Every growing real estate investment firm needs investment management software. Investors expect it, and you can’t scale without it. Agora and Juniper Square are both highly regarded platforms praised for their customer service and ability to streamline operations. However, there are key differentiators in focus areas, which we’ll cover below.
Agora overview
Agora offers a complete commercial real estate investment management platform. With over $150 billion in assets under management (AUM) and 70,000 investors, Agora’s exclusive focus on the real estate industry helps GPs simplify all areas of investment management. Key components include:
- Investor portal
- CRM
- Fundraising
- Document management
- Reporting and analytics
- Back office services
Juniper Square overview
Juniper Square is an investment management software for private markets, including commercial real estate, private equity, wealth advisers, private debt, and venture capital. The software offers:
- CRM
- Investor portal
- Distribution waterfalls
- Compliance
- Reporting tools
Agora vs Juniper Square: Pros & cons
| Agora | Juniper Square | ||
| Pros | Cons | Pros | Cons |
| White glove onboarding and support at no additional cost | Exclusive real estate focus, limited use for non-real estate firms | Customer support for Enterprise clients | Less specialized support for real estate firms |
| Dedicated customer success manager available 24×7 at no additional cost | Broad focus on other industries | ||
| Specialized tax prep services for faster K-1 delivery | Fund administration | ||
| Expert bookkeeping for investments and property | |||
| ACH and international payments | |||
Agora vs Juniper Square: Key differences
Top features
Agora’s comprehensive investment management software, industry-leading automation, and full suite of back-office management services for commercial real estate firms truly set it apart. Agora also offers an unmatched range of services like bookkeeping and tax operations specifically, for real estate professionals.
Juniper Square emphasizes fund administration and its capabilities for various private investment markets.
Pricing
Agora’s pricing is based on equity under management and starts at $749/month for all of the software’s features.
Juniper Square offers three pricing tiers: Sponsor for firms under $50M in equity and Professional and Enterprise for larger equity under management levels. Additional costs apply for services like off-cloud backups and integrations with only the top-tier Enterprise plan, including a dedicated customer success manager.
Back office management
Both platforms streamline the investor management process, including subscription workflows, reporting, and investor K-1s. The addition of Agora’s waterfall calculation tool rounds out back office management.
Best for
Agora’s exclusive focus on real estate firms makes it ideal for organizations of any size focused on commercial real estate investments.
Juniper Square is an option for firms in private equity, venture capital, or private debt.
Customer support
Both platforms offer strong customer support via email, chat, and phone. Agora also provides white-glove onboarding support and a dedicated success manager at no additional cost. Users rave about Agora’s attentive and high-quality service level.
Automation
Agora users praise automation for sharing bulk documents with investors. Juniper Square currently lacks some automation capabilities, such as the ability to send ACH payments.
Integrations
Agora integrates with Zapier, Salesforce, DropBox Sign, Gmail, and Google Drive.
Juniper Square integrates with Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, DocuSign, Wistia, and Lob.
Deal management
GPs report that Agora’s features help them more easily track the status and timeline of their equity raises.
Juniper Square users report using deal management features to stay organized from concept to finalizing the capital raise.
Fundraising management
Both platforms provide strong fundraising capabilities. Agora users leverage the platform to automate the presentation of projects to prospects and the sharing of information via secure public brochures and data rooms. This simplifies the subscription process through automated data population in subscription documents and e-signatures.
Juniper Square provides data rooms and e-signatures to help improve investor relations during the fundraising process.
Investor reporting
Agora provides customized and comprehensive investor reporting solutions to support both GPs and LPs.
Sometimes, Juniper Square users need to combine multiple reports to get the information they need.
Training
Agora stands apart with a comprehensive, no-cost support package designed for customer success. This includes white glove support with a dedicated customer success manager, 24/7 support, and training resources.
Juniper Square offers various training options, but depending on the software package, there may be additional costs involved.
Ease of use
Agora users frequently praise the platform’s user-friendly interface, particularly praising the ease of tracking contributions and distributions.
Juniper Square users mention payment processing as an area for improvement since not all banks accept NACHA files, which complicates transactions.
Ease of setup
Both Agora and Juniper Square earn praise from users for their straightforward setup processes, with implementation typically taking around one month for most firms.
GPs consistently rate the platforms as easy to configure to their specific needs.
Platforms supported
Both Agora and Juniper Square provide cloud-based investment management platforms that users can access from any device via a web browser.
Market segments
Agora specializes in commercial real estate investment firms. Juniper Square caters to other sectors, including private equity, wealth advisors, and private debt.
Value for money
Agora users report that the solution offers strong value for money. User feedback suggests Juniper Square’s pricing may be on the higher end, with one review stating ‘.. is quite expensive.’
Ratings & reviews
| Agora | Juniper Square | |
| G2 | 4.8/5 (133 reviews) | 4.8/5 (86 reviews) |
| Capterra | 4.8/5 (10 reviews) | 4.9/5 (61 reviews) |
Awards and recognitions
Agora continues to rack up accolades, having just been named one of G2’s Top 100 Fastest Growing Products for 2024. This rapid growth and industry impact is further exemplified by Agora’s 10 badges earned in G2’s Winter 2024 and Spring 2024 reports.
Juniper Square previously won Best Value Investment Management Software in 2021 from Capterra.
Agora vs Juniper Square: Which is the right platform for you?
The key differentiator lies in their targeted markets – Agora solely serves commercial real estate investment firms, while Juniper Square caters to a broader range of private investment verticals.
For real estate GPs, Agora’s specialized industry focus aligns its solutions with the distinct needs and investor relations requirements of the commercial real estate space. Juniper Square’s more generalized approach suits larger firms operating across multiple verticals like private equity and venture capital.
Evaluating each platform’s strengths against your specific priorities will determine the right software fit.
Conclusion
While both offer robust investment management solutions, Agora stands out through best-in-class innovation, exceptional pricing tailored for the commercial real estate sector, and an intuitive user experience that provides unmatched value for real estate GPs and LPs.
Juniper Square represents an alternative for firms lacking a singular real estate focus. Its feature breadth can satisfy the diverse needs across the broader private market landscape.
