The Mavenlink-to-Kantata Rebrand: Timeline and What It Means
The rebrand was not just a name change. It was a product merger that reshaped what you're actually using if you're on either platform today.
Mavenlink standalone
Mavenlink existed as an independent PSA/platform targeting professional services and marketing/creative agencies. Pricing was competitive at entry level ($15–$25/user/month). Feature set focused on project management, time tracking, resource scheduling, and client collaboration.
Enterprise push & pricing increase
Mavenlink shifted toward larger firm sizes and raised pricing. New customers were pushed to higher tiers. Existing customers on older pricing plans were grandfathered but felt the pressure of reduced feature parity.
Mavenlink + Kimble merger → Kantata
Mavenlink and Kimble Applications merged to form Kantata. Kimble brought AI-driven resource management, advanced revenue forecasting, and enterprise-level analytics. Mavenlink brought agency-focused project management and client portal capabilities. The combined product took the Kantata name.
Platform unification and migration
Legacy Mavenlink customers were migrated to the Kantata platform. Some customers reported configuration changes, API endpoint changes, and report definitions that shifted during migration. The Kimble-side features (AI scheduling, revenue forecasting) were added as premium tiers.
Post-merger pricing normalization
Legacy pricing plans expired and were replaced with Kantata's current structure ($22–$40/user/month). Annual price increases have accelerated for firms that were on older Mavenlink contracts. Feature tiers now separate core PSA from advanced AI/forecasting modules.
Feature Parity: What Came From Mavenlink vs. Kimble
Kantata is a blend of two platforms. Here's what you actually get depending on which legacy product your configuration pulls from.
Year-One Cost: Mavenlink Legacy vs. Current Kantata
If you are still on a legacy Mavenlink contract, your current pricing may be below current Kantata rates. Here's what the math looks like if you're evaluating a new contract or renegotiating a renewal.
30 Employees
15–20 active timesheet users
50 Employees
30–35 active timesheet users
Legacy Mavenlink customers: check your renewal terms
If you signed a Mavenlink contract before 2022, you may have been grandfathered at lower rates. As those contracts renew, Kantata has been repricing many customers upward — some firms report 20–40% increases at renewal. If your renewal is coming up and you are considering alternatives, the renegotiation window is your best leverage.
If You're Leaving Mavenlink/Kantata: What You're Actually Migrating
Whether you're moving to BigTime, NetSuite PSA, or another platform, the migration work is non-trivial. Here's what to account for.
Data to export and validate
- Timesheet history (at minimum: 2 years of weekly entries by employee and project)
- Project financial data (actual hours vs. budget, billing rates, invoiced amounts)
- Employee roster with cost rates and billable status
- Client list with active projects and contract values
- Historical utilization data (needed to re-configure capacity planning in new tool)
- Custom report definitions and saved filters
Systems to re-build
- Any Zapier/Make/Workato automations connecting Mavenlink to other tools
- Salesforce integration mapping (if you use SF for CRM and project sync)
- Accounting system integration (QBO/Xero sync rules may differ in target platform)
- Client portal setup (if you shared a Mavenlink portal with clients, you need to tell them)
- Custom API integrations used for internal reporting or BI tools
- Historical report data feeds to your data warehouse or BI layer
Budget 8–14 weeks for a full migration from Mavenlink/Kantata to a new PSA if you have 40+ users, historical data older than 12 months, and more than two integrations. Do not sign a new contract and set a cancellation date without first confirming your export will be available and complete.
What the Rebrand Doesn't Fix
Switching platforms won't fix a margin visibility problem — it will just move it to a new system.
- If your team doesn't log time consistently in Mavenlink, they won't log time consistently in BigTime either. Tool compliance is behavioral, not technical. A new platform does not solve a timesheet compliance problem — it relocates it.
- If you don't know which projects are profitable, a platform migration does not create that visibility. You need to analyze your existing data first — before you sign a new contract, not after you implement. A $149 Margin Diagnostic tells you exactly where you stand from your current data in under an hour.
- If you're staying on Kantata, the AI-driven resource forecasting in the Kimble tier only helps if your data is clean. The AI models that power risk detection and capacity forecasting require consistent timesheet entry and accurate project data. Firms that haven't solved data quality in Mavenlink will get noisy AI alerts in Kantata, not better decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Know your project margins before you sign anything
Before switching platforms, analyze your existing data. The Margin Diagnostic shows which projects are actually profitable — using what you already have.
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