CommitCRM vs. ConnectWise vs. Other

[scottay]

Hi all,

I'm currently a ConnectWise user, and have been for about 2 years. Overall I really like the software, especially with all the newer features that they are adding. It integrates pretty well into N-central, which is crucial. It ties nicely into QuickBooks; however, if you push something over that need to be changed, deleted, etc, it's an absolute headache to unwind. The workflow rules make handling different scenarios pretty handy...

That said, I'm always keeping my eye on other options. Given that I only have 1-3 employees at any given time, ConnectWise seems a little overkill sometimes. I've been messing around with the trial of CommitCRM, and had a demo today. It looks like it will do pretty much everything that I'm using ConnectWise for, and seems to do it a whole lot faster. It's lightning fast, whereas ConnectWise seems a little slow to open new screens to create tickets, companies, etc. Also, it's extremely fast to create a time record (has a stopwatch that i can start/stop). ConnectWise has this on the roadmap, and it's implemented in the mobile version, so at some point this feature will be in CW as well (patience is not one of my virtues). I've found a couple limitations with CommitCRM that CW does better, and I'm sure more will come up, but probably nothing I can't find a workaround for. In contrast, I have found almost nothing that I can't get CW to do, it's insanely flexible and powerful.

The attractive thing about CommitCRM is the cost - it's flat fee (with a small annual fee for updates and support) vs. monthly ongoing subscription. The cost for me to get into CommitCRM would be about equivalent to a year of ConnectWise (~$3500), so it's definitely not cheap; however, the subsequent years will be MUCH less (~$300/yr). If I can switch and not lose a lot of important features, or if I will gain extra efficiency due to the less complex nature of the software, I'm willing to give it a go.

I've also used MHelpDesk in the past, but it's not quite powerful enough for what I want (at least it wasn't a couple years ago when I switched off of it). Also, we're back to the subscription model, and the price isn't significant enough for me to switch. I've seen mention of RepairShopr on these forums as well, but don't have any experience with it. I have a feeling it would be a similar realm as MHelpDesk as far as features go, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Are there any current CommitCRM users that would like to weigh in? Any ConnectWise users that have switched to CommitCRT or visa versa? It's taken me 2 years to learn CW and get it fine tuned (and am actually still tweaking and tuning), so it's a massive decision to uproot everything and rebuild with something new. I would love some feedback! Thanks!

 

[ajgyomber]

I started with CommitCRM a very long time ago and sold my licenses to a colleague of mine. The thing that drove me away from CommitCRM was the lack of integration. At the time, they had no integration with QuoteWerks. At one time they did have integration with LabTech but no longer. ConnectWise is a monster applications is expensive to run and timely to configure. That being said, any vendor that wants in the MSP space generally has ConnectWise support first. That includes vendors that we use, such as, Datto, CloudBerry MBS, Reflexion, WarrantyMaster, Intermedia, QuoteWerks, etc.

Additionally, ConnectWise's tends to be quicker due to the support chat. CommitCRM's email support was always amazingly thorough. It's due to the strong integration and third-party support that I stick with ConnectWise despite the high costs. I also periodically check out what CommitCRM is doing.

 

[scottay]

Thank you so much, that pretty much sums up everything I suspected.

 

[neotechnet]

I've been using CommitCRM for about 2 years now, use it everyday and consider it a cornerstone of my business. There are features that I don't use or find too complicated, like the opportunities for example.

The ticket feature, asset list, accounts, etc are critical to my operations. At the end of the month I simply export all the billings into Quickbooks with no problem at all. They come out with a few updates per year and every update is usually feature reach and they really improve the product.

Yes I wish there was better integration with CCRM in Nable but it's not a huge deal. Paying thousands of dollars per year for a couple of seats in ConnectWise / Autotask / Tigerpaw doesn't really appeal to me, I'm happy to have saved all of that money.

 

[scottay]

Thanks for the info!
Yes, CW is expensive... Lots to consider! The integration with N-central is very good, and getting better. I like that the email connector and everything works without needing the desktop Outlook software - I can't stand Outlook, I just just the OWA. If I switched, I wouldn't mind having it running in the background...

At this point in my business (growing, trying to expand, etc) I think CW makes sense for me. If I ever decide to shrink and reduce overhead I think CCRM is definitely a solid consideration.