Bringing Forensic Transparency to B2B Software Procurement
Founded in 2019, ClearPath SMB is an independent enterprise software research publication dedicated to testing B2B SaaS tools under real production workloads.
Why We Built ClearPath SMB
Enterprise software buyers face an information asymmetry problem: vendor pricing pages hide mandatory onboarding fees, seat-bucket multipliers, and API rate limits behind "Contact Sales" forms, while legacy review directories auction off top category placements to the highest PPC bidder.
Our editorial team of former VPs of Revenue Operations, Certified Solutions Architects, and CPAs built ClearPath SMB to provide CFOs, CTOs, and operations leaders with unfiltered, quantitative software benchmarks.
Our Editorial Firewall
- Zero Paid Rankings: Software vendors cannot pay to alter a composite lab score, remove a listed limitation, or buy an "Editor's Choice" badge.
- Hands-On Sandbox Testing: We provision real trial and production environments, import standardized test datasets, and measure webhook latency, OCR accuracy, and UI responsiveness firsthand.
- 3-Year TCO Modeling: We evaluate software based on what it costs at 10, 25, and 100 seats over a 36-month contract—including implementation fees and renewal uplift clauses.
Meet Our Senior Analysts
Owen Keller
Lead SMB Software & FinTech Specialist • 11+ Years Testing Small Business SaaS, Former Agency COO
Owen has helped over 400 small businesses and agencies migrate from messy spreadsheets to modern CRM, payroll, and automation stacks. He focuses on Day-1 ease of setup and predictable monthly bills.
Sarah Patel, CPA
Small Business Accounting & Payroll Specialist • Licensed CPA (CA), QuickBooks & Gusto Certified Advisor
Sarah audits every payroll, invoicing, and corporate card platform on ClearPath SMB. She calculates true first-year costs including W-2/1099 year-end filing fees, ACH batch fees, and state tax registrations.
Derek Sutton
Senior SMB CRM & Operations Reviewer • B.S. Business Administration, Certified HubSpot & Pipedrive Admin
Derek tests sales pipelines, project boards, and no-code automations from the perspective of a busy 15-person team without a dedicated IT administrator.