Simply Stakeholders vs Tractivity: Which is best for stakeholder engagement?

In this section, we provide a head-to-head comparison of Simply Stakeholders vs Tractivity: the leading Stakeholder Management system. We explore how each software addresses the unique stakeholder management requirements of organisations, including compliance and security, user experience, support, communication management, data analysis, and more.

1.  Track stakeholder complaints and issues

Tractivity provides a comprehensive stakeholder engagement platform designed to meet the accountability, transparency, and reporting standards expected across government, public sector, and regulated industries. Its Enquiry and Commitment Tracking module ensures every commitment, agreement, mitigation, action, or regulatory obligation is formally logged, assigned, and monitored through to completion, with set reminders that prevent delays or missed follow‑ups.

A detailed Engagement and Issues Timeline creates a permanent, auditable record of every interaction, concern and decision, supporting compliance, FOI responses, scrutiny panels and internal governance reviews. Tractivity's powerful reporting suite enables teams to quickly generate clear, evidence-based reports for cabinet briefings, public consultations, regulatory submissions and senior leadership updates, ensuring that complex engagement activity can be communicated with accuracy and confidence.

Simply Stakeholders publishes a complaints and grievance module that logs complaints centrally, applies issue tags automatically, tracks custom resolution steps, sends overdue notifications and can be embedded as a grievance portal on your website. Commitments tracking is a separate module that starts at their Plus plan. Tractivity is built for public-sector governance, offering comprehensive, system-wide activity logging that tracks every engagement, across every topic, project, policy area, and decision-making process. This level of traceability aligns with the audit, compliance, and transparency standards required in government IT environments.

2. Communication & Outreach

When it comes to communication outreach, both platforms provide native tools. Tractivity’s suite is integrated end to end, covering newsletters, surveys, event management and webinars in one place.

Tractivity includes native modules for newsletters, event management, and stakeholder communications, all designed to work seamlessly within the platform. Its built‑in newsletter tool allows teams to create, send, and track communications without exporting data or relying on third‑party email systems. The event management module goes further, offering automated RSVP tracking, attendance management, and direct integration with Microsoft Teams, enabling organisations to schedule and manage meetings with internal leaders or community stakeholders in just a few clicks.

Because these capabilities are native to Tractivity, organisations avoid the complexity of APIs, data transfers, and external communication platforms. This not only reduces operational overhead and add‑on costs but also protects data sovereignty, ensuring sensitive stakeholder information always remains securely within the system.

Simply Stakeholders publishes native email outreach, SMS messaging and survey forms, with RSVP, open and click tracking and built-in unsubscribe handling. Two differences are worth checking against your requirements. Their bulk email and SMS outreach, webforms and surveys start at the Plus plan rather than the entry Core plan, and they publish no event management module or calendar sync. Tractivity includes newsletters, surveys, event management with RSVP and attendance tracking, Microsoft Teams meeting creation, and Outlook and Google Calendar sync, on every subscription.

3. Security, permissions and governance

Security is a critical requirement for government bodies and large organisations, and Tractivity delivers enterprise grade protection trusted across the UK and EU public sector. With comprehensive user activity logging, Single Sign On (SSO) and MFA support, and highly granular role based access control (RBAC), Tractivity enables secure collaboration across departments while allowing controlled access for contractors or third party partners without risking accidental data exposure or relying on unvetted external integrations. Its security posture is reinforced through annual penetration testing by a CREST-approved organisation, hosting on secure Microsoft Azure data centres, and full alignment with ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus certification standards.

Simply Stakeholders publishes a solid security posture: ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II certification, AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.2+ in transit, SSO and MFA on every plan, Okta login, and confidentiality levels applied to user roles and project groups. Two differences matter for UK public-sector buyers. First, the assurance stack is international rather than UK-specific: Cyber Essentials Plus, NHS DSPT and a G-Cloud listing are not published, and Cyber Essentials Plus is a stated requirement in many UK government and NHS procurements. Second, the detail available for due diligence differs. Simply Stakeholders states it conducts ‘regular third party penetration tests’ without publishing a cadence, a tester or an attestation, and its AI Policy refers to a Trust Centre that isn’t published at the time of writing.

 In comparison, Tractivity's fully integrated architecture keeps sensitive stakeholder data within a single secure environment, offering a level of protection and governance designed for public-sector scrutiny.

4. Platform Accessibility compliance

Tractivity supports organisations across the UK in managing and engaging stakeholders while meeting the compliance and accessibility standards expected in the public sector. Although the platform interface operates in UK English, Tractivity gives Welsh organisations the ability to communicate with stakeholders in both English and Welsh. This ensures full alignment with the Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, which require many organisations to provide communications in Welsh and not solely in English. The same multilingual flexibility can also be extended to other languages where needed.

Alongside this, Tractivity provides a fully accessible design that meets WCAG 2.2 Level A standards today, with WCAG 2.2 Level AA compliance planned for release in 2026. This ensures that all stakeholder interactions, from surveys to newsletters to event invitations, are delivered in a way that is inclusive and accessible to every user.

The platform is suitable for national, regional and local government bodies, as well as public sector organisations of all sizes across the UK and EU. Tractivity is both GDPR and UK GDPR compliant, simplifying the management of email opt ins, privacy preferences and government aligned stakeholder communications, while keeping all data securely contained within a single system.

Furthermore, all data is securely stored in Microsoft Azure data centres with flexible regional options to ensure compliance with data sovereignty requirements. The software itself holds ISO 27001:2022 and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications, underscoring its firm commitment to security and best practices.

Simply Stakeholders hosts in Microsoft Azure, including UK and EU regions, and states it is compliant with GDPR. On accessibility, its published position is that WCAG compliance is in progress, with no version or conformance level stated, and there is no accessibility statement on its site. For organisations covered by the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018, a published conformance position is usually needed at procurement stage rather than after it. On language, Simply Stakeholders lists four platform languages, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, and does not publish Welsh language support, which is why Tractivity’s bilingual communications matter for organisations under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.

5. AI data privacy and model training

Tractivity takes a security-first approach to AI, offering tools designed to enhance stakeholder engagement workflows without compromising data protection. Its AI Sentiment tool analyses communications in real time, identifying positive, negative or neutral sentiment, while the AI Summarise tool condenses lengthy engagement notes into clear, decision-ready insights that help teams work more efficiently.

Simply Stakeholders also incorporates AI within its platform, including sentiment analysis and AI-generated summaries of engagement records, and published an AI Policy in July 2026 stating that customer data is not used to train its own, Microsoft’s, OpenAI’s or any third-party models, with AI processing kept within the customer’s regional boundary and AI suggestions governable field by field. One point worth checking in a UK procurement: their published privacy impact assessment is assessed against the Australian Privacy Act 1988, and the contracting entity is Darzin Software Pty Ltd, governed by the laws of New South Wales.

Tractivity takes the same position under UK law, contracting in the UK and processing within its own Microsoft Azure environment, with Azure OpenAI acting solely as a data processor. Customer data is never used to train AI models, ensuring that stakeholder information, engagement records and organisational data remain fully confidential and isolated within each customer environment. This approach gives organisations confidence that their data stays protected, always controlled and compliant.

6. Reporting and deep analysis

Tractivity provides one of the most comprehensive reporting ecosystems available in stakeholder management software. Organisations gain immediate access to a pre-built library of more than 150 reports, covering everything from issue trends and stakeholder sentiment to engagement activity, consultation outcomes and stakeholder mapping. Every report can be exported in all common formats, making it easy to share insights across teams, committees and leadership groups.

Beyond the extensive report library, Tractivity enables organisations to go far deeper through its Microsoft Power BI integration, shipping in autumn 2026. Clients will be able to access their full raw dataset and design custom dashboards, charts and data tables tailored to their specific reporting needs, interrogating any aspect of their engagement activity and sharing dashboards with colleagues, expanding what is possible in terms of data visibility, strategic planning and evidence-based decision making.

This combination of ready-to-use reporting and advanced analytical capability ensures that organisations can move from data collection to meaningful insight with ease, supporting everything from operational reporting to high-level governance and policy development.

Simply Stakeholders offers a range of standard reports and dashboards that cover core engagement activity. These tools provide useful visibility into interactions, sentiment and stakeholder records, and they support exports to CSV and PDF, with scheduled delivery to colleagues.

Two differences are checkable. Simply Stakeholders publishes no named Power BI or business intelligence connector, and the route to your raw data is their API, which is listed on their top Pro plan. Neither vendor publishes a report count, so the useful comparison is what comes as standard: Tractivity provides more than 150 pre-built reports and exports to Word, Excel and PDF on every subscription, with the Power BI integration shipping autumn 2026 for teams that need to interrogate the full dataset.

7. Customer support, onboarding and ongoing development

When comparing Tractivity and Simply Stakeholders in terms of customer support, Tractivity offers far more than software delivery. Every organisation receives a dedicated customer success experience supported by specialists with deep expertise in stakeholder engagement and consultation. The team includes certified practitioners through the UK Consultation Institute, bringing practical knowledge of engagement best practice, regulatory compliance and data governance. This means organisations across government and the private sector benefit from guided, hands-on onboarding, usually completed within a matter of weeks, along with ongoing support that blends technical assistance with strategic advice to help teams adopt Tractivity effectively.

A key advantage for UK and EU organisations is that Tractivity’s entire technical and client support team is based within the UK and EU region. Support is available during your working hours, allowing real-time responses, immediate troubleshooting and rapid implementation of changes. Tractivity also hosts regular events and workshops where clients can meet other users, share experiences and contribute directly to the development of new features.

Customers also have access to an extensive knowledge hub containing past webinars, guidance articles and answers to common questions about Tractivity’s features and functionality.

Simply Stakeholders provides onboarding and customer success support, and states there is no cap on the amount of support customers receive. The difference lies in sector-specific depth. Tractivity’s customer success team includes certified practitioners with direct experience advising public bodies and regulated organisations on consultation strategy, UK and EU compliance requirements and data governance. This level of expertise can be particularly valuable for teams navigating complex public sector engagement for the first time.

Another distinction is location and service level. Simply Stakeholders is headquartered in Sydney and publishes contact numbers for Australia, the UK and EU, and the US and Canada, alongside a London office address. What it doesn’t publish is support hours, time zone coverage or a service level, and a Service SLA appears only on its Pro plan. With Tractivity, a managed SLA and a dedicated Client Success Manager are standard on every subscription, whatever you pay.

Tractivity believes that hands-on technical and client support is one of the most critical elements of a successful subscription. If a team is not supported properly and guided through adoption, even the most feature-rich platform will struggle to deliver value. This is where Tractivity consistently stands out.

8. Transparent pricing for subscriptions

When it comes to pricing transparency and overall value, Tractivity stands out clearly from Simply Stakeholders. Tractivity offers a single, all-inclusive subscription from £9,495 per year (€10,995), which provides access to every module, feature, integration and all future upgrades. There are no hidden extras, no add-on charges and no restrictions on storage, communication volume or the amount of time you spend with your dedicated client success manager, who is based within your UK or EU working time zone. 

Everything your organisation needs for effective stakeholder engagement is included as standard, from surveys and newsletters to event management, webinars and advanced reporting. This approach lets you replace fragmented or siloed communication tools with Tractivity’s fully integrated platform, without worrying about additional licensing or unexpected costs later.

In contrast, Simply Stakeholders publishes three plans, Core, Plus and Pro, but no prices. Pricing is per user, in US dollars, billed annually, with optional modules added on, so the total depends on plan, module and user count. Several capabilities that UK engagement teams treat as core start above the entry tier: geographical mapping, complaints management, commitments tracking, webforms and surveys, and SMS and email outreach begin at Plus, while API access, advanced role-based permissions, a dedicated account manager, quarterly account reviews and a Service SLA sit on Pro. Working out the total cost of ownership therefore takes a conversation rather than a page visit.

Beyond pricing clarity, Tractivity is recognised for high user adoption, strong retention and significant time savings: a 20% average efficiency improvement in stakeholder management activity, worth £5,000 to £8,200 per professional per year. Reports that once took days can now be produced in seconds, allowing teams to focus on meaningful engagement and informed decision-making. The combination of transparent pricing and measurable efficiency gives customers confidence not only in the cost, but in the return on investment from day one.

Where Tractivity stands apart for UK organisations

Tractivity delivers everything organisations need in one secure, compliant and fully integrated system. It combines powerful communication tools, an extensive library of more than 150 ready-made reports, advanced analytics through the Microsoft Power BI integration (shipping autumn 2026), bilingual communication for the Welsh Language Standards with flexibility for other languages, WCAG 2.2 accessible design, GDPR and UK GDPR compliance, and a single all-inclusive subscription with no hidden costs. Every feature, from surveys and newsletters to event management, sentiment analysis and stakeholder mapping, is built directly into the platform, ensuring organisations can manage all engagement activity without relying on external tools, add-ons or complex integrations.

In comparison, Simply Stakeholders is a capable platform, with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II certification, native communications and a published AI policy. Where the two differ for UK public-sector buyers is the assurance stack and the commercial model: Simply Stakeholders publishes no Cyber Essentials Plus, NHS DSPT or G-Cloud listing, states that WCAG compliance is in progress, does not publish Welsh language support, tiers capability across three plans, and prices per user in US dollars without publishing figures.

Tractivity's UK and EU-based customer success team, certified consultation expertise and hands-on onboarding ensure rapid adoption and long-term value. Together, these strengths make Tractivity a future-ready and dependable choice for organisations that need a comprehensive, compliant and insight-driven stakeholder engagement platform.