If you are comparing OnBord and Docupace, you are almost certainly trying to fix the same thing we hear about every week. A client says yes, and then two weeks disappear into forms, follow-ups and unsigned documents before the account is funded.
Both platforms address that gap, and both are credible choices. They simply start from different ends of the process. Docupace was built for the back office. We built OnBord for the client.
Here is a straight comparison so you can work out which one matches how your firm actually runs.
Two platforms, two starting points
Docupace has been in wealth management since 2002 and approaches onboarding as one workflow inside a much larger operations platform. Account opening sits alongside document management, compensation processing, records retention, supervision and workflow reporting. If your firm has an operations team whose job is moving paperwork through a controlled, auditable pipeline, that breadth is real and it is useful.
OnBord starts at the moment the client says yes. Advisors do not open the account. Rather they create/setup the client and starts the workflow The client completes their information on their phone, in a few minutes, wherever they happen to be. Reminders go out automatically. Compliance documents are generated and delivered inside the same flow rather than as a separate job for someone to remember.
The distinction matters because the two products are solving different bottlenecks. Docupace is built to give a firm control over its document operations. We built OnBord to remove the back and forth between an advisor and a new client entirely.
OnBord vs Docupace at a glance
| OnBord | Docupace | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Independent advisors, solo RIAs and growing firms | Broker-dealers, enterprise firms and large RIAs |
| Core focus | Client-facing onboarding and data collection | Back office automation and document operations |
| Who drives the process | The client, from their phone | The advisor or an operations team |
| Client experience | SMS-led, mobile-first, automatic reminders | Digital forms and e-signature, advisor initiated |
| Scope | Onboarding, data collection and compliance delivery | Onboarding plus compensation, records, supervision and reporting |
| Client data | It is not stored on our database. | Held in the Docupace document repository |
| Compliance documents | We dont generate them. Firms upload them and we deliver and document the delivery of them. | Firm-wide compliance tracking and supervision tooling |
| Branding | White label with your firm’s branding | Customisable dashboards and branding |
| Integrations | CRMs Redtail Wealthbox Sales Force Practifi Custodians Charles Schwab Goldman Sachs Fidelity BNY Pershing Docusign |
Broad integration hub with custodial connections |
| Implementation | Self-serve, no project plan required | Structured implementation with the Docupace team |
| Pricing | Entry tier 1-10 users – $80 per user per month Growth 11-99 – $70 per user per month |
Custom, enterprise-based |
Where the difference shows up for your clients
Ask an advisor where onboarding actually stalls and the answer is rarely the software. It is the client who has not opened the email, or has opened it on a phone and given up on a form built for a desktop screen, or has filled in half of it and left the rest for a weekend that never comes.
That is the specific problem we designed OnBord around. Text messages get read. A form that works properly on a phone gets finished. Automatic reminders mean nobody in your office is chasing anyone, and you can see exactly where each client is in the process from your dashboard.
Docupace handles client-facing account opening too, and for firms with an operations team supporting the advisor it works well. The difference is emphasis. Docupace optimises for the firm’s control of the process. We optimise for the client finishing it without help.
Compliance and client data
Compliance documents are usually the least interesting part of onboarding and the easiest to get wrong. OnBord generates your Form ADV 2A, Form CRS and the relevant ADV 2Bs and delivers them to the client automatically, with a record of delivery. It happens as part of onboarding, not as a separate task sitting on someone’s list.
Data handling is one of the clearer differences between the two platforms. Docupace stores client documents and information in its repository, which is what allows the firm-wide records management and supervision features to work. OnBord takes the opposite approach. Your client’s sensitive information never touches our database. It moves from the client to your systems, which means one less place where it sits and one less thing to explain when a client asks where their data lives.
Neither approach is wrong. If you need firm-wide document retention and supervision across many advisors, a repository is the point. If you want a smaller data footprint, ours is the better fit.
What it takes to get running
This is where firm size tends to decide the answer. Docupace implementations are structured projects. There is configuration, integration work and a team involved, which makes sense at enterprise scale where the platform is touching compensation, supervision and multiple custodial connections.
OnBord is self-serve. Connects your CRM, DocuSign and or Custodian, and onboard your first client the same day. There is no implementation phase, no migration and no minimum seat count. Pricing starts at $30 per user per month plus $7 for each household you create, so a firm bringing on four new clients in a month adds $28 to its bill.
Which one is right for your firm
Choose Docupace if onboarding is one supervised process among many, you have operations staff maintaining the platform, and firm-wide document control is the priority. It is a mature product and it does that job properly.
Choose OnBord if the advisor is also the operations team. If you want a new client onboarded before they have left your office, without an implementation project, a platform migration or a five-figure commitment, that is exactly what we built.
See it on your own onboarding process
The quickest way to know which fits is to watch your own onboarding run through OnBord. Book a short demo and we will walk you through a live client setup, show you how the compliance documents are generated, and give you a straight answer on whether we are the right fit for your firm.
