BigTime vs Productive
professional services head-to-head for ERP teams: evidenced capabilities, published pricing, and which ERPs each actually integrates with.
| Starting price | Tiered subscription (Essentials / Advanced / Premier) plus quote-based Enterprise tier | From $10/user/mo (published) |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |
| Company size | SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise | SMB, Mid-market |
| Stated ERP integrations | QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, NetSuite, Xero, Microsoft Dynamics 365 | NetSuite, QuickBooks, Xero |
| Vendor | BigTime Software, Inc. | Productive |
Our take
Where BigTime leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 8 of the 31 capabilities where they differ (led by services cpq / proposal generation and quote-to-project conversion).
- Stated Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics 365 integration the alternative doesn't list.
Where Productive leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 23 of the 31 capabilities where they differ (led by leave / time-off visibility in resource planning and multiple project views (gantt, kanban, list, calendar)).
- Published pricing where the alternative quotes.
Where they differ
The 31 capabilities (of 61 in the professional services taxonomy) where the evidence separates them, biggest gaps first. “Not evidenced” means our research found no public documentation of this capability — the vendor may still offer it. Confirm on a demo.
| Capability | ||
|---|---|---|
| Services CPQ / proposal generationSales, Scoping & Quoting | Core strength Services CPQ (configure-price-quote) for proposal generation | Not evidenced |
| Leave / time-off visibility in resource planningResource Management | Not evidenced | Core strength Time off management integrated into the resource planner |
| Multiple project views (Gantt, Kanban, list, calendar)Project Management & Delivery | Not evidenced | Core strength Gantt, list, board (Kanban), table, calendar, timeline and workload views |
| Task automation & delivery governanceProject Management & Delivery | Not evidenced | Core strength Automations that trigger actions such as opening a project, creating an invoice, or posting to Slack |
| Automatic time entry from calendar eventsTime & Expense Tracking | Not evidenced | Core strength Time entries created from Google Calendar or Outlook calendar events |
| Statutory e-invoicing formatsBilling & Revenue Management | Not evidenced | Core strength xRechnung and PEPPOL e-invoicing support |
| Recurring / retainer invoice automationBilling & Revenue Management | Not evidenced | Core strength Automated recurring invoices for retainer budgets |
| Financial forecasting & what-if scenariosProject Financials & Profitability | Not evidenced | Core strength Scenario Builder for modeling alternative resourcing and budget outcomes (Ultimate plan) |
| Quote-to-project conversionSales, Scoping & Quoting | Supported Auto-conversion of accepted quotes into project plans | Not evidenced |
| Automated proposal / SOW / RFP generationSales, Scoping & Quoting | Supported Services CPQ module doubles as proposal generation | Not evidenced |
| Skills-based resource matchingResource Management | Partial AI demand-matching via Resourcing Agent; explicit skills criteria not detailed | Core strength Skills-based allocation by skill, seniority and availability |
| Utilization tracking & reportingResource Management | Core strength Real-time staff availability and utilization heatmaps | Partial Booked-vs-available capacity and forecasted margin visibility; no explicit utilization-percentage report described |
| Skill-gap & capacity-gap identificationResource Management | Supported Demand coverage reporting for capacity gaps | Not evidenced |
| Task dependencies & milestonesProject Management & Delivery | Not evidenced | Supported Task dependencies and milestones |
| Multi-level timesheet approval workflowsTime & Expense Tracking | Partial Multi-level approval workflows at Premier tier and above; timesheet-specific scope not detailed | Core strength Manager approval workflow for submitted hours, with billable and non-billable marking |
| Expense approval workflowsTime & Expense Tracking | Not evidenced | Supported Approval workflow for submitted expenses |
| Time-off / leave accrual trackingTime & Expense Tracking | Not evidenced | Supported Time off management integrated into the resource planner |
| Revenue recognition (ASC 606 / IFRS 15)Billing & Revenue Management | Not evidenced | Supported Revenue recognition and revenue forecasting on Professional and Ultimate plans |
| Shared document & milestone visibilityClient Experience & Collaboration | Not evidenced | Supported Client access for commenting and budget visibility on shared projects |
| AI-generated project documentsReporting, Analytics & AI | Not evidenced | Supported AI-powered docs and forms, with forms that auto-convert to tasks or emails |
| Visual resource schedulingResource Management | Supported Drag-and-drop scheduling calendar | Core strength Resource planner with tentative bookings and placeholders |
| AI-assisted staffing recommendationsResource Management | Supported AI-based demand-matching / staffing recommendations (Resourcing Agent) | Core strength Resource request workflow with approval and AI-ranked candidate matching |
| Reusable project templatesProject Management & Delivery | Supported Advanced tier and above | Core strength Project templates that duplicate tasks, subtasks, descriptions and assignees |
| Expense capture & receipt submissionTime & Expense Tracking | Core strength Expense capture, receipt submission and AI-assisted Expense Agent | Supported Expense capture with manual entry, approval workflow, and purchase orders |
| Multi-currency invoicing & tax handlingBilling & Revenue Management | Supported Multi-currency invoicing, Premier tier and above | Core strength Multi-currency invoicing and expense tracking |
| Configurable rate cardsProject Financials & Profitability | Supported Project budgeting and cost/rate management, Premier tier and above | Core strength Default and client-specific rate cards |
| Custom, role-based dashboardsReporting, Analytics & AI | Supported Custom role-based dashboards | Core strength Real-time KPI dashboard widgets for revenue, cost, margin, average rate and hours worked |
| Power BI / Tableau integrationReporting, Analytics & AI | Supported BigTime Data Hub feeding Power BI and Tableau | Partial SQL access via Polaris for advanced users; no named Power BI/Tableau connector |
| AI assistant for natural-language queriesReporting, Analytics & AI | Supported Insights Agent for natural-language reporting queries | Core strength AI assistant that generates reports from natural-language requests |
| Predictive risk / margin-erosion flaggingReporting, Analytics & AI | Not evidenced | Partial Configurable budget-overrun alerts and burn-rate forecasting |
| Native ERP / accounting-system connectorsPlatform, Integrations & Security | Core strength Prebuilt connectors for QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Dynamics 365 BC and Xero | Supported One-way invoice export to Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage, NetSuite and other accounting systems |
Both grade identically on the other 30 capabilities — see each product's full profile: BigTime, Productive.
BigTime vs Productive — FAQs
Is BigTime or Productive better for ERP integration?
Both state integrations with QuickBooks, NetSuite, Xero. BigTime additionally lists Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics 365. Always verify the connector against your ERP version with a reference customer.
Which is cheaper, BigTime or Productive?
Productive publishes a starting rate ($10/user/mo); BigTime prices by quote, so a like-for-like number requires asking both.
Get pricing for both
Tell us your ERP, seat count and must-haves and we'll come back with an independent view of what BigTime and Productive should each cost you — and whether a third option belongs on your shortlist.