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Comparison

Simplicate vs. Rodeo: Which One to Choose?

Joanna Marlow
|
May 20, 2021
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Project management software can definitely give your business an efficiency boost while keeping your administration organized and generating valuable insights. But to achieve this, it’s very important that you select a tool that really aligns with your business processes. 

Simplicate shares its mission to improve the business processes of companies with the enormous amount of other project management tools out there. That’s why their focus lies on the primary business process: sales activities, managing projects, invoicing, and customer relationship management.

For all other processes, they have developed integrations with other tools and apps.

The differences between Simplicate and Rodeo

To determine which one would best suit your organization, it’s important to know the exact differences between Simplicate and Rodeo. We will give you the full low down below.

Simplicate focuses on IT business consultancy

The first thing to consider while selecting a tool for your company is the industry you are active in. As mentioned before, Simplicate was developed based on best practices within the IT business consultancy industry. However, besides consultancy and accountancy firms, financial services agencies, and recruitment companies, Simplicate also recommends its software to online marketing agencies, architecture firms, and creative companies.

Even though they have been able to broaden their client portfolio, their original focus will probably continue to shine through.

The founder of Rodeo also happens to have a background in accountancy and was the former CEO of Kop of Munt. This financial services agency primarily concentrates on creative companies. Subsequently, the development of Rodeo was based on best practices from the creative industry. Think of marketing and advertising agencies, (digital) design and architecture firms, Media companies, and other creative organizations.

By now we know that Rodeo is suitable for almost any company that works on projects. Yet the same logic applies, as you will probably still be able to notice a slight focus on creative work processes. 

Please note: Even if you specifically work at a creative company or an accountancy firm, this doesn’t make either of the tools the obvious choice. The features of the other tool might still align better with your work processes. 

Simplicate has so many features that you might not even use

What you will notice right away is the abundance of features Simplicate offers. Take your time to determine how many of them you actually need.

Have you already counted more redundant than essential features? Then this excess of useless features will probably create too much distraction. Losing a clear overview is completely the opposite of what you want.

Rodeo focuses on the business processes that are connected to each other per project, by mapping out the different phases. Simplicate’s approach to this process is not as in-depth while offering more features that support the processes around this. 

You could say that Rodeo’s features are developed vertically in relation to the project cycle, while the sum of Simplicate’s features has more of a horizontal approach.

For example, Simplicate has an extensive CRM and HRM category in addition to the features commonly used for project planning. However, you only gain access to certain features if you buy a specific plan. We will reveal more about this in the next segment.


We know it’s hard juggling between different platforms. With Rodeo, you can do everything using just one platform. Try Rodeo for free.


Simplicate is much more expensive than Rodeo

This one is pretty simple, Simplicate is much more expensive in comparison. You pay a fixed amount per month with a choice between three different plans at various price points.

To access more features, you need a more expensive plan. Some features are indispensable in our opinion, such as the possibility to generate comprehensive reports. This feature is not included in the cheapest plan. If you wish to gain full access to all features, you will pay at least 30 dollars per user based on a team of only five employees.

The cost per person decreases for a company size of 250 to 500 employees, but for small to middle-sized companies, this is not convenient.

Rodeo offers two plan options: the Free plan and the paid Achiever plan. The Free plan provides access to our basic features at no cost, whereas the Achiever plan allows unlimited access to all features. 

Three people having a meeting.

Purchase expenses can’t be deducted per project with Simplicate

We have previously explained that Simplicate takes a more horizontal approach to feature development. There are far more categories for all their features in comparison to Rodeo, although these features seem a little less intuitive.

With Rodeo, you start with a project budget, from which you deduct resources and purchase expenses per project. With Simplicate these costs are deducted from general sales-, project expenses- and purchasing account features. The disadvantage here is that you can’t deduct these expenses from a specific project.

Working with freelancers per project is complicated with Simplicate

Do you often add on temporary freelancers for specific projects? Then Simplicate might not be the most practical option. Freelancers can’t be added as temporary users within the tool, which is annoying if they need to collaborate with the rest of your team. You will always have to pay for some extra users per month, just in case.

Hiring freelancers is in fact a purchase expense in the form of labor. So you would want to be able to deduct this as an expense. As we have discussed in the previous point, however, purchase expenses can’t be deducted from specific project budgets.

Simplicate depends on integrations with other tools

Simplicate was built with a focus on features meant to support the primary business processes. For all other processes, they facilitate integrations with other well-known tools. These integrations enable you to use features from other tools through the interface of Simplicate. 

This seems super handy, as you can continue to work with tools and apps you are already used to. Yet surprisingly, this isn’t by definition the most efficient or effective way of working.

As an all-in-one tool, Rodeo doesn’t require third-party integrations to give you a full project management experience. All necessary features for managing projects are already included and were specially developed to complement each other, functioning as a seamless system that supports your work processes.

Another advantage is that you save even more money. Rodeo replaces all the other tools and apps that each come with additional costs.

Simplicate is less suitable for international teams

With a focus on the Dutch market, it’s only logical that Simplicate’s website is only available in the Dutch language. Nowadays though, it’s becoming more common for companies to have an internationally diverse team, even in the Netherlands.

Fortunately, the settings in the Simplicate tool itself allow you to change the language to English. Although we noticed that not all of the translations are consistent. 

In contrast to Simplicate, the website and tool from Rodeo are available in English and Dutch. Furthermore, Rodeo has separate sales and support teams per region. This way we are always able to provide service in your language of choice.

Overview features Simplicate vs. Rodeo

Have you been able to keep track of all the features offered by Simplicate versus Rodeo?
Below you will find a detailed overview:

Features 

Simplicate

Rodeo

Language settings website

❌ 

Budgets

Estimates

Projects & planning

Due dates & times

Time tracking

Price per user profile

HRM

Expense tracking per project

Invoicing

 ✅ 

Reports

 Only when you choose the “Professional” or 

“Ultimate Efficiency” plan.

 ✅ 

 Detailed reports based on 
real-time data.

Takeaway

Now that we have painted a picture of the exact differences, we hope you have a better understanding of what these two tools have to offer. An important factor is that Simplicate has a slight focus on IT consultancy, while Rodeo has a slight focus on creative companies. Experience has shown that both tools are suitable for almost any company that works on projects. It all really depends on your business processes.

If you value extensive CRM and HRM functionalities, then Simplicate has much to offer. Its features allow you to track all your leads and prospects and you can filter through all your clients per industry. The contact list feature in Rodeo is much more simple, which could also be seen as an advantage.

Do you often work with freelancers or team members who don’t need all of the features? Then you will experience much more flexibility with Rodeo, while also saving on your monthly spending! Carefully analyze your business processes to determine whether you would benefit more from a tool with vertically or horizontally developed features. This will lead you to the right choice.