Brightpearl by Sage vs. Exact Online

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Brightpearl
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Brightpearl’s retail operations platform is designed to handle peak trading, integrates with the full retail tech ecosystem, and is omni-channel native. Additionally, the vendor says their solution is the system of record for key trading data, provides real-time trading insights and is automated so users can stay in control and manage by exception. According to the vendor key differentiators include: Software and Service. Service is an integral part of Brightpearl's offer. The…N/A
Exact Online
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Exact Online is a configurable, cloud-based multi-purpose Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Suite from global company Exact Software, headquartered in the Netherlands.N/A
Pricing
Brightpearl by SageExact Online
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BrightpearlExact Online
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional DetailsBrightpearl is for merchants trading $1M or above, or those that expect to be in the next 12 months. Pricing is designed to suit the needs of fast-growth and larger merchants.—
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Brightpearl by SageExact Online
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Brightpearl by SageExact Online
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Brightpearl by Sage
-
Ratings
Exact Online
7.5
1 Ratings
1% below category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Plug-ins00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Brightpearl by Sage
-
Ratings
Exact Online
8.0
1 Ratings
2% below category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Brightpearl by Sage
-
Ratings
Exact Online
4.7
1 Ratings
42% below category average
Dashboards00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Brightpearl by Sage
-
Ratings
Exact Online
6.9
1 Ratings
11% below category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Brightpearl by Sage
-
Ratings
Exact Online
7.0
1 Ratings
12% below category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Brightpearl by Sage
-
Ratings
Exact Online
6.7
1 Ratings
16% below category average
Pricing00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Subledger and Financial Process
Comparison of Subledger and Financial Process features of Product A and Product B
Brightpearl by Sage
-
Ratings
Exact Online
6.7
1 Ratings
11% below category average
Billing Management00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Cash and Asset Management00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Period Close00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Project Financial Management
Comparison of Project Financial Management features of Product A and Product B
Brightpearl by Sage
-
Ratings
Exact Online
6.7
1 Ratings
13% below category average
Budgeting and Forecasting00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Project Costing00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Cost Capture00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Capital Project Management00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Customer Contract Compliance00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Project Revenue Recognition00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Brightpearl by SageExact Online
Small Businesses
Lightspeed Retail
Lightspeed Retail
Score 6.3 out of 10
Acumatica
Acumatica
Score 8.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Epicor Eagle
Epicor Eagle
Score 8.6 out of 10
Infor VISUAL
Infor VISUAL
Score 7.4 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

SAP Business ByDesign
SAP Business ByDesign
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Brightpearl by SageExact Online
Likelihood to Recommend
9.9
(158 ratings)
4.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.2
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
4.7
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.1
(135 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
1.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.5
(104 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
6.9
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Brightpearl by SageExact Online
Likelihood to Recommend
Brightpearl by Sage
Brightpearl is very well suited for small-medium companies that are growing quickly and need a way to improve their operational systems and functionality to handle increasing volume of orders. Particularly if you use multiple SKUs, sales channels, and/or warehouses, the features offered by Brightpearl are excellently well suited to handle these types of needs. I don't believe Brightpearl would be very applicable for very small companies with a small number of SKUs, as many of the features offered would be unnecessary and underutilized.
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Exact Software
If you are a big company and have an active accountant then this system can be for you, it has many options but you need dedication. But the price starts from €39 and then you are not there...Most of the time you need other options to make it complete. Like ERP functions + €199~ want to book hours? +€129. And this is all per month... It goes up so fast that it's not interesting for small companies. When there are better options on the market that are even free...
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Pros
Brightpearl by Sage
  • Brightpearl tracks order changes and communications very well. It documents all activity in a feed that anyone can see, including status changes, notes made, emails sent, etc.
  • Brightpearl makes it incredibly easy to find orders fitting certain criteria through the use of statuses that you can customize. For example, as a multichannel seller, we can easily create statuses for each channel that we sell from, where our orders will (oftentimes automatically) land in. We also deal often with things like back ordered items; we can also create statuses for certain brands, so that when we expect a shipment in from that company, our back order specialist can easily sort through her orders that are waiting on that shipment.
  • Brightpearl makes it easy to take orders over the phone. Everything I need is right there on one screen; not often do I find myself needing to deviate to other tabs. The steps I take (from "new order" to finish) are straightforward and understandable, and go in steps that make sense.
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Exact Software
  • Complete pack with many options, use it as CRM, ERP or simply for your bookings.
  • Many connections with external programs, webshops, etc.
  • Automatic backups.
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Cons
Brightpearl by Sage
  • Supports only a small number of marketplaces and in a limited way only. When I signed up with Brightpearl they claimed that you could list directly onto eBay from within Brightpearl but this turned out to be untrue as Brightpearl did not support eBay postage policies (eBay's semi literate way of saying shipping tables).
  • Not only can you not list directly onto eBay, you cannot list directly from within Brightpearl to any marketplaces whatsoever. With other software you can list directly to all the marketplaces they integrate with.
  • Brightpearl is abysmal at VAT. Brightpearl calculates VAT on Channel Islands and Canary Islands orders even though there is no Vat in either of them. So when you pay HMRC you will be paying them a bit extra unless you check all your orders which makes the software somewhat redundant.
  • When I signed up they advertised Brightpearl as the software to automate your online selling. But it didn't really do that. A couple of years later at considerable extra cost they released an add-on app called Brightpearl Automation that does seem to deliver on automation. However other software offers that at no extra cost.
  • Brightpearl claims that it integrates with Amazon, but this is only partially true as they have completely ignored the new marketplaces that Amazon have opened. If you list on those marketplaces you have to input the orders manually and Brightpearl will not update the stock, putting you at risk of negative feedback. Other software integrates fully with all Amazon marketplaces.
  • Now that I am leaving it was suggested that I might benefit from read-only access so that we could easily double check things like warranty claims. They offered me a year's read-only access for £10,080 which is more than double my yearly contract for full use of the software. Now, if that isn't taking the mickey, I don't know what is!!!
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Exact Software
  • Support... It's bad, and when you want to stop or step back it's near impossible.
  • Price, they tend to increase it without warning, and with all the extras it goes up fast.
  • If you wanna spend all your time in accounting buy Exact... It can be complex and many handlings needs to be done.
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Likelihood to Renew
Brightpearl by Sage
Brightpearl has proved to work out for our company and we have no need or intention to let it go. Rather we intend to build on what we've accomplished and it will no doubt help us scale our business and meet our ambitions.
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Exact Software
No answers on this topic
Usability
Brightpearl by Sage
Brightpearl can be a little confusing to begin with, there are a lot of options to look through and working out the intricacies takes some time depending on what you would like to be able to do on it and what your account is set up to do. It is however very thorough and once you can work your way around it most of the functions are fairly simple to use and very detailed.
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Exact Software
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Brightpearl by Sage
Brightpearl is always easily accessibly anywhere that you can find an internet source. I have checked our stock levels when we have been off site at Ham Rally's at home and on my way home or to work if needs be. That is probably one of the best features of this system.
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Exact Software
No answers on this topic
Performance
Brightpearl by Sage
Brightpearl performs very well and integrates very well with our Metapak packing and despatch system. IT also intergrates very well with Amazon and we have used Ebay although there have been complications with Ebay and stock levels. We use Ebay mostly for second hand items of which we only have one so have skipped using Brighpearl for these products.
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Exact Software
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Brightpearl by Sage
Brightpearl was ALWAYS great at responding to us. Their customer service was quick and responsive. Unfortunately, the responses were often that "engineers were working on it" but nothing seemed to ever come of that. I realize that Brightpearl is a large company that a lot of businesses rely on. But when you can't hit "enter" when trying to search in the front-end POS, that type of behavior should be changed very quickly and it never was. Admittedly, small things, but those annoyances tend to ultimately affect the overall experience.
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Exact Software
No answers on this topic
In-Person Training
Brightpearl by Sage
No in house training was given.
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Exact Software
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Brightpearl by Sage
The online training was very helpful in the areas we were shown and was implemented very well via a Skype call and an presentation done via the internet. However it was not thorough enough for all of our needs in certain areas. More training in person on site would have been very helpful.
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Exact Software
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Brightpearl by Sage
Implementation was generally perfect, but if you are coming across from Sage I personally would recommend doing this as baby steps.
We tried to import our entire Sage history in one batch and that was a bad idea hence the 9/10. That was mainly our fault and nothing on Brightpearl.
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Exact Software
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Brightpearl by Sage
Initially we went with Brightpearl because it was an all in one solution. Salesforce CRM capabilities right out of the box far surpass Brightpearl's, but there's no inventory or accounting system pre-built in. We are currently moving away from Brightpearl for both CRM and accounting functions however.
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Exact Software
I would not select Exact Online, but I can direct you to better options. Due to the high price, getting behind the competition and support I would suggest options like Zoho Books for you bookings, or CyberStockroom as ERP. And here in the Netherlands e-boekhouden.nl is a real nice, cheap, and fast working booking platform for the smaller companies.
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Scalability
Brightpearl by Sage
Brightpearl's ability to increase or expand its capacity and retain its performance levels to accommodate growth were acceptable but not fantastic. The program was constantly making changes which can be useful, but was also confusing & hard to keep up with since we were never updated that changes were about to be made or had been made.
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Exact Software
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Brightpearl by Sage
  • It's really difficult to say. While everything is now in one place, we've spent a ton of time with support and figuring things out on our own.
  • We've also had to spend a ton of money with our CPAs fixing our financials every month.
  • However, the sales piece has streamlined our process for shipping orders out in a timely basis.
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Exact Software
  • Negative: High costs and implement time turned 1 client in to the negative, and after 2 years of use wants to stop.
  • Positive: Once an ERP connection is running you can automate a lot in the process.
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ScreenShots

Brightpearl Screenshots

Screenshot of Customer timeline giving you insight into pending orders, previous purchases and potential marketing opportunitiesScreenshot of Deep insight in your customers, product and sales channel through Brightpearl's Minubo integrationScreenshot of Fully integrated POS for access to all product inventory information at the tillScreenshot of Managing suppliers and purchasing inventory is quick and easy, says the vendorScreenshot of Provide top-notch service by having access to your customers’ full interaction history and personalize your marketing communication with product-interest tagging.Screenshot of Brightpearl’s flexible inventory management has all of the features you need to stay in control of your inventory and make fast, effective business decisions. Redistribute your staff towards growth strategies and reduce the time spent on costly admin overheads.