Arkestro vs Zoho Procurement

Arkestro is a web-based predictive procurement platform for enterprise teams. It analyzes purchasing data with machine learning to recommend prices for sourcing events before suppliers respond. The platform combines behavioral science, game theory, data science, and automation to support pricing, supplier selection, negotiations, and workflow management. Teams can use competitive bidding and dynamic feedback, then manage the award process. Predictive Insights monitors supplier, commodity, and market data to identify risks and opportunities and recommend next steps. Arkestro can sync with ERP or P2P systems, using supplier, item, and historical purchase data and returning event awards to the relevant system; its Professional Services team can guide integration. The maker presents use cases in industries including automotive, manufacturing, oil and gas, construction, financial services, and food and beverage. Arkestro says it uses AWS hosting, AES encryption at rest, and HTTPS and TLS 1.2 in transit. It states that its information security management system is ISO 27001:2022 certified and that it passes SOC 2 Type II audits without exceptions. Pricing is on request.

Zoho Procurement manages purchasing from employee requests through supplier payments as a source-to-pay platform. Employees can submit catalog or ad hoc requests that proceed through hierarchical approvals, custom workflows, and automation rules. Sourcing tools handle RFx events, bid comparisons, evaluations, and supplier shortlisting. Suppliers can use a self-service portal to bid, manage purchase orders, submit invoices, and track payments. The system can create purchase orders from approved requests and RFQs, record partial or complete deliveries, and use OCR and AI to capture invoice data and validate it against orders and receipts. Payment options include ACH, batch payments, and connected banking for India, with availability varying by plan. Premium costs $35 per user per month billed annually; Enterprise costs $75 per user per month billed annually. Each purchased user license includes 50 requester licenses. A 14-day trial includes all features and does not require credit card information to start. The service runs on Android, iOS, web, and API. Zoho lists weekday phone and email support, available 24 hours a day Monday through Friday.