Deltek, reviewed for federal contractors deciding what they actually need.
"Deltek" is not one product. It is a government contracting software portfolio, and the two names contractors run into most are Costpoint, an ERP and accounting system, and GovWin IQ, a market-intelligence platform. If you searched "Deltek" while trying to figure out what you actually need, here is what each piece does, what it costs, how it is reviewed, and where GoNoGo's daily go/no-go decision layer fits in.
GoNoGo is a different kind of tool from either one. It is a mobile-first app, built by ContractIQ, that helps a contractor build a business profile in seconds, get curated SAM.gov results, and decide Go, Hold, or No-Go on the opportunities already in front of them. When a pursuit needs a human, ContractIQ can plug in behind the app.
Free to use and try when GoNoGo launches in July, with daily usage credits. Built by ContractIQ, backed by experienced federal acquisition professionals.
Deltek vs GoNoGo at a glance.
| Feature | Costpoint (Deltek) | GovWin IQ (Deltek) | GoNoGo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | ERP and accounting | Market intelligence and research | Go/No-Go decision and pipeline |
| Built for | Contractors needing DCAA-compliant books and billing | Enterprise BD and capture teams with analysts | Federal contractors of any size, from solo owners to larger teams that want a lighter daily operating layer |
| Main job | Project accounting, timekeeping, audit-ready reporting | Pre-solicitation research and long-range pipeline building | Deciding which live SAM.gov opportunities fit, fast, and tracking them |
| How you work | Desktop ERP, cloud-hosted (GCCM tier available) | Web app on a desktop, no dedicated mobile app | Mobile-first app and web, from phone or desk |
| Human support | Deltek support and services by subscription | Analyst-backed intelligence and account support | ContractIQ on demand: a la carte, hourly, project, or retainer |
| Pricing | Costpoint Essentials from $800/mo (10 users), full Costpoint quote-only | Quote-only, subscription, no public price | Free to use and try at July launch with daily usage credits, transparent paid options |
What is Deltek?
Deltek is a government contracting and project-based business software company headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, founded in 1983 and owned by Roper Technologies since 2016. It sells several products, but two matter for a contractor comparing tools:
Costpoint is Deltek's ERP and accounting platform for government contractors. It handles project accounting, billing, timekeeping, and the DCAA-compliant controls a contractor needs to pass an audit: segregating direct and indirect costs, tracking labor to the contract line, and producing the reports an auditor will ask for. Deltek positions it as the industry standard at the larger end of the market, and says 84% of the top 25 government contractors run it.
GovWin IQ is Deltek's market-intelligence platform. A team of analysts researches the federal, state, local, and Canadian markets and surfaces opportunities months or years before a solicitation is posted, so a capture team can plan early and build a long-range pipeline.
These are different tools for different jobs. Costpoint is accounting. GovWin IQ is research. A contractor might use one, both, or neither, depending on whether they have a back office to run and a capture desk to feed.
Deltek and GoNoGo solve different problems.
Costpoint is an accounting system. GoNoGo does not touch accounting, timekeeping, or DCAA compliance, and it is not positioned as a Costpoint alternative. If you need a DCAA-compliant books-and-billing system, Costpoint and its peers, Unanet, JAMIS, and PROCAS, are the right shelf.
GovWin IQ is the piece of Deltek that actually overlaps with what GoNoGo does, and only partly. GovWin is deep, analyst-driven market research for teams tracking opportunities long before they are public. GoNoGo is a daily decision tool: it reads the SAM.gov opportunities already in front of a contractor, flags the ones that fit their NAICS codes and past work, and helps them call Go, Hold, or No-Go. For the full head-to-head, see the GovWin IQ page.
This page exists because people search "Deltek" without knowing which of these two things they mean. If your question is about books, DCAA compliance, or billing, that is Costpoint's category. If your question is about deciding what to bid on and keeping a clean pipeline, that is GoNoGo's category.
How much does Deltek cost?
Full Costpoint, the version aimed at mid-size and larger contractors, is quote-only. Deltek does not publish a price list for it, and Capterra lists its pricing as "contact vendor." What you pay depends on modules, user count, and whether you run it in Deltek's cloud.
There is one exception. Deltek publishes a public starting price for Costpoint Essentials, the small-business tier built for growing GovCon firms: $800 a month for a 10-user license, with licenses and implementation both included, and a stated go-live target of 60 days or less. That is a real, named number on Deltek's own site, not a vendor quote.
GovWin IQ has no public price either. It is sold as separate subscriptions for the federal, state and local, and Canadian markets, through a "connect with our team" form, and Capterra lists it the same way: contact vendor.
Deltek also sells through a network of certified implementation partners and resellers, so if you search for "the most reliable Deltek reseller for small govcon firms," the honest answer is that Deltek's own partner network is the place to start, not a single name any outside source can verify as the best fit for your firm.
Where GoNoGo fits: a starting point and a scale-back point.
For a contractor new to federal work, GoNoGo is an easy place to start. You can build a business entity profile in seconds, get saved searches and curated SAM.gov results, review opportunities, and start making Go, Hold, and No-Go decisions without a sales process or an enterprise contract.
For a contractor already paying for heavier systems, GoNoGo can be a scale-back point. It lets a team do more of the daily discovery and triage itself, keep control of its pipeline, stay mobile, and avoid overbuying software or headcount it does not fully use. Money saved there can go back into proposals, pricing, teaming, compliance, or targeted ContractIQ support where it actually matters.
That fits contractors of any size. A solo owner uses it to learn the market and build a pipeline. A growing contractor uses it to avoid standing up a capture desk too early. A larger team uses it to keep owners, BD staff, and field users plugged in from a phone and aligned on what deserves attention. The common need is not company size. It is control over what is happening in SAM.gov and what deserves the next hour of your time.
How ContractIQ fits behind GoNoGo.
GoNoGo is the software layer. ContractIQ is the professional support layer behind it. ContractIQ built GoNoGo, and it is a government contracting support firm whose team includes former contracting officers and acquisition leaders with more than four decades of combined experience across defense and civilian agencies.
That means you do not have to hire a full-time capture or proposal person before you are ready. ContractIQ can act like a fractional contracting office and plug in where the work gets harder: opportunity review, solicitation analysis, capture support, compliance review, proposal support, or pricing strategy. Support is a la carte, hourly, project-based, or on a retainer, so you bring in experienced help only where you need it. The app helps you see and understand the opportunity. ContractIQ helps when the decision needs professional eyes.
How GoNoGo learns your business.
GoNoGo is useful on day one and gets more useful as you use it. As you build your profile, edit saved searches, and make Go, Hold, and No-Go calls, the app learns the shape of your business: your NAICS and PSC codes, your past decisions, the opportunities you hold and the ones you decline. That feeds better-fit results, clearer explanations of why an opportunity matches, and plainer answers when an unfamiliar term, set-aside, or deadline shows up. It is built to help you become a better government contractor over time. It does not promise wins, and the judgment stays yours.
What Deltek does well, and where it is heavy.
On Capterra, Costpoint holds 3.9 out of 5 across 215 reviews (79% positive). The recurring praise: it is built for compliance and government contracting requirements specifically, reporting is strong, and it holds up as a system of record for project-based financials with responsive support. For a contractor that needs to pass a DCAA audit, that depth is the point.
The recurring criticisms are the flip side. Reviewers describe the interface as dated and behind modern standards, note a steep learning curve for admin and finance staff, and flag that project setup is complex enough to introduce errors if done wrong. None of that makes it a weak accounting system. It makes it a serious, compliance-first ERP that takes real training to run well, which is a fair trade for the audit protection it buys.
GovWin IQ, reviewed separately at around 4.3 out of 5 on Capterra across roughly 20 reviews, gets similar treatment: praised for the depth and reach of its market data and its early-alert opportunities, criticized for cost, a dated interface, and no dedicated mobile app. Same pattern: a heavy tool, built for a staffed buyer. If that is you, it earns its place.
When Deltek is the right tool.
If you need a DCAA-compliant accounting system because you are a cost-reimbursement or T&M contractor facing real audit risk, Costpoint (or a peer like Unanet, JAMIS, or PROCAS) is the category you need, not GoNoGo. And if you have a capture team with the budget for deep, analyst-driven market intelligence across federal, state, and local markets, GovWin IQ is built for exactly that.
When GoNoGo fits better.
If your real problem is a SAM.gov firehose you cannot keep up with, and you want to do more of that triage yourself from a phone or a desk, GoNoGo is built for that. It will not replace your accounting system and it is not a research database. It is the layer that turns opportunities you can already see into a clear go/no-go decision and a pipeline you can work anywhere, whether you are a solo owner or a larger team that wants a lighter daily operating layer. Free to use and try when it launches in July, with daily usage credits, and ContractIQ behind it when a pursuit needs a professional.
Other alternatives, and where GoNoGo sits.
On the accounting side, Costpoint's peers are Unanet, JAMIS, and PROCAS, all DCAA-compliant systems built for government contractors, with different fits by company size: PROCAS and JAMIS lean toward smaller and lower-complexity firms, Unanet and Costpoint scale further into mid-market and enterprise. None of them are decision or triage tools, and none compete with GoNoGo.
On the research side, GovWin's peers, HigherGov, GovTribe, GovSpend, EZGovOpps, and Federal Compass, are the names that come up. They are all market-intelligence platforms built for competitive research, at various depth and price points. Any of them can be a fair pick depending on what you need.
GoNoGo sits in neither shelf on purpose. It is not an accounting system and it is not a research database. It is the daily Go/No-Go decision and pipeline tool for a contractor that mostly needs to know what is worth bidding on, without paying for capacity built for a bigger operation. See the full comparison hub for how it stacks up against the category.
Where AI fits, and where it does not.
GoNoGo uses AI to make solicitations readable and the decision clearer. It pulls out requirements, dates, and set-aside rules and explains why an opportunity might fit your NAICS codes and past work. It does not write proposals and it does not promise to win contracts. Deltek's own AI assistant, Dela, works inside Costpoint and GovWin IQ to summarize data and flag anomalies, a similar support role inside a much bigger platform. The judgment stays with you either way. For capture and proposal support when you want a human in the loop, that is ContractIQ, the professional team behind GoNoGo.
Frequently asked questions.
Figure out which shelf you actually need, then decide faster on what is in front of you.
Free to use and try when GoNoGo launches in July, with daily usage credits. Built mobile-first, works on web and your phone.