Best Project Management Software for Architecture Studios

Website: https://www.monograph.com

Best for: project accounting for small A&E studios

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 fits a studio that has outgrown spreadsheets for fees and staffing. It tracks project budgets, fees, staffing, forecasting and time, and it gives every core feature in one plan, 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. Pipeline, the business development add-on, is sold separately.

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

Website: https://www.bqe.com

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

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 studio 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 studio 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 studio cannot compare BQE CORE on price without a sales conversation, and each extra module adds cost. A small studio should also check whether it needs the full platform or only the Foundations module. For a studio that wants time, billing, projects and accounting in one place, BQE CORE covers the whole back office.

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 studios 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 studios still need somewhere to run tasks and files, and there is no free plan.

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 studios 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 studio that buys Basics for staffing will need to step up to $24.99 per user per month.

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 studios 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 concept 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 studio that needs fee tracking will still need another tool.

Website: https://asana.com

Best for: coordinating design phases across a studio

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 studio running several projects through concept, schematic, design development and construction documents. Timeline and Gantt views on Starter show how phases depend on each other, and portfolios roll many projects into one status view for the studio lead. 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 studio that needs drawing review inside the tool will pay $24.99 per user per month.

Website: https://www.notion.com

Best for: docs, wikis and design databases

Starting price: $10 per member/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: flexible databases for projects and materials; docs and wikis in one place

Cons: full AI features need Business at $20; not a dedicated tracker

Notion is a workspace for docs, wikis and databases, and studios often use it as the design bible: material libraries, detail sheets, project lists and consultant contacts in one place. Its databases can track projects, phases and deliverables with custom properties and filters, and the same workspace holds meeting notes, briefs and client feedback. It is a good home for the documents that surround a project.

Free is $0, Plus is $10 per member per month billed yearly, or $12 monthly, Business is $20 billed yearly, or $24 monthly, and Enterprise is on a custom quote. Plus adds unlimited blocks for teams, unlimited file uploads, 30-day page history and custom forms and sites. Business adds full Notion AI, SAML single sign-on, private teamspaces and 90-day page history. Notion is not a dedicated project tracker: it has no Gantt dependencies and no resource views, so a studio has to build those views by hand.

Website: https://trello.com

Best for: simple boards for small studios

Starting price: $5 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: cheapest entry price here; simple boards anyone can learn

Cons: free plan caps at 10 collaborators; Timeline and Dashboard views need Premium

Trello is the simplest tool in this list, and that is its strength for a small studio. Boards, lists and cards map neatly onto a design process: a card for each deliverable, lists for each phase, and due dates and checklists on the card. A studio can set up a project board in an afternoon, and a new hire can learn it in an hour, which matters when the team is small and busy.

Free is $0 for up to 10 collaborators per workspace, Standard is $5 per user per month billed annually, or $6 monthly, Premium is $10, or $12.50 monthly, and Enterprise is $17.50 billed annually. Standard adds unlimited boards, card mirroring and more automation, while Premium adds Timeline, Calendar, Table and Dashboard views, plus advanced checklists and custom fields. The limits are that the free plan caps at 10 collaborators, and Timeline and Dashboard views sit on Premium at $10 per user per month.

Website: https://basecamp.com

Best for: flat monthly price for the whole studio

Starting price: $29 per month

Free plan: Yes

Pros: flat monthly price, no per-user fees; simple tools per project

Cons: project caps on lower plans; no Gantt charts or resource views

Basecamp prices by package, not by user, which makes it the easiest tool in this list to budget for a small studio. Freelancer is $29 per month for 3 projects and up to 5 users, Pro is $79 per month for 8 projects and up to 10 users, Pro Plus is $99 per month for 12 projects and up to 15 users, and Pro Unlimited is $199 per month billed annually for unlimited projects and users. There is a free plan for 1 project and up to 3 users.

Each project gets message boards, to-dos, card tables, chats, scheduling, docs and files, and time tracking arrives on Pro Plus. The limits are the project caps on the lower plans, and that Basecamp has no Gantt charts, no dependencies and no resource views, so a studio that needs schedule logic will need another tool for that.

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 studio 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 lead can track phases, milestones and staffing in sheets and then report on them. It suits studios 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.