Comparison
Manage Agency vs Ignition
Ignition (formerly Practice Ignition) excels at proposals, payment collection, and recurring billing. Manage Agency covers what happens after the proposal is signed — project delivery, client portal, team operations, and the full working relationship.
Pick Manage Agency if…
- — You need a full client portal beyond proposal acceptance.
- — You want project tracking, deliverables, and client approvals.
- — You need time tracking and team operations in one place.
- — You want a free tier while you scale.
Stay on Ignition if…
- — Proposal-to-payment automation is your primary need.
- — You run recurring retainer billing that must be automated.
- — You need Stripe or GoCardless payments built in from day one.
- — Your services menu and proposal templates are your sales engine.
Feature by feature
Branded client portal
Ignition has a client-facing proposal and payment experience — not a full delivery portal.
Client login with their own identity
Ignition clients log in to accept proposals — not a persistent workspace.
Per-client feature toggles
No module-level control per client in Ignition.
CRM pipeline for new business
Ignition has a proposal pipeline with acceptance tracking.
Contracts / proposals send + sign
Ignition's proposal builder and e-signature is a core strength.
Invoicing with line items
Ignition invoices directly from accepted proposals.
Stripe payment collection
Ignition has native Stripe + GoCardless payments. Manage Agency: on the roadmap.
Recurring billing / subscriptions
Ignition handles retainer-style recurring billing automatically.
Deliverables with status + approvals
Ignition doesn't track project deliverables or client approval flows.
Kanban project board
No project management layer in Ignition.
Client-facing onboarding checklists
No onboarding module in Ignition — it ends at accepted proposal.
Inline messaging scoped to a client
No client messaging in Ignition.
Time tracking with project tags
No native time tracking in Ignition.
Team collaboration (multi-user)
Ignition supports team members but is sales-workflow focused, not delivery focused.
Role-based access for team members
Ignition has limited team role granularity.
Structured audit trail
No system-wide audit log in Ignition.
Proposal templates with services menu
Ignition's services/packages menu is best-in-class for proposal assembly.
Automated payment reminders
Ignition sends automated payment reminders and follow-ups.
Built for end-to-end agency delivery
Ignition covers the sales side. Manage Agency picks up from contract through to delivery.
Use Ignition to close the deal. Use Manage Agency to deliver it.
Ignition ends when the proposal is accepted. Manage Agency begins there — with a branded client portal, project delivery, team operations, and a working relationship your clients can log into.