Novagems alternative
for buyers who want the number first
CGuardPro is a Novagems alternative with a published price: $5 per user per month, every feature, a one-time $299.99 implementation fee and a 7-day free trial. Novagems, as of October 2026, quotes per active user without publishing a rate, and it serves cleaning, healthcare and retail as well as security. The two products share much of the field core, so the real differences are price visibility, focus, and the control-room tools CGuardPro adds.
What does Novagems do well?
Quite a lot, and its terms are friendly. Novagems covers scheduling, time and attendance, GPS tracking with geofencing, NFC and QR checkpoint tours, mobile patrol, custom incident reports, alerts and a client portal, with web, iOS and Android apps. Its pricing page promises everything in one plan, unlimited sites and clients, month-to-month billing with no contract, no setup or onboarding fees, and implementation in one to two business days. Inactive or seasonal guards are not billed. It says it serves more than 500 security companies in the US and Canada, from about 10 to more than 1,500 guards.
On setup fees and contract terms, Novagems' published terms are better than ours. We charge $299.99 once for implementation. Say that out loud when you compare.
Why look at CGuardPro instead?
You can price it without a call. $5 per login per month is on our pricing page. Forty users cost $200 a month. Novagems sends a quote within one business day, which is fast, but you still need to ask.
It is built for security only. Novagems also sells to cleaning, healthcare, retail and food businesses. CGuardPro is built only for physical security companies, and more than 600 use it. That shows in the details: post orders, shift pass-down, visitor and vehicle logs with the plate read from a phone photo, client SOS from the client's own app, and geofences per post drawn as a radius or a polygon with an alert when the officer leaves.
It reaches into the control room. CGuardPro includes an alarm receiver for Contact ID, SIA DC-09 and Surgard signals, push-to-talk radio in the guard app, and an SOS your client can raise from their own app. We did not see the first two described on Novagems' pages; ask them whether they offer them.
Hours go to Gusto. For US companies, CGuardPro sends approved hours to Gusto, free, as time sheets split into regular, overtime and double overtime, including California daily rules. Novagems describes timesheet export to accounting or HR systems. Neither product runs payroll for you.
How do Novagems and CGuardPro compare?
| Topic | Novagems (as published) | CGuardPro |
|---|---|---|
| Published price | No figure; custom quote within one business day | $5 per user per month |
| Billing unit | Per active user | Per user (anyone with a login) |
| Setup fee | None: "no setup or onboarding fees" | $299.99 one-time implementation |
| Contract | Month-to-month, no contract | Monthly per user; ask us for terms in writing |
| Free trial | 14 days, no credit card | 7 days, no credit card |
| Industries | Security plus cleaning, healthcare, retail and food service | Physical security only |
| Checkpoints | NFC and QR | QR and NFC, each scan verified server-side with time and position; missed-tour alerts |
| Offline | Checkpoint scans and incident reports offline | Incidents, visitor entries, tour start/end queue; offline scans stamped on arrival; clock-in needs a connection |
| Alarm receiver | Not described on its pages | Contact ID, SIA DC-09 and Surgard signals into the command center |
| Voice | Chat listed; voice not described | Push-to-talk radio in the guard app |
| Payroll | Timesheet export to accounting or HR systems | Gusto integration (US, free): approved hours as time sheets; CSV, Excel and PDF exports |
Novagems column: novagems.com, its pricing page and its security guard management page, read in October 2026. "Not described" means the page is silent, not that the feature is missing. Novagems is a trademark of its owner; CGuardPro is not affiliated with or endorsed by it.
How should you decide?
Run both trials on the same post at the same time. Ours is 7 days and theirs is 14, both with no card. At the end, compare three things: the first-year total for your headcount, including our $299.99; how much of the record your client could see without you forwarding anything; and what happened at the site with the worst signal. The questions to bring are in how to evaluate guard management software.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good Novagems alternative?+
CGuardPro is one, if you want a price you can see before a call and software built only for physical security companies. It costs $5 per user per month with every feature, plus a one-time $299.99 implementation fee, and has a 7-day free trial. Novagems publishes no figure and quotes per active user. Both cover scheduling, GPS clock-in, geofences, NFC and QR tours, incident reports and a client portal, so test both on the same post.
Is Novagems cheaper than CGuardPro?+
We cannot tell, because Novagems does not publish its per-user rate. What it does publish beats us on two terms: it charges no setup or onboarding fees, where we charge $299.99 once, and it is month-to-month with no contract. It also mentions volume and annual discounts. Ask Novagems for its rate at your headcount and compare one first-year total.
What does CGuardPro have that Novagems does not describe?+
Two things we did not find on Novagems' pages as of October 2026: an alarm receiver that takes Contact ID, SIA DC-09 and Surgard signals, and push-to-talk radio inside the guard app. That does not mean Novagems lacks them. Ask them directly.
Does Novagems only serve security companies?+
No. Its site lists cleaning, healthcare, retail and food service alongside security guard management, and says it serves more than 500 security companies in the US and Canada. A shared platform can be a plus if you also run janitorial crews. CGuardPro is built only for physical security companies and is used by more than 600 of them.
How hard is it to move from Novagems to CGuardPro?+
Plan for a few days of setup, not months. You bring officers, clients, sites and posts, your rotation and your checkpoint list. The one-time $299.99 implementation fee covers configuring the account and sites, importing that data, training your team and go-live support. Run one site in parallel first. See our page on switching guard management software.
Run both trials on one post
Seven days, no card, every feature. We will help you load the site, the rotation and the checkpoints.