Substly review
At a glance
| Fact | Answer |
|---|---|
| Pricing | From $49/mo per workspace; team pricing on request |
| Our rating | 7/10 |
| Category | SaaS Spend Management |
| Best for | 10-50 person teams who want a SaaS register with usage signals but don't need cards or contracts. |
| Not for | Individuals, freelancers, or finance teams that already need card-issuance and approvals. |
| Verdict | Solid SaaS-management tool with light usage-analytics — pricing escalates quickly past the starter tier. |
Data last updated 2026-08-13. Checked by the LemSubs research team.
Substly sits in a useful middle ground between a pure tracker and a heavyweight finance platform like Cledara. You get manual entry plus optional integrations to pull in active SaaS users, departmental views for budget owners, and a clear renewal calendar.
The interface is clean and onboarding takes well under an hour for a small team. Where Substly stands out is the usage layer: it can pull seat counts from supported vendors and flag tools where active users are below the seats you are paying for.
That is the single highest-leverage signal in any SaaS audit, and Substly handles it cleanly. The weaknesses are pricing and depth. The Starter plan is positioned at small teams but the more useful features (usage integrations, SSO, full audit trails) sit on higher tiers, and the pricing model can scale faster than expected once you add seats.
The negotiation, refund-window, and household/multi-billing features that LemSubs builds for individual buyers are not in scope. If you are a 10-50 person team that wants a clean SaaS register with usage signals — but does not yet need cards, approvals, or contract automation — Substly is a sensible pick.
What works
- Clean, fast onboarding
- Usage integrations flag over-licensed tools
- Departmental views work well for budget owners
- Honest, focused product — not bloated
What does not
- Starter pricing climbs quickly with seats
- Best features sit on higher tiers
- No individual or freelancer tier
- Limited beyond core SaaS — no insurance/lease/household modelling
Scores by area
| Area | What we found | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Usage tracking | Pulls active-user counts from supported vendors | 8/10 |
| Onboarding speed | Live in under an hour | 9/10 |
| Departmental views | Budget-owner permissions and reports | 8/10 |
| Pricing transparency | Listed entry price, custom above that | 6/10 |
| Beyond-SaaS modelling | No insurance, lease, or household scope | 3/10 |
| Mobile experience | Web-first, no dedicated mobile app | 4/10 |
Best for
10-50 person teams who want a SaaS register with usage signals but don't need cards or contracts.
Not for
Individuals, freelancers, or finance teams that already need card-issuance and approvals.
Frequently asked questions
Does Substly require bank access?
No. Substly works from manual entry plus optional vendor-side integrations for usage. It does not connect to your bank.
How does Substly compare to Cledara?
Substly is lighter, cheaper, and focused on the SaaS register and usage layer. Cledara adds virtual cards, approvals, and contract automation — and a higher price.
How does it compare to LemSubs?
Substly is a team-only SaaS tool. LemSubs covers SaaS plus personal subscriptions, insurance, leases, household splits, refund windows, and a free individual tier.