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Field Service · head to head

Brightly Asset Essentials vs UpKeep

Brightly Asset Essentials logo

Brightly Asset Essentials

Field Service

CMMS and asset management for schools, local government, healthcare estates and manufacturing, now part of Siemens

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
UpKeep logo

UpKeep

Inventory

Mobile-first maintenance management

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only UpKeep has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Brightly Asset Essentials nothing about the pricing is published, the official pricing page has been removed, and quotes are per organisation, so buyers cannot benchmark and negotiating leverage depends entirely on running a competitive process.; UpKeep offline mobile mode limited to Professional tier and above
  • They diverge on capability: Brightly Asset Essentials covers Work orders and requests, UpKeep covers Work order management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Brightly Asset Essentials and UpKeep actually diverge.

Attributes where Brightly Asset Essentials and UpKeep differ
AttributeBrightly Asset EssentialsUpKeep
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteUnknown
Free tierNoYes
CategoryField ServiceInventory
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Brightly Asset Essentials

  • Work orders and requests
  • Asset registers
  • Capital planning
  • Inventory
  • Mobile app
  • Energy and sustainability
  • Reporting

Only in UpKeep

  • Work order management
  • Asset management
  • Mobile-first
  • SAP
  • Oracle
  • Salesforce
  • QuickBooks
  • Zapier

Both cover

  • Preventive maintenance

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Brightly Asset Essentials

  • A school district consolidating maintenance requests from fifty buildings into one queue with a portal teachers can usenot UpKeep
  • A municipal public works department that must justify replacement capital to a council with condition-based evidencenot UpKeep
  • A healthcare estate tracking statutory compliance tasks and producing audit evidence on demandnot UpKeep
  • A senior living operator standardising preventive maintenance across sites with a mobile app technicians will actually opennot UpKeep

UpKeep

  • Preventive and reactive maintenance schedulingnot Brightly Asset Essentials
  • Work order management across multiple locationsnot Brightly Asset Essentials
  • Asset lifecycle tracking and compliancenot Brightly Asset Essentials

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Brightly Asset Essentials

  • Nothing about the pricing is published, the official pricing page has been removed, and quotes are per organisation, so buyers cannot benchmark and negotiating leverage depends entirely on running a competitive process.
  • Implementation and data migration are quoted separately and commonly add five figures to a mid-size deployment, which is not visible when comparing headline subscription numbers.
  • Siemens ownership has pointed the roadmap at building and infrastructure integration, so industrial maintenance features compete for attention with Siemens Smart Infrastructure priorities.
  • Capability is split across separate Brightly products, so functionality shown in a demo may require an additional module and an additional line on the contract.
  • Reporting is fixed-template heavy and getting a non-standard report often means exporting to a spreadsheet, which undermines the case for consolidating on one system.

UpKeep

  • Offline mobile mode limited to Professional tier and above
  • Per-user pricing model; costs scale significantly with team size
  • Free trial available but tier details not documented; duration unspecified

Pricing, plan by plan

Brightly Asset Essentials

On request
  • Asset Essentials$undefined/year
    • Priced by named users and modules, quoted per organisation
    • Implementation, data migration and training quoted separately
    • Multi-year agreements are the norm for public-sector buyers

UpKeep

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the UpKeep review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Brightly Asset Essentials if

  • You need work orders and requests.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want asset registers.
Brightly Asset Essentials review

Choose UpKeep if

  • You need work order management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want asset management.
UpKeep review

Questions people ask

Is Brightly Asset Essentials or UpKeep better?
Neither clearly leads. Brightly Asset Essentials starts at On request and UpKeep at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Brightly Asset Essentials or UpKeep?
UpKeep has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Brightly Asset Essentials and Free for UpKeep.
Does Brightly Asset Essentials or UpKeep run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use UpKeep for free?
Yes. UpKeep has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Brightly Asset Essentials starts at On request.
What is Brightly Asset Essentials best used for?
Brightly Asset Essentials is most often used for a school district consolidating maintenance requests from fifty buildings into one queue with a portal teachers can use, a municipal public works department that must justify replacement capital to a council with condition-based evidence, a healthcare estate tracking statutory compliance tasks and producing audit evidence on demand, a senior living operator standardising preventive maintenance across sites with a mobile app technicians will actually open. Of those, a school district consolidating maintenance requests from fifty buildings into one queue with a portal teachers can use and a municipal public works department that must justify replacement capital to a council with condition-based evidence are not what UpKeep is typically brought in for.
What can Brightly Asset Essentials do that UpKeep cannot?
Brightly Asset Essentials covers Work orders and requests, Asset registers, Capital planning, Inventory. UpKeep covers Work order management, Asset management, Mobile-first, SAP. Both handle Preventive maintenance.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Brightly Asset Essentials: Who owns Brightly?

Siemens, which acquired it in 2022 for around 1.58 billion USD. It sits within Siemens Smart Infrastructure.

UpKeep: How much does UpKeep cost per user?

UpKeep pricing starts at $24/user/month for the Essential tier, $55/user/month for Premium, with Professional and Enterprise tiers available at custom quotes. All plans include unlimited work orders and locations.

Source
Brightly Asset Essentials: What does Asset Essentials cost?

Not published. It is quoted by user count and modules, with implementation priced separately.

UpKeep: What does the free trial include?

UpKeep offers a free trial with no credit card required on the Essential and Premium tiers. Users can try the product before committing to paid plans.

Source
Brightly Asset Essentials: Is it suitable for manufacturing?

It can run a plant, but the product heritage and roadmap are estates and infrastructure, so plant-specific features lag purpose-built industrial CMMS.

UpKeep: Are Nova AI credits included in the pricing?

Yes, Nova AI credits are included with every plan: 250 credits with Essential, 500 with Premium, 750 with Professional, and 1,000 with Enterprise tiers.

Source
Brightly Asset Essentials: Is there a free tier or trial?

No published free tier. Evaluation is through a sales-led demo.

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