Not sold on NetSuite OpenAir? Luckily, there are a ton of alternatives you can try - and many of them beat OpenAir on features and price.
The right resource management software can be a huge productivity booster, for you and for your team.
NetSuite OpenAir is a powerful solution that centralizes resource and project management, helping you plan and manage projects in one place, assign best-fit tasks to your team, and optimize employee utilization.
But many teams find NetSuite OpenAir a hard sell – often because it's out of their budget, or because it doesn't integrates with the rest of their tech stack – and end up needing to source an alternative.
NetSuite OpenAir is a robust platform that’s widely appreciated for its security and compliance features.
There are, however, a handful of folks who note using NetSuite OpenAir comes with a steep learning curve — aggravated by several complaints about its interface too, with users describing it as a “Clunky, unintuitive layout [and its] boxes [are] too small to read the values entered, too many buttons.”
A lot of folks also note that there is a lack of integrations that the software offers.
So, all in all, you’ll likely need a NetSuite OpenAir alternative for the following three reasons:
Nodding in agreement? Here are nine powerful NetSuite OpenAir alternatives worth considering.
Runn is a powerful NetSuite OpenAir alternative that helps you plan, manage, and optimize projects and resources. It gives you real-time resource analytics — including capacity and utilization reports — and packs in time tracking features too.
Runn ensures robust security with Single Sign On (SSO) and Two-factor Authentication (2FA). Plus, Runn is built to meet strict GDPR compliant data protection standards, safeguarding your team’s privacy and ensuring compliance.
On Capterra, users give it a 4.8-star rating, saying they appreciate its ease of use, customer service, and resource planning features.
It’s available on the following plans (there’s a free trial available too):
eResource Scheduler is an intuitive resource management software — offering a drag-and-drop interface that lets you manage both human and non-human resources in one platform.
It uses a smart algorithm to make suggestions for optimizing your resources. Also included are timesheets and resource reports.
Security features are tight as well with SSO, 2FA, and a self-hosted option for sensitive industries. This makes it a good alternative tool to consider.
Its pricing is also far more budget-friendly than NetSuite OpenAir. But unlike Runn, which doesn’t charge for feature add-ons, eResource Scheduler does.
When you select all the essential features, the total for eResource Scheduler adds up to $15.6 per seat per month (when paid annually) or $20.25 per seat when paid monthly.
There’s a 14-day free trial available as well, so you can take this tool for a test-run before you commit.
Celoxis is a project management software that allows you to plan projects, manage resources, and test out what-if scenarios (for risk management).
While it’s appreciated for its features (which is likely why it has a 4.4 star rating on Capterra), users note, “It’s a little complex tool for beginner level users. Integration is a little difficult.”
Compared to eResource Scheduler, it has far more user reviews (318 at time of writing). But like NetSuite OpenAir, there are complaints about the learning curve involved with implementing this software.
Thankfully, it doesn’t cost as much as OpenAir, but the costs do stack up since integrations are available as add-ons.
Overall, you can choose from the following three plans (a 14-day free trial is available):
What’s notable here is that the base plan doesn’t have some key features like risk management, time management, and billing. It also doesn’t come with advanced security. Billing and advanced security are also not in the Professional plan.
Forecast is another intuitive NetSuite OpenAir alternative. It helps agencies, software and IT companies, and NGOs and non-profits manage projects and resources using AI.
It’s AI learns from your data to identify potential project delays, predict resource needs, and suggest team assignments. However, as a user points out, you can only make the most of Forecast’s AI if you’ve got a lot of clean and high-quality project data to begin with. For many people, this will be a stumbling block:
Being an AI software, it depends on having the best quality training data to achieve the most accurate results possible,” one reviewer writes.
That said, users appreciate its ease of use with a handful of people saying learning to use it can be a little complicated initially.
Forecast has a 4.2-star rating on G2 and 4.5 on Capterra.
Forecast offers custom pricing, so there are no cost estimates on its website. However, they do note that pricing is determined by the contract length and the number of seats you purchase. A free trial is available.
Ravetree helps you manage projects, resources, billing, and customers in one platform. What differentiates it from other resource management platforms is that it brings digital asset and customer relationship management in a single platform.
This makes it great for project-driven accounting teams, government offices, law firms, non-profits, and universities.
Ravetree has a 4.1-star rating on G2 but no fresh reviews. One reviewer notes, “As a platform, the UI/UX is somewhat dated and could use a refresh.”
In terms of how much it costs, there are monthly, quarterly, and yearly plans, with each plan offering unlimited projects. Pricing is:
Hubplanner is yet another resource management platform that gives you skill matching, capacity planning, and project management capabilities. It also offers timesheets and resource reports — suitable for creative and design teams and IT operations departments.
It boasts a 4.2-star rating on G2 and is loved for its ease of use. Users, however, note it’s not as budget-friendly as other software.
Some of the add-on features, such as capacity finder and dependencies, seem like they should be included in service plans without the additional costs. Some of the expenses for these add-ons are quite high and quickly make the software a less affordable option for small to mid-size organizations,” one user writes.
All Hubplanner plans give you unlimited projects and a resource scheduler with other features varying per plan:
The premium plan gives you timesheets and vacation and leave management alongside skills matching. Only the Business plan has SSO + MFA security features. A 14-day trial is available.
Next, we’ve got Float – a tool that gives you resource allocation, team utilization, capacity planning, time and profitability tracking, and project scoping features.
With a 4.3-star G2 rating, the software’s intuitiveness is well-loved. Some folks, however, note that the pricing is on the higher side and that customization options are limited.
This reviewer, for example, says, “Float can feel a bit complicated for smaller teams or simpler projects. The price is a little high, especially if you only need basic features. Some customization options for reports could be better, and the platform can sometimes slow down during busy periods. Also, multi-currency option is missing.”
Float’s plans are:
The security features are strong in the Enterprise plan only — the Pro plan lacks SSO.
Float also offers a 30-day free trial, which is longer than many comparable tools.
Resource Manager by Smartsheet lets you manage workloads, plan projects, and forecast hiring needs.
Essentially, Smartsheet offers a suite of resource management, portfolio management, and other tools — you can invest in them based on your needs.
On G2, this software has a 4-star rating. The consensus among reviewers is that Smartsheet’s Resource Manager has a visually engaging interface. Some users, however, point out data errors.
As for pricing (when billed annually):
Like Float, Smartsheet also offers a 30-day free trial.
Lastly, there’s Meisterplan which bundles project management, resource planning and optimization, and portfolio management in one platform.
With an impressive 4.8-star rating on G2, its ease of use is highly applauded. Users, however, say customization options are limited.
Meisterplan is mainly for mid-sized teams, as evidenced by its pricing plans that are for a minimum of 50 people:
And that’s a wrap! Here’s hoping this list got you a few steps closer to your ideal resource management tool.
We're not going to lie to you: the resource management tool marketplace is pretty crowded. We're experts in this field, and yet we're still learning about new solutions and new software contenders every week. So coming up with a shortlist of tools to evaluate can be overwhelming.
That's why we created this buyer’s guide for selecting the right resource management software for your team in 2025. It'll give you some advice on how to identify critical features for your use-case, and how to start analysing which solution might be the best fit for you. Read the guide ➡️
