Softwr

ERP · head to head

Unanet vs Unit4

Unanet logo

Unanet

ERP

Project ERP and CRM built for government contractors and architecture and engineering firms

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Unit4 logo

Unit4

ERP

ERP for people-based organisations where the cost centre structure keeps changing

From
$800/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Unanet no pricing is published for any Unanet product; every line is quoted per user per month with separate implementation fees, so a small contractor cannot budget the first year without a full sales cycle.; Unit4 manufacturing, warehouse management and supply chain planning are not the point of this product, so a business with significant inventory will find capability gaps that no amount of configuration closes.
  • They diverge on capability: Unanet covers DCAA-oriented timekeeping, Unit4 covers Flexible organisational model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Unanet and Unit4 actually diverge.

Attributes where Unanet and Unit4 differ
AttributeUnanetUnit4
Starting priceOn request$800/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, iOS, AndroidCloud, Web, Mobile
FoundedUnknown1987

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (ERP).

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 Unanet

  • DCAA-oriented timekeeping
  • Indirect rate management
  • Contract type support
  • Project accounting
  • Resource planning
  • Unanet CRM
  • Compliant invoicing
  • Unanet ERP AE

Only in Unit4

  • Flexible organisational model
  • Project and time accounting
  • Financial management
  • Procurement
  • Human resources
  • Planning and forecasting
  • Reporting
  • Grant and fund accounting

What people use each for

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

Unanet

  • A federal contractor moving from QuickBooks and spreadsheets because it has won its first cost-reimbursable contract and needs an accounting system that survives a DCAA adequacy reviewnot Unit4
  • A services firm that must calculate and true up provisional indirect rates each year and cannot do it credibly in Excel any longernot Unit4
  • An architecture and engineering practice tracking utilisation and project profitability across dozens of concurrent jobsnot Unit4
  • A government contractor consolidating a separate CRM, timekeeping tool and accounting package into one system so pipeline and backlog reconcilenot Unit4

Unit4

  • A university or public body whose funding structure and reporting hierarchy change more often than its accounting system can keep up withnot Unanet
  • A professional services firm that needs time, project profitability and financials in one ledger rather than in three systemsnot Unanet
  • A nonprofit or NGO accounting for restricted funds and reporting to donors on how each was spentnot Unanet
  • An organisation going through a merger or restructure that needs comparative reporting across both the old and new structuresnot Unanet

Where each one falls short

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

Unanet

  • No pricing is published for any Unanet product; every line is quoted per user per month with separate implementation fees, so a small contractor cannot budget the first year without a full sales cycle.
  • Implementation is a project rather than a signup, involving chart of accounts design, indirect pool structure and data migration, and third parties report implementation fees reaching five figures for mid-sized deployments, an amount easily missed when comparing per-user rates.
  • The interface is dated compared with modern SaaS finance products, which raises training time for staff who only touch it to enter a timesheet and increases the support burden on the finance team.
  • ERP and CRM are separate products with separate contracts, so a firm that wants pipeline, backlog and actuals in one place pays twice and still deals with an integration boundary between them.
  • Its value is concentrated in United States federal and state contracting compliance, so a firm that does no public-sector work is paying for indirect rate machinery and DCAA audit behaviour it will never use, and a non-US firm gets almost nothing from the product’s main differentiator.

Unit4

  • Manufacturing, warehouse management and supply chain planning are not the point of this product, so a business with significant inventory will find capability gaps that no amount of configuration closes.
  • Payroll is generally handled by a separate product or a regional third party rather than being included, so multi-country organisations end up managing several payroll vendors alongside the ERP.
  • Moving from an established on premise Agresso installation to the current cloud product is closer to a re-implementation than an upgrade, with data migration, process redesign and retraining to pay for on a system that already worked.
  • The consulting and partner ecosystem is considerably smaller than for SAP, Oracle or Microsoft, so specialist skills are harder to hire, cost more, and are concentrated in a small number of firms with limited availability.
  • The flexibility that makes reorganisation cheap also makes it easy to build a model nobody understands, and an organisation that has reconfigured its hierarchy repeatedly without documentation ends up unable to explain its own reporting.

Pricing, plan by plan

Unanet

On request
  • Unanet ERP GovCon$undefined/year
    • Project accounting with indirect rate pools
    • DCAA-oriented daily timekeeping and audit trail
    • Cost-plus, T&M and fixed price contract billing
  • Unanet ERP AE$undefined/year
    • Project accounting configured for architecture and engineering firms
    • Resource planning and utilisation reporting
    • Priced per user per month, quoted
  • Unanet CRM$undefined/year
    • Pursuit and opportunity tracking
    • Proposal content library and reuse
    • Sold separately from ERP; quoted

Unit4

$800/month
  • Professional Services$800/month
    • Project accounting
    • Resource management
    • Time tracking
  • Enterprise$2000/month
    • Advanced features
    • Multi-entity
    • Analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Unanet if

  • You need dcaa-oriented timekeeping.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, iOS, Android.
  • You also want indirect rate management.
Unanet review

Choose Unit4 if

  • You need flexible organisational model.
  • You work on Cloud, Web, Mobile.
  • You also want project and time accounting.
Unit4 review

Questions people ask

Is Unanet or Unit4 better?
Neither clearly leads. Unanet starts at On request and Unit4 at $800/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Unanet or Unit4?
Unanet starts at On request and Unit4 at $800/month.
Does Unanet or Unit4 run on more platforms?
Unanet runs on Web, Cloud, iOS, Android. Unit4 runs on Cloud, Web, Mobile.
What is Unanet best used for?
Unanet is most often used for a federal contractor moving from quickbooks and spreadsheets because it has won its first cost-reimbursable contract and needs an accounting system that survives a dcaa adequacy review, a services firm that must calculate and true up provisional indirect rates each year and cannot do it credibly in excel any longer, an architecture and engineering practice tracking utilisation and project profitability across dozens of concurrent jobs, a government contractor consolidating a separate crm, timekeeping tool and accounting package into one system so pipeline and backlog reconcile. Of those, a federal contractor moving from quickbooks and spreadsheets because it has won its first cost-reimbursable contract and needs an accounting system that survives a dcaa adequacy review and a services firm that must calculate and true up provisional indirect rates each year and cannot do it credibly in excel any longer are not what Unit4 is typically brought in for.
What can Unanet do that Unit4 cannot?
Unanet covers DCAA-oriented timekeeping, Indirect rate management, Contract type support, Project accounting. Unit4 covers Flexible organisational model, Project and time accounting, Financial management, Procurement.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Unanet: What does Unanet cost?

Nothing is published. Pricing is per user per month and quoted, with implementation fees charged separately on top of the subscription.

Unit4: Is Unit4 ERP the same thing as Agresso?

Yes, in lineage. Agresso is the earlier name for the same product line and long-standing customers still use it. Current marketing uses Unit4 ERP, and the cloud product is a substantially different deployment from the on premise Agresso installations still in service.

Unanet: Does Unanet make you DCAA compliant?

No software does. Unanet provides the timekeeping controls, audit trail and indirect rate accounting that an adequacy review looks for; the policies and their enforcement are still yours.

Unit4: Can it run a manufacturing business?

Not well. This product is built for organisations whose cost base is people and projects. If your planning problem is materials and production capacity, look at a manufacturing ERP instead.

Unanet: Is Unanet CRM included with the ERP?

No. Unanet CRM, built on the acquired Cosential platform, is a separate product with its own contract.

Unit4: What actually justifies the price against a mainstream ERP?

The cost of change. If your structure is stable, the flexibility is worth little and a mainstream product is cheaper. If you reorganise regularly and each reorganisation currently means a consultancy engagement, that recurring cost is where the business case sits.

Unanet: How does it compare with Deltek?

Unanet typically targets smaller contractors than Deltek Costpoint and is quicker to implement, but has less depth for very large multi-segment organisations.

Unit4: Is it sold direct or through partners?

Both. Unit4 sells and implements direct in its main markets and also works with partners. Ask which model applies to your region and country, because it determines who is accountable when the implementation slips.

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