BQE CORE vs. Pipeline CRM

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BQE CORE
Score 8.5 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
BQE CORE is a business management solution built specifically for professional service firms. BQE CORE is a combination of a billing assistant, project management, and accounting solution. CORE is designed to do the hard work of delivering actionable insights directly to the user's dashboards or inbox. BQE CORE replaces the products Engineeroffice, Archioffice, and BillQuick; the functionality of these applications is now found in BQE CORE.N/A
Pipeline CRM
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Founded in 2006, Pipeline CRM (formerly PipelineDeals) is a CRM for small and midsize businesses, empowering sales teams across a breadth of industries to build game changing relationships. Pipeline is built around a customizable user experience, sales focused features, and customer support and service. The vendor, headquartered in Seattle, boasts 18,000 users in 60 countries who use Pipeline to gain visibility into their sales, accelerate opportunities, and close more deals.
$29
per month
Pricing
BQE COREPipeline CRM
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Start
$300
per year per user
Develop
$396
per year per user
Develop
$588
per year per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BQE COREPipeline CRM
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BQE COREPipeline CRM
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
BQE COREPipeline CRM
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
8.1
55 Ratings
8% above category average
Pipeline CRM
-
Ratings
Task Management8.537 Ratings00 Ratings
Resource Management9.138 Ratings00 Ratings
Gantt Charts6.716 Ratings00 Ratings
Scheduling8.226 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow Automation7.627 Ratings00 Ratings
Team Collaboration8.031 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology8.712 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology8.312 Ratings00 Ratings
Document Management7.230 Ratings00 Ratings
Email integration7.225 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Access8.532 Ratings00 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking9.355 Ratings00 Ratings
Change request and Case Management8.521 Ratings00 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management7.343 Ratings00 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
8.4
38 Ratings
13% above category average
Pipeline CRM
-
Ratings
Quotes/estimates7.820 Ratings00 Ratings
Invoicing8.833 Ratings00 Ratings
Project & financial reporting8.737 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with accounting software8.424 Ratings00 Ratings
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Pipeline CRM
6.9
5 Ratings
11% below category average
Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Workflow management00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Territory management00 Ratings7.04 Ratings
Opportunity management00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings4.05 Ratings
Contract management00 Ratings5.05 Ratings
Quote & order management00 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Interaction tracking00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings7.04 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Pipeline CRM
7.8
3 Ratings
4% above category average
Case management00 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Call center management00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
Help desk management00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Pipeline CRM
5.0
4 Ratings
41% below category average
Lead management00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
Email marketing00 Ratings2.02 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Pipeline CRM
4.5
5 Ratings
51% below category average
Task management00 Ratings3.04 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings5.53 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings5.03 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Pipeline CRM
6.7
5 Ratings
13% below category average
Forecasting00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Pipeline visualization00 Ratings5.05 Ratings
Customizable reports00 Ratings7.05 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Pipeline CRM
9.5
5 Ratings
23% above category average
Custom fields00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Custom objects00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Scripting environment00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
API for custom integration00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Pipeline CRM
6.0
3 Ratings
32% below category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Social CRM
Comparison of Social CRM features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Pipeline CRM
8.1
2 Ratings
11% above category average
Social data00 Ratings8.12 Ratings
Social engagement00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Pipeline CRM
4.6
3 Ratings
44% below category average
Marketing automation00 Ratings2.03 Ratings
Compensation management00 Ratings7.31 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Pipeline CRM
8.0
5 Ratings
6% above category average
Mobile access00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BQE COREPipeline CRM
Small Businesses
FunctionFox
FunctionFox
Score 8.3 out of 10
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SAP Ruum
SAP Ruum
Score 9.0 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BQE COREPipeline CRM
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(148 ratings)
7.0
(6 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.2
(8 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.1
(100 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(90 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
2.9
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
4.5
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BQE COREPipeline CRM
Likelihood to Recommend
BQE Software Inc.
BQE CORE is well suited for a firm trying to get a better understanding of their project performance as a whole as well as better manage time and project resources. It is not the greatest for client management through a project or through invoicing, but it is do-able within the system.
Read full review
PipelineDeals
If you have a small business where you are trying to keep things simple, then PipelineDeals is a perfect fit. Once you get to where you are wanting to tie your marketing efforts and create marketing campaigns that are tied to leads, it starts to miss the mark
Read full review
Pros
BQE Software Inc.
  • Invoice Collections within Billing is a great tool because of the ability to take notes and track contact.
  • Invoices are professional looking and easy for our clients to understand the overall progress within each phase of their project.
  • Dashboards are the best tool EVER!
  • The Contact List feature within Clients setup is the perfect way to track multiple project managers within a large company that also has multiple contracts with us.
Read full review
PipelineDeals
  • Flexibility: It provides the flexibility to set it up how you want to use it. Customization is beyond what you probably want or need.
  • Reporting: We were able to setup all types of reporting and tracking.
  • Ease of Use: While the platform was powerful, it was always easy to use.
Read full review
Cons
BQE Software Inc.
  • Customizable Reporting
  • Linking Project to Payment all together
  • Assigning contacts to particular roles - such as Invoicing, Contracts, etc.
  • Accounting Functionality - they are basically a project management accounting software, so in my opinion, they could learn some things from other accounting software such as QuickBooks etc.
Read full review
PipelineDeals
  • I wouldn't say no areas for improvement exist, but I will say that PipelineDeals takes customer input, shared product roadmap, and supports what they have very nicely. What they provide works out-of-the-box. Improvements can always be made with respect to pre-packaged integration with 3rd party services/solutions, and with extended attributes, but you also want to avoid something that attempts to boil the ocean.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
BQE Software Inc.
We have been using Core for a few years now, and honestly started to look at other software systems to see what was out there. What we chose was a nightmare for migration so we never left Core. Now we have added invoicing and payments from Core instead of double entry with QBO. Still only a few cycles in but looks like it will be up to speed soon and working smoothly.
Read full review
PipelineDeals
If we can integrate and easily export and clean all of our data such that it can be used for multiple purposes, i.e. outreach to guests, sending out newsletters to subscribers, doing research and tracking progress, we will definitely renew
Read full review
Usability
BQE Software Inc.
The foundation is awesome, like I have said before, however the house being built on it, the educational resources being provided to us (more of sales pitches that don't work), and flexible workflow opportunities, is making us look elsewhere for how much we will be spending on per user. It's crazy to think how flexible they are not when it comes to user settings. Lack of integration with other sources is awful.
Read full review
PipelineDeals
The user interface is simple and easy to navigate. Anyone who is overwhelmed with some of the more complicated CRM systems will definitely enjoy the simplicity of what PipelineDeals has to offer
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
BQE Software Inc.
I can only remember a couple of times in 4 years that Core has been unavailable.
Read full review
PipelineDeals
No answers on this topic
Performance
BQE Software Inc.
This is one area that does need some improvement. It can be slow at time, so we had our IT look at it from our side and we had no issues, so it has to be some slowness on their side.
Read full review
PipelineDeals
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
BQE Software Inc.
As a new employee and CORE user, I talk to support on a weekly basis. I have never had to wait for more than 3 min to get connect with a support rep, and all my questions have been answered. The support representatives are polite and eager to help no matter how simple your question is.
Read full review
PipelineDeals
Any time I have had questions or issues that have come up I've always been able to get a quick response and a resolution to what I was needing.
Read full review
Online Training
BQE Software Inc.
Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
Read full review
PipelineDeals
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
BQE Software Inc.
It does take some time to understand the options and to find the best invoice template.
Read full review
PipelineDeals
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
BQE Software Inc.
Deltek Vision is far more advanced, more encompassing and offers more flexibility with what you want to do. However, it's also quite difficult to use, whereas BQE CORE is intuitive and user friendly. The trade off is worth it in some arenas but overall it's not suited for a larger fast paced company. Great for smaller companies.
Read full review
PipelineDeals
The cost is much better and it is much easier to use. Salesforce was way too robust and I never want to hire a consultant to set up a CRM. PipelineDeals CRM has the best visibility of our sales efforts.
Read full review
Scalability
BQE Software Inc.
This software works on a small and large scale.
Read full review
PipelineDeals
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
BQE Software Inc.
  • Quick setup of new tasks under a parent project, with immediate hourly billing to it.
  • Monitoring of details of non-chargeable efforts in appropriate detail
  • Validation of hourly cost, billing cost, benefit cost, profitability by person and role
  • Company tracking of write-off's included in corporate and project reporting, no data is "lost"
  • Can track excessive work time as +PTO in lieu of pay for use as future vacation
Read full review
PipelineDeals
  • Has made us understand sales tactics that are working
  • Easily create forecasting on growth in multiple categories
  • Understand our process and what we need to improve on in closing deals
Read full review
ScreenShots

BQE CORE Screenshots

Screenshot of Core powered by BQE SoftwareScreenshot of BQE CORE Project Dashboard ViewScreenshot of BQE CORE 360* Firm Performance ViewScreenshot of BQE CORE Reporting & AnalyticsScreenshot of BQE CORE Project Time EntryScreenshot of BQE CORE Project Expense Tracking