Let's start with a little hat tip. For years, PensionPro has been a respected workhorse in the Third-Party Administrator (TPA) industry. It brought order to the chaos, giving firms a structured way to manage workflows and wrangle the mountains of data that come with retirement plan administration. For many firms, it was the right tool at the right time, and it laid a critical foundation for how the industry operates.

But, the ground has shifted. Your clients' expectations have soared, the regulatory landscape feels like a moving target, and the pressure to operate efficiently has never been higher. The old ways of working, even the organized ones, are starting to show their age.

This is where the conversation changes from just managing work to truly automating it. This is where Stax.ai enters the picture, built on the core philosophy that your team's brainpower is your most valuable asset, and it shouldn't be wasted on tedious, manual tasks. We built our platform not just to track your work, but to do it for you. Curious to learn more?

This post provides a direct, no-fluff comparison of Stax.ai and PensionPro to help you see how our intuitive, AI-powered platform stacks up and decide which solution best fits your firm's future.

The Automation Divide: AI-Powered Efficiency vs. Traditional Workflows

At their core, the two platforms have fundamentally different ideas about getting things done.

PensionPro: The Structured Framework

Think of PensionPro as the ultimate project manager. It's a robust system with project templates, checklists, and task tracking that gives you a clear view of your workflows. Itʼs organized and dependable. But hereʼs the catch: it still relies on your team to do the heavy lifting. Every email needs to be manually dragged and dropped to be logged, every task needs to be checked off, and every payroll file from an unsupported provider needs to be painstakingly reformatted by hand.

Its a great system for organizing manual work. After all, PensionPro provided the playbook for TPA operations.

Stax.ai: The Automated Engine

Stax.ai, on the other hand, is designed to be the player, not just the playbook. We believe that if a task is repetitive, it should be automated. Period. Our AI is built to handle the tedious work so your team can focus on what matters: strategy, analysis, and client relationships.

Here's how that comes to life:

• Smart Inbox: Instead of you sorting through emails, our Smart Inbox reads them, understands the intent, and automatically creates and assigns tasks. A client sends a payroll file? A task is created. A question about distributions? Itʼs routed to the right person. No more dragging, dropping, or manual logging.

• Document AI: This is where the real magic happens. Our Document AI can ingest, read, and standardize data from virtually any document you throw at it. That complex, 47-column census file in a wacky PDF format? Stax.ai reads it, maps the data, and validates it without anyone on your team lifting a finger.

The difference is transformative. In this new world, we read the playbook and run the plays for you, freeing up your team from hours of manual administration and allowing them to focus on high-value client advisory work that grows your business.

Redefining Client Experience and Data Collection

Let's talk about two of the biggest headaches for any TPA firm, which are chasing clients for information and the annual census data scramble.

PensionPro: The Functional Portal & Partnered Integrations

PensionPro offers the PlanSponsorLink portal, a secure and functional tool where clients can upload documents and check off tasks. It gets the basic job done. However, for key functions, you have to look elsewhere. Want e-signatures? You'll need a separate DocuSign subscription. Want to integrate with payroll providers? You'll need another subscription with a partner like Finch, which covers about 46% of plan sponsors. That leaves a massive gap that your team has to fill with, you guessed it, more manual work.

It's a solid front door, but you have to bring your own furniture. In essence, "PensionPro created a secure doorway for clients."

Stax.ai: The All-in-One, Unified Experience

We believe your client portal should be more than just a digital dropbox. It should be a seamless, professional extension of your brand. Stax.ai offers a modern, fully branded portal where clients can track tasks in real time, get automated reminders (so you don't have to be the bad guy), and collaborate effortlessly.

More importantly, we've eliminated the gaps:

• 100% Payroll Coverage: This is our game-changer. We combine over 200 direct API integrations with our Document AI to handle any payroll report from the other 54% of providers. Whether your client uses a major payroll service or a homegrown spreadsheet, Stax.ai processes it automatically. This single feature eradicates one of the most persistent TPA headaches.

• Integrated Tools: E-signature is built right in, no extra subscription needed. And our Smart Inbox includes a "Pulse" score that gauges client sentiment from email communications, giving you proactive insight to keep relationships strong.

Instead of just a doorway, we build a collaborative digital office for you and your clients. This consolidated approach simplifies your tech stack, reduces costs, and delivers a superior, modern experience that reflects the quality of your firm.

Future-Ready Operations: Compliance, Reporting and Scalability

A platform shouldn't just solve todays problems, it should prepare you for tomorrow's.

PensionPro: Stable, Tested, and Integrated

PensionPro is a known quantity. It's proven to support large firms and has long-standing integrations with core compliance software like FTWilliam.com. It serves as a reliable system of record, collecting the data that you then push to other tools for testing. However, the compliance work happens externally, and a common piece of user feedback is that its reporting capabilities are limited.

Ultimately, PensionPro is a reliable system of record that has supported the industry for years.

Stax.ai: Innovative, Insight-Driven, and Evolving

But, Stax.ai is built for both reliability and evolution. We see a future where your platform is an intelligent partner, not just a passive database.

• Automated Compliance & Reporting: Stax.ai automatically validates census data the moment it arrives, eliminating up to 98% of errors before a human ever reviews the file. Our real-time, customizable dashboards give you instant, actionable insights into team performance, project bottlenecks, and at-risk tasks, turning data into decisions.

• Scalability & Innovation: Built on a modern cloud infrastructure, Stax.ai scales effortlessly as your firm grows. We are constantly rolling out new features based on feedback from TPAs like you, with capabilities like in-platform compliance testing already on the roadmap.

We're not just keeping up with the industry, we're driving it forward. Stax.ai is an intelligent partner that grows and innovates with your firm. It's the difference between a stable system and a strategic advantage.

Making the Strategic Choice for Your Firm's Future

So, what's the bottom line? The core difference is that PensionPro is a fantastic tool for managing TPA workflows while Stax.ai is a transformative platform designed to automate them.

Choosing PensionPro in the past was a smart move because it brought much-needed structure to a complex industry. But today, the conversation has changed and the question is no longer just about organizing your work. It's about fundamentally changing how work gets done.

This isn't about replacing a system, it's about upgrading your entire operational philosophy. The choice is yours to make. Is your firm's goal to continue refining your manual processes, or is it to eliminate them entirely and unlock new levels of efficiency, profitability, and client value?

If you're ready to see how AI-powered automation can redefine your firm's potential, schedule your personalized demo of Stax.ai today.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Stax.ai's payroll integration provide more complete coverage than PensionPro?

While PensionPro relies on API partners covering about 46% of providers, Stax.ai combines APIs with Document AI to intelligently process reports from any provider, guaranteeing 100% coverage with no manual workarounds.

We've used PensionPro for years. Is migrating our data to Stax.ai a difficult process?

No. Stax.ai offers a white-glove onboarding service, including a dedicated team and data import tools to pull client, plan, and historical data from PensionPro. For firms that want extra assurance, we support running Stax.ai in parallel with your current system for a cycle, allowing you to validate results and build confidence before the final cutover.

PensionPro is a trusted name. How does Stax.ai ensure our firm's data is secure?

Stax.ai is built with enterprise-grade security and is SOC 2 Type II certified, which is an independent verification of its strict security controls. This modern security posture ensures your data is protected to the highest standards. You can learn more here.