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Pricefx vs Vistex? – The Best Software Choice for You in 2024?

February 28th, 2022 (Updated 04/17/2024) | 13 min. read

By Garth Hoff & Francisco Verdesoto

Combatting inflation has become a central issue for companies the world over and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon. Consequently, rediscovering the lost art of finding creative ways to mitigate margin erosion has become key to updating the skill set for many organizations. Pricing software is a key tool that more companies worldwide are turning to as a modern data-informed method to help them keep up with the unprecedented rates of change. Congrats for being proactive and checking out the options for pricing software for your business and whittling down your search to Pricefx vs Vistex. Both options have their stronger and weaker points in a head-to-head comparison, so how do you choose the best software for your organization?  

For more than a decade now, the team here at Pricefx have been assisting business get exactly the right pricing software they need to bring their unique set of business objectives to fruition. To help you choose what suits your company best, we have compiled this direct head-to-head comparison article for Pricefx vs Vistex. However, before going further please note that; 

  • This comparison article is based upon information available to the general public, including information gathered from publicly available reviews, rankings, and testimonials. 
  • We suggest you also undertake your own research in combination with the information supplied below to reach your own decision. 
  • Please also note that the “Vistex” trademark and any other Vistex-specific names or branding are owned by Vistex, not Pricefx, and nothing in this article is intended to suggest any affiliation with or sponsorship by Vistex. Similarly, the “G2” trademark is owned by G2, and references to G2 are not intended to suggest affiliation with or endorsement by G2. 

Let’s dive right into seeing how these two pricing software providers – Pricefx vs Vistex – stack-up against one another and what each can offer to help make your business objectives reality. 

 

Pricefx Competitors – The Top 7 Comparison Features 

The two pricing software companies exhibit different functionality and their stronger or weaker points. 

Where possible, we will give you what we consider to be the clear winner in each of the Top 7 comparison categories which are as follows:

  1. Self-sufficiency 
  2. Ease of Use 
  3. Shortest Time to Value 
  4. Easiest Integration with Existing Systems 
  5. Most Accessible and User-Friendly AI Capabilities 
  6. Most Comprehensive Coverage of Current and Future Requirements 
  7. Best Solution for My industry? 

Would you prefer to read a review from an independent peer-to-peer review site? 

Check out this review from G2 on Pricefx vs Vistex head-to-head 

Read on if you would like our unbiased take on how Pricefx vs Vistex stack up. 

 

1. Self-Sufficiency  

Winner – Pricefx 

For those companies that are looking for a pricing software option that you can run easily and be managed by your own staff, Pricefx is clearly the winner in this first category over Vistex. 

With Pricefx, having your own staff trained by the Pricefx Team to independently use your pricing software is a highlight. Pricing strategies can be switched easily at the flick of a button in the Pricefx system due to the native-cloud architecture allowing for simple user interface configurations. What’s more, being able to change strategies yourself without heading back to your pricing vendor for assistance enables you as an end-user to react faster to market shifts.  

Self-sufficiency is a core module of the Pricefx Training Program. 

With Vistex, if you are looking to have ‘Do It Yourself’ (DIY) pricing strategies, it may be possible, but you might need to call in outside help from Vistex or a consultant to do the job.  

For example, consider the Vistex Data Maintenance Planning (DMP) tool. Certainly, you will be able to perform your elementary price setting with it. However, any changes to the rules governing your price setting may require the input of customer support, and with that of course, extra charges. 

With the Pricefx pricing software solution, price setting changes can be made simply in-house by your people and results seen and acted upon quickly. For example, being able to swivel pricing strategies quickly is a strong functionality for those businesses that require immediate reactivity to fluctuating raw material costs and speedy pricing modifications, not to mention making price list impact simulations. 

2. Ease of Use  

Winner – Pricefx  

When comparing Pricefx and Vistex in terms of ease of use, both pricing software solutions offer user-friendly interfaces and intuitive workflows. However, Pricefx edges ahead in this category due to its emphasis on simplicity and streamlined user experience. Pricefx provides a visually appealing and intuitive platform that allows pricing teams to navigate effortlessly through the software’s features and functionalities. Its modern interface, coupled with well-designed menus and dashboards, ensures a seamless user experience, making it easy for pricing teams to quickly grasp and utilize the software’s capabilities. 

On the other hand, while Vistex also offers a user-friendly interface, it may have a steeper learning curve due to its extensive range of features and customization options. Vistex provides robust pricing functionality, but the complexity of the software might require more training and time for users to become proficient. For example, many Vistex users have mentioned in reviews that finding the correct product information is sometimes challenging and reaching out to Vistex internal resources or VitalLink is required and that training options to becoming self-sufficient should be available. Despite this, once users become familiar with Vistex, it offers a comprehensive set of tools for managing pricing processes.  

Ultimately, Pricefx takes the lead in the ease-of-use category due to its user-centric design and emphasis on simplicity, allowing pricing teams to navigate the software efficiently and effectively. G2 reviewers in Spring 2024 concur that Pricefx is the winner in this category, 7.7 to 7.5. 

 

3. Shortest Time to Value

Winner – Pricefx  

When considering the implementation time and the speed at which your business can derive value from pricing software, Pricefx stands out as the optimal choice. Pricefx offers a cloud-based, modular solution that can be quickly implemented and configured to meet your specific business needs. The platform’s user-friendly interface and intuitive workflows enable a smoother and faster onboarding process. 

 With Pricefx, businesses can rapidly deploy the software, allowing pricing teams to start utilizing its capabilities and generating value in a shorter period. 

On the other hand, while Vistex also provides powerful pricing functionality, its implementation time may be longer due to the software’s extensive range of features and customization options. Vistex requires a more in-depth configuration process to tailor the software to your organization’s specific requirements. This customization, while possibly beneficial eventually, can potentially prolong the implementation timeline, leading to a longer time to value compared to Pricefx. 

If you would like to learn more about the ROI (Return on Investment) time of pricing software, we invite you to view our recent blog articles on “What ROI can I expect from Pricing Software?” and “Does Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Matter in Pricing Software.”  

To tie it up, if you would like to discover more about the costs of pricing software, please check out the article link directly below:

CTA-How-Much-Does-Pricing-Software-Cost

4. Easiest Integration with My Existing Systems 

Tie – Vistex/Pricefx (depending what systems you want to integrate) 

Your experience may be different as it depends what systems you want to integrate.  

With Vistex for example, it is not any surprise that if you’re looking for a tool to integrate with a legacy SAP tool, then Vistex is a good fit as it is embedded natively into many SAP functions. 

However, moving away from SAP for just a moment, Pricefx is arguably the more diverse of the two tools to flexibly integrate with almost any system. In fact, Pricefx will be your most flexible pricing software tool to integrate with if you are currently using multiple systems regardless of your customer bases, markets, and large product lists. Pricefx will potentially integrate with your system regardless of its type such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems like SAP, Oracle, MS Dynamics, IBM AS/400 (or any combination of those and/or other systems). If you are looking for greater agility, ease, and range of implementations across several systems, Pricefx will suit your needs nicely. 

Circling back to SAP integrations, an interesting point to note when it comes to integrations, is that despite its close relationship with SAP, Vistex is NOT a part of the SAP Endorsed App program as Pricefx is. 

While Vistex boasts impressive almost-native integrations, the continuous and permanent transition to SAP S/4 HANA, (SAP’s native cloud version finalizing in 2027), makes the native cloud architecture of the Pricefx pricing platform even more compelling. In contrast to the ‘old school legacy’ Vistex platform, Pricefx’s cloud-based nature will serve as a driving force for businesses as they migrate their SAP systems into the cloud with SAP S/4 HANA permanently. For further insights, please watch the video below. 

5. Most Accessible and User-Friendly AI Capabilities  

Winner – Pricefx 

For more than a decade, Pricefx has become extremely well-known across the pricing software industry for its strong price optimization capabilities and expertise built around the strength of the Pricefx AI Optimization. Between Pricefx and Vistex, if it is purely price optimization by innovative and AI informed data science that you are looking for, it is an extremely easy decision to make for Pricefx.  

Vistex does little in terms of AI and for similar ‘specialization’ reasons. The Vistex focus tends to be on SAP integrations and their excellent trade and rebate management systems rather than progressing with AI price management and further innovations.  

That said, there is some functionality in the Vistex price optimization model (such as one segment price guidance providing a floor and target and stretch price) but it is not driven by what is known by is known as ‘real-world’ AI. 

What real world AI allows for in the Pricefx pricing software system is to enable your data to be analyzed across multiple constraints through a single interface (no further analysis required through soiled systems or by data scientists). That level of business agility can easily adapt to changing market conditions that may shift even up to multiple times per day (such as raw material indices like oil or gold etc.) 

Furthermore, the Pricefx Next Gen pricing software technology allows for a ‘clear box’ approach. The AI allows for open, transparent, and accessible price setting with full reasoning for price shifts along all points of the waterfall clearly provided for end users. 

CTA-How-Can-Pricing-AI-Adoption-Bring-Added-Value-to-Your-Company

No interpretation of a deep analytical dive from a pricing scientist is required. DIY. 

 

6. Most Comprehensive Coverage of Current and Future Requirements

Tie – Vistex/Pricefx – depending on the breadth of your organization’s future requirements 

The outcome of this category will depend on your organization’s current and future requirements. Generally, Pricefx offers more ‘bells-and-whistles’ to better cover a wide and diverse range of pricing needs of solves more problems accordingly.  

However, if your company does not have large differentiation in your product and customer segments and, you are not looking to move over from your legacy SAP system and into the SAP S/4 HANA environment until you must when support for the legacy SAP evaporates in 2027, you might be perfectly fine my remaining with Vistex.  

For Trade Promotions and Rebate Management in particular, Vistex can link financial reporting into rebate management and view all results in one central location to feed into a price waterfall.  

However, overall, Pricefx also has a wider range of innovative exclusive features that form part of a one-stop pricing shop.  

For example, if your business depends heavily on rebates, promotions, and discounts in your quoting procedure, Pricefx has the perfect tool to cut downtime of managing Rebates and more time on optimizing your prices. The Pricefx Rebate Management capability in combination with its Rebate partner, Enable defines, manages, simulates, calculates rebates, discounts, bonuses etc. so that you can accurately deliver rebates on time to clients.  

The unique Pricefx Sales Compensation function is a fantastic way for your salespeople to gauge how they will make money and can serve as an indicator of how your organization will grow its revenue. The compensation plan is built to incentivize selling behavior by:   

  • Ensuring that salespeople sell within the given guidelines   
  • Selling larger deals,   
  • Or selling more deals depending on the needs and goals of the individual and organization.  

And of course, the Pricefx Sales Compensation features empower your business to have a sole source of truth bridging the gap between the pricing and sales team and working together to achieve the company’s objectives. When that kind of business alignment happens, everyone will be working together to achieve your organization’s unique set of business objectives. 

And PricefxPlasma® provides for industry-level benchmarking to B2B enterprise companies, empowering your pricing team to compare how long it takes your staff to process a quote against other players in your industry-specific market, and across other industry-relevant KPIs. 

7. Best Solution for My Industry?  

Tie – Vistex/Pricefx – Totally dependent on your company’s industry 

Your specific industry may align directly with the industry specialties of one of the two pricing software companies compared, which may assist you in deciding between Pricefx and Vistex (depending on the functionality you require). 

Vistex are best known for working with the following industries:

  • Automotive 
  • Life Sciences 
  • Media 
  • High Tech 
  • Telecommunications 

While for Pricefx, they specialize on their recognized ‘Big 4’ key vertical industry sectors: 

Pricefx Alternatives – How to Choose the Best Software for You 

Now you’re armed with all the facts, you may have decided which is the best pricing software for your company – Pricefx or Vistex – or even another pricing software vendor. 

Vistex might be the pricing software choice for your business if you’re exclusively an SAP user and heavily involved in trade and rebate management, rights, royalties, and chargebacks. 

Alternatively, if you’re looking for a more overall price management tool, costing less to install, driven by AI-informed price setting and be self-sufficient in its use with a faster time to value, Pricefx could be your pricing software of choice. 

As both Pricefx and Vistex are high quality and reliable options, they each offer different functionality advantages for different companies. Consequently, it is understandable if you want to learn more. 

At Pricefx, we have spent more than a decade assisting businesses to decide how to choose the pricing software that suits their needs. If your organization remains unsure on what is the best pricing software choice for you, then check out this handy article:

CTA-How-to-Choose-The-Pricing-Software-That-Is-Right-For-You

However, if you have already completed your pricing software homework and established that Pricefx suits your company’s needs, talk to one of our experts today. 

Garth Hoff & Francisco Verdesoto

Director Industry Strategy, Pricefx & Partner and Pricing Practice Intelligence Lead , Cognitus

Garth Hoff is a 15-year veteran of the pricing industry. He has real-world practitioner experience as a Director of Pricing Strategy, and also pricing software and services leadership experience leading solutions, strategy, sales, product management, and marketing teams. His experience encompasses products, services, B2B, B2C, and e-commerce functions at Ascend Performance Materials, IHS Markit, PROS Revenue Management, Orbitz.com, United Airlines, and General Motors – Delphi Automotive Systems. In his current role at Price f(x), Garth focuses on providing companies with a future vision of what is possible with pricing software while also helping them to make the best possible decision when investing in software. Cognitus is a Services and Technology global firm, a gold partner with SAP and Valued Added Reseller with cross industry recognized expertise. Francisco Verdesoto has been with Cognitus for over 5 years after spending long tenures with various known software companies such as SAP® and Vistex®, etc. Francisco is responsible for the Global Delivery of Cognitus Gallop Pricing Cloud suite of products, which includes both services and software solutions helping customers across the world solve complicated Pricing and after the fact Order to Cash processes.