Striven ERP

Most small business owners I talk to run their company on 6-8 different apps. Striven's pitch is simple: replace all of them with one. And honestly? It works better than you'd think for a bootstrapped company out of New Jersey.

The Core Experience

Striven covers the essentials: CRM with pipeline tracking, double-entry accounting, project management with Gantt charts, inventory, HR, and even basic e-commerce. Nothing earth-shattering in any single area, but the connections between modules save real time.

A sales rep closes a deal in CRM. The invoice generates automatically. Inventory adjusts. The project kicks off with pre-built templates. That flow eliminates hours of duplicate data entry every week. For a 10-person company, that's meaningful.

What Actually Works Well

The accounting module surprised me. Full general ledger, accounts payable/receivable, bank feeds, and financial reporting that rivals QuickBooks. They've clearly invested here. Job costing tracks profitability by project, client, or department — a feature many small ERPs skip entirely.

The project management tools include task dependencies, time tracking, and resource allocation. Not as polished as Monday.com or Asana, but good enough that you won't need a separate tool.

The Honest Limitations

Here's where I have to be direct. The UI feels dated in places — think 2018-era design. Mobile experience is functional but clunky. And the learning curve is steeper than it should be. Plan for 2-3 weeks of onboarding, not 2-3 days.

Can you really replace Salesforce with Striven's CRM? No. The CRM handles basic pipeline management and contact tracking but lacks marketing automation, lead scoring, and advanced reporting. For companies with complex sales processes, it'll feel limiting.

Integrations are thin. You get QuickBooks import tools and basic API access, but there's no Zapier connector or app marketplace. If you need to connect with industry-specific tools, expect custom development work.

Who Should Care

Striven makes the most sense for service businesses, contractors, and professional firms with 5-50 employees. These companies waste the most time on disconnected tools and benefit the most from consolidation. Pricing runs about $35/user/month — cheaper than buying separate tools for each function.

The company's been profitable since launch with no VC pressure to chase enterprise deals. That stability matters when you're trusting a vendor with your entire operation.