Best Project Management Software for Civil Engineering Firms

Website: https://monday.com

Best for: Project boards for design and field teams

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: board views fit design phases and site work; automations move RFIs and approvals forward

Cons: 3-seat minimum on entry plans; per-seat cost climbs as field staff join

monday.com gives a civil engineering firm one board per project, with columns for phase, owner, due date, and status that both the design team and the field team can read. Automations move a task forward when a drawing is approved, a permit is issued, or an RFI gets an answer, which cuts the follow-up calls that slow a project. Views switch between a table, a calendar, and a timeline, so each discipline sees the same work in the shape it prefers. The free plan serves up to two seats for a tiny team that wants to test the layout first. The main limits are the three-seat minimum on entry plans and the way cost grows with each added seat, which matters when site engineers and inspectors need access. monday.com fits firms that want one shared workspace for design and field work, with enough structure to keep permits and submittals on schedule.

Website: https://clickup.com

Best for: Small civil firms on a tight budget

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: free plan covers unlimited tasks and members; docs and goals sit beside tasks

Cons: setup takes time because options are dense; entry plan limits storage and guests

ClickUp packs a wide set of features into a low starting price, which suits a small civil firm that needs tasks, docs, and goals without buying several tools. The free plan covers unlimited tasks and members, so a design team can run RFI logs, punch lists, and inspection checklists before spending anything. Docs hold design notes, meeting minutes, and site reports next to the tasks they relate to, and goals track project milestones across the year. Views include lists, boards, calendars, and Gantt charts, so each discipline can work in the layout it likes. The trade-off is density: the number of options slows the first setup, and new users need time to learn where each feature lives. Storage and guest limits on the entry plan also push growing firms toward the higher Business plan. ClickUp fits civil firms that want one low-cost workspace and are willing to spend a few days setting it up.

Website: https://asana.com

Best for: Clear owners and dates across disciplines

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: timeline and list views are easy to read; forms collect RFIs and site requests

Cons: entry plan lacks a workload view; per-user price rises with each added seat

Asana keeps civil engineering work visible, with every task showing an owner, a due date, and a status that the whole team can read at a glance. List view suits routine work such as permit applications and drawing revisions, while timeline view shows a project from survey to handover with each phase in order. Forms collect RFIs, site requests, and change orders, and each submission lands as a task with the details attached. The free Personal plan covers basic tasks, and the Starter plan adds timeline view and dashboards at $10.99 per user per month when billed annually. Asana works well for civil firms because project managers, engineers, and clients can check progress without a meeting, and comments keep the discussion tied to the task. The limits are real: the entry plan has no workload view, so managers cannot see which engineer is overloaded, and the per-user price adds up as field staff join. Asana fits firms that value clarity and simple reporting over deep customization.

Website: https://www.smartsheet.com

Best for: Permit, RFI, and submittal tracking

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

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: grid view matches drawing and RFI registers; forms gather site data

Cons: no free plan; automation and dashboards need higher plans

Smartsheet feels familiar to civil engineers who already track drawings, RFIs, and permits in spreadsheets. The grid view keeps rows, columns, and formulas, while adding owners, due dates, and status flags to each row. Forms collect site inspection results, punch list items, and field observations straight into a sheet, which removes manual data entry. The Pro plan starts at $9 per member per month when billed annually, and a 30-day free trial lets a team test it on a live project. There is no free plan, so the trial is the only way to try it without a card. Automation and dashboard features sit on the higher Business plan, which matters for firms that want alerts and roll-up reports across projects. Smartsheet fits civil firms that want spreadsheet comfort with project structure added on top.

Website: https://www.wrike.com

Best for: Many concurrent infrastructure projects

Starting price: $9.80 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: request forms route RFIs and change orders; Gantt charts show project phases

Cons: entry plan caps storage; learning curve is steep for casual users

Wrike handles the parallel work of a civil firm, where a road upgrade, a water main, and a bridge inspection all run at the same time. Request forms route incoming work to the right team, so an RFI, a change order, or a client query becomes a tracked task instead of a lost email. Gantt charts show each project phase with dependencies, which helps managers spot a clash between design delivery and site work before it happens. The free plan covers basic task management for a small team, and the Team plan adds Gantt charts, dashboards, and more storage at $9.80 per user per month when billed annually. The entry plan caps storage at 2 GB, which can bind a team that stores many drawings and site photos. New users also face a learning curve, since the interface packs in many options. Wrike fits civil firms with several large projects running side by side.

Website: https://www.teamwork.com

Best for: Firms that bill design hours to clients

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: time tracking sits inside each project; client seats keep owners in the loop

Cons: reporting depth sits on higher plans; interface feels dated next to newer tools

Teamwork suits civil firms that bill design and site hours to clients, because time tracking is built into every project. Engineers log hours against a design phase, a site visit, or a client meeting, and the same data feeds invoices and reports without a separate time tool. Client seats let owners and developers see their own project status without a full license, which keeps communication in one place. Templates cover repeatable work such as a site investigation, a permit application, or a design review. The free plan covers five users and five projects, which is enough for a small firm to test the layout. The entry plan adds more projects, time tracking, and integrations. Reporting depth is the main gap: the richer portfolio and profitability reports sit on higher plans, and the interface looks older than newer rivals. Teamwork fits civil firms that need project work tied to billable hours and client visibility.

Website: https://www.procore.com

Best for: Large contractors on complex builds

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: built for construction, with RFIs, submittals, and drawings in one place; field tools work on site

Cons: quote-only pricing with an annual contract; priced by construction volume, not headcount

Procore is built for construction, not adapted from a general project tool, which shows in its RFI, submittal, drawing, and punch list features. Field teams log daily reports, photos, and inspections from the site, and the office sees the same record without retyping. The platform covers project management, quality, safety, and financials, which suits large contractors that want one system for the whole build. Pricing is quote only: Procore charges an upfront annual fee by product and based on annual construction volume, the total dollar value of construction work across projects. There is no free plan and no self-serve price, so a firm must request a custom quote. The volume-based price means a firm with high-value projects pays more even with a small team. Procore fits large contractors and owners on complex builds where construction-specific features justify a sales-led purchase.

Website: https://www.autodesk.com/products/forma-build/product-details

Best for: Teams already working in Autodesk tools

Starting price: from $117 per month

Free plan: Free trial

Pros: drawings, RFIs, and model coordination in one place; fits Autodesk design workflows

Cons: billing period for the $117 figure was not stated on the vendor page; no free plan

Autodesk Forma Build, formerly Autodesk Build, covers drawings, RFIs, submittals, and field management for teams that already design in Autodesk tools. Model coordination links the design model to site issues, so a clash found in the model becomes a tracked task with an owner and a due date. RFIs and submittals move through review in the same workspace, and the mobile app lets site staff log photos and inspections from the field. The vendor page lists a starting figure of $117 per month, though it does not state the billing period for that figure in the text we reviewed. A free trial is offered, but the vendor page does not state its length, and there is no free plan. Unlimited-user pricing is only available through a sales quote, so cost rises with each added user on the standard price. Forma Build fits civil firms and contractors already working in Autodesk design workflows who want field and document tools in the same system.

Website: https://deltek.com/en/products/ajera

Best for: A and E firms that need project accounting

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: project accounting and resource planning built for A and E firms; dashboards show project health

Cons: no published price; aimed at larger firms, not small teams

Deltek Ajera is built for architecture and engineering firms that need project accounting next to project management. It tracks budgets, fees, and resource plans for each project, and dashboards show project health, utilization, and profitability in one view. Managers can see which engineers are booked, which projects are over budget, and which invoices are still open, without pulling data from a separate accounting tool. The product page confirms its focus on architecture and engineering firms, with features for project planning, resource management, and financial reporting. Deltek publishes no price for Ajera, so a firm must request a custom quote, and there is no free plan or free trial stated. That sales-led model suits mid-size and large firms with a budget for an integrated system. Deltek Ajera fits A and E firms that want project delivery and project accounting in one platform and can work through a quote process.

Website: https://airtable.com

Best for: Drawing logs and inspection checklists

Starting price: $20 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: views turn a drawing log into calendars and kanban boards; forms collect site data

Cons: entry plan is pricey per user; automations are capped on lower plans

Airtable works like a spreadsheet with database power, which suits civil firms that manage drawing logs, inspection checklists, and permit registers. One base holds the drawing register, and views turn it into a calendar of submission dates, a kanban board of review stages, or a gallery of site photos. Forms collect inspection results and punch list items straight into the base, and linked records connect a drawing to its RFIs and revisions. The free plan covers small bases with up to 1,000 records, and the Team plan adds more records, automations, and sync options at $20 per user per month when billed annually. That per-user price is high next to Trello or monday.com, and automations are capped on lower plans, so heavy users move to Business. Airtable fits civil firms whose core job is managing structured project data such as drawings, permits, and inspections.