10 Best Workforce Planning Software for Services Firms

Website: https://resourceguruapp.com/

Best for: Simple scheduling at a low price

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

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Lowest entry price in this list; simple drag-and-drop scheduling views

Cons: Timesheets and reports need Blackbelt at $8; every added person is billed whether they log in or not

Resource Guru is the cheapest way for a professional services firm to start planning capacity, at $5 per person per month on annual billing for the Grasshopper plan. It covers drag-and-drop scheduling, leave management, and availability views, with a 30-day trial to test it. The Blackbelt plan at $8 and the Master plan at $12 add more reporting and support, and non-human resources such as rooms and equipment cost half the per-person rate.

The limits are the reporting tiers and the billing rule. Timesheets, reports, billable versus non-billable tracking, and custom fields need Blackbelt at $8 per person per month or above, and phone support needs Master at $12. Every person added is billed whether they log in or not, and extra placeholders beyond the plan allowance are charged at the per-person rate. A firm should count every person it will schedule, including part-time staff, and confirm the real monthly total before it commits.

Website: https://www.float.com/

Best for: Visual capacity planning

Starting price: $7 per scheduled person/month

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Clear visual schedule with capacity heatmaps; guests who only view the schedule are free

Cons: Time tracking and single sign-on are Pro-only; estimates versus actuals are Pro-only

Float suits a professional services firm that wants a clear visual view of who is doing what, and when. The Starter plan at $7 per scheduled person per month covers scheduling, capacity views, and leave tracking, with a 30-day trial on the Pro plan that needs no credit card. Guests who only view the schedule are free, which helps a firm share the plan with clients or contractors without extra seats.

The limits are the Pro-only features. Time tracking, estimates versus actuals, project cost estimation, single sign-on, and multi-currency rate cards are all Pro-only, and the Starter plan is limited to one currency and a 7-day activity feed. There is no free plan. A firm that needs to compare estimated hours against actual hours, or that bills in more than one currency, should budget for Pro from the start.

Website: https://www.runn.io/

Best for: Capacity and project forecasting

Starting price: $7 per resource seat/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Capacity, forecasting, and project views in one tool; 30-day trial of the Standard plan

Cons: 20-seat minimum on every plan; Lite has no timesheets and no API

Runn covers capacity planning, project forecasting, and utilisation in one tool, at $7 per resource seat per month on annual billing for the Lite plan. The Standard plan at $11 adds timesheets, integrations, and more reporting, with a 30-day trial that needs no credit card. The tool shows capacity by person, team, and project, so a manager can spot overload before it happens.

The limits are the seat minimum and the Lite plan. Every plan starts at a 20-seat minimum, so the smallest bill is $140 per month on Lite, even for a team of 10. Lite has no timesheets and no API, and only Standard can be bought self-serve, since Lite and Advanced go through sales. A firm with fewer than 20 staff should ask Runn whether the minimum can be waived, and confirm which plan includes the timesheets and integrations it needs.

Website: https://productive.io/

Best for: Planning plus invoicing

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

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Capacity planning, time tracking, and invoicing in one tool; 14-day trial with no credit card needed

Cons: Rate cards, approvals, and advanced reports need Professional at $25; every plan has a 3-seat minimum

Productive fits a professional services firm that wants capacity planning, time tracking, and invoicing in one tool, without a separate billing system. The Essential plan at $10 per user per month on annual billing covers scheduling, time tracking, and basic invoicing, with a 14-day trial that needs no credit card. The Professional plan at $25 adds rate cards, approvals, and more reporting, and the Ultimate plan is quote only.

The limits are the Professional tier and the seat minimum. Rate cards, billable time and expense approvals, advanced reports, and recurring budgets need Professional at $25 per user per month, and single sign-on, revenue forecasting, and the HubSpot integration need Ultimate, which is quote only. Every plan has a 3-seat minimum, so a solo user pays for three seats. A firm should check which plan includes the rate cards and approvals it needs before it commits.

Website: https://www.scoro.com/

Best for: Planning plus project accounting

Starting price: from EUR 15 per user/month

Free plan: Free trial

Pros: Planning, CRM, quoting, and invoicing in one system; strong project accounting views

Cons: 5-user minimum and a two-app minimum combination; add-ons priced separately

Scoro is a full professional services platform that covers capacity planning, CRM, quoting, project management, time tracking, and invoicing in one system. Prices start from EUR 15 per user per month, with annual billing giving a discount of about 13 to 17 percent, and a trial is offered, though the vendor page does not state its length.

The limits are the minimums and the add-ons. Scoro has a 5-user minimum and a minimum combination of two core apps, so a very small firm will pay for five seats at least. Add-ons are priced separately, and onboarding can take weeks to months. A firm should ask for a written quote that lists the apps, the user count, and the onboarding cost, and confirm the total before it commits.

Website: https://www.bigtime.net/

Best for: Planning plus project accounting

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

Free plan: No

Pros: Project accounting, time tracking, and invoicing in one tool; strong reporting by project

Cons: No free plan; advanced features such as workflow automation need higher plans

BigTime covers time tracking, project accounting, invoicing, and resource planning in one tool, at $20 per user per month on annual billing for the Essentials plan. It suits a professional services firm that needs project budgets, billing rates, and utilisation reports alongside its schedule. Higher plans add workflow automation, more integrations, and more reporting depth.

The limits are the lack of a free plan and the plan tiers. There is no free plan, so a firm must pay from the first user, and the more advanced features sit on higher plans. BigTime is a project accounting tool first, so a firm that only needs simple scheduling may find it heavier than Resource Guru or Float. Confirm which plan includes the reporting and automation features your firm needs before you buy.

Website: https://www.accelo.com/

Best for: Full professional services automation

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: Covers sales, projects, retainers, and billing in one system; strong automation

Cons: No published prices at all; everything goes through a sales quote

Accelo is a full professional services automation platform that covers sales, quoting, projects, retainers, time tracking, and billing in one system. It suits a firm that has outgrown separate tools and wants one system for the whole client lifecycle. The automation covers task creation, status updates, and billing triggers, which cuts the manual work a project manager does each week. Since Forecast joined Accelo in 2026, Accelo also carries the AI-assisted planning features that Forecast used to offer on its own.

The limits are the lack of published prices and the lack of a free plan. The pricing page shows only a "Get your custom quote" button, with no dollar figure anywhere, so a firm cannot compare Accelo against the entry prices in this list without asking for a quote. There is no free plan and no trial stated. A firm should ask for a written quote that lists every module and the user count, and compare the total against the entry prices here before it commits.

Website: https://www.kantata.com/

Best for: Large firm resource management

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: Built for large professional services firms; resource and project views at scale

Cons: No published pricing; implementation and onboarding add to the cost

Kantata, formerly Mavenlink, is built for larger professional services firms that need resource management, project accounting, and business intelligence at scale. It covers capacity planning, project management, time tracking, and invoicing, with views that show utilisation across hundreds of staff and dozens of projects. A firm with several offices, or with teams that share staff across projects, will find the scale and the reporting depth useful. Kantata also offers integrations with common accounting and CRM tools.

The limits are the lack of published prices and the implementation cost. Kantata publishes no list price, so a firm must ask for a quote, and implementation and onboarding add to the total cost. There is no free plan and no trial stated. A firm should ask for a written quote that lists the modules, the user count, and the implementation cost, and compare the total against the entry prices in this list before it commits.

Website: https://www.forecast.app/

Best for: AI-assisted project planning

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: AI-assisted estimates and capacity views, now inside Accelo; strong project planning

Cons: No standalone Forecast pricing or signup any more; buying it means buying Accelo

Forecast used to be a standalone AI-assisted project planning tool, with capacity views, time tracking, and estimates that learned from past projects. In May 2026 it completed its brand integration with Accelo, which had acquired it in July 2025, and forecast.app now redirects to Accelo. There is no standalone Forecast pricing page and no standalone signup any more, so a firm that wants the Forecast features must buy into Accelo and ask for a quote there.

The limits are the lack of a standalone product. A firm cannot price or trial Forecast on its own, and the old Lite $29 and Pro $39 figures that still appear on third-party listings are no longer published by the vendor, so they should not be used. A firm that liked Forecast should ask Accelo for a quote that lists the planning features, and compare that total against the entry prices in this list. Do not confuse Forecast with Harvest Forecast, a different product.

Website: https://www.mosaicapp.com/

Best for: AI-assisted resource planning

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: AI-assisted capacity planning with utilisation views; built for professional services firms

Cons: No published pricing; platform fee and onboarding cost add to the total

Mosaic is an AI-assisted resource planning tool built for professional services firms, with capacity views, utilisation reports, and an AI assistant called Chello that helps managers plan staffing. The current pricing page offers Standard and Enterprise plans with no dollar figures anywhere, and pricing is per seat, billed annually, with the rate stepping down as headcount rises, plus an annual platform fee and a one-time onboarding cost scoped to the rollout. A firm that wants AI help with staffing decisions will find the Chello assistant useful.

The limits are the lack of a published price and the extra costs. There is no way to compare Mosaic against the entry prices in this list without a quote, and the platform fee and onboarding cost add to the total. Single sign-on and two-factor authentication are an add-on on Standard, included only on Enterprise, and the Chello Pro and Max AI tiers cost $50 and $200 per user per month extra. A firm should ask for a written quote that lists every fee before it commits.