Resource Guru is a fast, low-cost way to book people. Kavaro is for agencies whose hard question isn't "who's free?" but "who should take this, and does it still make money?" This page compares the two honestly. It covers features, the price for a 20- and a 60-person agency, and when you should stay with Resource Guru.
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Prices and features were checked against Resource Guru's own pricing page and help centre on 19 October 2026. Tell us if something has changed and we'll fix it.
The short answer
| If you mainly need… | Pick |
|---|---|
| Simple, cheap booking of people, meeting rooms and equipment, with clash warnings | Resource Guru |
| The lowest per-person price for a scheduler (from $5/person/month) | Resource Guru |
| To staff work from a statement of work, see margin per booking, keep pipeline revenue separate and get costed cover options when a role has no one in it | Kavaro |
| An assistant that answers resourcing questions from your data and proposes changes for you to confirm | Kavaro |
Where Kavaro and Resource Guru differ
Booking people vs deciding who should do the work
Resource Guru is built around the booking. You drag work onto a person. If they're full, its clash management offers a waiting list, overtime or extended availability. That works well when the decision has already been made.
Kavaro starts earlier, at the point of "should we say yes?" Drop a statement of work into Kavaro's chat and it drafts the project: phases, budget type, the team it needs and tentative bookings. Those go to named people or to open roles you haven't filled yet. You edit the draft, then confirm it.
One agency ops lead told us: "Where this starts to get really interesting, I guess, is provisional bookings." Both tools hold tentative work. Kavaro also tells you what it does to margin and who could cover it.
Margin on every booking, without a separate report
On Resource Guru, project rates and budgets come with Blackbelt ($8/person/month) and above. Grasshopper has no reports, timesheets, rates or budgets.
In Kavaro, every booking carries a charge rate from the project's rate card and a cost rate saved from the person when you book them. The finance view shows revenue, cost and margin for the period. Tentative work appears as its own line, so pipeline revenue never gets mixed into confirmed numbers. Hours missing a rate are flagged rather than counted as zero.
When a role has no one in it
Resource Guru gives you placeholders: 1 on Grasshopper, 5 on Blackbelt, 10 on Master. Extra placeholders are billed at the per-person rate.
Kavaro's open roles go further. Its hiring agent looks 4, 8 and 12 weeks ahead at every open role, including work tagged Pitch or Opportunity. It ranks the ways to cover each one:
- someone in the same role with space
- slipping the start by up to 10 working days
- partial internal cover plus a freelancer
- extending a contract that ends just before
Each option is costed. Kavaro also tests whether one permanent hire would pay for itself over 12 months.
Ask, then confirm
Ask Kavaro "who's free for three days a week of senior design in November?" and it answers from your own data, showing how the answer was calculated. Any change, such as a booking, a moved date or a new project, comes back as a Confirm/Reject card. Nothing changes until a person confirms it.
Feature comparison
| Kavaro | Resource Guru | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $20/user/month billed annually; one plan | $5 / $8 / $12 per person/month (Grasshopper / Blackbelt / Master); Enterprise on request |
| Free trial | 30 days, no card | Fully featured, no card (30 days on its agencies page) |
| Tentative bookings | Yes, all of Kavaro | Yes, all plans |
| Unfilled roles | Open roles | Placeholders: 1 / 5 / 10 by plan; extras billed per person |
| Leave | Time off shown in the schedule; leave clashes flagged in the weekly feed | Leave management on all plans |
| Clash handling | Overallocated hours shown in the capacity view; leave clashes flagged in the weekly feed | Waiting list, overtime or extended availability (per Resource Guru) |
| Rates and budgets | Charge and cost rate on every booking; T&M, fixed fee, fixed hours, retainer | Project rates and budgets on Blackbelt and above |
| Margin report with tentative revenue kept separate | Yes | Not listed |
| Reports | Utilisation by person and by project; finance; weekly feed | Blackbelt and above (none on Grasshopper) |
| Timesheets | Suggested from bookings | Blackbelt and above |
| Drafts a staffed project from a statement of work | Yes | Not listed |
| Costed cover and hiring options | Yes | Not listed |
| Books rooms and equipment | No | Yes, billed at $2.50–$6 per resource |
| SSO | SAML SSO (Entra ID, Okta, OneLogin) | Master and above |
"Not listed" means we didn't find it on Resource Guru's pricing page or help centre on 19 October 2026.
Resource Guru pricing explained (October 2026)
Resource Guru charges per person you add, whether they log in or not. Rooms, equipment and any placeholders beyond your allowance are charged too. Prices are in US dollars, and GBP is available on request. UK customers pay VAT on top. The pricing page shows a "Get 2 months free!" annual offer. Its comparison table lists Grasshopper at $4.16, which looks like the annual rate, but the page doesn't label it.
| Team | Resource Guru Master ($12) | Kavaro ($20 billed annually) |
|---|---|---|
| 20-person agency | $240/month | $400/month |
| 60-person agency | $720/month | $1,200/month |
Resource Guru Master is the highest published list price (Enterprise is on request). Figures are list prices × headcount, in US dollars, before any annual discount, tax, rooms or equipment. Kavaro is $20 per user per month billed annually.
The honest read: Resource Guru is cheaper per head, even on Master ($12 vs Kavaro's $20 billed annually). Kavaro costs more because it does the staffing decision, the margin and the cover options rather than just the booking. If you don't need those, Resource Guru's Blackbelt plan is good value.
When Resource Guru is the better pick
- You book things as well as people. Meeting rooms, studios, cameras and vehicles are first-class resources in Resource Guru. Kavaro schedules people only.
- You want the lowest cost per person. At $5–$8, Resource Guru undercuts Kavaro's $20 billed annually.
- The staffing decision is already made and you just need a clear, shared calendar with clash warnings. One Reddit commenter described Resource Guru as working well "for no frills resource management".
- You want years of reviews. Resource Guru has 541 on Capterra at 4.7. Kavaro has none yet.
- A spreadsheet is still fine. One resource manager told us: "In my previous agency I had a Google Sheet and it worked absolutely fine." If that's you, you may not need either tool yet.
When Kavaro is the better pick
- Your problem is which work to take on and who should do it, not just recording bookings.
- You need margin per project, with pipeline kept separate, without exporting to a spreadsheet.
- Pitches and tentative work regularly create seats nobody is in yet, and you want to know what each option costs.
- You want to ask questions in plain English, or from Slack, Claude or ChatGPT, and confirm every change yourself.
Other Resource Guru alternatives worth a look
| Tool | Best for | Price (19 Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Float | A mature visual scheduler; time tracking and rate cards on Pro | $7 per scheduled person/month (Starter) |
| Productive | One all-in-one system for sales, budgets, billing and resourcing | $10–12 per user/month (Essential) |
| Teamwork.com | Running delivery as tasks, with workload planning | From $9.99; workload planning on Accelerate at $24.99 per user/month (annual, min. 5 users) |
Full comparisons: Kavaro vs Float · Kavaro vs Productive · Kavaro vs Kantata
Resource Guru vs Float, at a glance
Choosing between the two most established schedulers? Here are the facts from each vendor's own pricing page on 19 October 2026:
| Resource Guru | Float | |
|---|---|---|
| Who you pay for | Everyone you add, logged in or not, plus rooms and equipment | Only people on the schedule; guests are free |
| Entry plan | $5 Grasshopper: no reports, timesheets, rates or budgets | $7 Starter: scheduling, capacity, time off, project scoping |
| Mid plan | $8 Blackbelt: reports, timesheets, rates and budgets | $12 Pro: time tracking, rate cards, cost estimates, advanced reports, SSO |
| SSO | Master ($12) | Pro ($12) |
| Placeholders | 1 / 5 / 10 | 1 / 5 / custom |
| 20 people, mid plan | $160/month | $240/month |
| Trial | No card; 30 days on the agencies page | 30 days, no card |
| Capterra | 4.7 (541 reviews) | 4.5 (1,621 reviews) |
| Pick it if | You book rooms and kit too, or want the lowest price for reports and budgets | You want time tracking and rate cards in the same tool as the schedule |
Switching from Resource Guru
The worry we hear most is "the lift and shift and double running and not losing something." Kavaro builds your data from what you already have:
- People: upload CVs and Kavaro drafts each profile, skills included.
- Projects: upload statements of work and Kavaro drafts each project.
- Checking: you confirm every draft, and a seeded demo and tours let you try every page first.
Run both tools side by side during the 30-day trial.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Resource Guru alternative for agencies?
It depends on what's missing:
- Margin, tentative pipeline and costed cover options: Kavaro.
- A visual scheduler with time tracking and rate cards in one plan: Float Pro.
- One system for sales, budgets, billing and resourcing: Productive.
How much does Resource Guru cost?
On 19 October 2026, Resource Guru listed Grasshopper at $5, Blackbelt at $8 and Master at $12 per person per month, with Enterprise on request. It charges for every person you add, plus rooms, equipment and extra placeholders. A 20-person agency on Blackbelt pays about $160 a month before VAT and any annual discount.
Does Resource Guru have tentative bookings?
Yes. Tentative bookings are on every Resource Guru plan. Placeholders are limited to 1, 5 or 10 depending on the plan.
Is Resource Guru cheaper than Kavaro?
Yes, per person. Resource Guru starts at $5 per person per month, and Kavaro is $20 per user per month billed annually. Kavaro includes margin per booking, open roles, costed cover options and an AI assistant in its one plan.
Is Resource Guru or Float better?
Resource Guru is cheaper for reports and budgets ($8 Blackbelt) and books rooms and equipment. Float charges only for scheduled people, and its $12 Pro plan adds time tracking and rate cards. See the table above.
Can I move my data from Resource Guru to Kavaro?
Yes. Upload CVs to create people and statements of work to create projects, then confirm each draft. You can run both tools during the 30-day trial.
Related: Agency resource management software · Pricing · Float alternative · Kavaro vs Productive · Kantata alternative