Untap vs Brightidea
Innovation pipelines without licensing each capability as a separate app.
Updated August 2026
Per app
is how the cost grows
Brightidea has long packaged capability as separately purchased apps. Untap ships submissions, evaluation, community, mentorship and analytics in one flat plan.
See full pricing comparisonQUICK VERDICT
The short version, for people in a hurry.
If you read nothing else, read this.
PRICING
Pricing comparison, line by line.
Their tiers on the left, Untap Corporates plan on the right. Education and NGO pricing subtracts 25% and 50% respectively.
Scroll sideways to see every column — the header row stays visible.
Brightidea
Ideas
Brightidea
Pipeline
Brightidea
Enterprise
UNTAP
Starter
UNTAP
GrowthPopular
UNTAP
Ultimate
Their tiers on the left, Untap Corporates plan on the right. Education and NGO pricing subtracts 25% and 50% respectively.
Brightidea's pricing page routes to a demo request and G2 lists no starting price. Buyers report modular pricing where capabilities such as idea capture, pipeline management and foresight are licensed separately, so cost compounds as the program matures. Reviewers on G2 repeatedly flag value-for-money against smaller point solutions. Untap's Corporates Starter is $2,500/year with everything included and no per-app unbundling.
Annual billing includes 2 months free. Subscription pause available at $15/month between program cycles. Education tier: 25% off list. Small NGO tier: 50% off list.
FEATURES
Feature comparison, grouped by workflow.
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Application and Submission Management
7 capabilities
Review and Evaluation
7 capabilities
Communication and Notifications
5 capabilities
Platform and Infrastructure
6 capabilities
Integrations and Security
7 capabilities
WHAT USERS SAY
Common feedback about Brightidea.
Paraphrased themes from public reviews. No direct quotes, no cherry-picking: recurring patterns only.
Pipeline visualisation is the highlight
Users like watching ideas move through stages and the dashboards executives get out of it.
BASED ON G2, CAPTERRA AND TRUSTRADIUS REVIEWS, 2024-2026
Value for money is the recurring objection
Reviewers describe pricing as high relative to smaller competitors, especially once multiple apps are licensed.
BASED ON G2, CAPTERRA AND TRUSTRADIUS REVIEWS, 2024-2026
Admin configuration needs vendor help
Feedback points to a complex backend where meaningful changes tend to go through Brightidea rather than your team.
BASED ON G2, CAPTERRA AND TRUSTRADIUS REVIEWS, 2024-2026
Support experience is mixed
Responsiveness is praised in some reviews and criticised in others, often tied to the size of the contract.
BASED ON G2, CAPTERRA AND TRUSTRADIUS REVIEWS, 2024-2026
Themes are synthesized from public reviews on G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius. We do not reproduce reviewer text.
BY ORGANIZATION
Which platform is right for you?
An honest take. There are scenarios where Brightidea is the right answer.
Choose Brightidea when...
- You need a large-enterprise crowdsourcing brand with a deep reference base
- Executive-facing innovation portfolio dashboards are the primary deliverable
- Internal employee ideation at tens of thousands of seats is the core use case
- You are comfortable licensing capability app by app
Choose Untap when...
- You want ongoing innovation infrastructure, not a project you rebuild each cycle
- You need published pricing and a free trial instead of a quote cycle
- Unlimited ideas, programs, reviewers and admins matter more than modules
- You run innovation alongside awards, hackathons, grants and talent programs
- You want jury rubrics, blind review, AI screening and public voting in one flow
- You are an NGO, foundation or university and need a structured discount
BY PROGRAM TYPE
Best fit by program type.
How each platform holds up across the eight most common program shapes.
Being fair
Where Brightidea is stronger
Brightidea is the better pick when your needs match what it was built for — see the “Choose Brightidea when...” card above. Untap is the better pick when you run programs continuously and need unlimited submissions, users and programs on one flat price. Both are valid; the honest question is volume and frequency.
Last reviewed: August 2026
What you also get, beyond the comparison above
Point tools win on one job and stop. Untap ships the whole program lifecycle on one engine — including a training stack and an events and bookings stack most alternatives do not have at all.
Trusted at scale
1M+ participants have applied to programs built on Untap.
Fortune 500 innovation teams, UN agencies, universities and national governments run their programs here.
1M+
Participants
400+
Programs
100+
Customers
Make the switch
Ready to move from Brightidea to Untap?
Import your existing program data and launch your first branded platform on Untap this week. We will help if you need it.
No credit card required. 7-day trial, unlimited everything.