BQE CORE vs SmartSuite Comparison
Compare BQE CORE vs SmartSuite features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
BQE CORE
6.3/10
Cloud firm management platform for architecture, engineering and consulting firms. It combines project management, time tracking, billing, accounting, CRM and payroll.
SmartSuite
7.3/10
SmartSuite is a no-code work management platform that teams use to build project, process and operations solutions with views, automations and AI agents.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.3/10 | 7.3/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Cost | 4/10 | 6/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Ease of Use | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 6/10 | 9/10 |
| Support | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | $20/user/mo Team |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Contact for pricing | $200/mo Team |
| Features | ||
| App integrations | ||
| Dashboards | ||
| Gantt charts | ||
| Reporting | ||
| Scheduling | ||
| Task management | ||
| Time tracking | ||
| Client collaboration | Not listed | |
| Collaboration tools | Not listed | |
| Databases | Not listed | |
| Docs | Not listed | |
| File sharing | Not listed | |
| Kanban boards | Not listed | |
| Spreadsheet interface | Not listed | |
| Task lists | Not listed | |
| Team messaging | Not listed | |
| Timeline view | Not listed | |
| Whiteboards | Not listed | |
| Workflow automation | Not listed | |
BQE CORE vs SmartSuite cost by team size
| Team size | BQE CORE | SmartSuite |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | Contact for pricing | Contact for pricing |
| 5 users | Contact for pricing | $100/moTeam |
| 10 users | Contact for pricing | $200/moTeam |
| 25 users | Contact for pricing | $500/moTeam |
| 50 users | Contact for pricing | $1,000/moTeam |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose BQE CORE
- Higher Support score (8/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose SmartSuite
- Higher Security score (9/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Cost score (6/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (7/10 vs 4/10)
Pros & Cons
BQE CORE
Pros
- Time entries, project budgets and invoicing live in one system, so billable work flows straight into invoices.
- Reviewers say they can track project budgets in a way QuickBooks could not.
- Built specifically for architecture, engineering and consulting firms, including phased billing and fee schedules.
- The base plan includes 24/7/365 support and a dedicated account manager.
- More than 100 pre-built integrations, including QuickBooks, Xero, DocuSign and Power BI, plus Zapier and an open API.
Cons
- No public prices. Every plan and module needs a quote.
- Users report slow page loads and occasional glitches.
- Some reports take considerable work to configure for the result you want.
- Its project pages don't mention Kanban boards, a client portal or document collaboration.
- Implementation can be hard, especially with the QuickBooks Online integration.
SmartSuite
Pros
- The same records can be shown as grid, Kanban, Gantt, timeline, calendar, map and dashboard views without duplicating data.
- Its compliance coverage is unusually strong for the category, with ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA and GDPR audits plus a choice of US or EU data residency.
- Read-only users, commenters and form submitters are free, which lowers the cost of involving stakeholders.
- It ships more than 200 templates and an AI solution builder to speed up setup.
- Reviewers describe the support team as responsive.
Cons
- Team, Professional and Enterprise carry 3-, 5- and 25-seat minimums, and there is no free plan.
- The Team plan allows only 5,000 records per solution, and automation runs plus API calls are hard-capped each month.
- SAML SSO and SCIM are available only on Enterprise and Signature plans.
- There is no team chat or whiteboard, and external access is limited to read-only shared views.
- Reviewers say complex workflows and large data imports take real setup effort, and there are no native desktop apps.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
SmartSuite scores higher on our Project Management criteria: 7.3/10 against 6.3/10 for BQE CORE. The largest gap is in Security: 6/10 for BQE CORE and 9/10 for SmartSuite.
No, neither BQE CORE nor SmartSuite lists a free plan.
SmartSuite is the better fit for enterprise: we rate it 7/10 for them, against 4/10 for BQE CORE.
