Karbon vs. Aero Workflow: Which tool is right for you?

Choosing a practice management tool comes down to one question: is your firm's biggest bottleneck client work and communication, or internal process control? Karbon is designed to solve the first problem by centralizing client communication, emails, and tasks into one place. Aero Workflow tackles the second, focusing on building deep, visual, and highly repeatable internal procedures for maximum efficiency and compliance.

What is Karbon?

Karbon is a collaborative work management platform built specifically for accounting and professional service firms. Its core function is to bring all aspects of a project—internal tasks, team collaboration, client communication, and documents—into a single, unified system. Think of it as a combination of a to-do list, an email inbox, a project management tool, and a client portal, all integrated to reduce the time spent switching between different apps. The main goal is to give every team member complete visibility into every job and client conversation, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

What is Aero Workflow?

Aero Workflow is a practice management solution focused on standardizing and automating your firm’s internal processes. Its defining feature is a visual workflow builder that allows you to map out every procedure step-by-step, assigning tasks and creating checklists for your team to follow. Aero is engineered for firms that want to document and enforce a 'one right way' of doing things, ensuring consistency, quality control, and compliance across all client work, from monthly bookkeeping to annual tax preparation.

Comparing Karbon vs. Aero Workflow

At a glance, both platforms help manage your firm's work, but their approaches and core strengths address different operational needs. The best choice depends entirely on which of your firm's challenges you are trying to solve.

Feature

Karbon

Aero Workflow

Core Focus

Client communication and collaborative work management

Internal process standardization and automation

Email Integration

Deeply integrated; Triage feature acts as a shared inbox

Integrates with email but is not a central feature

Workflow Automation

Template-based with auto-reminders and dependencies

Visual, drag-and-drop process builder for complex procedures

Client Communication

Built-in client portal and automated client task requests

Limited; primarily focused on internal team workflows

Task Management

Strong focus on "My Week," to-do lists, and work timelines

Tasks are generated contextually from defined procedures

Reporting

Dashboards focused on team productivity and job status

Reports focused on workflow efficiency and process adherence

Mobile App

Yes, for managing tasks and communication on the go

No, primarily a web-based platform

Pricing Model

Per-user, per-month SaaS subscription

Per-user, per-month, with tiers based on features

Task Management & Collaboration

Karbon is built around communication and collaboration. Its standout feature is the "Triage" inbox, which pulls in all your work emails and allows you to assign them to colleagues, a piece of work, or a client timeline. This turns your inbox from a reactive mess into a proactive to-do list. Every piece of work has its own timeline where all related emails, notes, client requests, and internal comments are logged. For firms struggling with siloed communication and lack of visibility into client interactions, Karbon provides a unified command center.

Aero Workflow handles task management differently. Instead of starting with communication, it starts with the procedure. Tasks aren't created ad-hoc; they are generated as part of a pre-defined workflow. For example, when you start a "Monthly Bookkeeping" job, Aero automatically generates a list of prescribed steps for the assigned staff member to complete. This ensures every team member performs the work the exact same way every time. Collaboration happens within these structured checklists rather than in a free-form communicative timeline.

Workflow Automation

This is where the two platforms differ most significantly. Karbon’s automation is primarily template-based. You can create a work template for a 1040 tax return that includes a checklist of tasks with assigned due dates. When a task is completed, it can automatically trigger the next task or notify the next person in line. It’s effective for managing project flow and deadlines.

Aero Workflow offers a much more granular level of automation centered on its visual process designer. You don't just create a checklist; you build a detailed procedure with specific instructions for every single step. You can include links to reference materials, screenshots, and exact scripts for client emails within a task step. Its purpose isn't just to manage a project but to clone your best performer's process and distribute it across the entire team. This makes it incredibly powerful for training new staff and ensuring quality control.

Client Communication

Karbon is the clear winner for firms that prioritize client interaction. It features "Client Tasks," which lets you send clients a secure checklist of items you need from them (like source documents or information). The system will automatically follow up with the client until they complete their tasks, saving your team from sending endless reminder emails. Its built-in client portal also provides a central, secure place to communicate and share files, which looks far more professional than disjointed email chains.

Aero Workflow is not built to be a client-facing tool. Its functionality is directed inward, optimizing how your team operates behind the scenes. While it can integrate with your email to log communications against a job, it does not have a client portal or native functionality for managing client requests and follow-ups. You would typically need a separate app or process to handle this side of the work.

Integrations

Both Karbon and Aero Workflow integrate with key accounting tools like QuickBooks Online and Xero, which is standard for any modern practice management software. Karbon also offers strong integrations with email providers like Gmail and Office 365, which is central to its Triage feature. It also connects with tools like Dropbox, OneDrive, and Hubspot.

Aero's integration philosophy is slightly different. In addition to direct integrations, it connects with Zapier, which opens up the ability to connect to thousands of other applications. This can be very useful for firms that want to build highly customized automation chains linking various parts of their tech stack.

Pricing

Karbon typically follows a straightforward per-user, per-month pricing model. There are three tiers—Team, Business, and Enterprise—with higher tiers unlocking advanced features like more sophisticated automation and reporting. The Business plan, which most firms choose, starts around $79 per user per month when billed annually.

Aero Workflow's pricing is also on a per-user, per-month basis and is generally more affordable at the entry level, starting at $50 per user per month. It offers different tiers that add more advanced features. However, extracting maximum value from Aero often depends on the investment of time in building out its detailed procedures, so the total cost of ownership should factor in implementation time.

Which One Should You Choose?

The right choice depends less on features and more on your firm's primary operational goal. Your decision should be guided by the biggest problems you need to solve.

Choose Karbon if:

• Your biggest headache is managing hundreds of client emails and ensuring clear communication across your team.
• You want to provide clients with a modern, professional experience through a dedicated portal and automated follow-ups.
• Your priority is project visibility—making sure everyone knows the status of a job and what needs to happen next.
• Your workflows are relatively straightforward, but you need a better way to manage them collaboratively.

Choose Aero Workflow if:

• Your main goal is to standardize your firm's processes and ensure every job is done the same way, every time.
• You spend a lot of time training new staff and want a system that acts as a live procedure manual.
• You need to maintain high levels of quality control and have clear audit trails for every task performed.
• Efficiency and internal process optimization are more important to you than client-facing features.

Final Thoughts

To put it simply, Karbon organizes your work around your clients, while Aero organizes your work around your procedures. Karbon excels at managing client-facing tasks and communication, making it ideal for relationship-focused firms. Aero is designed for process-driven firms that want to achieve operational excellence through extreme standardization.

Whichever tool you choose to manage your practice, the goal is always the same: free up your team’s time to focus on high-value work. This includes complex tasks like tax research, which can consume hours. For those situations, Feather AI provides an AI-powered tax research assistant that gives you accurate, citation-backed answers in seconds, directly from authoritative sources like the IRC and IRS guidance.