The Unanet CRM alternative an estimating desk can start today.
Unanet CRM by Cosential and Pursuit sit at opposite ends of the construction CRM market. Unanet CRM is an enterprise platform for AEC business development and marketing teams: opportunity pipelines, firm-wide project and personnel databases, and proposal automation including SF330 forms. It is demo-quoted, and G2 review data puts average implementation around five months. Pursuit is a bid-centric CRM for estimating teams: bids, vendor RFQs, correspondence, and documents with AI answers, at a published $47 to $79 per user per month with a free account to start the same day.
Pursuit vs Unanet CRM by Cosential
| Dimension | Pursuit | Unanet CRM by Cosential |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $47 or $79 per user / mo, published | Not published; contact sales (third parties report ~$50 per sales user, $95 per admin) |
| Time to first value | Same day, self serve | ~5 month average implementation per G2 review data |
| Free to start | Yes, free account | No self-serve trial |
| Built for | Estimators tracking the bids they price | BD and marketing teams at AEC firms |
| Proposal automation | Quotes and e-signatures, no SF330 | SOQs, resumes, project sheets, SF330 generation |
| AI on your documents | Ask plans and specs, cited answers | Contact enrichment; Wyatt copilot not yet in the construction CRM as of mid-2026 |
| Vendor RFQs | Send and receive on the bid | Not offered |
| Email integration | Outlook and Gmail | Outlook-centric; reviewers cite weak Gmail support |
| ERP integrations | None | Deltek, Sage, Viewpoint, Procore, and 30+ via Unanet Connect |
| Reviews | New product (beta) | 4.0/5 on G2 (219 reviews), 4.4/5 on Capterra (69) |
The case for Pursuit
Unanet CRM by Cosential is the establishment choice in AEC business development, and for the thing it was built for, qualifications-driven pursuit marketing at architecture, engineering, and large GC firms, it is genuinely strong. The 32,000 users its marketing cites are real. The question is whether that is the tool an estimating department needs.
The workflow mismatch is the core of it. Unanet CRM organizes a marketing department: opportunity records, firm resumes, project sheets, SF330s. An estimating desk lives in bid invitations, plan sets, addenda, vendor quotes, and bid-day deadlines. None of those are Unanet CRM objects. In Pursuit they are the whole product: every bid carries its documents, its RFQs, its correspondence, and its outcome.
The buying model is the second reason. Unanet CRM is a sales-led enterprise purchase with no published pricing and no self-serve trial; G2 review data puts the average implementation near five months, and reviewers describe the rollout as expensive and complex. Pursuit publishes its prices, starts free, and includes training on paid plans. A three-person estimating team can be tracking live bids the same afternoon.
The third is what AI means in each product. Unanet markets an AI-first CRM; what has shipped in the construction CRM as of mid-2026 is contact enrichment and signature parsing, with its Wyatt copilot announced for later in the year. Pursuit's AI already answers questions from your own plans and specs with the source page cited, extracts scope and soils data, and flags contract risk.
Every dimension, side by side
Getting started
| Feature | Pursuit | Unanet CRM by Cosential |
|---|---|---|
| Published pricing | Yes | No |
| Self-serve signup and trial | Yes, free account | No |
| Implementation | Self-serve, training included on paid plans | Sales-led; ~5 months average per G2 data |
| Seat types | One price per user on each plan | Sales, read-only, and admin tiers (third-party reported) |
Bid tracking
| Feature | Pursuit | Unanet CRM by Cosential |
|---|---|---|
| Opportunity and pipeline tracking | Yes, built around bid dates | Yes, core strength |
| Shared bid calendar | Yes | Pipeline and forecast views |
| Vendor RFQ send and receive | Yes | No |
| Win/loss and hit rate reporting | By customer, project type, and region | Pipeline and forecast reporting |
Documents & AI
| Feature | Pursuit | Unanet CRM by Cosential |
|---|---|---|
| Plan and spec storage on the bid | Yes, 50 GB per user | Reviewers cite one-file-at-a-time uploads and size limits |
| Ask questions of the documents | Yes, cited answers (Intelligence plan) | No |
| Contract review and risk flags | Yes (Intelligence plan) | No |
| AI features | Document Q&A, extraction, AI reports | Signature parsing, data enrichment, caller ID; GPT copilot announced for later in 2026 |
Proposals & marketing
| Feature | Pursuit | Unanet CRM by Cosential |
|---|---|---|
| SF330 and government forms | No | Yes, flagship feature |
| SOQ, resume, and project sheet library | No | Yes |
| Quotes with e-signature | Yes | No built-in e-signature found |
| Feature | Pursuit | Unanet CRM by Cosential |
|---|---|---|
| Outlook integration | Yes | Yes, deep Outlook plugin |
| Gmail integration | Yes | Weak per reviewer complaints; GetApp email score 2.3/5 |
Integrations
| Feature | Pursuit | Unanet CRM by Cosential |
|---|---|---|
| ERP and PM integrations | None | Deltek, Sage, Viewpoint Vista, Procore, CMiC, 30+ total |
| Takeoff on the same platform | Yes, BidScreen Cloud | No |
Usability
| Feature | Pursuit | Unanet CRM by Cosential |
|---|---|---|
| Learning curve per reviews | Built to start same day | Steep per G2 and Capterra reviewers; UI called dated |
When Unanet CRM by Cosential is actually the right choice
Unanet CRM by Cosential is the right call in several honest cases.
If you respond to qualifications-based RFPs and RFQs, especially government work needing SF330s, its Publisher module generates those documents from a firm-wide database of projects and personnel. Pursuit has nothing comparable.
If you are a mid-size or large firm with a dedicated marketing and BD department, a months-long implementation with enterprise role hierarchies and Deltek, Viewpoint, or Procore integrations may be exactly the investment you want to make.
And if your firm already runs Unanet ERP, the CRM is a natural extension of the same vendor relationship. Pursuit does not integrate with ERPs at all today.
Switching from Unanet CRM by Cosential to Pursuit
How to migrate
- Keep Unanet CRM for proposals if the SF330 library is load-bearing; Pursuit replaces bid tracking, not qualifications marketing. Many teams run one alongside the other.
- Create a free Pursuit account and add this month's open bids with their bid dates.
- Connect Outlook or Gmail. Estimator correspondence starts logging to the right project immediately, including Gmail accounts Unanet CRM never covered well.
- Upload the plan sets for the open bids. On the Intelligence plan, test the document Q&A against questions you can verify.
- Send the next vendor RFQ round from Pursuit so quotes attach to the bid.
- Record win and loss outcomes with reasons as results come in; hit rate reporting builds by customer from the first recorded outcome.
- Compare after one full bid cycle: what did the estimating team actually open every day?
Frequently asked
How much does Unanet CRM by Cosential cost?
Unanet does not publish CRM pricing; the product is quoted through a sales process. Third-party listings report around $50 per sales user per month, $25 for read-only, and $95 for admin seats, before implementation. Pursuit publishes its pricing: $47 per user per month for Pro+, $79 for Pro+ Intelligence, about 17% less on annual billing, no implementation fee, training included.
Is Pursuit an SF330 or proposal automation tool like Cosential?
No. Unanet CRM's proposal automation, including SF330 generation from a firm-wide project and resume database, is its flagship strength, and Pursuit does not do it. Pursuit sends quotes and e-signature requests. If your pursuit process is qualifications documents, Unanet CRM wins that category outright.
How long does Unanet CRM take to implement compared to Pursuit?
G2 review data puts Unanet CRM's average implementation around five months, and reviewers describe the process as complex, particularly aligning CRM data with an existing ERP. Pursuit is self serve: create a free account, add bids, connect email, and you are working the same day. Training and onboarding are included on paid plans.
Does Unanet CRM handle bid documents and RFQs?
Not the way an estimating team means it. Unanet CRM's document handling drew reviewer complaints about one-file-at-a-time uploads and file size limits, and it has no vendor RFQ workflow. Pursuit gives each user 50 GB of storage, keeps plans and specs on the bid, answers questions from them with citations on the Intelligence plan, and sends and receives vendor RFQs.
Can a small subcontractor use Unanet CRM?
It is technically possible but rarely the intended fit. Unanet CRM is a sales-led enterprise product built for firms with BD and marketing staff, and there is no self-serve trial or published price to evaluate it against. A small estimating team gets to a working bid board faster with a tool priced and shaped for that job. That honest mismatch, in both directions, is most of this comparison.
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No credit card, no setup call. Create an account, put one real bid on the board, and see if it fits the way you bid.