PeopleNet
9.0
2 Ratings
13% above category average
Performance plans00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
-
Ratings
Meta4 PeopleNet
9.0
1 Ratings
13% above category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
-
Ratings
Meta4 PeopleNet
9.0
2 Ratings
15% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ActiveCollabMeta4 PeopleNet
Small Businesses
Stackby
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Score 9.8 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SAP Ruum
SAP Ruum
Score 9.0 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
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User Ratings
ActiveCollabMeta4 PeopleNet
Likelihood to Recommend
3.7
(13 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
7.1
(3 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
ActiveCollabMeta4 PeopleNet
Likelihood to Recommend
ActiveCollab
Scenarios where ActiveCollab works well 1) ActiveCollab works well for small teams specifically T&M teams.Its invoicing feature is unique & can make your life easy. 2) It is very easy to use & posses good range of filters like on the task list, we can drag/drop tasks, Filter by assignee's,
tasks lists, due dates, or completed tasks. 3) It has some simple but awesome features like when you're in
the middle of writing something i.e a comment on story and get interrupted,
it retains what you wrote. 4) It allows you to tag team members in threads of comments to grab their attention, its really needed when teams are distributed. Thus helping team members to collaborate easily & stay on same page. 5) It integrates pretty well with other web apps like quickbooks , Slack, Trello, HubSpot, Zapier etc Scenarios where ActiveCollab did not work well 1) Tasks can not have multiple assignee's here so if two members are working on same task it did not allow you to reflect that. 2) Sorting capability is not their under invoicing 3) It did not work well for larger teams 4) Search option is not very detailed & you may end up wasting lot of time searching one particular bug or issue.












Read full review
Cegid
Meta4 PeopleNet Core HR is a very powerful HR tool with abundant features that could fulfill pretty much all the HR needs of a small to medium sized organization. It might be an overkill for very small businesses with less than 20 employees as its really geared towards larger organizations. It offers powerful tools to performance reviews as well as employee HR management tasks. One interesting feature is the ability for employees to perform self administrative tasks through the software which allows some automation of tasks. On the other hand, the program can be so feature rich that require an advanced user with data analytic skills to fully utility. Companies that use the software will need to have at least one manager procure training before utilizing its full range of features.
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Pros
ActiveCollab
  • Great for project and task assignments, project workflow and communications.
  • Solid web-based platform that doesn't require software downloads, also includes great mobile platform.
  • Great reporting tools for managing billing, estimating, project workflow and other essential project details.
  • Allows for both the agency and its clients to interact on a single platform using role-specific permissions.
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Cegid
  • Clean and easy navigation: it is very user-friendly and compared to other solutions I have utilized, there is a clear difference on how information is displayed and also ease of navigation and speed of response of the platform.
  • All modules are really integrated and it is so much power when there is a correlation between say the data displayed in Talent Management and the info seen on the C&B module for example from a performance and compensation perspective, visualizing info and being able to analyze it easier for decision making.
  • Customizable, in our case, we use the solution and enjoy the multiple benefits and efficiencies due to how data is organized and presented and the same time we have the advantage that the user interface is all customized to our own corporate brand/look and feel, color palette and graphical line.
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Cons
ActiveCollab
  • It isn't possible to set members of staff as part time, so if someone is unavailable on certain days you must manually enter them as OOO every single day that they are not in, that other teammates work. Hours also can't be edited individually - everyone is treated as working the same hours in a day, rendering capacity planner useless for flexi working teams
  • Subtasks cannot be assigned their own hours and deadlines, meaning the To Do list view can't be seen in actual date order and capacity planner does not reflect all time allocated to an individual's schedule unless every task is set up as a separate task rather than subtask
  • There is no way to see all tasks of a certain type across multiple campaigns (e.g all copywriting tasks vs all technical tasks) - support team suggested exporting data and making spreadsheets
  • Kanban view isn't available for people's own task lists ('board' view here shows a list)
  • Not possible to have one task be assigned to more than one person
  • Notifications are not sent when tasks are updated, so you have to leave comments and tag people each time
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Cegid
  • Meta4 PeopleNet Core HR can be a bit overwhelming for light users with limited experience.
  • The performance review features are extensive and require a highly skilled manager that work with data analytics
  • The program is not quite as strong in its recruitment features as other software offerings.
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Support Rating
ActiveCollab
We have not required support for ActiveCollab as it works pretty seamlessly. We didn't have any issues with using the platform or with any billing issues. The self-service aspect of the platform is robust and easy to navigate so we have not encountered any errors that required assistance from the support team.
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Cegid
It is excellent support so far, during implementation and also while live, the only reason why I am giving a 9 is because in some cases we could have had a quicker response or solution, but so far this doesn't look like an issue at all, and the vendor has been making sure we have what we need.
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Alternatives Considered
ActiveCollab
ActiveCollab is easier to use and simpler in its setup. It has the right mix of features and simplicity. It's also project-oriented which is important for our workflow. Other tools are often too task-oriented, making it hard to track projects. Overall, ActiveCollab has a great mix of simplicity with good features.
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Cegid
Meta4 PeopleNet Core HR really shines as a flexible product capable of evolving with an organization's changing needs. Its robust features, cloud based architecture, and performance analysis help push the product ahead of some of its competitors. While not perfect, the software offers in-depth performance review functions and data analysis tools that show performance trends. With its self administrative tools, employees can help manage their own information, reducing workload for HR managers
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Return on Investment
ActiveCollab
  • Allows our team to stay organized and keep conversations on tasks.
  • The To-Do List email every morning helps me mentally prepare and know exactly what I should be doing as soon as I start work.
  • Powerful and useful integrations save lots of time (Google Drive, Slack, Dropbox, Zapier and more!).
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Cegid
  • We now have a tool which is a single solution and connects our employee information for 5 countries and 30K + employees, a single source, talk about efficiency.
  • This is a big step in Digital Transformation, reducing times to complete several processes and also the use of paper forms.
  • Definitely, savings related to the number of solutions software wise that is now integrated and scalable with meta4 PeopleNet Talent Management.
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ScreenShots

ActiveCollab Screenshots

Screenshot of the dashboard with an overview of projects.Screenshot of multiple task views currently showing a Kanban view of the tasklists and tasks.Screenshot of Overview of all recent activity.Screenshot of Calendar view with task dependencies.Screenshot of Permission settings (owner, member, client, client+).Screenshot of List of available Add-ons.