PlanetBids 2026: Benefits, Features & Pricing

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On this page

Overview
Pricing and Plans
Features
User Reviews

Overview

PlanetBids

4.5

(20)

Pricing

Pricing available upon request

About PlanetBids

Co-founded in 2000 by husband and wife Alan and Arpie Zavian, PlanetBids, Inc. is a software development company with a mission to provide web-based procurement solutions to help procurement professionals in the public, private, education and non-profit sectors streamline entire processes and connect with their suppliers more efficiently and cost effectively.

Hailing from the ranks of the procurement profession, PlanetBids' team of professionals brings decades of expertise in eProcurement and delivers the highest level of customer support to clients and their vendors before, during, and after implementation. All our staff are U.S.-based to assist clients nationwide.

PlanetBids serves a variety of agencies, transportation, ports, water districts, cities, counties, airports, universities, K-12, ports, construction contractors and countless other categories.

Our clients can share information and collaborate within the system, saving procurement staff time and money.

The PB System™ consists of 8 modules that streamline procurement processes and keep agencies compliant and up to date in task management.

Information is easily uploaded to and downloaded from the PB System™ by li...

censed account holders. The Vendor Management Module is extremely powerful and intuitive for all Agency and Vendor Users. The vendor online registration form is configured during the implementation process to ensure that all pertinent and mandatory vendor-related questions are included. The Bid Management Module also is extremely powerful, intuitive, and configurable to allow the Agency User to create, manage and award bids online. Working with Vendor Management, the two modules give Agency Users control over: • Bid document management and distribution • E-commerce enabled for online purchase of documents • Prospective bidders list (i.e., plan holders list) • Automatic addendum notification and acknowledgments • Custom email messaging • RSVP pre-bid meeting management • Online Q&A management • Complex and secure eBidding • eBonds • Split and lump sum awards • Robust reporting, summaries/totals, analysis, charts, audit trails • Bid specification library • Bid Calendar The PB System™ Evaluation module optional feature allows an Agency to create and manage the entire evaluation process online in an interactive manner, thereby replacing the in-person evaluations that take place in meeting rooms. The Agency can assign an unlimited number of evaluators to the project and control what information is released to them. Evaluators do not need a license and can be employees of the Agency. The Insurance Certificate Management with My Insurance enables risk managers, procurement, public works, and contract administrators to maintain, ensure and retrieve up-to-date, relevant information regarding vendors' or contractors' insurance certificates, including Producers/Brokers contact information and Insurer’s ratings. The Contract Management suite can be set up to function independently or seamlessly paired with the Vendor and Bid Management and Insurance Certificate Management modules. The result is that information does not have to be re-entered as the bid moves through the various processes. Procurement teams can retrieve up-to-date information regarding contracts, significantly reducing the time it takes to search through endless contracts. Emergency Operations enables Agency users to find emergency suppliers/service providers registered directly with the Agency or with any/all PlanetBids agencies in collaboration mode. The Business Certification module can be deployed to manage diversity certifications (ex: SBE), collect Agency documents (ex: W-9), and multiple pre-qualifications for construction. The process enables vendors to complete and submit the Agency configured form(s). Automation is a key convenience offered by PB System™. The Contract and Insurance Modules can be set up to send out expiration notices; DocuSign is an integrated component.

PlanetBids Screenshots

PlanetBids Pricing and Plans

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PlanetBids Features

Popular features found in Insurance
Activity Tracking
Audit Trail
Contact Management
Document Management
Insurance Rating
Policy Management
Quotes/Estimates
Self Service Portal
Workflow Management
More features of PlanetBids
Access Controls/Permissions
Activity Dashboard
Alerts/Notifications
Approval Process Control
Bid Management
Collaboration Tools
Compliance Management
Content Library
Contract/License Management
Contractor Database
Customizable Reports
Customizable Templates
Data Import/Export
Document Review
Document Storage
Document Templates
Due Date Tracking
Electronic Signature
Forms Management
Inventory Management
Multiple User Accounts
Procurement Management
Qualification Tracking
Real-Time Analytics
Real-Time Data
Real-Time Reporting
Reminders
Reporting & Statistics
Requisition Management
RFP Management
Search/Filter
Spend Analysis
Status Tracking
Subcontractor Management
Supplier Management
Supplier Web Portal
Task Management
Team Collaboration
Template Management
Templates
Vendor Management

PlanetBids User Reviews

Overall Rating

4.5

Ratings Breakdown

70%

15%

10%

Secondary Ratings

Ease of Use

4.3

Value for money

4.3

Customer support

4.7

Functionality

4.3

Verified

Reviewer

Government Administration

51-200 employees

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review source

Reviewed August 2024

Simple, Effective Bidding Tool for Municipalities

Functional and easy to use but lacks functions that advanced users may be looking for

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Entirely web-based interface that is easy to use without needing significant training

Cons:

Lack of customisation options for landing pages, bid structure, etc.

Neil G.

Verified reviewer

Education Management

1001-5000 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed August 2024

Director of Contracts and Purchasing

I've used PlanetBids for about seven years. I used another program in between those years and found PlanetBids to provide the best value.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Ease of Use. Vendor Outreach. Comprehensive Program.

Cons:

No cons that I have experienced. Any recommended improvements, PlanetBids has been receptive in considering them.

Dianne L.

Verified reviewer

Government Administration

1001-5000 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed August 2024

Review Request

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Outreach to vendors is the only thing I can think of.

Cons:

No Flexibility without exorbitant price increases.

Jizelle S.

Verified reviewer

Government Administration

51-200 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed August 2024

Purchasing Manager

Great. Some changes can be made. It would be nice to see all the City bids not just the ones I post. I have to make that change everytime I log in. It would be nice if all bids were automatically sent to trade journals. It would be nice if all bids categories were set.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Easy to use for the most part. User friendly.

Cons:

There are a few areas that require too many steps.

Augusta J.

Verified reviewer

Construction

501-1000 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed July 2024

Supplier Divresity

My experience has always been good because of their customer service.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Ease of access and reliable customer service

Cons:

Vendors are not able to save incomplete application in planetbids.

Jessica H.

Verified reviewer

Government Administration

201-500 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed August 2024

PlanetBids is THE eProcurement solution!

I have been using PB for approx. 5 years now and I absolutely love its ease of use for the agency. One can do so much using the system. Streamlined process! Extremely valuable.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Outstanding customer service!! User friendly, robust, variety of features, reports, constant improvements, ability to duplicate bids, export/import to/from Excel, assortment of relevant trainings/webinars available.

Cons:

Addenda section in Bid Management module seems a bit redundant.

Kathleen A.

Verified reviewer

Airlines/ Aviation

51-200 employees

Used weekly for less than 12 months

Review source

Reviewed August 2024

August 2024

I like how PlanetBids is set-up to connect with contractors. Most have adapted to the process well.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

I like the accessibility and the support staff.

Cons:

Probably how the addendum show up just under documents and not when you click and enter addendum.

Melissa B.

Verified reviewer

Utilities

51-200 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed August 2024

Planet Bids

The overall experience has been great. It's easy to use and the PB Team is ALWAYS super positive and helpful when issues arise.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

The ease of posting. The drag and drop for files, how the categories are grouped.

Cons:

It would be nice to receive an email when my bid has "officially closed" as a reminder to go into the system and pull down the responses. Or maybe have the response files emailed directly once the bid closes?

Jennifer H.

Verified reviewer

Government Administration

201-500 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed July 2023

City of Norwalk

I have used PlanetBids in multiple agencies and have found its utility to be an essential part of daily operations. It is easy to use, track, and manage.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

I like the ability to consolidate all procurement activities onto one platform so that both staff and the public have access to all purchasing activities in one central location.

Cons:

I do not like the fact that we are unable to set a release date on the system. For example, if I need a solicitation released on a day that I am unable to post it myself, it would be convenient to have that as an option, especially for our day-to-day smaller solicitations.

Vendor Response

Thank you for your review, we take great pride in the ease of use of the PB System. It's flexibility and diverse modules help procurement and public works teams streamline the process effortlessly. With the ability to access the system from any remote device you can easily manage your projects from home or on vacation.

Replied July 2023

Brian C.

Verified reviewer

Construction

501-1000 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed October 2021

A well developed application

We try to reach more contractors with PlanetBids because the system is widely used by the contracting community. We were also trying to minimize the occurrence of bid protest due to clerical errors. PlanetBids has helped us achieve both of our goals.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

The online bid submittal process is the most impactful feature of the application. We previously used a system that advertised bids online but received hard copy bid documents. Planetbids helps eliminate the clerical errors in the bid tabulation, which is a major contributing factor in bid protests.

Cons:

The numbering system in the Q&A response should be more flexible. When issuing batch responses, the user does not know the question number until the system assign them, therefore, make it difficult to reference a similar answer to the question.

Reasons for choosing PlanetBids

We chose Planetbids for its ease of use and its wide adoption with the contracting community.

Reasons for switching to PlanetBids

We wanted to use the online bid submittal feature.

Vendor Response

We were thrilled that the PlanetBids PB System has helped your agency achieve its goals! Since 2000, PlanetBids' focus has been to assist government procurement and public works professionals in taking their roles from tactical to strategic by automating and streamlining processes. Our extensive vendor database enables agencies to increase outreach and receive more responsive submissions. Clients like yourself benefit from reducing or eliminating bid protests and errors by using our built-in controls and auditing features. Our advanced line-item bid tabulation report makes it easy for clients to compare pricing at a glance. PlanetBids has a strong reputation within the Vendor community, and many have referred the PB System to government agencies because of its ease of use compared to other e-procurement solutions. We appreciate your feedback. PlanetBids uses feedback and suggestions to continually enhancement our PB System.

Replied October 2021

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