Cloud vs Desktop Reserve Study Software

This page compares two categories of software, not a named product. Desktop programs differ from one another, so check the details of the one you use.

What stays the same

Both kinds of software do the core work of a reserve study: hold the component inventory, schedule replacements, project the reserve balance, calculate fully funded balance and percent funded, and produce a report. A study prepared carefully in either one can be equally sound.

What changes

When a desktop program is the right choice

• You often work with no connection. Remote sites with no signal favor software that runs offline.
• You work alone and deliver PDFs. If nobody else needs to open the study, shared access adds little.
• Your process is built around it. Years of templates and habits in one program have real value. Switching has a cost.
• Your clients or contracts require data to stay on your own machines.

When cloud software is the right choice

• More than one person works on a study. A preparer, a reviewer and an inspector can all work without passing a file around.
• You inspect with a phone or tablet. Findings go straight onto the component.
• Clients want more than a PDF. Boards can see their percent funded, test a contribution change and download a board summary whenever they need it.
• You do not want to manage backups and installs.
• You use a Mac, or several devices.

Questions to ask before switching

• Can I export all my data, and in what format?
• What happens to my studies if I stop paying?
• Can I use my own costs and lives, or only the built-in ones?
• Do my clients need paid accounts to review?
• Is the price public, and what does growth cost?

For ReservePath, the answers are on the pricing page: full export at any time, a readable account after you cancel, your own cost library, free board and viewer seats, and public prices.