--- title: "Wavect vs Rubicon" canonical: https://wavect.io/compare/wavect-vs-rubicon/ language: en description: "These are two different categories, and honesty about that is the whole point. Rubicon builds and operates records and document-management software for the …" image: "https://wavect.io/img/general/bak/open_graph_preview.jpg" --- WAVECT vs RUBICON # Wavect or Rubicon. A senior custom-build and AI team, or an established eGovernment product house for public administration. These are two different categories, and honesty about that is the whole point. Rubicon builds and operates records and document-management software for the public sector, with Acta Nova as its flagship, its own data centre locations, and more than 200 FTEs per its investor’s published announcement. We are a small senior team that builds custom software and AI, with both founders on every call and weekly outcome billing. If you are a public authority buying a proven records platform through a tender, Rubicon is built for exactly that. If you need custom product engineering, AI enablement, or fractional technical leadership, the comparison is not close, because it is not the same purchase. Independent comparison published by Wavect. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Rubicon. Illustrative buyer scenario, not a customer quotation We were not choosing between two vendors. We were deciding whether we needed a standard records platform or a team that would build the thing that did not exist yet. TL;DR Rubicon is a Vienna eGovernment product house, founded 2001, with Acta Nova records management, its own data centre locations, and more than 200 FTEs per its investor’s published announcement. We build custom software and AI and run as fractional CTO or CPO. A proven records platform for public administration, that is them. Custom builds, AI, and senior leadership, that is us. Different purchases, not the same shortlist. // 01 ## Decision snapshot VerdictRubicon is built to sell and operate a mature eGovernment content-management product for public administration. Wavect is built for custom builds, AI enablement, and senior technical leadership where the answer is not an off-the-shelf platform. ### Wavect is best when - You need custom software or an AI capability built, not a licensed records-management product configured. - The buyer is a founder, product owner, or innovation lead who needs senior judgement and speed, not a tender process. - You want fractional CTO or CPO depth and both founders accountable for the outcome. ### The alternative is best when - You are a public authority that needs a proven records, document, and workflow platform. That is what Acta Nova is published as. [3](#cmp-src-3) - Procurement requires an established vendor with a certified information security management system and long-term operation of the system. Rubicon publishes ISO 27001 at company level, and ISO 9001 covering the company and its data centre locations. [2](#cmp-src-2) - The requirement is standardised electronic file management at administrative scale, not greenfield product work. ### Questions to ask before you choose 1. Do you need a product configured, or something new built? That single answer usually decides the vendor. 2. Is the buying constraint public-sector procurement and long-term operation, or product speed and senior judgement? 3. How central is AI to what you are buying, versus records and document management? ### Commercial risk to watch - Rubicon publishes Acta Nova as its own product, with data centre locations certified to ISO 9001. [3](#cmp-src-3) [2](#cmp-src-2) With any vendor-operated product, the export format, the data ownership, and the exit terms are set by the contract rather than by the architecture, so get all three in writing before you commit. Ask us the same about anything we build for you. - Public-sector product houses sell through tenders and typically do not publish pricing. Expect a longer procurement cycle than a small senior team. - The published reference list is dominated by public administration. [4](#cmp-src-4) The minority stake taken by Pride Capital Partners, announced in December 2023, was reported as funding DACH expansion and a deeper focus on the private sector. [5](#cmp-src-5) If your use case is private-sector, ask for references close to it. ### Evidence notes - Every statement about Rubicon on this page links to the page we took it from, with the date we read it. Note that their certifications page scopes ISO 27001 to the company and ISO 9001 to the company and its data centre locations, so do not read either as a product certification. [2](#cmp-src-2) - This comparison separates a product purchase from a custom-build purchase. It does not rank engineering quality, and Acta Nova is not a product Wavect competes with feature for feature. // 02 ## Project fit: not limited to small builds Project size and provider headcount are separate decisions. Wavect’s delivery unit is a named senior core, but that does not limit the work to MVPs or short startup projects. Larger projects are split into phases with separate budgets and acceptance criteria. We also build internal systems and process automations inside a client’s existing repositories, tooling and workflows. A vetted bench supports continuity and scope-specific capacity. A larger provider may still be the better choice when the main requirement is several parallel teams, an incumbent framework agreement or certifications Wavect does not currently hold. // 03 ## How they actually differ Six dimensions where Wavect and Rubicon are genuinely different purchases. | WAVECT | DIMENSION | ALTERNATIVE | | --- | --- | --- | | A senior team that builds custom software and AI, plus fractional CTO and CPO leadership. | WHAT YOU ACTUALLY BUY | A licensed records, document and workflow management product (Acta Nova), configured and usually operated for you. [3](#cmp-src-3) | | Founders, product teams, scale-ups, and enterprise pilots where judgement beats headcount. | PRIMARY MARKET | Public administration at federal, regional, and municipal level across all three DACH countries, per their published reference list. [4](#cmp-src-4) | | Small senior-only team in Austria. Both founders in the room. | SIZE AND STRUCTURE | More than 200 FTEs per their investor’s announcement, with offices in Vienna, Bern, and Berlin per their own company page. [6](#cmp-src-6) [1](#cmp-src-1) | | Weekly outcome fee or fixed-price Werkvertrag. No timesheets, cancel any week. | PRICING MODEL | Product licensing plus operation, sold through public-sector tenders. Pricing not published. | | We build on your stack or a portable one. You own the code and can take it anywhere. | HOSTING AND EXIT TERMS | Own data centre locations certified to ISO 9001, with long-term operation; ISO 27001 covers the company. [2](#cmp-src-2) Confirm data export and exit terms. | | AI enablement and custom AI builds are a core practice, not an add-on. | AI AND FRONTIER DEPTH | Records, document and workflow management is the published product scope; the product page we reviewed does not list AI. [3](#cmp-src-3) | // 04 ## The real difference, in practice Rubicon is good at something specific and does it at scale. Founded in 2001, with its head office in Vienna and further offices in Bern and Berlin, it has built records, document, and workflow management for public administration for more than two decades, with Acta Nova as the flagship. [1](#cmp-src-1) [3](#cmp-src-3) Its published reference list runs from the Austrian Federal Chancellery and the Federal Ministry of Finance to the Swiss Federal Administration and the Baden-Wuerttemberg state parliament. [4](#cmp-src-4) It holds ISO 27001 at company level, ISO 9001 for the company and its data centre locations, and the Austrian state coat of arms. [2](#cmp-src-2) If you are a public authority that needs a proven electronic-file platform, operated for the long term by a certified vendor, that is a real and sensible reason to talk to them, and we will not pretend otherwise. The honest point is that this is a product purchase, not an agency engagement. You are licensing and configuring a mature platform and, in most cases, having Rubicon host and operate it. That is the right shape when your requirement is standard records management. It is the wrong shape when the thing you need does not exist yet, when the differentiator is custom product engineering, or when AI is central rather than an add-on. On the Acta Nova product page we reviewed, the published scope is records management with document and workflow modules, and AI is not part of it. [3](#cmp-src-3) They have also been extending the portfolio by acquisition: their investor announced the purchase of Gentics Software GmbH in August 2025, and the same announcement puts the group at more than 200 FTEs. [6](#cmp-src-6) We are the opposite shape. Both founders sit on every call, the senior who scopes the work does the work, and you pay a weekly outcome fee you can cancel any week, or a fixed-price Werkvertrag when scope is clear. We build custom software and AI capabilities, and we take fractional CTO and CPO mandates where the value is judgement and execution in the same head. Where a product house is incentivised to fit you to the platform, we are incentivised to tell you when a feature should not ship. One commercial note worth raising plainly, and it is a question about the contract rather than about the software: with any vendor-operated product, your records data and workflows run inside the vendor’s stack, so the export format, the data ownership, and the notice period are whatever the agreement says they are. Ask for all three in writing, from them and from us. If your requirement is a records platform, hire the platform. If you need something built or an AI capability stood up, see [how we run build engagements](/services/software-development/). // 05 ## When each is the better call // 01 ### When Wavect is the better call - You need something built or an AI capability stood up, not a records product configured. - You want both founders and the senior engineer who scoped the work on every call, with no vendor account layer. - You want weekly outcomes you can cancel any week, or a fixed-price Werkvertrag, instead of a tender and a multi-year operating contract. - AI, custom product engineering, or fractional technical leadership is the actual need. // 02 ### When Rubicon is the better call - You are a public authority and you need a proven records, document, and workflow platform. That is what Acta Nova is published as, and the reference list is full of authorities like yours. [3](#cmp-src-3) [4](#cmp-src-4) - Procurement requires an established vendor with a certified information security management system and long-term system operation. ISO 27001 at company level and ISO 9001 across the company and its data centre locations are both published. [2](#cmp-src-2) - The job is standardised electronic file management at administrative scale, not greenfield product work. - You want a vendor to license, host, and run the platform for you over many years, and that model fits your governance. If you need a proven records platform for public administration, Rubicon is built for it. If you need custom software, AI enablement, or fractional technical leadership, talk to us. // 06 ## Relevant Wavect work - [SERVICE Custom Software Development](/services/software-development/) - [SERVICE AI Development](/services/artificial-intelligence/) - [CASE STUDY IKB: joined an in-flight city-wide LoRaWAN build for Innsbruck, scaled and extended](/case-studies/ikb/) - [CASE STUDY Polity: unified QA across seven microservices, eighteen months](/case-studies/polity/) - [GUIDE How to choose a software development agency](/software-development-guide/how-to-choose-a-software-agency/) // 07 ## FAQs ### Is Wavect a Rubicon competitor? Only loosely. Rubicon sells and operates a records, document and workflow management product for the public sector. [3](#cmp-src-3) We build custom software and AI and take fractional CTO and CPO mandates. If your requirement is a records platform, they are the right call, not us. The overlap is mainly that both are Austrian software firms. ### When is Rubicon clearly the right pick? When you are a public authority that needs a proven electronic file, records, and workflow platform, operated for the long term by a vendor whose ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certifications are published. [2](#cmp-src-2) Their published reference list includes the Austrian Federal Chancellery, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Swiss Federal Administration and the Baden-Wuerttemberg state parliament. [4](#cmp-src-4) If that is the job, hire them and do not look back. ### What should the contract say about export and exit with a vendor-operated product? This applies to any vendor-operated product and is not specific to Acta Nova. Your records data and workflows run inside the vendor’s stack, so ask for three things in writing: the export format and whether it is a documented open one, who owns the data and the derived indexes, and the notice period plus what happens to operations during a vendor change. Established vendors answer these clearly. Ask us the same about anything we build for you. ### We need AI, not records management. Does that change things? Yes, quite a lot. The Acta Nova product page we reviewed publishes records management with document and workflow modules, and does not list AI. [3](#cmp-src-3) That is not a criticism, it is a scope difference: AI enablement and custom AI builds are a core practice for us. If AI is central to what you are buying, that is squarely our side of the line, and worth confirming with them directly in case their roadmap has moved since the date shown below. Source: [rubicon.eu](https://www.rubicon.eu) Last reviewed: 2026-08-04 by [Kevin Riedl](/team/kevin-riedl/) [wiki ↗](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q139796365) ## Sources for the statements about Rubicon Every numbered claim above links to the source we checked, with the date we checked it. Linking a source is not a partnership or an endorsement. 1. [Company page: founding year and office locations](https://www.rubicon.eu/en/rubicon/) RUBICON. retrieved 2026-08-04 2. [Certifications page: ISO 27001 at company level, ISO 9001 for the company and the data centre locations, Austrian state coat of arms](https://www.rubicon.eu/en/rubicon/certificates/) RUBICON. retrieved 2026-08-04 3. [Acta Nova product page: records management with document and workflow modules](https://www.rubicon.eu/en/products/acta-nova/) RUBICON. retrieved 2026-08-04 4. [Public reference list, including the Swiss Federal Administration and Austrian federal ministries](https://www.rubicon.eu/en/projects/references/) RUBICON. retrieved 2026-08-04 5. [Report on the Pride Capital Partners minority stake](https://www.finsmes.com/2023/12/pride-capital-partners-takes-minority-stake-in-rubicon.html) FinSMEs. retrieved 2026-08-04 6. [Investor announcement of the Gentics acquisition, which also states the FTE count](https://www.pridecapital.nl/news/rubicon-expands-its-product-portfolio-through-the-strategic-acquisition-of-gentics) Pride Capital Partners. retrieved 2026-08-04 About this comparison This is an independent comparison published by Wavect. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with the companies named here, and all third-party company names, brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Statements about other providers are taken from publicly available sources, primarily their own published pages, as of the review date shown on this page, and may have changed since; please verify them directly before deciding. Each individual comparison lists the sources for its statements about the other provider, with the date each source was checked. Any buyer scenarios shown are illustrative examples only, not quotations from or accounts by actual customers. This comparison was written to the best of our knowledge and with the intent to remain objective. If you believe anything here is inaccurate or unfair, please reach out and we will correct it. [office@wavect.io](mailto:office@wavect.io) ## Still weighing the options? Tell us what you are building. 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