In 2019, the global procurement software market generated about $5.33 billion in total revenue. Packed with tons of useful features such as order processing, invoicing, and reporting, such products elegantly automate the purchasing operations of businesses. They minimize the need for human intervention and lower error probability. In this article, we will cover the best software solutions for procurement and teach you all about their essential features. Read on for our thorough buying guide that will help you select the best option for your business needs.
Appropriate classification and overview of the features help us rank the best products in this category. All of the solutions featured in our table have gone through a thorough evaluation process which enables us to recommend only relevant products. Keep reading and learn all about our strict ranking criteria.
Applicable to any type of software, there are three cornerstones of classification, namely industry focus, business size, and deployment. While these don’t affect the ranking, they can help determine what options would work for you.
Industry focus – There is transportation procurement software, just like there are solutions for construction companies or hotels. Products that target businesses in a specific sector have industry-related features and lack the flexibility of general solutions.
Business size – The software can cater to small, midsize, and large companies. It’s always best to stick to products favored by businesses of a similar size to yours.
Deployment – The last aspect of classification is deployment. Software products are on-premise and offline, SaaS, or cloud-hosted. Each option comes with both advantages and drawbacks, meaning that your needs will determine the most suitable alternative. For example, online procurement software tends to be cheaper, simpler to use, and more flexible.
We’d like to stress that classification doesn’t affect the ranking of the solutions listed here. Instead, it helps us and our readers understand the target consumer group which in turn leads to smarter purchases and higher satisfaction levels.
Now that you know how to classify this type of software, let’s move on to its essential features. Each of them lets you streamline your procurement processes, which is why more features mean a better ranking.
Since the primary role of the software is to handle your purchases, we value options that enable you to create automated workflows for your procurement processes. A reliable solution will handle selection and ordering as well as approvals and delivery.
Streamlined items requests, invoice matching, and automated reminders are some other important functionalities of top-performing eProcurement software.
Your procurement procedure is much more than placing a single order. This means that the software should be powerful enough to handle invoicing, billing, and budgeting.
You want the platform to cross-check data in purchase requests as well as to purchase orders automatically. Being able to do the invoicing guarantees quick approvals along with correct and timely payments.
Moving on to billing, easy electronic bill payments are especially appreciated in procurement software for small business owners.
Budgeting is another essential functionality. Those with lots of expenses will find this feature particularly useful. A robust system gives you enough data regarding your budget, so you always have the correct information. This helps in making smarter decisions and results in more straightforward navigation.
An absolute must, vendor management enables you to store all vendor data in a centralized database. No duplication, no errors, no confusion. Products that let you enroll new vendors directly from the PO generation process get better rankings in our table.
By the time you decide to invest in this type of product, you already have your basic operations in place. This means that you need a system that can adapt to your way of working rather than the other way around.
So, when we make procurement software comparison, we give boosted rankings to customizable and flexible solutions. From customizable interface and workflows to custom purchase order processes, you should have the power to change the product to suit your needs.
You shouldn’t overlook three-way matching either. The product you buy should be able to verify and match data from purchase requisitions, orders, and invoices. This prevents any discrepancies and leads to error-free processes.
Expense management often comes as an extra feature or even as a separate product. The best procurement software, however, often offer it for free. Some functionalities of expense management software include paper receipt looping, spending tracking, credit card reconciliation, expense claim requests, and cost-cutting tools. All of these save you time and provide you with insightful data regarding the money you spend.
You want informative and detailed reports as well as custom, real-time reporting. You also want business intelligence tools that help you analyze your purchasing trends and evaluate different vendors. With these two functionalities, you can identify weaknesses and improve your negotiation position with vendors.
Your procurement management software needs to be simple to use and easy to set up. Convenience in terms of supported devices is essential, with mobile-friendly platforms earning extra points. It goes without saying that we appreciate seamless, real-time integrations as well.
The last aspect that affects the rankings is pricing. Here, we focus on value for money rather than price. We want to get as many features as possible for a reasonable fee, rather than just recommend cheap or free procurement software.
We further value software providers that let you test their product via a free trial and offer a money-back guarantee, as well as those with a fair exit policy. That said, we don’t overlook the price completely, but rather, stick to options whose fees align with the industry average. All brands in the table offer great value for the investment and come at a reasonable price for their features.
Small and midsize businesses, as well as large enterprises, can all use the powerful Procurify software. This system easily integrates with popular solutions such as QuickBooks, NetSuite, and Slack. Robust and extensive, Procurify empowers users to create custom approvals and streamline their purchasing workflows. It does this via both desktop and mobile devices, meaning it’s a valuable tool inside and outside the office.
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Listing all the functionalities of the Procurify purchasing order software is exhausting with the brand covering all the essentials. Customizable approval routing flows, simple purchase requests and PO creation are just a few. The list goes on with custom CSV exporters, custom fields, vendor benchmarking, and accounts payable. This robust solution also features vendor management and expenses management. Advanced permissions, advanced onboarding, and guaranteed SLA also come as part of the more expensive Procurify packages.
You can test this product by requesting a demo. From there on, there are three premium packages, whose prices Procurify provides upon request. They are designed to meet the needs of what the company refers to as different Spend Cultures, or the values and behaviors of employees. As a result, the product can perform equally well as an IT procurement software and as a purchasing solution for nonprofits.
The three basic plans are Pioneer, Voyager, and Enterprise. They all come with a robust set of functionalities. The latter two, however, support advanced permissions and multiple business units. Some features of the Enterprise plan meanwhile are guaranteed SLA, advanced onboarding, and data and security documentation.
Perfect for businesses of any size and in any industry, Tradogram is a one-stop solution for several essential processes. As a purchase order and inventory management software, the platform tackles multiple steps, including requisitions and documentation. Its rich functionality list further makes Tradogram an excellent choice for firms in various industries. Companies in education, construction, manufacturing, and healthcare are some of the system’s users.
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As a real purchase-to-pay solution, Tradogram comes packed with functionalities. The platform handles your PO management via PO matching, invoice automation, delivery management, and inventory distribution. Flexible and customizable, this procurement management software gives you the power to configure automated workflows and streamline approvals.
Tradogram also comes with a convenient items master database and lets you automatically document purchasing records. Both lead to insightful reports and analysis of your spending. With Tradogram, you can track expenses and control purchase orders internally.
You can get a free trial to test if Tradogram is the right product for your needs.
New businesses with up to 10 transactions a month can use the platform as free procurement software. To get unlimited transactions and multi-users, you need the Premium Plan. This comes at $15 per month or $10 per month when billed annually. Entities that require 20 or more users can request a quote for the Enterprise Package.
In terms of features, the Free Basic plan comes with contract management, invoice matching, expense management, delivery tracking system, and several other tools. User permission control, approval routing, custom spend reports, and priority support are some essential features of the Premium Plan.
Those looking for a world-class cloud-based procurement software should consider investing in Fraxion. The platform can handle everything since it’s already serving businesses in construction, education, and financial services alongside non-profits and governmental organizations. Fraxion is scalable, flexible, and robust, meaning it removes approval bottlenecks, streamlines workflows, and handles reporting in a breeze.
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Fraxion doesn’t disappoint with its long list of procurement tools. Users get to request and approve purchases as well as invoices and reimbursements. Uploading of supporting documentation is possible, while users can create routing rules and standards permissions. End-to-end expenses tracking is another basic function of Fraxion alongside the three-way invoice matching and custom user-created fields.
Fraxion is much more than a single solution. It comes with visual workflows, custom analytics, and vendor punchout. Contract management is possible as well with this robust platform. The system’s advanced plans have even more purchasing system software functionalities. Some of these include automatic POs, invoices and expense reports, automated accounts payable, and unlimited approval levels.
Any company can experience the Fraxion platform by requesting a demo.
Then, the software provider offers three premium plans – Prime, Prime +, and e. Their pricing comes with subscription fees for deployment services and users, as well as support and hosting. Since every company has different needs, Fraxion provides quotes upon request only.
The brand also offers SLA packages for those who want services outside the company’s standard support and maintenance program.
Vroozi comes with several business solutions for users. This purchasing management software handles your marketplace, procurement, invoicing, integration, analytics, and expenses. It also works on both desktop and mobile devices for extra convenience. In terms of business size and industry focus, Vroozi serves all types of companies and organizations.
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Vroozi offers all the essential tools of a procurement platform and much more. Users of the system can track requests, centralize organizational spending, and approve purchase orders. Three-way matching prevents overpaying, while the supplier catalog gives you valuable insights about your vendors. This procurement workflow software seamlessly integrates with your financial systems and significantly cuts down cycle times.
With Vroozi, you also get secure approval processes and insightful reports. The user analytics, which leads to more informed decisions going forward, also deserves a mention, along with Vroozi’s budgeting, reporting, and self-service platform.
The company offers numerous services and a fully scalable product. You can request a live demo to see what functionalities make sense for your business. After that, the vendor will provide you with an offer tailored to suit your individual needs, working style, and business size.
An excellent choice for mid-sized and large companies, the Gatekeeper procurement software solution is here to boost your efficiency with its exclusive features. The Kanban Workflow Engine helps towards the visualization of vendor onboarding, documentation updates, performance reviews, and supplier invitation. With a robust core platform and many additional modules, Gatekeeper offers full automation and lower operating costs to businesses and nonprofits.
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Everything is easy with the AI machine learning that comes with the Gatekeeper Core platform. Users of this procurement software can manage contracts and vendors as well as workflow and compliance. They also get integrated digital signature software and contract templates. Procurement is easily handled with Gatekeeper and its automated renewal processes alongside the tracking of compliance, risk, and events.
The platform wants you to succeed, so it also provides best-practice templates together with useful reports. Gatekeeper is highly configurable and flexible, and seamlessly integrates with numerous apps, including Google Drive, Zapier, Outlook, and Oracle.
Gatekeeper provides a free demo and three basic premium plans.
With the cheapest Essentials package coming in at $695 per month, this solution is not exactly the most affordable procurement software for a small business. It, however, works great for established companies with more complex needs. This plan supports 150 suppliers and 150 contracts. For $1,650 per month, consumers can get the Pro package, which comes with 500 suppliers and 500 agreements.
Finally, Gatekeeper Enterprise supports 1000 of each for $2,950 a month. Those who need unlimited suppliers and contracts can ask for a tailored quote for their needs.
All plans come with unlimited users and archived suppliers and contracts. They also support unlimited eSign senders, eSign signers, and eNegotiate templates.
Orderhive is another leading procurement planning software that handles several other areas with its robust set of features. Essential functionalities such as barcode systems, automated POs, and multi-currency transactions enable users to create smooth purchase processes. Let Orderhive streamline all your workflows and cut your operating costs with its sturdy and smart platform.
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Even the cheapest Orderhive packages come with tons of functionalities. These include order management as well as inventory and shipping tools. As a procurement management system, here are some crucial features Orderhive brings to the table:
These are enough to place Orderhive among the most lavish solutions on the market. Yet, the list goes on with many other functionalities such as delivery tracking, multi-warehouse management, bar-code printing, and product tagging. The more expensive plans meanwhile feature seamless integrations and full automation.
Orderhive gives customers a 15-day free trial to test if this cloud procurement software is for them.
It then offers three pre-designed paid plans – Lite ($49.99/month), Starter ($149.99/month), and Growth ($299.99/month). These are prices for monthly payments. If you choose annual billing, you get a 10% discount. Large companies can request a quote for the Enterprise Plan that comes with unlimited orders, custom requirements, priority integrations, and a dedicated account manager.
We’d like to highlight that the Automations module is included only in the Starter, Growth, and Enterprise packages. The Orderhive API access comes with the Starter Pack, while premium integrations are part of the Growth plan.
With Bellwether, it doesn’t matter whether you prefer cloud-based or on-premise procurement software solutions since the brand offers both. Bellwether is a popular business process management platform that allows small and midsize entities to handle multiple sectors. The fantastic BPM software elegantly deals with purchases, requisitions, approvals, receiving, invoice matching, and inventory management.
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Catalog management, asset management, invoice processing, vendor management, and contract management are some of Bellwether’s most impressive procurement software features. Users can also handle receiving, sourcing, spending, and requisitions with the system. Easily break a request into more than one purchase order or consolidate multiple requests into a single PO. Create orders from scratch or use tested templates. The options are endless with Bellwether.
As an administrator, you can override order details, enter up to 999 items in a single PO, and rename POs. The system will do the tax calculations for you and will display total PO costs. Bellwether is excellent for making repeated purchases, as it stores all necessary data for future orders.
While Bellwether isn’t a procurement software open source solution, it offers a free plan for small businesses. Entities with up to three users can use the Free Plan for an entire year. This package comes with tutorial manuals, online support, and seven modules (requisitions, purchasing, quotes, receiving, inventory, approvals/budgets, and three-way matching).
Next, we have the Small Business plan, whose pricing depends on the number of users. Here are your options:
This package offers full support, catalog capabilities, and expert implementation & training support.
The Enterprise solution can be both cloud-based and on-premise. It includes all the functionalities of the previous packages, along with the procurement solutions. The pricing for the Enterprise Plan depends on the selected modules. You pay per user or for a concurrent license. Here is the average cost when paying per user:
Prospective customers can also ask for a custom quote.
AvidXchange is a platform that fits all businesses, regardless of their size and industry focus. Scalability and flexibility make the system a perfect construction procurement software as well as a real estate invoicing solution. This is possible thanks to the robust dashboard with numerous functionalities that empower you to create streamlined workflows in all sectors. AvidXchange integrates with over 150 apps, including Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, and QuickBooks.
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What makes AvidXchange stand apart from rival procurement systems is its approach to handling the process. Namely, it has two cornerstones of procurement – cost control and money management. Controlling the expenses comes with a focus on frequency, multi-level access, and manual task elimination. When it comes to managing your funds, AvidXchange will disregard any duplicates, provide reports, and determine the most efficient procurement patterns.
Contact the vendor to request a demo of their product. After that, AvidXchange will provide you with a quote based on your company size, modules wanted, and the number of processed orders.
In all our procurement software reviews, we appreciate companies with a straightforward approach and reasonable pricing. TradeGecko has both. Multiple integrations, ease of use, friendly UI, and configurability are the platform’s strongest features. Users not only get to streamline their procurement, but also manage inventory, sales, shipping, and relationships. TradeGecko mobile meanwhile makes all these fantastic features available on the go.
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As a procurement-focused TradeGecko user, you can easily create and edit POs. The intuitive procurement management software will provide all necessary vendor data, so the possibility for human errors is minimized. The useful barcode scanners enable seamless product restocking while emailing of POs is done directly through the system.
Consumers get to create custom and automated workflows as well as receive orders partially or in full. You can also easily mark partial POs to avoid overpaying. All this comes with the exclusive TradeGecko Intelligence that provides insightful reports and analysis.
Try TradeGecko’s purchasing and inventory software by requesting a 14-day free trial. Then, you can choose from six paid packages, which are billed either monthly or annually. Annual billing offers savings of up to 20%. The prices of TradeGecko’s premium plans below apply to monthly billing:
All plans come with free onboarding and account management, 24/7 tech support, and access to the TradeGecko Knowledge Center.
Streamline procurement to pay, achieve cost certainty, and improve product quality with the NetSuite eProcurement software. Maintain a healthy relationship with your vendors, regardless of your business size and industry. With NetSuite by Oracle, users also achieve source-to-pay operations accuracy by implementing full automation, invoice matching, and approval routing.
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Features
With the simple source, purchase, and pay approach towards procurement, NetSuite covers the needs of various companies. The platform functions equally well as hotel procurement software as it does as a solution for companies in construction, healthcare, and manufacturing. Automation plays a huge role here as it minimizes human interference. Users get to integrate transaction flows, while the system performs three-way matching.
Vendor management is another essential functionality that enables tracking of approved items, pricing, and addresses. NetSuite is further equipped with detailed integrated reports and 360-degree views of your procurement process. Quote requests, blanket POs, requisitions, and vendor bills round up the fantastic features list.
Oracle offers a free tour as well as a demo on all its products. To get a quote tailored to your needs, you should contact the vendor.
Finding the best product for your business isn’t limited to the price or the reviews. There are specific steps that can lead you to the ideal solution for your procurement needs.
Read on and let us navigate you through the selection process with our expert buying guide.
Business industry and size along with location play a crucial role in finding the appropriate purchasing software. The first step, therefore, is to focus on products that target companies of a similar size and in your industry. Alternatively, aim for general and flexible systems that can quickly adapt to your day-to-day operations.
At this point, it’s good to weed out software providers that don’t have experience with businesses in your state. With many states having location-specific regulations, and you want your software to be able to handle those.
The second step is to define the essential features of your business. Do you need anything industry-specific? Is it an absolute must for the software to offer real-time reports? List all the functionalities you want. Only procurement software that has them all or, at least, most of them, will pass this phase.
Finally, find a winner from the remaining options by defining your budget. This is easy because you simply set out an amount you plan to spend on this investment. Then, compare that amount against the products that survived phase two to find the most suitable solution.