Pelican is a clean, modern agent platform built by former port agents who got tired of Excel. It is a good first step off spreadsheets. Base is what you pick when you need more than a first step: native accounting sync, AP automation, multi stage approvals, and a principal portal. Here is how the two stack up for an SMB agency that has outgrown spreadsheets and is deciding where to land.
Both tools target agencies that want out of spreadsheets. The real question is how much platform you need on day one, and how much room to grow before you have to switch again.
What Pelican covers well, and where Base goes deeper.
| Feature | Pelican | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | SMB agents off spreadsheets | SMB through enterprise agencies |
| Port call ops (SOF, NOR, crew) | Basic | ✓ |
| PDA and FDA generation | Basic | ✓ |
| Native QuickBooks / Xero sync | ✕ | ✓ |
| AP automation and PO matching | ✕ | ✓ |
| Multi stage invoice approvals | ✕ | ✓ |
| Principal portal | ✕ | ✓ (Base Connect) |
| Embedded sanctions screening | ✕ | ✓ |
| Vendor due diligence workflow | ✕ | ✓ |
| Multi currency, multi office scaling | Partial | ✓ |
Based on public documentation as of April 2026. If anything is wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
Pelican gets you out of the spreadsheet. It does not replace the finance workflow. Every vendor invoice still gets approved by email, entered by hand into QuickBooks or Xero, and reconciled against a job with a mental model of what was agreed. Base closes that loop. PO to invoice match, multi stage approval routing, and native sync to QuickBooks or Xero with every line carrying its vessel and port context. This is the work that crushes agency finance teams once volume scales.
Here is the honest case for picking Pelican over Base.
Pelican is built for exactly this entry point. The UI is fast to learn, and if your finance workflow is already simple, you do not need multi stage AP. You can always migrate to a heavier platform later. Pick Pelican, ship the port calls off spreadsheets this quarter, and revisit when your volume grows.
Pelican wins on pure operator UX for first time users. If nobody on your team cares about QuickBooks sync or principal portals yet, Base features you are not going to use become noise during evaluation. Pick the tool the actual daily users will love.
We profiled every major port agency platform in one place: DA-Desk, CargoWise, GAT-Ship, bluVerve, Pelican, PortPal, Enqlare, MagicPort, HarborLab, and Base. Feature table, decision framework, honest tradeoffs.
Read the Full ComparisonBring the ports, vessels, and vendor list you work with today. We will walk through the daily agent workflow, then show the AP queue, principal portal, and accounting sync that Pelican does not cover. Honest demo, real data.
“We nearly picked Pelican. The tipping point was when the finance team asked about the AP workflow and we realized we would need to bolt on another tool within a year.”
– Managing Director, growing agency group
Base handles SMB day one and scales to multi office, multi region, multi currency. Book a demo and we will build your real port call live.