SugarCRM is an exceptional Customer Relationship Management suite of applications. We're using it both for us and several client businesses, integrating it with public web sites and Google Apps. But taken down to a detailed analysis, at the core level, SugarCRM is lacking few important features. Exactly the ones that (quite) every client was asking us about: products, contracts, sales quotes and orders, invoices, and printing them straight from the web "page" to be handled and circulated in the real world. Here's how we met these request:

1. Installing new modules into SugarCRM core. In particular OpenSales for SugarCRM, OpenQuotes and Contracts, TCPDF for SugarCRM and others similar.

2. Making sure files and folders permissions are right for fields to work properly in the forms, then customizing the modules' templates before delivery to production stage.

3. Finding Vtiger, installing it on the server, logging in... aaand finding all the above in the core, already in place for the production run. Indeed, some design touch here and there, some login bug, but overall the total delivery time for a Vtiger install seems to be way shorter than in a similar case with SugarCRM.

Important notice: The above suits a small business centered on specific products, sales orders, quotes, invoices forms.

And again a very important notice: The above comparison goes for Sugar Community Edition v. Vtiger, since they're both free to download without any paying tags included. It is good to mention that Sugar Professional and Sugar Enterprise are better equipped, this at an additional price.

"Each product derives from the same code tree, with Sugar Community Edition containing roughly 85 percent of the functionality contained in Sugar Professional and Sugar Enterprise" — states the wiki page about SugarCRM.

As far as we're concerned, we're offering both SugarCRM and Vtiger install, customizing and maintenance services. Vtiger being a fork of Sugar, they would have similar engines, like an Audi and a Volkswagen.