Certinia PSA vs Productive
professional services head-to-head for ERP teams: evidenced capabilities, published pricing, and which ERPs each actually integrates with.
| Starting price | Quote-based | From $10/user/mo (published) |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |
| Company size | Mid-market, Enterprise | SMB, Mid-market |
| Stated ERP integrations | None listed | NetSuite, QuickBooks, Xero |
| Vendor | Certinia | Productive |
Our take
Where Certinia PSA leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 9 of the 35 capabilities where they differ (led by reusable estimate templates from prior actuals and quote-to-project conversion).
Where Productive leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 26 of the 35 capabilities where they differ (led by leave / time-off visibility in resource planning and reusable project templates).
- Published pricing where the alternative quotes.
- Stated NetSuite, QuickBooks, Xero integration the alternative doesn't list.
Where they differ
The 35 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 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Reusable estimate templates from prior actualsSales, Scoping & Quoting | Core strength Best-practice and reusable estimate templates drawing on prior project actuals | Not evidenced |
| Quote-to-project conversionSales, Scoping & Quoting | Core strength Instant project creation from an approved estimate | Not evidenced |
| Bid vs. actual variance analysisSales, Scoping & Quoting | Core strength Named "bid versus did" variance analysis | Not evidenced |
| Leave / time-off visibility in resource planningResource Management | Not evidenced | Core strength Time off management integrated into the resource planner |
| Reusable project templatesProject Management & Delivery | Not evidenced | Core strength Project templates that duplicate tasks, subtasks, descriptions and assignees |
| 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 |
| Multi-level timesheet approval workflowsTime & Expense Tracking | Not evidenced | Core strength Manager approval workflow for submitted hours, with billable and non-billable marking |
| Automatic time entry from calendar eventsTime & Expense Tracking | Not evidenced | Core strength Time entries created from Google Calendar or Outlook calendar events |
| Multi-currency invoicing & tax handlingBilling & Revenue Management | Not evidenced | Core strength Multi-currency invoicing and expense tracking |
| Statutory e-invoicing formatsBilling & Revenue Management | Not evidenced | Core strength xRechnung and PEPPOL e-invoicing support |
| Financial forecasting & what-if scenariosProject Financials & Profitability | Not evidenced | Core strength Scenario Builder for modeling alternative resourcing and budget outcomes (Ultimate plan) |
| AI assistant for natural-language queriesReporting, Analytics & AI | Not evidenced | Core strength AI assistant that generates reports from natural-language requests |
| Native iOS / Android mobile appsPlatform, Integrations & Security | Not evidenced | Core strength Mobile app for task updates on iOS and Android |
| Quote & estimate approval workflowsSales, Scoping & Quoting | Supported Approval workflows enforcing financial limits and tolerances | Not evidenced |
| Utilization tracking & reportingResource Management | Core strength Real-time utilization performance vs. target | Partial Booked-vs-available capacity and forecasted margin visibility; no explicit utilization-percentage report described |
| AI-assisted staffing recommendationsResource Management | Partial Configurable best-fit resource matching; not explicitly described as AI-driven | Core strength Resource request workflow with approval and AI-ranked candidate matching |
| Skill-gap & capacity-gap identificationResource Management | Supported Capacity and recruitment-gap analysis | Not evidenced |
| Multiple project views (Gantt, Kanban, list, calendar)Project Management & Delivery | Partial Work Planner scheduling dashboard; specific view types not detailed | Core strength Gantt, list, board (Kanban), table, calendar, timeline and workload views |
| Task dependencies & milestonesProject Management & Delivery | Not evidenced | Supported Task dependencies and milestones |
| Project health & risk dashboardsProject Management & Delivery | Supported Project status, risk and resource-demand dashboards | Not evidenced |
| 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 |
| Recurring / retainer invoice automationBilling & Revenue Management | Partial Subscription billing covers recurring revenue; explicit recurring-invoice automation not detailed | Core strength Automated recurring invoices for retainer budgets |
| AI-generated project documentsReporting, Analytics & AI | Not evidenced | Supported AI-powered docs and forms, with forms that auto-convert to tasks or emails |
| Public API & webhooksPlatform, Integrations & Security | Supported Off-platform systems connect via API | Not evidenced |
| Native ERP / accounting-system connectorsPlatform, Integrations & Security | Not evidenced | Supported One-way invoice export to Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage, NetSuite and other accounting systems |
| Capacity planning & demand forecastingResource Management | Supported Capacity and recruitment-gap analysis | Core strength Resource planner showing booked vs. available capacity per person |
| Visual resource schedulingResource Management | Supported Schedule editing and reassignment workflows | Core strength Resource planner with tentative bookings and placeholders |
| Web & mobile time entryTime & Expense Tracking | Supported Time and expense submission from any device | Core strength Mobile app for task updates on iOS and Android; daily log, weekly timesheet and in-task timer modes |
| Revenue recognition (ASC 606 / IFRS 15)Billing & Revenue Management | Core strength Revenue management/recognition via the Financial Management Cloud | Supported Revenue recognition and revenue forecasting on Professional and Ultimate plans |
| Configurable rate cardsProject Financials & Profitability | Supported Resource, role and seniority modelling with pricing and discounts | Core strength Default and client-specific rate cards |
| Pre-built report libraryReporting, Analytics & AI | Supported Prebuilt and customisable billing/revenue reporting templates | Core strength 50+ pre-built reports covering profitability, utilization and revenue by business unit |
| Custom, role-based dashboardsReporting, Analytics & AI | Supported CRM Analytics-powered financial reporting | Core strength Real-time KPI dashboard widgets for revenue, cost, margin, average rate and hours worked |
| Power BI / Tableau integrationReporting, Analytics & AI | Not evidenced | Partial SQL access via Polaris for advanced users; no named Power BI/Tableau connector |
| Predictive risk / margin-erosion flaggingReporting, Analytics & AI | Not evidenced | Partial Configurable budget-overrun alerts and burn-rate forecasting |
Both grade identically on the other 26 capabilities — see each product's full profile: Certinia PSA, Productive.
Certinia PSA vs Productive — FAQs
Is Certinia PSA or Productive better for ERP integration?
They state different ERP coverage: Certinia PSA lists no ERP integrations publicly; Productive lists NetSuite, QuickBooks, Xero.
Which is cheaper, Certinia PSA or Productive?
Productive publishes a starting rate ($10/user/mo); Certinia PSA 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 Certinia PSA and Productive should each cost you — and whether a third option belongs on your shortlist.