Kantata (formerly Mavenlink) is a professional services automation (PSA) suite whose awards are in the mid-market and enterprise PSA categories. Kavaro is resource management for agencies and consultancies that want the staffing and margin view without a PSA rollout, at a price you can see. Here's an honest comparison, including when Kantata is still the right choice.
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Checked against Kantata's own pricing and resource-management pages and its Capterra listing on 19 October 2026.
The short answer
| If you need… | Pick |
|---|---|
| A PSA suite covering projects, resourcing and time, rolled out across a large, multi-team firm | Kantata |
| Skill-based staffing (per Kantata) in a large firm | Kantata |
| Resourcing, margin and pipeline for an agency of roughly 10–150 people, set up from your CVs and statements of work | Kavaro |
| Published pricing and a free trial you can start today | Kavaro |
Where Kavaro and Kantata differ
Published price vs a pricing conversation
Kantata doesn't publish prices. Its pricing page says: "Every services business is unique, so your pricing should be too." The next step is a form to speak to a PSA Advisor, and the pricing page doesn't offer a self-serve trial. One competitor's blog says Kantata requires at least 50 licences. Kantata's pricing page doesn't state a minimum, so treat that as unconfirmed.
Kavaro costs £15 per user per month billed annually, or £18 monthly. Every account starts with a 30-day free trial, no card needed.
Weight and setup
Kantata is broad. That's its strength for large firms and the most common complaint from smaller ones. In the Capterra reviews we read on 19 October 2026, the most frequent theme was the learning curve. A founder on a free trial wrote: "The platform felt heavy for my needs. There's a noticeable learning curve" (3★). Another reviewer said there are "too many moving parts." On Reddit, a list of agency tools described Kantata as having a "heavy UI and steep learning curve."
Kavaro does one job. You can bring your people and projects in by uploading CVs and statements of work. Kavaro drafts the profiles and projects, and you confirm them. A seeded demo and tours let you try every page before you add your own data.
Resourcing accuracy
Kantata matches "the right people to the right work based on scope, scheduling, skillsets, and availability," and lets you "evaluate multiple resource plans simultaneously." Some users report gaps between plan and hours. One 2026 reviewer wrote that "there are frequently bugs with resourcing allocation where the timeline says one thing, but the hours are…" (Senior Account Coordinator, Capterra).
In Kavaro, each booking is the single source. Capacity, utilisation, margin and timesheet suggestions all read from it. Confirmed work is solid, tentative work striped, and open roles have their own rows. Kavaro's finance view shows revenue, cost and margin for the period, with tentative revenue on a separate line.
Cover options, not just requests
When a role has no one in it, Kavaro's hiring agent looks 4, 8 and 12 weeks ahead. It covers work tagged Tentative, Pitch, Opportunity or Estimate. It ranks the costed ways to cover each open role:
- same-role colleague with space
- slipping the start by up to 10 working days
- partial cover plus a freelancer
- extending a contract
It also tests whether a permanent hire would pay for itself over 12 months.
AI, with a person confirming
Kantata advertises "intelligent resource recommendations". Kavaro's assistant answers plain-English questions from your data, shows how it calculated each answer, and proposes every change as a Confirm/Reject card. It never changes the schedule on its own.
Feature comparison
| Kavaro | Kantata | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Resource management | Professional services automation (PSA) |
| Price | $20/user/month billed annually; published | Not published; custom quote via a PSA Advisor |
| Free trial | 30 days, no card | None offered on Kantata's pricing page |
| Minimum users | None stated | Not stated by Kantata (one competitor says 50) |
| Skills-based staffing | Skills on profiles (drafted from CVs) | Yes: "skill-based staffing" |
| Multiple resource plans | Costed cover options per open role | "Evaluate multiple resource plans simultaneously" |
| Tentative / pipeline work | Yes: striped bookings, tagged Tentative, Pitch, Opportunity, Estimate | "Plan for resource demand in your project pipeline" (per Kantata) |
| Margin per booking, tentative revenue kept separate | Yes | Not listed |
| Drafts a staffed project from a statement of work | Yes | Not listed |
| Full PSA suite | No | Yes |
| Audience | Agencies and consultancies | "agencies and professional services firms"; awards for mid-market and enterprise PSA |
"Not listed" means we didn't find it on Kantata's pricing or resource-management pages on 19 October 2026.
Kantata pricing: what we could and couldn't find (October 2026)
- Kantata's own site: no prices, plans or trial. Pricing is tailored after a conversation.
- Capterra: lists Kantata as a "custom quote", billed per user per month. Capterra's AI summary of reviews says: "Kantata is expensive, especially for small businesses."
- Third-party price estimates online are usually category benchmarks, not Kantata quotes. We don't repeat them here.
What Kavaro costs, for comparison:
| Team | Kantata | Kavaro ($20 billed annually) |
|---|---|---|
| 20-person agency | Quote only | $400/month ($4,800/year) |
| 60-person agency | Quote only | $1,200/month ($14,400/year) |
Kavaro is $20 per user per month billed annually, in US dollars, before tax. If you already have a Kantata quote, put the annual total next to these figures, along with any implementation fees and the time your team spends on rollout.
When Kantata is the better pick
- You need a full PSA suite, with projects, time and resourcing in one governed system.
- You staff a large, multi-team firm by skill and want that inside the same suite.
- You've already rolled it out. If your team uses it well, switching costs may outweigh the gains.
- You want proof at scale. 629 Capterra reviews, and its awards are for mid-market and enterprise PSA. Kavaro is new and has no reviews yet.
When Kavaro is the better pick
- You were quoted for, or priced out of, Kantata and mainly needed resourcing.
- You're an agency where Kantata feels heavy, and people work around it in spreadsheets.
- You want margin per booking with pipeline kept separate, and cover options when a seat is empty, without a PSA project.
- You'd rather start a trial today than book a pricing call.
Moving from Kantata or Mavenlink
The worry we hear most is "the lift and shift and double running and not losing something." So you don't have to move everything at once:
- Keep Kantata for whatever it does well for you during the trial.
- Build your people and projects from CVs and statements of work. Kavaro drafts them and you confirm.
- Run resourcing in Kavaro for a month and compare the margin view with what you get today.
For consultancies with utilisation targets and bench time, see resource management for consultancies.
Frequently asked questions
Is Kantata the same as Mavenlink?
Yes. Kantata is the new name for Mavenlink. G2 lists the combined product as "Kantata Professional Services Automation (formerly Mavenlink + Kimble)".
How much does Kantata cost?
Kantata doesn't publish prices. Its pricing page says pricing is tailored to each business and asks you to speak to a PSA Advisor. Capterra lists it as a custom quote, billed per user per month.
What is a good Kantata alternative for a small or mid-sized agency?
If you want another full PSA, the Kantata comparisons that rank today come from Scoro and Productive. If you mainly need resourcing, Kavaro shows capacity, tentative work and margin per booking, publishes its price (£15 per user per month billed annually) and has a 30-day free trial.
Does Kavaro replace Kantata entirely?
Not if you rely on Kantata as your wider PSA. Kavaro replaces the resourcing part: schedule, capacity, margin and cover options. You keep your other systems.
Does Kantata have a free trial?
Kantata's pricing page doesn't offer one. The next step there is a conversation with a PSA Advisor. Kavaro has a 30-day free trial with no card.
Related: Agency resource management software · Resource management for consultancies · Pricing · Kavaro vs Productive · Resource Guru alternative