Xactly AlignStar Reviews

“clear commission tracking”

Pros

I can see exactly how much commission I'm going to earn and it does a really good job of helping me keep track of everything clearly.

Cons

Honestly I don't have any complaints. It works perfectly well for what I need and hasn't caused any issues at all.

“flexible royalty rules”

Pros

Handling royalties has been much more manageable with this tool. It lets us set up multiple rules with different criteria which is especially useful because we deal with many different contract types.

Cons

The biggest frustration is the refresh timing. We only get around 10 minutes to download reports before it refreshes and starts the process over again. Another ongoing issue is that moving from analytics to Credit Assignment still requires logging in again which has been a problem for years.

“user friendly compensation planning”

Pros

It works well for managing sales compensation plans. The interface is very user friendly and it can handle all kinds of sales commission plan needs across the organization.

Cons

One thing that needs improvement is user profile editing. Details such as name and email address should be editable in case someone enters them manually by mistake. Right now, the email address cannot be changed which can lead to duplicate users in the system.

“frustrating record filtering workflow”

Pros

There are plenty of capabilities in the platform and in certain ways it does offer some flexibility.

Cons

Using it to filter and review records is much more complicated than it should be. To get to a single record, you first go to "Orders > Orders," then pick a period to display the records. After that if you want to check one specific record, you have to click the three dots by the item code, type the item code into the search field, press Enter, click the matching code from the list, hit Select and then click Search before you can finally review the record. That is a lot of steps for such a basic task. On top of that filtering always has to be based on incentive dates which is not very practical for us because our release dates often span multiple months. Being able to filter by release date instead would be much more useful. It would also help a lot to have both the Incent and Connect sides open at the same time more easily. Right now, the workaround is to open Connect from Incent and then log back into Incent in another browser tab so both can stay open. If Connect logs out because of inactivity, you have to repeat that whole process again.

“consistent SOPs”

Pros

Since we started using this, our team has been able to keep SOPs much more consistent and improve overall accuracy.

Cons

At times, the interface feels laggy. I'm not a fan of the frame within a frame layout used in some objects and I also wish moving between objects were easier. Profiles has helped somewhat but it still isn't quite how I'd want it to work.

“has reporting limits”

Pros

Past data stays stored in the system and commission calculations work well when the plan structure is uncomplicated.

Cons

There are several limitations that make the platform harder to manage. Quota credits can't be downloaded for all months in one go unless you use Analytics. There's also no "unselect all" option when launching plans. Reporting is another weak area especially with historical data because you can't pull a single "as was" view for historical people, quota, hierarchy and position. It only gives either the latest versions or every version. On top of that my company depends completely on the support team for plan configuration and no FRD is provided afterward. That makes maintenance difficult when issues come up especially since support on reported problems is not always timely. The system also doesn't handle more complex plan configurations and SPIFF designs very well.

“quick set up”

Pros

Getting around the UI is simple and access/navigation feels very user friendly. Plan configuration and deployment are also handled really well with Incent.

Cons

A limitation is with the certification release letters at the Title level, since there's currently no way to select all titles or choose multiple titles at once.

“highly configurabl”

Pros

It covers a lot and can be configured to handle almost anything you need.

Cons

It does require quite a bit of administration, along with training for end users.

“useful deal insights”

Pros

Figuring out your way around this app is easy and it gives really strong visibility into every deal.

Cons

Sometimes, the updates come through a little slowly although that may not actually be caused by Xactly itself.

“commission tracking made simple”

Pros

Keeping up with incentives and monthly commissions is very easy and having the full yearly overview in one place is really helpful.

Cons

Comp plans can be a bit slow to load at times but thankfully we don't need to look at them very often.

“everything you need in one place”

Pros

Moving our commission calculations and payouts into this program helped us centralize the whole process and get away from manual spreadsheets. Our team can check commissions throughout the month which helps confirm order coding is correct and that payments are accurate. We've also really valued the ongoing communication and support from our Technical Account Manager and Customer Success Manager, who make sure our needs are being addressed.

Cons

One downside is that Analytics can take some time to update after changes are made in Incent.

“huge time saver for commissions”

Pros

Saving time on commission calculations and pulling commission related data has been incredible.

Cons

The interface feels dated and a few features either seem outdated or are missing altogether.

“reliable accuracy even for complex plans”

Pros

Our compensation plans are pretty complex but after using Incent for a few years, we've become very happy with it. Accuracy matters more than anything for us and the system has been consistently dependable and precise.

Cons

Its setup process at the start of the year could be a bit more organized.

“Responsive support”

Pros

Xactly offers a lot of flexibility and scales well, with several ways to build, update and improve dynamic commission setups. Once the rules logic clicks making adjustments becomes pretty simple. Their support team is also very responsive and can usually sort out issues within one business day.

Cons

Training end users can take a fairly significant amount of time since some features are too complicated to figure out. The initial admin training also comes with a steep learning curve because there are many elements, like order of operations, that need to be understood to manually run certain processes.

“can keep up with change”

Pros

Handling very complex incentive calculations is where it really shines especially when pulling in data from multiple sources. It's flexible enough to keep up with organizations that change quickly which makes a big difference. The standout benefit for me is the customer support included with the license. Their team responds fast and works through issues quickly and that matters a lot when incentive payouts have to be finalized in time for payroll deadlines.

Cons

There's definitely a meaningful learning curve with this app. It's a sophisticated platform with its own logic, rules and processes so it takes a solid investment of time to understand how to use it properly. Even so, as a compensation professional, I've felt that the time spent learning it has been worth it. I relied on spreadsheets for years but the field is clearly moving more and more toward full automation.

“reliable calculations”

Pros

Once the plans are in place, the system works consistently and calculates the numbers accurately.

Cons

If any issues come up, the support teams are excellent and quick to help resolve them. So I really have nothing to add here.

“powerful plan setup tools”

Pros

The formulas and rule libraries for credits, commissions, bonuses and similar items have been really valuable for our organization. Those features make it much simpler to build out plans for a new year.

Cons

The custom data visualization in the "Incentive Statement" doesn't quite work the way I expected.

“all compensation in one place”

Pros

It's really useful to have all compensation calculations and records, including variable pay and compensation plans, handled in a single system.

Cons

When a ticket needs to be opened, it can take anywhere from 24 to 72 hours to hear back.

“poor support capabilities”

Pros

Salesforce integration performed the way it was supposed to and the data synced correctly without issues.

Cons

Support from their team was very disappointing and the software was far too restrictive when it came to setting up new plans. Rolling out updated annual plans ended up taking months which was extremely frustrating.

“Simple to teach”

Pros

This platform is very user friendly and training others to use it doesn't take much effort at all.

Cons

One limitation is that tiers can't be copied and pasted so they have to be entered individually one at a time.