About the Company
This mid-market global nonprofit software provider builds tools for mission-driven organizations—including nonprofits, associations, and educational institutions.The company has around 800 employees, mostly based in North America, India, and the Philippines, with additional presence in other countries. Its platform combines financial management, fundraising, membership, and learning systems to streamline operations, improve transparency, and keep organizations focused on their missions rather than manual processes.
Details have been anonymized at the customer’s request.
The challenges
With employees spread across multiple countries and time zones, keeping purchasing and approvals aligned was a daily struggle. Spending lived in spreadsheets and email threads, approvals lagged across time zones, and each department had its own way of doing things. Without a dedicated procurement team, employees and finance staff were left to navigate complex processes on their own.
Leadership turned to Coupa, believing its “bigger is better” promise would solve the problem. Instead, the company was left with sky-high costs, a painful implementation that needed outside help to fix, and an interface so clunky it frustrated everyday users.
According to the Head of Procurement and the Finance team, three challenges immediately emerged after adopting Coupa:
-
Cost and complexity:
Nearly half a million dollars a year—plus outside consultants—were required to repair basic workflows.
-
Adoption hurdles:
Even senior executives struggled to navigate the system, forcing procurement teams to handle routine questions and workarounds.
-
Organizational risk:
Coupa’s limited support and lack of partnership left the organization to “go it alone,” resulting in low adoption, internal stress, and lost confidence in procurement processes.
The solution
After years of struggling with an oversized procurement platform, the Head of Procurement decided to dig into a Coupa alternative she’d long had on her radar. Locked into a multi-year contract, she waited for the first opportunity to recommend Coupa competitors. When leadership finally opened the door, she championed Procurify as the best option and built an internal coalition with the controller, treasurer, and C-suite to ensure alignment from the start.
“Nobody was talking to mid-market. It’s either the mega-suites or the free tools that don’t work. Procurify finally spoke our language.”
-Head of Procurement
Implementing a new procurement system and navigating change management is never easy, but Procurify’s implementation team focused on simplifying the user experience from day one and emerged as the preeminent Coupa competitor with:
-
Configurable visibility:
With the ability to hide unneeded modules, each role only sees what matters to them.
-
Mobile-friendly approvals:
Managers can review and approve purchases on the go, anywhere, anytime.
-
Self-service success portal:
Users get instant answers without waiting on procurement staff.
-
Embedded knowledge base links:
System administrators can easily share support articles straight into team chats.
Procurify vs Coupa: At a Glance
Key Factor |
With Procurify (After) |
With Coupa (Before) |
Target Fit |
Purpose-built for mid-market procurement & finance teams |
Built for Fortune 500 enterprises |
Feature Footprint |
Focused, modular features tailored to what you actually use |
Bloated, too many unused modules |
Implementation Experience |
Hands-on onboarding; live training across regions |
Painful rollout; needed third-party consultants |
Ease of Use |
Overly complex interface; heavy support load |
|
Support Model |
Responsive team; self-serve knowledge base + live chat |
Slow, ticket-based, inconsistent |
Cost Alignment |
Transparent pricing with projected $300K savings |
Nearly half a million annually; high TCO |
Takeaways
Bringing 900+ Users Online—On Schedule
The company went live on its first domain exactly as planned. Even with a global footprint and complex approval structures, the rollout was seamless and went better than expected. Two additional domains were secured mid-rollout, and six more are already in the queue.
By running four live training sessions across regions and embedding self-service resources directly into the platform, Procurify freed the procurement team from day-to-day onboarding. This allowed them to focus on building policy and managing vendors instead of troubleshooting the system, a sharp contrast to their previous experience and a sure sign that they went with the right choice out of all the Coupa competitors.
“You weren’t trying to sell us modules we didn’t need. Procurify is a procurement system that understands procurement people.”
-Head of Procurement
Early Results Point to Major Wins:
-
Significant financial efficiencies: ≈ Projected $300K annual savings by switching from Coupa
-
Rapid scale: 900+ users planned across multiple regions
-
Fast rollout: 3 domains live, 6 more in progress
-
Positive feedback: Users describe the platform as intuitive, simplified, and collaborative
Switch from Coupa and save 50%
Discover why Coupa customers are moving to Procurify and saving big.
