Best workflow apps review: Process Street vs Tallyfy
Over the last few years, we saw a “workflow revolution” when a number of workflow automation and management apps specifically targeted for small size businesses has grown from almost zero to hundreds.
Deciding on what workflow app will best suit your needs is not an easy task!
I will make this task a bit easier for you. In this post, I will provide a detailed comparison of the two very popular workflow solutions:
If you are serious about picking the best app, also check my other reviews of great alternatives to Process Street and Tallyfy:
Tallyfy and Process Street Have Much in Common
Both apps claim to solve the same problem — make it easy to manage repeating workflows and processes. They let you describe a workflow, track progress and manage tasks. Both apps have built-in team communication features.
They also support a very similar set of features: custom forms, comments, task assignments, conditional tasks, guest users etc. Here’s a list of features supported by both apps:
- You can define workflows as a list of tasks that needs to be done.
- You can set due dates for workflow tasks.
- You can add form fields to any workflow task to collect input from a task assignee. A minimal set of field types is supported: text, single value select, multiple values select etc.
- You can use conditions to skip (or not to skip) some tasks.
- You can provide a description of the whole process and for each of its tasks using text with rich formatting, images, links, and even embedded videos.
- You can track the status of all running processes on a dashboard.
- You can integrate both Tallyfy and Process Street with other apps using their built-in Zapier support.
The terminology used in both apps is matching well: if you are familiar with Process Street you should feel right at home in Tallyfy (and another way around).
Both apps even explain how they work in surprisingly similar words: 😀
But the devil is in the details, and while Process Street and Tallyfy look similar on a first sight — each has some unique features and use cases.
So now when we saw the similarities, let’s explore unique features of each app in more details:
Tallyfy
Pros
- Nice looking, easy to use UI.
- Conditions to implement branching or optional tasks.
- Rules let you show and hide tasks in very flexible ways and create some complex workflows. 🚀
- Task description and process instructions composed using a rich text editor. You can format text, add lists, images and even embed videos! 👏
- Configurable process views let you see only these processes you need and work just like saved filters.
- Users can raise and resolve issues for tasks. 🚀
- Tags can be put on tasks, processes. 😎
- Support for guest users who can be assigned tasks using an email address. Guests can only see the task assigned to them. 🚀
- Public API. 🚀
- Zapier support.
Cons
- A small number of form field types, no support for Numbers, Money, Date and Time. File upload field supports only a single file upload.
- No library of pre-made process templates.
- Search is only supported for templates. There is no way to search for tasks or processes.
- Tasks cannot be assigned to groups, only to users. 🤦
- No access control, all users can access all tasks and processes. 🤔
- No history or audit trail for processes. 🤦
- No reports at all.
In-depth Features Overview
How it works
Workflow features
In Tallyfy workflow is a series of tasks to be performed by users manually. As a part of working on a task, the assignee could be required to input some information into a form.
🚃🚃🚃 Sequential tasks
It Tallyfy all tasks became available to users right after you start a new process. There’s no option to control if tasks should be worked on in parallel or one by one, sequentially. However, it is easy to force tasks to be revealed to users one-by-one using another Tallyfy feature named “Rules”.
🌳 Parallel branches
Parallel branches let you work on a two (or more) streams of work in parallel. This is useful when multiple parts of a process could be worked on at the same time. In Tallyfy workflow cannot be branched, but you can use Rules to simulate parallel branches, though that will require you to configure all involved tasks individually.
️🔮 Conditions
Being able to execute parts of a workflow conditionally is one of the most important features of any workflow app. Conditions help you describe optional tasks and alternative flows of a process.
Tallyfy has decent support for the form-based conditions. These conditions are used to show or hide workflow tasks based on a data entered in forms fields.
Unfortunately, Tallyfy does not support Numeric, Date, Time or Money form fields. So conditions are limited to simple checks of text strings and drop-down selects. This is quite limiting for implementing many standard processes dealing with money and approval limits.
In addition to form-based conditions in Tallyfy, you can create conditions based on the status of other tasks. For example, you can show the task “Do that” only when the task “Do this” is completed. This feature gives you some workflow super-powers since you can construct workflow patterns normally not supported by simple workflow apps. Just keep in mind that configuring this for a lengthy workflow could be cumbersome.
⏰ Managing SLAs
In Tallyfy you can define SLAs for tasks and processes. For any task, you can set a deadline using relative dates, e.g. “Five days after the start of a process”.
Supported deadline configurations are:
- “X days (minutes, hours, weeks, months) after the start of a process”.
- “X days (minutes, hours, weeks, months) after Task Y being completed”.
- “X days (minutes, hours, weeks, months) before Task Y being completed”.
🤖 Automatic tasks
Tallyfy has no support for automatic tasks that can be performed automatically by a system, so if you will need to send an email or save files to Google Drive.
Tallyfy is marked as “beta” on Zapier at a time of writing this post. It supports two actions and doesn’t support any triggers. This makes impossible to pass any process data to other apps, like CRM or ERP system.
Supported actions are:
- Create a new standalone task.
- ️Start a new process.
👉 Assigning tasks
When creating a workflow in Tallyfy you can set task assignees. Multiple options are available:
- You can assign a task to a specific user.
- You can assign a task to a user who started the process.
- You can assign a task to a guest user using their email address.
Tallyfy has no support for assigning tasks to multiple users or a group (role). Since Tallyfy has no support for group assignments, it is not possible to assign tasks to a department. This makes workflows less reusable since you need to manually update task assignees every time people roles change or someone leaving the team.
In addition, when you start a new process in Tallyfy you can review and set assignee for any process’ task.
👤 Guest users
Tallyfy has great support for guest users! You can invite someone to work on a task just using their email address. Guest users are great to work with contractors and clients when you expect a person to be involved in a single process. Guests can only see and complete their own tasks and have no visibility into the whole process.
Working with data
In Tallyfy you can add form fields to any task in a process to make task assignee fill in these fields while working on the task.
Processes management
Tallyfy has a nice looking processes dashboard page (Process Tracker) where you can get a high-level overview of the status of all ongoing processes.
Progress bar color is indicating the overall process status, but to get a better idea of individual steps status you have to drill down into a process.
Reports
Tallyfy has no reports supported, and there’s no obvious way to export information about processes, tasks and form data.
Integrations
Tallyfy provides public API and support integrations with other apps using Zapier. App supports two actions and doesn’t support any triggers. This makes impossible to pass any process data to other apps, like CRM or ERP system.
Supported actions are:
- Create a new standalone task.
- ️Start a new process.
Tallyfy Pricing
As of Oct 2018
Tallyfy offers features-based pricing tiers: Starter, Basic and Pro plans differ in price per user, with Starter actually being a free plan.
A free plan named “Starter” is available. It allows for a max of 5 users but provides unlimited templates with a max of 5 active processes at a time. Other features like deadlines, conditions, and etc. are mostly not available on this plan.
Two other plans — Basic ($15/user/month) and Pro ($30/user/month) provide unlimited users, processes and templates, and differs only by set of available features and provided files storage:
Tallyfy’s cost for a 10-people and 50-people teams:
Basic plan
- 10 people team, paid monthly: $1,800 per year ($1,500 when paid annually).
- 50 people team, paid monthly: $9,000 per year ($7,500 when paid annually).
Pro plan
- 10 people team, paid monthly: $3,600 per year ($3,000 when paid annually).
- 50 people team, paid monthly: $18,000 per year ($15,000 when paid annually).
Process Street
Pros
- Clean, simple to use UI.
- Literally thousands of pre-made templates covering all possible workflows you can imagine — from writing a blog and promoting on social media, to configuring a CI server. 🔮
- You can schedule processes to run on a specific time or recurrently. ⏰
- You can create rich descriptions of a process, add text formatting, headings, insert images, videos, and sub-tasks. In general, process and tasks instructions look as good as you would expect of a blog post or a Word document.
- Form fields can be added at any place inside a task description. 🍓
- Variables let you customize any texts with values taken from form fields.
- You can share templates with people outside your company (using a link). They can even use this to start new processes! 😍
- You can create a special “Run-link” to give way for people to start new processes with one click.
- You can export a list of processes to CSV file. Or view processes as a spreadsheet with form data. 🚀
- Guest users.
- Zapier support.
- Public API.
Cons
- A processes dashboard shows only a limited number of processes and you need to click through to see more.
- Limited access control and security options, you cannot restrict access per task, but it is possible to control who can start processes from a template or edit it. 😞
- Limited reports.
Features overview
In Process Street you create a template and run new checklists from this template. In a template, you create a workflow as a list of tasks to be completed. You can assign tasks as well as a whole checklist to an individual user or a group.
Process Street really shines in ways it allows you to document your processes. With their text editor, you can create a very media-rich, good looking instructions for process’ tasks. Supported are all basic text styles, headers, images, and video. You can also insert form fields and sub-checklists right into the text.
Workflow features
🚃🚃🚃 Sequential tasks
In Process Street you can use stop-tasks to control tasks order. You cannot create more complex workflow patterns like parallel branches with stop-tasks. But for simpler cases, when you just need to make sure a single task is completed before the process goes further — stop-tasks work very well.
🌳 Parallel branches
Parallel branches let you work on a two (or more) streams of work in parallel. This is useful when multiple parts of a process could be worked on at the same time. Process Street doesn’t support parallel branches at the moment.
However, you can create alternative branches using a combination of stop-tasks and form-based conditions.
️🔮 Conditions
In Process Street you can use conditions to configure how tasks are shown or hidden from a checklist based on current form values. This feature works dynamically — if you change data on a form at any time, some tasks may be shown or hidden instantly.
Unfortunately, Process Street does not support Numeric or Money form fields. So conditions are limited to checks of text fields and drop-downs. This is quite limiting for implementing many standard processes dealing with money and approval limits.
⏰ Managing SLAs
In Process Street you can define due dates for tasks and processes. For any task, you can set a due date as a number of months, days, hours and minutes after the start of a process.
🤖 Automatic tasks
Process Street has no support for tasks that can be performed automatically by a system.
You can, however, add an email control to a task’s instructions. A task assignee would be able to send pre-populated email using their default email client. You can customize email text, subject, and recipients using variables to insert form values. Attachments are not supported so if you want to send documents you will still have to rely on a Zapier integration.
You can use Zapier to integrate Process Street with other apps. All necessary triggers and actions are supported:
Supported triggers:
- When a new process is started.
- When a task is completed.
- When a new comment is added.
- When a new attachment is uploaded.
Supported actions:
- ️Start a new process.
👉 Assigning tasks
You can assign tasks to users and groups when editing your template. Process Street will show all your tasks on the Inbox page, along with tasks assigned to any groups you are a member of.
Process Street has no support for dynamic assignments so you cannot assign to roles like “Process Starter” or pick assignee from a form field.
It is possible to reassign tasks freely in any running process.
👤 Guest users
Process Street has great support for guest users! You can invite guests the same way you invite new users to a team. Guests should be assigned to tasks or processes to be able to see them. Other than that they have the same capabilities as regular users.
You can put any email address when assigning a task and invitation will be sent automatically to that email.
Working with data
In Process Street you can add form fields to any task. Unlike other apps in Process Street, you may have form fields, text, images, and videos mixed in any order. This makes form feels more interactive as you may have instructions for a specific field right next to it:
Most common field types are supported:
- Text.
- Email.
- Website URL.
- Date.
- File upload.
- Single and multiple choices.
🔒 Required fields
You can mark any form field as “required” and it would be impossible to complete the task without filling in all required fields first. This is very handy to make sure that task assignees will complete all necessary data entry before passing to the next task.
🧮 Variables
In Process Street you can use variables to insert values from a form into any text like instructions or text of an email. Variables are very handy when you need to pass data between process participants. For example, you can pass information about a new employee’s email from IT to HR department.
Managing checklists
In Process Street there is a single dashboard page where you can review all active checklists for all templates:
For every template, only a first few checklists are shown and you can show more if you need to.
Security and access control
You can control how users and groups can use templates. For any template, you can specify different levels of access for any user — from only read-only access to own checklists to full access.
There are no per-task controls of access rights, so if any user has read-only access to a checklist, they will be able to see all tasks and all data inside form fields.
Managing tasks
Inbox is a place where you can find all your tasks from all the checklists in Process Street. It’s a convenient way of working on tasks when you have more than 10–15 processes and it is too complicated to search for own tasks inside every active checklist (process). Tasks assigned to groups you belong to will also be shown in your inbox, however, for some reason, they will not disappear from inbox even after being assigned to some other user.
Interesting is that Process Street will not only show tasks but also checklists in the inbox so that you can see all checklists assigned to you as well.
Team collaboration features
You can add comments to any task inside a checklist, comments work more like a forum than a real-time chat — you need to hit refresh and reload a page to see new comments. There are no built-in notifications as well so noticing that new comment was added is harder than you would expect.
On a positive side, you can use mentions to grab the attention of coworkers and attach files. Another interesting feature is that you can use markdown right in comments to add some rich formatting to text.
Reports
Process Street doesn’t have a dedicated reporting module, but you can use dashboard page to navigate to an Overview for a specific template. This page is basically a report showing all form data for all processes.
You can also export this list to CSV file from there.
Process Street Pricing
As of May 2019
Process Street offers features-based pricing tiers: Business, Business Pro and Enterprise plans differ in price per user, with Enterprise being a “call us” plan.
Two other plans — Business ($15/user/month) and Business Pro ($30/user/month) provide unlimited users, checklists and templates, and differs only by the availability of some of the essential features.
Annual pricing is available with 17% discount:
- Business — $12.50 per user per month
- Business Pro — $25 per user per month
“Business” plan doesn’t include support for conditional logic and “stop tasks“, making the app very basic and suitable only for very simple processes and checklists.
Process Street cost for a 10-people and 50-people teams:
Business plan
- 10 people team, paid monthly: $1,800 per year ($1,500 when paid annually).
- 50 people team, paid monthly: $9,000 per year ($7,500 when paid annually).
Business Pro plan
- 10 people team, paid monthly: $3,600 per year ($3,000 when paid annually).
- 50 people team, paid monthly: $18,000 per year ($15,000 when paid annually).
Final thoughts and conclusions
In my testing, I found Process Street generally perform better and have a feel of a more polished software in terms of user experience, UI design and more subtle “nice to have” features, these you may not notice while testing the app, but definitely would be happy to have later on.
I may still prefer Tallyfy would I need any of their unique features, like guest users or rules.
Have what to say about either of these two apps? Add your thoughts below, in comments.
