Project Management & Collaboration

ActiveCollab

UK / wider Europe Report an error

Panel rating · 6 judges · How to read the stars

Category median

Sovereignty: 2 of 4 dimensions proven

0–5 in half steps. 5 means the rubric's top anchor is met on the evidence.

An AI-assisted analysis of public evidence — not a hands-on test.

Every score, rationale and verdict on this page is AI-generated. Every claim cites the source it was read from. Nothing here is a human star review — and no score can be bought. How scores are made →

Method and versions

The Data Protection Officer v1.0 · The Bootstrapper v1.2 · The Enterprise Architect v1.0 · The UX Purist v1.0 · The Integrator v1.0 · The Skeptic v1.2 · rubric v1 · evaluated 5 Oct 2026

Report an error on this page Is this your product? →

Read this page as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.

The Bootstrapper

Weighted verdict

Pays with their own card. Optimizes for price/value at 3 seats and at 30, a usable free tier, and a price page that answers instead of qualifying. Rejects hidden seat minimums and "contact sales".

Same scores as the panel view — this lens weights them the way this judge cares.

Scored by The Bootstrapper

Collaboration depth

How this is scored

How much real multi-person project work the tool carries: shared planning, assignments, dependencies, workload, comments, guest access.

0 — A personal task list; a second user has no defined place in it.

3 — Tasks can be shared and assigned, but planning stays per-person — no shared timeline, workload or dependency view.

5 — Solid shared projects with assignments, comments and at least one team-level planning view; gaps appear in cross-project or capacity planning.

8 — Team-level planning is first-class: cross-project views, workload/capacity, dependencies, guest or client access with sane permissions.

10 — Handles the full span from two freelancers to a structured department in one model — planning, capacity, permissions and client involvement all without workarounds.

Report an error

The Bootstrapper

Workload and capacity views across projects, automatic task dependencies, time-off feeding availability, and client roles with unlimited clients free on the entry plan make the planning surface genuinely team-level rather than per-person. One-on-one and group chat plus project discussions keep communication inside the tool. The captured pages put workload management, capacity planning and utilization in the top tier, so the full span sits one plan up from the entry price. 2 4 5 10

Report an error

Reporting

How this is scored

Whether the tool can answer questions about the work: progress, time, budgets, utilization — and export the answer.

0 — No reporting beyond looking at the board.

3 — Fixed per-project status views only; nothing aggregates across projects and nothing exports cleanly.

5 — Useful standard reports (progress, tracked time) with basic filters and CSV export, but limited customization and no budget/utilization depth.

8 — Configurable cross-project reporting incl. time, budgets and utilization, with dashboards and reliable exports.

10 — Reporting is a product in itself: custom report builder, scheduled delivery, API access to every metric the UI shows.

Report an error

The Bootstrapper

Time, expense, budget-versus-cost, payments, invoicing and capacity reporting are all documented, with long filter lists, saved presets, role-scoped access and CSV export, plus dashboards for time, assignments and the business overview. Utilization and profitability depth is real but concentrated in the top tier. We found no public information on scheduled report delivery or API access to every metric the interface shows. 2 6 7 10

Report an error

Integrations

How this is scored

How well the tool connects to the rest of the stack: native integrations, calendar/comms hooks, API and webhooks, import/export paths.

0 — A closed box — no API, no integrations, CSV out if anything.

3 — A handful of marquee integrations, no public API or an API that covers a fraction of the product.

5 — The common set (calendar, Slack/Teams, file storage) plus a documented public API; automation platforms partially covered.

8 — Broad native catalogue, well-documented API and webhooks, first-class automation-platform support and real import paths from competitors.

10 — Ecosystem-grade: everything in 8 plus the tool is itself extensible (apps/plugins, AI/MCP surfaces) and exit via API export is complete.

Report an error

The Bootstrapper

Webhooks are documented down to the event list, per-project filtering, an optional secret header and a test button, with Zapier native and Make or IFTTT reachable through webhooks, plus a documented API, an MCP server for AI connections and real import paths from Asana, Trello and Wrike. The captured native catalogue is a short list — Google Drive, Dropbox, Slack, QuickBooks, PayPal and Stripe — and Slack, QuickBooks and webhooks sit above the entry plan. We found no public information on a native Microsoft Teams integration or an app marketplace. 2 8 9 12

Report an error

Onboarding effort

How this is scored

Time and friction from signup to first real value for a small team, without paid services.

0 — No self-serve path — onboarding starts with a sales call and an implementation project.

3 — Self-serve exists but the first project requires configuration a newcomer cannot judge yet (workflows, custom fields, permissions) before anything works.

5 — A team gets a first project running within a day; trial requires payment details or key steps live behind docs.

8 — Signup to working project inside an hour: guided setup, sensible defaults, templates, trial without payment details.

10 — Minutes to value even for non-tool-people, importers pull existing work in, and the tool teaches its own advanced features as the team grows into them.

Report an error

The Bootstrapper

A 14-day trial with no credit card, self-onboarding as the default path, and sample projects that demonstrate the product without counting against plan limits or seats — that is a real first hour. Project templates with relative due dates, autosave and conversion from existing projects make the second project cheaper than the first, and migration from spreadsheets, Asana, Trello or Wrike is quoted in minutes. We found no public information on a guided setup wizard or first-run checklist, which holds this just below the top. 2 10 11

Report an error

European sovereignty

How this is scored

Where the company and the data actually sit: legal entity, ownership control, data residency, and subprocessor exposure to non-EU jurisdictions.

0 — Non-European vendor, data on US infrastructure under US law, no DPA worth the name.

3 — DPA and GDPR language present, but hosting defaults to the US or ownership sits outside Europe — compliance paperwork over substance.

5 — EU data residency is available and contractually fixed, but the vendor or its controlling owner is non-European, or core subprocessors put data within CLOUD Act reach.

8 — European company under European control with EU-resident data and a public DPA; remaining exposure is limited to identifiable subprocessors (e.g. a US hyperscaler's EU region) and is documented.

10 — European company, European control, EU-only data residency on European infrastructure, subprocessor list free of extraterritorial reach — verifiable, not asserted.

Report an error

The Bootstrapper

The captured privacy policy shows primary storage in Canada and the USA with France as backup only, and we found no public information on choosing an EU region; the company operates from Serbia, outside the EEA, and US-headquartered processors such as Google, Zoom and Stripe appear in the chain. GDPR language is present — an Article 28 reference, deletion timelines, a portability right — with the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy serving as the data processing agreement. Self-hosting is the only evidenced route to keeping data on my own servers. 3 4

Report an error

Support & documentation

How this is scored

Whether a stuck user gets unstuck: docs quality, support channels and their availability per plan, and the health of the learning surface.

0 — No docs beyond marketing pages; support is a contact form that may answer.

3 — Docs exist but are thin or stale; support on entry plans is effectively email-only with slow turnaround.

5 — Searchable help center covering the core product; chat or email support on all plans with reasonable response times.

8 — Deep, current docs incl. onboarding guides and templates; fast chat support not gated to top tiers; visible changelog.

10 — Docs, academy, community and support so good they are a reason to buy; SLAs published, support quality independent of plan.

Report an error

The Bootstrapper

The help center runs deep — step-by-step books on reports, webhooks, project templates and getting started — and live chat is listed on every plan rather than held back for top tiers, with a community and categorized contact routes on top. Self-hosted support terms, exclusions and renewal prices are published openly, which I value. We found no public information on a visible changelog, published SLAs or response-time commitments. 2 9 11 12 13

Report an error

Pricing transparency

How this is scored

Can a buyer determine the real, payable cost of the tool for their team before talking to anyone?

0 — No public pricing at all — every number sits behind "contact sales".

3 — Some tiers are public, but a deciding factor (seat minimums, mandatory add-ons, billing-period surcharge, tax treatment) only surfaces at checkout or in fine print.

5 — Self-serve tiers are publicly priced and the billing-period difference is stated, but the headline number still needs qualifying — e.g. annual-only headline, taxes excluded without saying so, or an opaque enterprise tier doing real work.

8 — Every self-serve tier is fully priced with billing periods and tax treatment plain on the page; only genuinely custom enterprise work lacks a number.

10 — Every tier including enterprise has a public price or published price formula, and the headline number is the number on the invoice.

Report an error

The Bootstrapper

Every cloud tier carries a public number — $12.5 per month with 3 seats included on the entry plan, $10 per user/month on Pro, $15 per user/month on Pro+, $3.5 per user/month at 100+ seats — with the seat matrix showing caps rather than minimums, and a 14-day trial that asks for no credit card. The yearly saving is stated only as "up to 17%" and we found no public information on tax treatment, so the headline number still needs a small qualifying step. Self-hosted support renewals at $699 and $999 are published outright, which I respect. 1 2 13

Report an error

European sovereignty — proven facts

2 of 4 dimensions proven

Built only from facts shown on the vendor's own pages. A dimension we could not prove is left open, not scored as zero.

Legal entity	Not determined ⚠ unverified	—	uncited Report an error
Ownership	Not determined ⚠ unverified	—	uncited Report an error
Data residency	US by default ⚠ unverified	0/3 pts	3 Report an error
Subprocessors	US CLOUD Act reach ⚠ unverified	0/2 pts	3 Report an error

Where this could be wrong

Evidence ages. The oldest capture behind this page is from 11 Sep 2026. Vendors change pricing and policies without notice; every fact reflects its source as of the capture date shown in the registry.
Weak sourcing — Ownership, Legal entity. Not confirmed on the vendor’s own pages as captured.
Weak sourcing — Data residency. Canada is listed as a primary location alongside the USA, France serves only as an offsite backup, and no EU region can be chosen; the self-hosted license is the only way to keep data on one's own servers.
Weak sourcing — Subprocessors. The list names no hosting provider, and Google (Google Drive, used for file storage of customer-care data) and Zoom (support video calls) appear as further US-headquartered processors, while MailChimp, Google Analytics, Meta Ads Manager and RB2B serve marketing only.
AI can misread a source. Extraction and judgement are automated; a citation guarantees traceability, not infallibility. If something here is wrong, say so — no account needed, every report is decided within 5 business days, and accepted corrections are published.

What we left out

A claim that does not survive our checks costs us the claim, not the page. This is what was taken off this one.

15 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
11 pricing facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
7 support facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
6 legal facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
4 integrations facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
2 compliance facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
2 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown. Know more? Tell us

Do you know more about ActiveCollab? Tell us Report an error on this page

Sources (13)

The pages every claim on this page was read from — each one checked, dated, and kept verifiable.

1 Vendor homepage activecollab.com Checked 15 Sep 2026 Details →
2 Vendor pricing page activecollab.com Checked 15 Sep 2026 +1 earlier capture: 11 Sep 2026 Details →
3 Privacy policy activecollab.com Checked 15 Sep 2026 Details →
4 Collaboration depth — found from sitemap activecollab.com Checked 1 Oct 2026 Details →
5 Collaboration depth — found from sitemap activecollab.com Checked 1 Oct 2026 Details →
6 Reporting — found from sitemap activecollab.com Checked 1 Oct 2026 Details →
7 Reporting — found from sitemap activecollab.com Checked 1 Oct 2026 Details →
8 Integrations — found from sitemap activecollab.com Checked 1 Oct 2026 Details →
9 Integrations — found from sitemap activecollab.com Checked 1 Oct 2026 Details →
10 Onboarding effort — found from sitemap activecollab.com Checked 1 Oct 2026 Details →
11 Onboarding effort — found from sitemap activecollab.com Checked 1 Oct 2026 Details →
12 Support & documentation — found from sitemap activecollab.com Checked 1 Oct 2026 Details →
13 Support & documentation — found from sitemap activecollab.com Checked 1 Oct 2026 Details →