Government · head to head
Bonfire vs NEOGOV
Bonfire
Government
Public sector sourcing and bid evaluation software with scored, auditable award decisions
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
NEOGOV
Government
Public sector HR suite covering civil service recruiting, onboarding, training and policy management
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Bonfire it is a sourcing and evaluation tool rather than full procure to pay, so requisitions, purchase orders and invoicing stay in the finance system and the join between them is the agency's problem.; NEOGOV each module is shallower than the specialist product it competes with, so agencies buying the full suite for coherence accept weaker performance management and learning than they would get separately.
- They diverge on capability: Bonfire covers Solicitation posting, NEOGOV covers Civil service recruiting.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Bonfire and NEOGOV actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Government).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Bonfire
- Solicitation posting
- Sealed submission intake
- Scored evaluation workspace
- Audit trail
- Supplier portal
- Requirement matrices
Only in NEOGOV
- Civil service recruiting
- Veterans preference handling
- GovernmentJobs.com posting
- Onboarding workflows
- Learning and training records
- Policy management
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Bonfire
- An agency that has lost or nearly lost a bid protest and needs a defensible evaluation recordnot NEOGOV
- A procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and emailnot NEOGOV
- A university or health system applying public procurement rules without a public procurement systemnot NEOGOV
- An agency wanting suppliers to self register and receive addenda automatically rather than by mailing listnot NEOGOV
NEOGOV
- A city or county HR department that must run scored examinations and ranked eligibility listsnot Bonfire
- A public safety agency needing policy acknowledgement records that stand up in litigationnot Bonfire
- An agency replacing a commercial applicant tracking system that cannot handle veterans preferencenot Bonfire
- A school district or university consolidating recruiting, onboarding and mandated training recordsnot Bonfire
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Bonfire
- It is a sourcing and evaluation tool rather than full procure to pay, so requisitions, purchase orders and invoicing stay in the finance system and the join between them is the agency's problem.
- Since the acquisition path from GTY to GI Partners to Euna Solutions, Bonfire sits in a portfolio alongside products it once competed with, which narrows a shortlist that appears independent.
- Suppliers must register on the portal to bid, and small local vendors reliably complain about the extra account, which can reduce responses on low value solicitations.
- Pricing is quoted rather than published and scales with solicitation volume, so an agency with a few very large procurements pays a model designed around throughput.
- Contract management after award is thin compared with dedicated contract lifecycle products, so agencies often buy a second system for the obligations the award created.
NEOGOV
- Each module is shallower than the specialist product it competes with, so agencies buying the full suite for coherence accept weaker performance management and learning than they would get separately.
- Policy management arrived through the PowerDMS acquisition rather than being built in, and the join between it and the rest of the suite still reads as two products.
- Implementation is long and configuration heavy because the civil service rules that make the product valuable have to be encoded for your jurisdiction, and that work is billed.
- Pricing is not published and scales with headcount, so a large agency can pay several times what a comparable one pays without knowing it unless someone reads the public contracts.
- Private equity ownership since the Warburg Pincus investment has coincided with an acquisition led strategy, and buyers should expect further products bolted on rather than deeper integration of the existing ones.
Pricing, plan by plan
Bonfire
On request- Bonfire$undefined/year
- Quoted by agency size and annual solicitation volume
- Supplier side registration is free, which is how the vendor network grows
- Implementation and training quoted separately from subscription
NEOGOV
On request- NEOGOV Suite$undefined/year
- Quoted per module and scaled by employee headcount
- Implementation and data migration priced separately from the subscription
- Available through cooperative purchasing and state term contracts
Which should you pick?
Choose Bonfire if
- You need solicitation posting.
- You also want sealed submission intake.
Choose NEOGOV if
- You need civil service recruiting.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want veterans preference handling.
Questions people ask
- Is Bonfire or NEOGOV better?
- Neither clearly leads. Bonfire starts at On request and NEOGOV at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Bonfire or NEOGOV?
- Bonfire starts at On request and NEOGOV at On request.
- Does Bonfire or NEOGOV run on more platforms?
- Bonfire runs on Web. NEOGOV runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- What is Bonfire best used for?
- Bonfire is most often used for an agency that has lost or nearly lost a bid protest and needs a defensible evaluation record, a procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and email, a university or health system applying public procurement rules without a public procurement system, an agency wanting suppliers to self register and receive addenda automatically rather than by mailing list. Of those, an agency that has lost or nearly lost a bid protest and needs a defensible evaluation record and a procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and email are not what NEOGOV is typically brought in for.
- What can Bonfire do that NEOGOV cannot?
- Bonfire covers Solicitation posting, Sealed submission intake, Scored evaluation workspace, Audit trail. NEOGOV covers Civil service recruiting, Veterans preference handling, GovernmentJobs.com posting, Onboarding workflows.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Bonfire: Who owns Bonfire?
Euna Solutions. Bonfire was acquired by GTY Technology in 2019, GTY was taken private by GI Partners in 2022, and the portfolio was rebranded Euna Solutions in 2023.
NEOGOV: Why not use a commercial applicant tracking system?
Because civil service rules such as ranked eligibility lists, rule of three certification and veterans preference are not expressible in commercial products, so the statutory steps end up in spreadsheets.
Bonfire: Is it full procure to pay?
No. It covers sourcing and evaluation through award. Purchase orders and invoicing remain in the finance system.
NEOGOV: Can I find out what other agencies pay?
Yes. These are public procurements, so executed contract values appear in council agenda packets and state term contract listings. Read several before negotiating.
Bonfire: What is the real value?
A defensible, time stamped evaluation record when an award is protested, which is the expensive failure mode in public procurement.
NEOGOV: What did NEOGOV acquire?
PowerDMS, a policy management and accreditation product, in 2021, which is now sold as the policy module of the suite.
Bonfire: Can we see what other agencies pay?
Yes. These contracts are public records. Read several comparable awards before negotiating.
NEOGOV: Is it only for the United States?
Effectively yes. The value is in encoding US civil service and public safety requirements.
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