Looking for a Broadcom Clarity alternative? This one is written for enterprise PMOs running a real evaluation. Eighteen requirements, the plan each capability actually ships in, both vendors’ published prices, and the places each product is the weaker choice.
Commercial disclosure: PPM Express produced and funded this comparison. Every assessment was drafted with AI from the vendors’ own published documentation, then reviewed and approved by PPM Express Analysts before publication. It evaluates publicly documented product capabilities against a defined requirement set; it is not independent analyst research or a benchmark test of both systems on the same dataset.Read the full method
Clarity has been running large IT portfolios for decades and it shows: investment types, cost accounting, capacity reservations, application portfolio management, all of it deep and all of it configurable. The cost of that is a quoted agreement, a ValueOps stack to assemble, and an implementation that is a programme rather than a project. Pick PPM Express if you want portfolio governance running this quarter at a published price. Pick Clarity if you are standardising a large IT organisation and have the capacity to do it properly.
Primary trade-off: For financial depth, capacity reservations and application portfolio management, Clarity is the more established product.
Primary trade-off: Quoted direct pricing, a multi-component ValueOps stack, and configurability that needs real design and governance work before it pays off.
The default scenario is an enterprise hybrid PMO with 250 modeled users, 75 to 250 active initiatives, several delivery systems in play, and a need for centralized portfolio, resource, financial and executive reporting.
Wants everyone in the portfolio, governance across the tools teams already use, resource and financial control, and a cost that does not move when headcount does.
Leads at the default 250-user benchmark because the $25,000 annual plan includes unlimited users and broad participation is mandatory.
Covers the functional requirements almost completely. The quoted commercial model and implementation weight are what cost it here.
| Customer requirement | Priority | PPM Express | Broadcom Clarity |
|---|---|---|---|
Connect strategy, objectives, and execution Map initiatives to strategy and track progress against objectives or key results. Strategy | Mandatory | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise UltraStrategy and OKR modules are included in the evaluated Enterprise Ultra plan.Sources [2] | ✓ MeetsClarityStrategic roadmaps connect objectives, investments, money, people and work.Sources [8], [10] |
Manage portfolio and project hierarchy with roll-ups Centralize initiatives and provide governed portfolio-level health, status, dates, risks, and decisions. Portfolio governance | Mandatory | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise UltraUnlimited portfolio, program, and project management are included in the evaluated Enterprise Ultra plan.Sources [2] | ✓ MeetsClarityFlexible investment types, hierarchies, portfolios and roadmaps support enterprise roll-ups.Sources [8] |
Capture ideas and prioritize proposed work Collect requests, score them consistently, and move approved initiatives into delivery. Intake & prioritization | Important | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise UltraInnovation and ideation plus standard prioritization frameworks are included in the evaluated Enterprise Ultra plan.Sources [2], [3] | ✓ MeetsClarityDemand management covers requirements, evaluation, prioritization and approvals.Sources [8] |
Compare advanced portfolio what-if scenarios Model competing investment mixes using strategy, budget, capacity, timing, targets, and dependencies. Portfolio modeling | Important | ◐ Partially meetsIn Enterprise Ultra; depth worth checkingPrioritization, optimization, roadmaps and resource what-if reporting are all documented. If you model several competing investment mixes side by side, check that depth against your own decision process.Sources [3], [4] | ✓ MeetsClarityCapacity and portfolio scenario modeling drive investment tradeoffs in real time.Sources [10] |
Plan resource capacity and utilization Balance demand and capacity across roles, named resources, teams, projects, and time periods. Resources | Mandatory | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise UltraThe evaluated plan supports hours, percent, and FTE planning, capacity, availability, and proposed and committed allocations.Sources [4] | ✓ MeetsClarityCapacity planning covers individuals, teams, skills, demand, availability and reservations.Sources [8] |
Manage budgets, forecasts, actuals, benefits, and ROI Provide portfolio and project financial control and connect spend to expected value. Financials & benefits | Mandatory | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise UltraBuilt-in financials support budgets, forecasts, actuals, benefits, fiscal and non-fiscal values, and estimated ROI.Sources [5] | ✓ MeetsClarityBudgeting, forecasting, cost accounting, spend, benefits and ROI are core strengths.Sources [8] |
Support waterfall, agile, and hybrid delivery Allow teams to use native schedules or external delivery tools without losing portfolio governance. Delivery | Mandatory | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise UltraNative task scheduling supports traditional, sprint, and task-list approaches; external schedules can be linked.Sources [1], [2] | ✓ MeetsClarityClarity handles investments across delivery methods, and Rally extends agile execution.Sources [9], [11] |
Track time and effort against work Capture actual effort for projects and tasks and use it in reporting and resource analysis. Time | Important | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise UltraUnlimited time tracking, advanced approvals, and custom fields are included in the evaluated Ultra plan.Sources [2] | ✓ MeetsClarityTime management and actuals feed resource and financial control.Sources [8] |
Generate and distribute AI-assisted status reports Create standardized executive reports with AI narratives and scheduled PDF or email delivery. Executive reporting & AI | Mandatory | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise UltraProject Story supports AI summaries, configurable single- and multi-page reports, scheduled PDF email, and unlimited recipients in the evaluated plan.Sources [6] | ◐ Partially meetsClarityAI supports portfolio insight. Automated executive narrative writing and distribution need confirming.Sources [9] |
Use AI for portfolio and project decision support Ask portfolio questions, identify risk, generate plans, summarize health, and automate routine management work. AI | Important | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise UltraPPM Insights, status prediction, project digest, task and risk AI, schedule generation, and advanced AI agents are included in the evaluated plan.Sources [1], [2] | ✓ MeetsClarityValueOps documents generative AI and AI-driven insight across objectives, ideas and investments.Sources [9], [11] |
Consolidate delivery data from multiple work systems Roll up work from Jira, Azure DevOps, Planner, Project, Smartsheet, monday.com, and other systems into a portfolio view. Integrations | Mandatory | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise Ultra, with setup conditionsStandard integrations plus two-way Jira and Azure DevOps are covered by this plan. Confirm setup and the conditions on each connected system.Sources [1], [2], [7] | ✓ MeetsClarityClarity, Rally, Insights and ConnectALL unify strategy, execution and analytics data.Sources [11] |
Synchronize Jira and Azure DevOps work in both directions Create or update connected tasks and work items while preserving team execution in the source system. Bidirectional integration | Mandatory | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise UltraTwo-way Azure DevOps and Jira synchronization is included in the evaluated Ultra plan and uses vendor-assisted setup.Sources [7] | ✓ MeetsClarityConnectALL handles toolchain synchronization. Confirm the licensed Jira and Azure DevOps mappings.Sources [11] |
Provide API, Power BI, and workflow automation Enable enterprise reporting, data export, integration, and repeatable process automation. Data & automation | Important | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise UltraREST API, Power Automate and Zapier connectors, built-in dashboards, and Power BI report packs are included in the evaluated plan.Sources [1], [2] | ✓ MeetsClarityAPIs, connectors, ConnectALL, reporting and analytics provide the extensibility layer.Sources [9], [11] |
Configure the platform without custom software development Allow PMO administrators to adapt fields, views, templates, rules, and workflows as practices mature. Administration | Important | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise Ultra, configured by the PMOTemplates, custom fields, views, filters, layouts and modules are all administrator-managed.Sources [1] | ✓ MeetsClarityConfigurable investment types, roadmaps, views, workflows and financial structures are documented.Sources [8] |
Support enterprise permissions, audit, and controlled environments Provide access controls, auditability, protected work, sandboxes, and environment options where required. Security & governance | Important | ✓ MeetsIncluded in Enterprise UltraThe evaluated plan includes private projects, audit, advanced permissions, multiple tenants or sandboxes, dedicated hosting, and premium support options.Sources [2] | ✓ MeetsClarityEnterprise governance, access control, audit and deployment options are contract-level questions.Sources [8] |
Allow broad participation without per-seat price growth Give employees, executives, team members, and viewers access without annual cost increasing for every additional user. Commercial model | Mandatory | ✓ MeetsFlat annual plan, Enterprise UltraEnterprise Ultra is $25,000 per year with unlimited users. Enterprise is listed in the pricing reference table but is not used in the comparison calculations.Sources [1], [2] | ? Not verifiedClarityClarity meters Full, Restricted and View users separately, so broad participation depends on how people are classified — and Broadcom-direct pricing is quoted rather than published.Sources [8] |
Run professional services delivery and profitability Manage client delivery, billable utilization, time, costs, charges, and profitability as an integrated operating model. Professional services | Optional | ◐ Partially meetsComponents included in Enterprise UltraTime, resource planning, task costs, charges and profitability are all there. A complete native PSA operating model is not documented as one.Sources [1], [5] | ◐ Partially meetsClarityResources, time, financials and investment controls support services work. Complete billing workflows need validating.Sources [8] |
Map enterprise architecture and business capabilities Visualize initiatives, dependencies, capabilities, outcomes, and architecture relationships across the enterprise. Enterprise architecture | Optional | ◐ Partially meetsRoadmaps and strategy visualization in Enterprise UltraRoadmaps and strategy visualization are available. A dedicated enterprise architecture model is not.Sources [1], [2] | ✓ MeetsClarityApplication Portfolio Management connects applications, cost, health, business value and strategy.Sources [10] |
How the score works: Meets = 1, Partially meets = 0.5, Does not meet = 0. Mandatory requirements weigh more than Important ones, and Important more than Optional. Read the table. The percentage is a summary of it, not the result.
Cost accounting, chargeback, capitalization and benefits tracking at Clarity's level is rare. If your CFO is a primary stakeholder in this decision, that depth is the reason Clarity stays on the list.
Clarity is part of ValueOps, alongside Rally, ConnectALL and Insights. Full coverage often means several components, each with its own licensing and integration work. PPM Express is one subscription.
Clarity's configurability is real, and so is the design work it demands. Budget for a governance and change programme, not just an implementation. PPM Express is packaged specifically to avoid that.
A comparison that only lists strengths is a brochure. Check each of these against your own operating model, the integrations you actually need, and how much implementation capacity you have.
Packaged enterprise PPM. One price, no seat count.
The incumbent enterprise PPM platform, sold as an agreement.
The short version: Clarity if you are standardising a large IT portfolio and financial depth is the deciding factor. PPM Express if you want governance live this quarter at a number you can budget.
Every figure here is an annual cost at 250 users. Enterprise Ultra is the plan being compared; PPM Express Enterprise appears as a price reference only. Broadcom does not publish list pricing for Clarity sold direct — that remains a quoted enterprise agreement. Clarity by Rego, a Broadcom Tier-1 partner, does publish list pricing for an AWS-hosted Clarity SaaS edition, and the rows below use it: Full $35, Restricted $20 and View $2 per user per month on an annual commitment, modelled at a 20/80 Full-to-Restricted split. A Broadcom-direct agreement will not match these figures.
PPM Express pricing was verified from ppm.express on August 21, 2026. Clarity partner list pricing was verified from Clarity by Rego and its AWS Marketplace listing on September 3, 2026.
Default summary scenario: 250 users. Clarity rows use published partner list pricing from Clarity by Rego, a Broadcom Tier-1 partner. Official pricing sources: PPM Express [12] and Clarity [8].
Calculation assumption: Clarity rows use the published list pricing of Clarity by Rego, a Broadcom Tier-1 partner reselling an AWS-hosted Clarity SaaS edition — Full $35, Restricted $20 and View $2 per user per month on an annual commitment, with a 20-user minimum — read on September 3, 2026 and reconciled against its AWS Marketplace listing. The model assumes a 20/80 Full-to-Restricted split, so 250 users is 50 Full and 200 Restricted. An all-Restricted population would be $60,000 and an all-Full population $105,000, which is the honest spread. Broadcom does not publish list pricing for Clarity sold direct, and a direct enterprise agreement is quoted and typically lands well above these figures. PPM Express Enterprise Ultra remains $25,000 per year with unlimited users. Implementation is excluded on both sides and is the larger variable for Clarity. Taxes, discounts, migration, integrations, support and professional services are excluded.
Illustrative product image from the PPM Express website. Product interfaces change over time.
Explore PPM ExpressThis is not a bake-off. Nobody loaded the same dataset into both products. What it does check is whether each vendor publicly documents a capability that meets the requirement, and what edition, integration or service you need to get it.
The full method is published. The eighteen requirements, the weightings, the three buyer scenarios, the evidence rules and the limitations are all set out on the comparison methodology page.
Requirement coverage, plans, integrations and published pricing.
For many portfolios, yes, and for some it is not. Clarity is built for large IT organisations with deep financial governance. PPM Express covers the same requirement list in a packaged form at a published price. Where the two genuinely differ is cost accounting depth and application portfolio management.
It depends which Clarity you are buying. Broadcom does not publish list pricing for Clarity sold direct, so that is a quoted enterprise agreement. Clarity by Rego, a Broadcom Tier-1 partner, publishes list pricing for an AWS-hosted Clarity SaaS edition — Full $35, Restricted $20 and View $2 per user per month on an annual commitment — and on a 20/80 Full-to-Restricted split 250 users is about $69,000 a year, within a spread of $60,000 all-Restricted to $105,000 all-Full. Neither figure includes implementation, which is the larger variable. PPM Express Enterprise Ultra is $25,000 a year with unlimited users.
On this requirement set PPM Express scores higher, driven by the commercial model rather than the feature set. Clarity matches it almost everywhere on function and beats it on financial depth and application portfolio management.
ValueOps is the Broadcom portfolio that Clarity sits inside, alongside Rally for agile delivery, ConnectALL for toolchain synchronization and Insights for analytics. Full coverage often means more than one component, so scope which pieces you need before comparing totals.
No. Clarity goes deeper on financials and application portfolio management; PPM Express packages AI reporting and cross-tool governance at a published price. The pricing rows compare two published subscriptions — ours, and a Broadcom partner's list for the hosted Clarity edition.
Where funding, scoring, gates and benefits live. Strategic portfolio management
The constraint most portfolios actually fail on. Resource capacity planning and utilization
Test a funding mix before you commit to it. Portfolio what-if scenario planning
All material feature and pricing statements are based on public vendor sources accessed on or before August 21, 2026. Product packaging and functionality may change.
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