TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    LiquidPlanner

    Score8.3 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    LiquidPlanner is a cloud based predictive project management solution. Some key features include: Dynamic Timeline View, Workload View, and Real-Time Activity Stream.

    $0

    per month per user

    Xero

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AXero is an online accounting software product for small businesses and personal finance. Its features beyond general ledger and double-bookkeeping include quotable invoicing, bank reconciliation, purchase order and expense management, and tax management. Third party apps can extend its features further.

    $13

    per month

    Pricing
    LiquidPlannerXero
    Editions & Modules
    Free
    $0
    per month per user
    Essentials
    $15.00
    per month per user
    Professional
    $25
    per month per user
    Ultimate
    $35
    per month per user
    Enterprise
    CALL FOR VOLUME PRICING
    Early
    $13
    per month
    Growing
    $37
    per month
    Established
    $70
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    LiquidPlannerXero
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Prices in table are in USD and just apply to the US - other markets & prices are listed below: Canada - Starter $18 CAD/month, Standard $45 CAD/month, Premium 5 $58 CAD/month UK - Starter £14/month, Standard £28/month, Premium £36/month AU - Starter $29 AUD/month, Standard $59 AUD/month, Premium 5 $76 AUD/month NZ - Starter $31 NZD/month, Standard $66 NZD/month, Premium $84 NZD/month
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    LiquidPlannerXero
    Considered Both Products
    LiquidPlanner
    No answer on this topic
    Xero
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    86%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    93%
    Would buy again
    160 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    153 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    160 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    131 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    80%
    Implementation went as expected
    4 Answers
    99%
    Implementation went as expected
    149 Answers
    Features
    LiquidPlannerXero
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of LiquidPlanner and Xero
    Feature
    LiquidPlanner
    8.1
    15 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Xero
    -
    Ratings
    Task Management8.711 Ratings00 Ratings
    Resource Management8.69 Ratings00 Ratings
    Gantt Charts8.68 Ratings00 Ratings
    Scheduling8.810 Ratings00 Ratings
    Workflow Automation8.47 Ratings00 Ratings
    Team Collaboration8.911 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for Agile Methodology7.76 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for Waterfall Methodology8.46 Ratings00 Ratings
    Document Management9.93 Ratings00 Ratings
    Email integration7.914 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Access4.89 Ratings00 Ratings
    Timesheet Tracking7.210 Ratings00 Ratings
    Budget and Expense Management7.66 Ratings00 Ratings
    Professional Services Automation
    Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of LiquidPlanner and Xero
    Feature
    LiquidPlanner
    8.3
    5 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Xero
    -
    Ratings
    Quotes/estimates8.64 Ratings00 Ratings
    Project & financial reporting8.45 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with accounting software7.94 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of LiquidPlanner and Xero
    Feature
    LiquidPlanner
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    7.5
    73 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Pay calculation00 Ratings8.065 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration00 Ratings8.023 Ratings
    Direct deposit files00 Ratings7.249 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings7.141 Ratings
    Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.054 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of LiquidPlanner and Xero
    Feature
    LiquidPlanner
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    8.0
    169 Ratings
    6% above category average
    API for custom integration00 Ratings7.979 Ratings
    Plug-ins00 Ratings8.1156 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of LiquidPlanner and Xero
    Feature
    LiquidPlanner
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    7.1
    213 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings5.572 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.7211 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of LiquidPlanner and Xero
    Feature
    LiquidPlanner
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    8.3
    241 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings8.3237 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings8.9239 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings7.9212 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of LiquidPlanner and Xero
    Feature
    LiquidPlanner
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    8.3
    251 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Accounts payable00 Ratings8.0229 Ratings
    Accounts receivable00 Ratings8.1234 Ratings
    Cash management00 Ratings7.7217 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation00 Ratings8.6244 Ratings
    Expense management00 Ratings7.8224 Ratings
    Time tracking00 Ratings6.387 Ratings
    Fixed asset management00 Ratings7.7152 Ratings
    Multi-currency support00 Ratings7.9149 Ratings
    Multi-division support00 Ratings7.4129 Ratings
    Regulations compliance00 Ratings8.3131 Ratings
    Electronic tax filing00 Ratings8.6134 Ratings
    Self-service portal00 Ratings7.7153 Ratings
    Global Financial Support00 Ratings7.884 Ratings
    Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings7.881 Ratings
    Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings10.040 Ratings
    Localizations00 Ratings10.039 Ratings
    Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings10.090 Ratings
    Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings10.033 Ratings
    Configurable Accounting00 Ratings10.059 Ratings
    Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings6.033 Ratings
    Standardized Processes00 Ratings8.059 Ratings
    Inventory Management
    Comparison of Inventory Management features of LiquidPlanner and Xero
    Feature
    LiquidPlanner
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    6.3
    119 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Inventory tracking00 Ratings7.2115 Ratings
    Automatic reordering00 Ratings6.224 Ratings
    Location management00 Ratings6.229 Ratings
    Manufacturing module00 Ratings6.016 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of LiquidPlanner and Xero
    Feature
    LiquidPlanner
    -
    Ratings
    Xero
    7.3
    89 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Pricing00 Ratings10.062 Ratings
    Order entry00 Ratings10.056 Ratings
    Credit card processing00 Ratings6.358 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold00 Ratings6.366 Ratings
    Order Orchestration00 Ratings6.121 Ratings
    End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings6.124 Ratings
    Order exception Resolution00 Ratings6.117 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    LiquidPlannerXero
    Small Businesses
    Any.do
    Score8 out of 10
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    KanbanFlow
    Score7.3 out of 10
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft To Do
    Score7.9 out of 10
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    LiquidPlannerXero
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.5
    (17 ratings)
    8.3
    (266 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    4.4
    (2 ratings)
    4.7
    (38 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.3
    (192 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    3.1
    (12 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (10 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    5.6
    (40 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.6
    (13 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.1
    (3 ratings)
    CPA Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (10 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.4
    (150 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (8 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.5
    (4 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.5
    (4 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    LiquidPlannerXero
    Likelihood to Recommend
    LiquidPlanner
    LiquidPlanner is amazing for any time of project management scenario where you have to manage several teams and details. Running a project through LiquidPlanner is so easy because it lets you break down the project into sections and folders and small tasks that you can assign to specific people. With a small to medium size team-- LiquidPlanner is amazing for organizing and tracking details. If you have a huge team or not a ton of details to track LiquidPlanner might not be right for you because it is a software that requires some good training to learn and has tons of functions that can be utilized so it seems better suited to be used by a smaller group looking to coordinate or for people who have lots of details that can be difficult to track.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    The only time I wouldn't be suggesting it is to consultants or solopreneurs. I think it's too overwhelming unless you are experienced or have a background related to finance. So it's not that the product isn't powerful, it's that it can be too powerful. For all other size businesses it really is what you need to use to make life simple to track everything in your business. It definitely saves me time by having it all in one place and not multiple spreadsheets etc
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    LiquidPlanner
    • Priority based planning. Every other planning software we've used relies on dates and therefore needs constant attention. Priority based planning means that the plan is always up to date.
    • Ease of use. LiquidPlanner has a very short learning curve. This is critical to getting team members to use it.
    • Forecasting. LiquidPlanner makes it very easy to run scenarios by simply dragging and dropping projects and reassigning resources.
    • Awesome Support. I get personal responses very fast. Usually within a couple hours. And, they listen and ask for more information.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    • The bank feed integration makes reconciling transactions easy
    • Once you load a template for your invoices, every client gets a professional looking invoice
    • Bill paying and tracking of payments is also easy; you load your bill into Xero, pay it through the bank, and when the transaction is completed it comes through on bank feeds. If you need to query when a bill was paid, it is all there in Xero
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    LiquidPlanner
    • The interface is messy and cluttered. The best way to find things and see what you actually want to see is the main Projects view which is also the most cluttered and hardest to maneuver in.
    • Clicking an external link someone posted in a comment or task description doesn't open in a new window by default, so we are constantly having to go back to get to LiquidPlanner again.
    • The way that the interface saves your state globally (rather than per tab instance) means that if you click a link from someone else to a task that's not yours, then it adjusts your filters on the Projects page. Then if you refresh another LiquidPlanner window where you were on the Projects tab, suddenly all of its filters are updated and what you were looking at may no longer be there.
    • It might just be the way that we use the system, but the Home and My Work tabs are fairly useless for us. They typically don't show the tasks we're actually looking for.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    • Having different email addresses for different parts of a customer's business (eg invoices and statements to different places)
    • Easily seeing the text of emails that have been sent through Xero
    • More easily archiving old pay items. Our HR software updates rates when awards are updated which means a lot of old pay rates are in the system and they have multiple clicks to archive each one. Clicking the ones to archive in bulk and then just click archive for all would be much more efficient.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    LiquidPlanner
    We may not renew LiquidPlanner's contract, but only because my company has recently been acquired and we'll be adopting some of the software that they're using to standardize process. LiquidPlanner's development team releases new features pretty often, so it seems like the gaps and inefficiencies are slowly getting smaller/less frequent
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    In addition to the matters covered in this review, my reason for renewing this product is that Xero's functionality and the constant updates that the company provides, makes the software even more business friendly. The software therefore builds a brand loyalty among customers.
    Read full review
    Usability
    LiquidPlanner
    Easy to learn and utilize. Can export charts and reports for sharing with colleagues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    As a standalone software, it allows users to fulfill most of the basic functions (e.g. transaction input and report generation) simply and conveniently. It also allows for multiple APIs to help augment various tasks that accounting-adjacent (e.g. claims processing). The cloud based model and portability to mobile devices allows tasks to be carried out in a more convenient way.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    LiquidPlanner
    No answers on this topic
    Xero
    We have been actively using and 100% Xero based for our ecommerce accounting practice for over 4 years. There has on been one real outage for more than 5 minutes. Xero was open and transparent about the outage, what they were doing to resolve the issue, and provided 15 minute updates. Showing how they care about their customers and partners. Plus, showing that their customers care too, were understanding, and went surfing or in our case took a nap. Couldn't run our business without Xero as a partner.
    Read full review
    Performance
    LiquidPlanner
    No answers on this topic
    Xero
    On a good day, things worked but after upgrades, things began to slow and or not work at all at times. I coined the moving circle while I waited as the "Xero Wheel of Death". Sometimes it never stopped and force quitting was necessary.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    LiquidPlanner
    They have been great in trying to come up with creative solutions to help us do what we want to do with the platform. I would say their support has been exceptional because we have hit them with some complex requests.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    Always respond and keep issues open until you are satisfied with the result. Generally good responses, in the past, I had some support responses that were really basic and really annoying. They type where "have your tried restarting your computer" style of answers. Well, of course, I went through all the basics before contacting them. Duh, but I suppose not everyone does. Otherwise, it would be a 10. The last year has shown a marked improvement in the support responses however.
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    LiquidPlanner
    No answers on this topic
    Xero
    The format was great; someone was there to ask questions or help if you were stuck.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    LiquidPlanner
    No answers on this topic
    Xero
    All of Xero's training is online and available for anyone (business owner or accountants) to learn and become experts in their system. There is a range of content from product training to real world webinars from their partners. Xero is beautiful accounting software and their training is the same.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    LiquidPlanner
    No answers on this topic
    Xero
    If it can be done, time the implementation near a new fiscal year so you can start clean. Otherwise, you have to go back and do historical data from the beginning of the fiscal year, which can be brain draining.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    LiquidPlanner
    Miro is a more versatile tool, but not quite made for planning and organizing. LiquidPlanner is very intuitive, fast to learn and easy to communicate. The added value of prioritizing tasks, personalized boards and gantt charts are really important during the planning and design thinking in the business. LiquidPlanner is simplified yet more helpful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    Each of the products I listed had their own list of drawbacks, but the one thing they all had in common, which was right on top of that list of drawbacks, was ease of use. I struggled to get myself accustomed to each system and struggled, but when it came to getting a client to even try and use it was when the true struggle started. Just found it easier to make use of Xero from the very beginning.
    Read full review
    Scalability
    LiquidPlanner
    No answers on this topic
    Xero
    I have yet to fully stress test the product given the size of the company where I am using it. I am sure as we scale to more customers, more vendors and more reporting requirements, I will have a better understanding of what it is capable of in terms of bandwidth and processing
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    LiquidPlanner
    • LiquidPlanner really forces you to map out your workflow. For me, honing into a template that I can later adjust as needed has been huge, as there is less time at the beginning of a project trying to assign and figure out what needs to happen when usually it never changes.
    • Communication between employees, especially ones not immediately available in the office has been very welcomed. It helps having conversations documented in a public, logical place that is easy to find and refer to as the project continues.
    • Our productivity has definitely skyrocketed as we've really gotten a feel and committed to using LiquidPlanner daily. As we move forward, we continually try to add more and more ways for us to use the service.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Xero
    • Xero is a basic accounting system that performs basic accounting tasks easily and accurately. For that, it provides a positive impact on our day to day accounting operations.
    • Because of Xero's basic structure, I feel it lacks some of the sophistication that some users want and need. The ability to create unique custom reports would enhance the impact Xero would have on meeting business objectives by providing current and useful accounting information.
    • In my opinion, Xero's lack of focus on their customers - their users - is a real issue with me. In my opinion, those of us that are in the trenches that work with the system on a daily basis have to deal with the shortcomings of the system with the knowledge that Xero support refuses to address the operational issues that make their user's lives difficult. I feel if Xero would focus on truly making their software better from a users point of view, it has the potential to be a great system.
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    LiquidPlanner Screenshots

    Screenshot of Project Dashboards allow users to build high-level views that help visualize data.Screenshot of Workload Views allow users to see an entire team's workload at once and make resource adjustments in stride.Screenshot of Time Sheets keep track of hours per task and automatically update project estimates.Screenshot of Project View allows users to view any project in detail, assign tasks, set their priority, and access schedule risk.Screenshot of My Work View is a personalized view of all work to always know what to work on next.

    Xero Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshot