Why We Exist
If you've ever tried to pick a CRM, payroll provider, or project management tool for a small team, you know the drill: endless review sites that all seem to recommend whatever pays the highest commission, vague feature lists that don't tell you what things actually cost, and enterprise-focused comparisons that don't apply when you have 15 employees instead of 15,000.
We started WholeSMB because we were tired of that experience. We're a small team ourselves — we run a business, we use these tools every day, and we know how much a bad software decision costs when you're watching every dollar.
WholeSMB is a project by Bity LLC, a small company that builds useful things for other small companies. We're not backed by venture capital, we don't have a sales team calling you after you read an article, and we don't let vendors pay for better placement.
What We Do
We publish side-by-side comparisons of popular business software. Each comparison covers:
- Real pricing — not just "contact sales." We calculate costs for teams of 5, 25, 50, and 100 employees so you can see what you'll actually pay.
- Features that matter to SMBs — we skip the enterprise-only features and focus on what a team of 1–200 actually needs.
- Honest pros and cons — every tool has tradeoffs. We tell you what they are.
- A clear recommendation — we don't just list features and shrug. We tell you which tool we'd pick and why.
Our Methodology
Here's how we evaluate every tool that appears on WholeSMB:
1. We Sign Up and Use It
We create real accounts, go through the onboarding, set up workflows, and use the tool as a small business would. We don't rely on vendor demos or press kits.
2. We Evaluate on SMB Criteria
Our evaluation framework focuses on what actually matters for small and mid-size teams:
- Ease of setup — Can a non-technical person get this running in under an hour?
- Price transparency — Is the pricing clear, or do you need a sales call to find out what it costs?
- Per-seat economics — How does the cost scale as you add team members?
- Support quality — Can you actually reach a human when something breaks?
- Integration ecosystem — Does it work with the other tools SMBs commonly use?
- Contract flexibility — Are you locked into annual contracts, or can you pay monthly?
3. We Show Our Work
Every comparison includes specific pricing calculations, feature comparisons, and screenshots. We cite our sources and tell you when information was last verified.
4. We Update Regularly
Software changes fast. We review and update our comparisons regularly to make sure pricing and features are current. Every page shows when it was last updated.
How We Make Money
Transparency matters. WholeSMB earns revenue through affiliate partnerships with some of the software tools we review. When you click a link and sign up for a tool, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Here's what's important: affiliate relationships never influence our recommendations. We decide what to recommend first, then check if an affiliate program exists. If the best tool for your situation doesn't have an affiliate program, we still recommend it.
For full details, see our Affiliate Disclosure.
Get in Touch
Have a question, correction, or suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. Reach us at hello@wholesmb.com.