Best Project Management Software for Architecture Firms

Website: https://www.monograph.com

Best for: project accounting for A&E firms

Starting price: from $45 per month

Free plan: No

Pros: built for architecture and engineering firms; forecasting and staffing included

Cons: no fixed per-user list price; Pipeline is a separate add-on

Monograph is built for architecture and engineering firms, and it shows in what it tracks: project budgets, fees, staffing, forecasting and time. It gives every core feature in one plan, including forecasting, reports and staffing, with unlimited projects and unlimited reports. The focus is money and capacity: whether a project is on fee, who is free next month, and what the pipeline means for hiring.

Pricing is shown as a range of $45 to $490 per month on the pricing page, based on firm size, so we list the starting point as from $45 per month. There is no fixed per-user list price, and the page uses a calculator that ties price to headcount and revenue. Pipeline, the business development add-on, is sold separately.

The limits to weigh are that the price depends on your firm, so budgeting needs a conversation or the calculator, and that the sales pipeline tool costs extra. For an architecture firm that wants project accounting, forecasting and staffing in one place, Monograph is built for that job.

Website: https://www.bigtime.net

Best for: time, billing and resource planning

Starting price: $20 per user/month

Free plan: No

Pros: time, expenses, invoicing and payments in one flow; resource management module

Cons: no free plan; Advanced and Premier prices not published on the page

BigTime is a professional services platform that connects time tracking, invoicing, expense management and payments, with resource management as an add-on module. A firm can log time and expenses, build invoices from that time, track budgets and margins, and plan who works on what. Its Resource Management module adds demand and capacity planning, skills tracking, availability heat maps and utilization reports.

Essentials starts at $20 per user per month, and the pricing page does not publish figures for Advanced, Premier or Enterprise. All plans include time tracking, invoicing, expense management and payments. The Resource Management module is sold as a standalone option, and BigTime also sells Quotes and Data Hub as separate modules.

The trade-off is modular pricing: the platform is one system, but the parts a firm needs may each carry their own price, and there is no free plan. A firm should get a full quote for the modules it needs before budgeting.

Website: https://www.deltek.com

Best for: project accounting for small A&E firms

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: project management and accounting in one app; built for small A&E firms

Cons: no published prices; no free plan or trial stated

Deltek Ajera connects project management and project-based accounting in a single application, built for small architecture and engineering firms. It gives firm leaders visibility into project health, utilization, budgets and cash flow through role-based dashboards and A&E-ready reports. Its AI features include Ask Dela, a digital assistant, Timesheet Assist for suggested entries, and character recognition that reads receipts into expense reports.

Pricing is by quote only, and Deltek publishes no list price for Ajera. There is no free plan, and the page does not state a trial, so evaluation means a demo and a conversation with a Deltek expert.

The limit is that a firm cannot compare Ajera on price without engaging the vendor, and the platform is a full accounting system, so implementation takes longer than a simple task tool. For a small A&E firm that wants project management and accounting in one application, with billing, utilization and cash flow visible together, Ajera is a direct fit.

Website: https://www.bqe.com

Best for: all in one management for A&E firms

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: time, billing, project management and accounting in one platform

Cons: no published prices; extra modules cost more

BQE CORE is an all-in-one platform for architects and engineers, built around a Foundations module that covers time and expense, billing and invoicing, project management, and reporting and analytics. It adds optional modules for accounting, CRM, HR and payroll, so a firm can start with the core and add only what it needs.

Pricing is by custom quote only. The pricing page shows no figures and asks the firm to describe itself so BQE can put together a quote based on size and needs. Support is available around the clock, with a dedicated account manager.

The drawback is the quote-only model: a firm cannot compare BQE CORE on price without a sales conversation, and each extra module adds cost. A small firm should also check whether it needs the full platform or only the Foundations module. For an A&E firm that wants time, billing, projects and accounting in one place, BQE CORE covers the whole back office.

Website: https://www.teamwork.com

Best for: client work with time and budgets

Starting price: $9.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: built for client work; time tracking on every plan

Cons: capacity planning needs Accelerate at $24.99; free plan caps at 5 projects

Teamwork is built for teams that deliver client work, and that focus fits architecture firms that bill by project and by phase. You can plan a project, track billable time against it, watch the budget burn down and raise an invoice from the logged hours. That closed loop is the reason agencies and consultancies choose it over general task tools.

The free plan covers up to 5 projects and 5 users, then Basics is $9.99 per user per month billed yearly, Accelerate is $24.99, and Optimize and Enterprise are on a custom quote. Basics covers up to 300 projects, unlimited templates, billable time tracking and portfolio health. Accelerate adds workload and capacity planning, time budgets and retainers, invoicing from logged time, and HubSpot and QuickBooks connections. Capacity planning lives on Accelerate, so a firm that buys Basics for staffing will need to step up to $24.99 per user per month.

Website: https://monday.com

Best for: visual boards for firm-wide work

Starting price: $9 per seat/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: flexible boards and timeline views; workload view on Pro

Cons: 3-seat minimum on priced plans; Basic has no automation actions

monday.com fits architecture firms that want a visual view of the whole practice: projects, pursuits, staffing and deadlines on boards that anyone can read. Each project becomes a board, phases move across it, and the timeline view shows the whole portfolio at a glance. A principal can see which projects are waiting on client feedback and which architects are free next month.

Basic is $9 per seat per month on annual billing, Standard is $12 and Pro is $19, while monthly billing costs $12, $14 and $24. There is a free plan for up to 2 seats, and a 14-day free trial of Pro. Pro adds time tracking, private boards, advanced dashboards and 25,000 automation and integration actions per month. Priced plans start at 3 seats and use seat buckets, so a 6-person team may buy 10 seats, and Basic includes no automation actions.

Website: https://clickup.com

Best for: tasks, docs and Gantt in one place

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: generous free plan; Gantt charts on Core

Cons: guest seats are limited on priced plans; no project accounting

ClickUp holds tasks, docs, goals, chat and time tracking in one workspace, which suits firms that need design notes next to the tasks they describe. A team can keep briefs, drawing registers and consultant feedback in the same place as the work, and the Gantt view shows how a delay in schematic design pushes later phases. That breadth is the appeal, and also the risk, because a team has to choose which features it will actually use.

The Free Forever plan is $0, then Core is $9 per user per month billed yearly, Business is $17, and Enterprise is on a custom quote. Core adds custom fields, unlimited storage, unlimited Gantt charts and 1,000 automations a month. Business adds resource management, timesheets, advanced dashboards, webhooks and 10,000 automations a month. Guest seats are capped on priced plans, and there is no project accounting, so a firm that needs fee tracking and invoicing will still need another tool.

Website: https://asana.com

Best for: coordinating projects across teams

Starting price: $10.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Timeline and Gantt views on Starter; unlimited guests

Cons: resource management needs Advanced at $24.99; no project accounting

Asana organizes work into projects, tasks and portfolios, which fits a firm running several projects across teams. Timeline and Gantt views on Starter show how phases depend on each other, and portfolios roll many projects into one status view for leadership. Unlimited free guests let clients, consultants and contractors follow the work without taking a seat.

Personal is $0 for up to 2 users, Starter is $10.99 per user per month billed annually, or $13.49 monthly, Advanced is $24.99, and Enterprise is on a custom quote. Starter adds Timeline and Gantt views, reporting dashboards, unlimited automations, forms, custom fields and unlimited free guests. Advanced adds portfolios, goals, approvals and proofing, time tracking and resource management. Approvals and proofing sit on Advanced, so a firm that needs drawing review inside the tool will pay $24.99 per user per month.

Website: https://www.smartsheet.com

Best for: grid planning and milestone reports

Starting price: $9 per member/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: familiar grid layout; strong reporting and dashboards

Cons: no free plan; Business needs at least 3 members

Smartsheet will feel familiar to any firm that plans in spreadsheets, because its core view is a grid with rows, columns, formulas and attachments. Under that surface it adds Gantt charts, card views, dashboards and resource management, so a project manager can track phases, milestones and staffing in sheets and then report on them. It suits firms that want structure and audit trails for a portfolio of projects.

Pro is $9 per member per month on annual billing, or $12 monthly, and Business is $19 on annual billing, or $24 monthly. Pro covers 1 to 10 members with unlimited contributors, while Business needs at least 3 members and adds unlimited guests and contributors. A 30-day free trial is available. The main drawback is that there is no free plan, so every user is a paying member from the start, and the deeper resource management features sit on the higher tiers.

Website: https://www.getharvest.com

Best for: time tracking tied to project budgets

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: simple time tracking; Forecast integration for capacity

Cons: no free plan; Flex usage fees sit on top of the seat price

Harvest is a time tracking and invoicing tool that many firms pair with Harvest Forecast for capacity planning. The combination is simple on purpose: people log time against projects, managers see budgets and estimates in real time, and invoices go out from the same hours. Forecast adds the forward view, showing who is booked and who has room in the weeks ahead.

Teams is $9 per seat per month billed annually, and Enterprise is $14, with $11 and $17.50 per seat per month on monthly billing. Flex usage fees also apply for active projects, clients, tasks and invoicing, so the seat price is not the whole bill. A 30-day free trial is available. Harvest is not a full project management tool, so firms still need somewhere to run tasks and files, and there is no free plan.