Buildertrend vs. Gatekeeper vs. Knowify

Buildertrend was made for a specific industry (building) and so I would recommend it to anyone in that industry, with the exception of Sales and Marketing. But for everything else from the financing to the permitting to the construction and all else, Buildertrend is exactly what our team has used and will ALWAYS use. Even with our decision to use other systems for Sales and Marketing, we have never given one thought to taking Buildertrend out of our process. We will always be with Buildertrend.

Incentivized

One of the things I appreciate about Gatekeeper, is that all of the documents are housed in one place. I no longer have to chase department people down for contracts. Having all the terms of the contracts entered into the system helps with keeping track of each of the contracts, and having the ability to monitor them in one place. Coming from a place where there was no system in place, it was a given that auto-renewals would happen regularly. Our Accounting Dept. has also benefited greatly using Gatekeeper. Before, they would have to rely on other departments to get the contracts and terms, which would create a backlog for them, especially if they didn't get it in time before the invoices from the vendors started to come in. Gatekeeper isn't a tool that is specific to one team/department, Gatekeeper can assist everyone that needs to access contract terms/information

Incentivized

This is great if only used for job costing.

Incentivized

• Manages in one place - crucial for organization.
• Professional, across the board it provides companies with a seamlessly organized and flawless presentation - to subs/vendors/owners/etc.
• Time Saver - you don't have to dig around through files/create templates/flip through your contact binder - it's all there.
• Practical tools- designed for contractors. You get what you need - period.

Incentivized

• Customer service/support, they're always responsive and eager to jump on calls whenever we need their support. They've never once treated us as "paid invoice" and moved on. They build relationships there at Gatekeeper.
• They're innovative, improving on their product, when it is already a fantastic resource tool.
• They have the ability to customize features to fit your needs, that was one feature important to us.

Incentivized

• Job costing.
• Job tracking.
• Progressive invoicing.

Incentivized

• Onsite consultants. There is a demand for this service that is great enough to allow outside BuilderTrend Super-Users like me to partner with BuilderTrend and make this a reality.
• As their company grows, their support needs to grow as well.
• Provide incentives for Super Users that are helping BuilderTrend acquire new business. Advocates should be their best friend.

Incentivized

• This might be more of a personal thing to me, rather than an issue for anyone else, but when I'm working on a specific vendor, with multiple contracts, I have to click the back arrow to get back out to the other contracts within that vendor. It would be helpful to have a feature that you could click on to take you back to that vendor where the other contracts are kept.

Incentivized

• Syncing with QuickBooks could be a little better, only syncs to main customer and not projects.
• Does not have the ability to be used in the field.
• Cannot collect payment or invoice from the field, only office staff can do this which makes for a lot of missed money collection.

Incentivized

Its simple to use and intuitive. The level of support that we have from online videos, to access to customer support, and the ability to call anyone at anytime on the main line has been invaluable to utilize and not get stuck on something you don't know yet. We've never not had anyone that couldn't respond in time for us.

I highly recommend. The only suggestion I have would be to offer a free trial. They do offer a 30 day money back guarantee. The price point isn't daunting if you have had a 100 % no strings attached/no effort to cancel or try to remember to get your money back - no strings attached chance to try out the product. Especially for such a big purchase decision, I think Buildertrend would see an incredible increase in sales. They have the value and companies just need a chance to see it first hand.

Incentivized

Whenever I've reached out to Gatekeepers customer service and/or support team, they've always been prompt in getting back to me, whether it's via an email, text or setting up a zoom call, Gatekeeper's support is impeccable.

Incentivized

The program has outstanding customer service. With project scheduling, project management, financial management, customer management, and service management capabilities in a single suite, there's really not much this program can't do! Owners generally love the use of this software as well, giving them the ability to view daily logs, photos, schedules, etc.

Incentivized

Knowify does job costing which HouseCall Pro does not, it syncs with QuickBooks a little better than HouseCall Pro but does not allow our technicians to invoice from the field which is crucial.

Incentivized

• The prior year cost me roughly $4300, which was barely reasonable for my volume. Some clients liked the format, some hated it and didn't participate. In my experience, few subcontractors or suppliers embraced the program, severely limiting the effectiveness.
• For the coming year the fees would have exceeded $17,000, far too much for a program with limited client, employee, and subcontractor appeal with as small a volume as I have.
• Honestly, for the last year, I feel they've been a burning tire hung around my neck and I regret not cancelling them in early 2019, I'd have $10,000 more in my pocket and no significant negative impact.
• I did appreciate the daily log as a way to report on progress, but less than half my clients made use of this option.

• Since using Gatekeeper we have a better understanding of what contracts we have, and with the customized Workflow they created for us, the contracts flow through the Pipeline based on our DOA. It's a smooth process from the start of redlining and finalizing to finishing it up with Gatekeepers digital e-signature feature.
• Contracts are not flying all over the place with no structure.

Incentivized

• Keeps good track of all bills and expenses.
• It would be nice to be able to see a list of all bills and not have to look under each project/job.
• Allows us to see if a job is headed south and quickly correct it.

Incentivized