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Government · head to head

Bonfire vs NICE Actimize

Bonfire logo

Bonfire

Government

Public sector sourcing and bid evaluation software with scored, auditable award decisions

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
NICE Actimize logo

NICE Actimize

Cybersecurity

Financial crime, risk and compliance suite for regulated institutions

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

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.; NICE Actimize modules are licensed separately, so a bank that starts with AML and later needs fraud and surveillance faces three negotiations and a bill that compounds rather than a suite price.
  • They diverge on capability: Bonfire covers Solicitation posting, NICE Actimize covers Suspicious activity monitoring.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bonfire and NICE Actimize actually diverge.

Attributes where Bonfire and NICE Actimize differ
AttributeBonfireNICE Actimize
PlatformsWebWeb, Linux, Windows
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 NICE Actimize

  • Suspicious activity monitoring
  • Watchlist filtering
  • Customer due diligence
  • Payment fraud detection
  • Markets surveillance
  • Case management
  • X-Sight marketplace

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 NICE Actimize
  • A procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and emailnot NICE Actimize
  • A university or health system applying public procurement rules without a public procurement systemnot NICE Actimize
  • An agency wanting suppliers to self register and receive addenda automatically rather than by mailing listnot NICE Actimize

NICE Actimize

  • A bank under a regulatory consent order that needs a monitoring system with an audit trail examiners already recognisenot Bonfire
  • A broker dealer required to implement trade surveillance covering both orders and trader communicationsnot Bonfire
  • A regional bank outgrowing spreadsheet-based sanctions screening and needing documented model governancenot Bonfire
  • A payments firm needing real time fraud scoring on faster payments alongside batch AML monitoringnot 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.

NICE Actimize

  • Modules are licensed separately, so a bank that starts with AML and later needs fraud and surveillance faces three negotiations and a bill that compounds rather than a suite price.
  • Tuning and model validation are consultant-heavy, and the services spend over a deployment often exceeds the first year licence cost.
  • The older on premises deployments carry batch-oriented architecture that makes true real time decisioning harder than in newer cloud native rivals.
  • Rule and model changes go through a controlled release process, so a bank reacting to a new fraud typology may wait weeks for a change that a modern platform would ship in days.
  • Because it is the incumbent at so many institutions, criminals have a good working understanding of what the standard rule sets detect, and undifferentiated out of the box configurations catch predictable behaviour.

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

NICE Actimize

On request
  • NICE Actimize$undefined/year
    • Licensed per module, not as one suite
    • Scaled by institution asset size or transaction volume
    • On premises or Actimize cloud deployment

Which should you pick?

Choose Bonfire if

  • You need solicitation posting.
  • You also want sealed submission intake.
Bonfire review

Choose NICE Actimize if

  • You need suspicious activity monitoring.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Windows.
  • You also want watchlist filtering.
NICE Actimize review

Questions people ask

Is Bonfire or NICE Actimize better?
Neither clearly leads. Bonfire starts at On request and NICE Actimize at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bonfire or NICE Actimize?
Bonfire starts at On request and NICE Actimize at On request.
Does Bonfire or NICE Actimize run on more platforms?
Bonfire runs on Web. NICE Actimize runs on Web, Linux, Windows.
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 NICE Actimize is typically brought in for.
What can Bonfire do that NICE Actimize cannot?
Bonfire covers Solicitation posting, Sealed submission intake, Scored evaluation workspace, Audit trail. NICE Actimize covers Suspicious activity monitoring, Watchlist filtering, Customer due diligence, Payment fraud detection.

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.

NICE Actimize: Is Actimize one product?

No. It is a family of separately licensed modules covering AML, fraud, due diligence and surveillance. You buy what you need and each has its own price.

Bonfire: Is it full procure to pay?

No. It covers sourcing and evaluation through award. Purchase orders and invoicing remain in the finance system.

NICE Actimize: Can it run in the cloud?

Yes, Actimize offers cloud deployment, though a large share of the installed base still runs on premises for data residency reasons.

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.

NICE Actimize: Who owns it?

NICE Ltd, an Israeli company listed on Nasdaq. Actimize is its financial crime division.

Bonfire: Can we see what other agencies pay?

Yes. These contracts are public records. Read several comparable awards before negotiating.

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