Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
CaptivateIQ
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
CaptivateIQ in San Francisco offers their flagship sales commission management product designed to enable companies to manage and tailor mission critical sales incentive compensation programs for their workforce.N/A
Varicent
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
From quotas to sales and compensation, Varicent helps revenue leaders in enterprise organizations chart a more effective, connected path to revenue by providing vital data, insights, and sales go-to-market planning tools.N/A
Pricing
CaptivateIQVaricent
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
CaptivateIQVaricent
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
CaptivateIQVaricent
Considered Both Products
CaptivateIQ
Chose CaptivateIQ
CaptivateIQ is way easier and requires a smaller team to operate. It is relatively easy to make adjustments, which is very beneficial. However, having better connections from CaptivateIQ to Workday would be helpful. Another good thing about CaptivateIQ is that it requires less …
Chose CaptivateIQ
Compared to Varicent ICM -> CaptivateIQ exceed every expectation and more. Not only is the system superior, but the people that we've worked with from sales, to implementation, to customer support have been incredible!
Chose CaptivateIQ
We have one experienced user in our organization. Based on his experience in the previous company, he recommended the team implement CaptivateIQ as our commission calculation platform. After the first meeting with the CaptivateIQ team, we felt that the key features that …
Varicent
Chose Varicent
Varicent is the leader in the ICM space because it is scalable and is always making improvements / enhancements based on customer input. However in my opinion based on my own experience, all ICM providers operate similarly in that they over-promise to get a customer's business …
Chose Varicent
Varicent was the best combination of cost, features, and scalable
Chose Varicent
Out of all of the products I have ever evaluated for this space, Varicent is head and shoulders above the rest in my opinion. For me, I think of Varicent as akin to building an Access database while the other programs are like building an Excel data model. In Varicent you …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
CaptivateIQVaricent
Sales ICM
Comparison of Sales ICM features of Product A and Product B
CaptivateIQ
8.2
337 Ratings
6% above category average
Varicent
6.8
55 Ratings
13% below category average
Sales compensation plan creation8.4271 Ratings7.348 Ratings
Complex sales crediting8.3245 Ratings7.548 Ratings
Sales compensation process automation8.9312 Ratings7.352 Ratings
Incentive auditing/regulation compliance8.1211 Ratings6.546 Ratings
Sales compensation dashboards & forecasting8.3281 Ratings6.647 Ratings
Incentive modeling8.2207 Ratings6.543 Ratings
Agile incentive strategy8.1176 Ratings6.538 Ratings
ICM mobile visibility7.1166 Ratings6.532 Ratings
Best Alternatives
CaptivateIQVaricent
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Everstage
Everstage
Score 9.5 out of 10
Everstage
Everstage
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Everstage
Everstage
Score 9.5 out of 10
Everstage
Everstage
Score 9.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
CaptivateIQVaricent
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(353 ratings)
7.9
(67 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(6 ratings)
9.3
(15 ratings)
Usability
8.9
(15 ratings)
7.2
(59 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
5.2
(3 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
5.8
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(53 ratings)
6.8
(6 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.7
(2 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.7
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(1 ratings)
6.8
(6 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
5.2
(3 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
4.3
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
6.8
(58 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.1
(1 ratings)
5.9
(3 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(1 ratings)
5.9
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
CaptivateIQVaricent
Likelihood to Recommend
CaptivateIQ
In terms of setting up special incentive programs, it might be better to have those paid out directly. Sometimes the system needs to be manually updated if for say a special service is sold to a pre-existing company. On our end we have to create "new customers" to reflect these new structures of incentives. It still works on CIQ, but it would be helpful for something on the site to allow us to modify this directly.
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Varicent
For the use cases we have at the bank, ICM is a perfect solution. For any bank or institution that has similar requirements, ICM would be a perfect solution. But I also think for any use case that has any sort of incentives based on Sales done, this would work amazing, as both Calculations and reports are handled by ICM very well; it's an all-in-one solution, I feel like.
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Pros
CaptivateIQ
  • Employee Self-Service: CapIQ include self-service portals for employees. This allows them to access their compensation details, track their performance, and understand how their pay is structured.
  • Error reduction - Manual calculation of incentives and bonuses is prone to errors, especially in organizations with complex compensation structures involving multiple variables, such as sales targets, performance metrics, and different payout rates. These errors can result in underpayments, overpayments, or discrepancies in compensation, which can lead to dissatisfaction among employees.
  • Real-Time Updates: In dynamic environments, compensation plans may change frequently due to shifts in business goals or market conditions. Compensation incentive software can quickly adapt to these changes, ensuring that compensation calculations remain accurate even as plans are updated. CapIQ allowed me to track my incentives live.
Read full review
Varicent
  • Flexibility - Varicent is not template based. You can implement the model specifically for your organisation.
  • Scalability - Since it is not stick to templates you are able to expand the model for other domains as well.
  • Reporting - Several ways of reporting are possible and each has their own benefit/purpose.
  • Strong/Powerfull Calculation Engine delivering fast results/speed to insight
  • User Interface is minimized to what you need and is not showing off all the functions it can "also" do
  • Strong audittrail
  • Appears to be almost unlimited in what you are able to create
Read full review
Cons
CaptivateIQ
  • Reporting is challenging. Even exporting payouts requires selecting a date, so if I want a full year of payouts for the entire team, I have to run 12 reports and combine the data. They have a reporting function, but it also requires a significant setup, and I have yet to figure out how to combine data from all of our plans with different columns.
  • Tracking down changes from prior periods can be tricky. This usually happens due to user error (whoops - admin set up something not quite right), but it might be nice to easily see what changed or why there is an increase or decrease from a prior period impacting the current payout.
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Varicent
  • As [the] model gets more and more transactional data, the calculation time increases. This should/can be handled internally with better model optimization.
  • Migrating from one env to other sometimes is challenging. There can be better 'Alerts' or 'Explanation' provided to handle it or at least to give a hint of the error.
  • For managers viewing their rep's report, the access part can be made easier. It should be linked to Payee hierarchy and access can be done automatically.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
CaptivateIQ
It fits our need and allows a lot of piece of mind. It has a lot of features we like and they keep innovativing and adding to it.
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Varicent
Customer support from IBM is impeccable. They are quick to respond and they don't nickel and dime you for every request you make. Their goal is to ensure your success and as a user, I really feel like they listen to my concerns. That's not to say there are no problems. All software has its issues, but I don't feel like those issues fall on deaf ears.
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Usability
CaptivateIQ
I give this rating because I think that this works really well, and it helps our teams see things faster and we are able to keep up with pay outs, I give Captivate a 10/10 because I love the format and how quickly we are able to see the payouts
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Varicent
Any calculations can be implemented as there are hardly any limitations on complexity. However, online real-time usability is lacking - a simple user enters, and the system calculates work in a way that it is in the browser and hence still needs overnight to be properly reflected in the batch calculations and backend tables.
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Reliability and Availability
CaptivateIQ
No answers on this topic
Varicent
Never went down in last 3 years that I worked with it (every hour of the day basically). That is a 10 in my book.
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Performance
CaptivateIQ
No answers on this topic
Varicent
All is fast, but with API's it is sometimes slower due to the application we are pulling data from. Reports are loaded directly or within seconds and our reports are very detailed with many columns and rows.
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Support Rating
CaptivateIQ
We used support during our initial setup regarding statment errors. They were quick and concise to respond and help us solve our issues regarding this. They also directed us to the office hours that enabled us to learn of new features and upcoming announcements.
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Varicent
Giving a 10 would suggest there is no room for improvement. I don't feel like their support is perfect. However, I have never met another team that was more dedicated to making sure we get what we want and need.
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In-Person Training
CaptivateIQ
No answers on this topic
Varicent
The training was good in general with a nice trainer as well. But, the training could be better if it is more focussed on our process/data etc.
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Online Training
CaptivateIQ
No answers on this topic
Varicent
There is a learning portal with many videos about navigation, creating reports and managing your model.
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Implementation Rating
CaptivateIQ
I worked with a vendor to implement. CIQ support was very good. The implementation was very fast, particularly compared to other platforms
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Varicent
Test test test. Make sure that the product is calculating everyone 100% correctly. DO NOT accept a 70% pass rate as some companies would like to have you believe is acceptable. This means conducting thorough testing by providing 100% of all expected results, but it will be worth it when you know that the compensation plans are working entirely as expected.
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Alternatives Considered
CaptivateIQ
Spiff is super sleek and a top contender, honestly, though the price point difference between Captivate and Spiff took Spiff off the table quickly for us. Sales Cookie: we used it for a bit as Captivate didn't have a Hubspot integration, but we quickly outgrew the software and needed a more complex solution. Xactly just doesn't have a great user experience and level of customization needed for our plans. All of this to say, Captivate absolutely wins every time on value for cost and functionality compared to other solutions we have vetted.
Read full review
Varicent
In 2015, we used a scorecard containing 80 attributes in our review of Oracle, Callidus, and Xactly & Varicent. Oracle did not have true self serve capabilities- programming was heavily required, not intuitive, out of the box functionality was limited. Callidus & Xactly could not provide us a demo using our data, statements could not be sent out in bulk form, difficulty in importing/exporting to CRM. Varicent excelled in most areas and was the clear winner.
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Scalability
CaptivateIQ
No answers on this topic
Varicent
It is very scalable and adaptable to changing complexities of calculations and business rules under a variety of different scenarios. It does not get full points because in large data loads the time needed to calculate and import the data increases exponentially and may cause issues related to timing potentially.
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Return on Investment
CaptivateIQ
  • As a sales representative in this 700+ employee company, I couldn't tell you the ROI.
  • I will say it probably saves me an hour a month compared to traditional compensation reviews/approvals (think about PER representative)
  • There was an increase in sales representative satisfaction with commission tracking.
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Varicent
  • Compliance - with a central system used for calculation incentive payments and commissions, we are able to provide reports and data showing every detail of how payments are calculated and why they are justified. We can also identify anomalies and outliers.
  • Integration with our payroll system is seamless. Except for regular pay, nothing goes to payroll without going through ICM. The process for paying incentives/bonuses/commissions is now very structured and efficient.
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ScreenShots

CaptivateIQ Screenshots

Screenshot of Automatically syncs commission data to power commission reports in real-time across every team. Data sources can be integrated directly into the commission system.Screenshot of Customized user access and visibility into commission plans and data to meet security and compliance requirements.Screenshot of The Approvals workflow, where reps and managers can ensure every payout is correct before it’s distributed.Screenshot of Displays for business performance by team, comp plan, territory, or any other metric to make data-driven decisions.Screenshot of The reps' view into earnings, with a homepage and customizable commissions statements that outline how much they've earned, details by deal, and future earning potential to keep them motivated.

Varicent Screenshots

Screenshot of Varicent providing clarity and transparency to sellers, helping them to find answers faster and have confidence in compensation plans.Screenshot of Tools for sellers that help them align strategic initiatives, and that help them understand which deals will help them win.Screenshot of Varicent ICM model compensation plans that display the financial impact of changes. Its ability to more accurately forecast commission payouts with “what-if” assumptions, users can budget more effectively for sales compensation costs, manage target total compensation for sales representatives and assess plan effectiveness.Screenshot of Shareable information sent to the right people to drive the right results.