Best project management software for architecture firms in 2026

A studio usually feels the problem in one of two places. At month end, the hours don't match the fees and invoicing takes two days. Or on a Thursday, someone asks whether the structural engineer ever sent the beam sizes for the level 2 opening, and nobody knows.

Those are different problems, and the software splits along the same line. Many firms of 5 to 20 people run one tool of each kind, and a 3-person studio with a few projects is often best served by a spreadsheet. Arkscape, a project tracking tool for architects, designers, and engineers, sits in the second group.

Arkscape makes one of the tools below. Prices checked on vendors' own pages in October 2026.

Is your problem money or the work?

Money means fees by phase, hours against those fees, and invoices. That is practice management. Monograph, BQE CORE, and Deltek Ajera are built around the timesheet: hours go in, and budgets, reports, and invoices come out.

The work means knowing which tasks are open, who has taken each one on, what is late, and what a consultant still owes you. That is work tracking. Basecamp, Asana, Arkscape, ClickUp, and monday.com are built around the task.

Practitioners describe the gap from both sides. An architect on the AIA Community Hub said of Asana in 2013: "It's for project task organization only - no budgeting, cost tracking capabilities (that we see)." Going the other way, a 10-person office in Brooklyn found BQE CORE's practice reports "totally useless for us due to how they insist that every hour is potentially billable" (AIA Community Hub, 2022).

So many firms run two tools. The same Brooklyn office uses BQE CORE for time and invoicing "in conjunction with ClickUp for schedule, task and SOP management and Slack for internal communications". Another firm in that thread uses "Quickbooks and Quickbooks Time, and use Asana for project management" (AIA Community Hub, 2022).

When is a spreadsheet enough?

If you are three people with four or five projects in the same room, keep the spreadsheet. It costs nothing and nobody has to learn it. In forum threads it is the most common real answer, and some firms prefer it outright: "Google sheets trumps all of these "features" in terms of usability," wrote that Brooklyn office (AIA Community Hub, 2022).

A sheet stops coping when there are too many projects to read. One small office with 5 to 10 active projects put it this way: "So far we've been using excel and it's fine, but as we keep adding new information excel is getting a little cumbersome" (Archinect, 2022). Monograph, which sells the alternative, says on its own templates page that spreadsheets "start breaking down around 10-15 concurrent projects".

It also stops coping when people outside the firm owe you things. The structural engineer can't tick off "Confirm beam sizes at the level 2 opening" in your sheet, so you copy their emails into it by hand. And nobody notices when a row goes quiet: a task untouched for three weeks looks the same as one updated yesterday.

If you're not there yet, the project tracker guide sets out the columns that work at this stage: one row per task across all your projects, with a Responsible person, whether they accepted it, who owes it, and a due date.

Practice management: fees, timesheets, and invoicing

Monograph

Monograph is cloud practice management for architecture and engineering firms: timesheets, phase-based fees and budgets, invoicing, staffing forecasts, and reports. It fits small to mid-size firms that bill by phase and keep their books in QuickBooks Online, though one Archinect poster in 2022 felt it was "geared towards a 20-50 person practice." Weekly timesheets have timers on web, desktop, and mobile, approval works by phase, and invoices built from billable time and expenses sync to QuickBooks Online without retyping.

The price isn't published. Buying starts with a demo, and the pricing page shows only a "$45 - $490 /mo" range from a calculator, without saying whether that is per user or per firm. Monograph's own blog mentions annual plans with a five-seat minimum, and Pipeline, its sales tracking, is a separate add-on. Consultants and clients are records in it, not accounts.

A small-firm owner on Archinect in 2025: "It is doing everything my small firm needs and I love it." The complaints are pricing for the smallest practices ("never like their pricing structure for a small practice compared to others", Archinect, 2022), slow additions ("They took over a year just to add PTO tracking", Archinect, 2025), and getting the office to use it: "I have been trying to get our firm to use this for about two years now with no luck" (Archinect, 2022). Choose it if you bill by phase and want hours, fees, and invoices to agree without anyone retyping them.

BQE CORE

BQE CORE is practice management for architecture, engineering, and other professional services firms: time and expenses, billing, and project management, with optional Accounting, CRM, HR, and Payroll modules. It fits firms that want time, billing, and possibly their accounting in one system, and can give someone real time for setup. Timesheets come pre-populated, invoices can be manual, batch, recurring, or automatic with online payment, and the base Foundations tier has Gantt charts.

The price isn't published: "Our pricing varies based upon the modules you require and the number of users," and every module says "Request Quote". A trial is offered; its length isn't stated. Its pricing pages describe no access for people outside the firm.

The hard part is the first years: "we had as many issues with it as we had benefits" (AIA Community Hub, 2026). A firm about six years in: "we're only now starting to get what we want out of it, mostly because nobody was taking it seriously (garbage in garbage out)" (Archinect, 2026). One firm reported in 2026 that an overhaul fixed "a great deal if not all of our concerns" (AIA Community Hub). Choose it if you want accounting-grade billing and full books in the same system, and one person can own the setup.

Deltek Ajera

Deltek Ajera is project accounting and project management for small architecture and engineering firms: timesheets, expenses, billing, scheduling, and reports. Deltek describes it as "built for the way small architecture and engineering firms actually work". Timesheet Assist suggests entries from recent work and upcoming assignments, invoices come straight from project data with approval routing, and Schedule Manager assigns people by availability.

The price isn't published, and no trial is mentioned. Third-party figures differ by more than ten times, so we don't repeat them. A structural engineer on Eng-Tips said that when their firm was 3 engineers, "they quoted 10 to 15k just for setup" (2023). Clients get a portal for paying invoices only.

A small-firm architect called it "pretty good functionally and reporting wise (but user interface could have been improved" (Archinect, 2018). Another poster wrote: "Our firm ruled out Ajera/Deltek, Mavenlink and Archioffice as being too expensive" (Archinect, 2015). Choose it if you want project accounting built for a small architecture or engineering firm, and the setup cost fits your budget.

ArchiOffice still comes up in older threads, but it is no longer an option for a new firm: BQE's own FAQ says "We no longer actively sell ArchiOffice" and moves customers to BQE CORE.

Work tracking: who is doing what by when

Basecamp

Basecamp organizes a project's to-dos, message boards, chat, docs and files, schedules, and card tables in one project space. It fits small studios that work closely with consultants and clients and want one flat price, whatever the headcount. A 10-person office in Long Beach said it "requires little to no training, quick to setup" and "We use it daily with our consultants and engineers" (AIA Community Hub, 2022). Time tracking is listed on every plan.

It's priced flat, not per user. Studio is $59 a month (unlimited users, 10 active projects), Pro $99 (25 active projects), and Unlimited $299 a month billed annually (no project cap). Freelancer is $25 (up to 20 users, 3 projects). The plan lists show annual billing, and the free plan has 1 project and up to 5 users. Consultants and clients count as users, so from Studio up they cost nothing extra.

We found no recent complaints from architects in the forums we could read. Its own pages show the limits: no Gantt chart or task dependencies (its timeline is the Lineup), and project caps, so a studio with 11 live jobs has outgrown Studio. Choose it if you want consultants and clients in the same project space at no extra cost, and a timeline of start and end dates is all the schedule you need.

Asana

Asana is work management: tasks and projects in list, board, timeline, and calendar views. It fits studios that want structured task tracking with Gantt-style timelines and free guests for consultants. One architect found that "It was pretty easy to convert from our paper/pencil and excel spreadsheet methodology to this software," with "a subscription that's about $800/yr for 4 people" (AIA Community Hub, 2020).

Starter is $10.99 per user a month billed annually, or $13.49 billed monthly, and includes timeline and Gantt views and unlimited free guests. Advanced is $24.99 annually or $30.49 monthly. The free Personal plan covers up to 2 users, without a timeline.

There's no billing. Native time tracking needs Advanced, and timesheets are a paid add-on whose price isn't on the pricing page. An older post found it "harder to get larger groups on it and/or do any kind of time/project planning" (Archinect, 2013). Choose it if you want Gantt timelines and free consultant guests at about $11 a user, and someone on the team will keep the plan current.

Arkscape

Arkscape is project tracking and team task management for architects, designers, and engineers. Each project is a group with its own Arkboard, a board of cards in columns. When someone accepts a card there, the same card sits on their own board, Your Ark, so the project plan and each person's list are one list instead of two. It fits studios of a few people to about fifty, running several projects with consultants and clients, where hours and fees live elsewhere, or nowhere.

Business Growth is $25 per user a month and Scale $40, billed monthly (there is no annual plan), the owner included. Both start with a 14-day trial, with a card at checkout. Sole practitioners can use the Personal plans: Free, Connect at $10, and Pro at $20 a month. The people you invite join free.

Arkscape is new, and we found no independent reviews or forum threads about it, so judge it on what you can check in the trial. Assigning a card asks the person to Accept or Decline, and a decline can carry a reason. Each group's Reports tab counts Overdue, Due in 7 days, and Unowned cards, lists Stalled ones (undated and untouched for 14 days), and shows Workload by person. Copy as text turns the week's finished cards into the Done part of a status update.

Choose it if fees and hours are already handled, and the problem is that work agreed in a meeting gets lost, nobody tracks what consultants owe you, and the Friday update takes an hour. Choose something else if you need timesheets or invoicing (Monograph, BQE CORE, Ajera), a Gantt schedule or dependencies (Asana Starter, ClickUp, or monday.com Standard), budgets, a spreadsheet import, Slack, Teams, or accounting integrations, or a native phone app, since it runs in the phone's browser. And if the price per seat decides it, Basecamp, ClickUp, monday.com Basic, and Asana Starter all cost less than Arkscape for a team of 5 or more.

ClickUp

ClickUp holds tasks, docs, goals, and time tracking, with many configurable views. It fits budget-conscious teams that want time tracking and Gantt at the entry tier and are willing to configure a lot. The Brooklyn office above runs it next to BQE CORE "for schedule, task and SOP management".

Unlimited is $7 per user a month billed yearly, or $10 monthly. Business is $12 yearly or $19 monthly. ClickUp is rolling out a new lineup to some workspaces, with a Core plan at $9 per user billed yearly; existing subscribers keep their plan. There is a free plan.

We found no architects discussing its drawbacks in the forums we could read. The cost to plan for is configuration: Teamwork, a competing vendor, estimates "five to ten hours of initial setup". In ClickUp's newer lineup, timesheets sit on Business and above. Choose it if you want time tracking and Gantt in a work tracker for under $10 a user, and someone enjoys setting tools up.

monday.com

monday.com is configurable boards for tracking work items, statuses, and owners, for teams of 3 or more that want to design their own. One Archinect poster called it "Kind of an advanced excel sheet with teammate notification system and stuff" (2022). Read-only viewers are free on every paid plan.

Basic is $9 per seat a month, Standard $12, and Pro $19, all billed annually. Monthly billing costs more, but the monthly rates weren't shown on the page we checked. Paid plans start at 3 seats, and the free plan covers up to 2 seats and 3 boards.

One architect found it "not great once you have more than a few projects, and everything needs to customized" (AIA Community Hub, 2020). Gantt starts at Standard and time tracking at Pro. Choose it if you like building your own boards and will pay for Pro if you want time tracking.

What it costs for 5, 10, and 20 people

Per-seat prices hide the bill. This table multiplies each plan's price by the team size, for the entry tier and, where it differs, the tier that adds time tracking. All figures are per month.

Arkscape is billed monthly only. To compare like with like, Asana Starter billed monthly is $13.49 a user ($134.90 for 10 people) and ClickUp Unlimited is $10 ($100 for 10).

None of these tools publishes a setup fee. The only figure we found is the Ajera quote above, "10 to 15k just for setup". The bigger cost is staff time: someone has to load every live project, phase, and fee.

What consultants and clients cost

Free access for people outside the firm is one of the clearest reasons practitioners give for choosing a tool.

What two tools cost together

Here is what the common pairing costs a 10-person studio, on top of whichever practice-management tool you choose (all quote only):

The larger cost isn't on either invoice. Every project is set up twice, once with its fees and once with its tasks, and people keep two tools current. Arkscape doesn't connect to Monograph, BQE CORE, Ajera, or any accounting software, so the project list lives in both. Before you pair two tools, check whether they integrate. An engineer running BQE CORE for invoicing beside Wrike for time wrote: "I wish the two worked together" (Eng-Tips, 2023).

Sometimes one tool is enough. If you bill hourly and your practice-management tool's own scheduling covers your planning (BQE CORE has Gantt charts, Ajera has Schedule Manager), add nothing. If you bill fixed fees and track them in your accounting software, you may need only the work tracker.

Comparison table

Common questions

What software do small architecture firms use? Most use a spreadsheet beside accounting software such as QuickBooks; it is the most common answer in practitioner forums. Firms that add software add a practice-management tool for fees and hours, a work tracker for tasks, or both.

What is the best project management software for a small architecture firm? For 3 people with a few projects, a spreadsheet. For 5 to 20 people, pick by the problem: Monograph or BQE CORE for fees and hours, a work tracker for who is doing what. Basecamp's bill doesn't grow with headcount: $59 a month on Studio, for up to 10 active projects.

Do architects need timesheets? Yes, if you bill hourly or need to know whether a fixed fee is making money, and then a practice-management tool is the right choice. If you bill fixed fees and know your margins from your accounts, a work tracker without timesheets may be all you need.

Is there a Monograph alternative without timesheets? Yes: if you mainly wanted to see who is working on what, any work tracker above will do, and every one publishes its price. Basecamp and Asana are the long-standing choices. Arkscape is the newer one, built for this field, and it leaves the timesheet out on purpose: its reports count open, overdue, stalled, and unowned work, never hours or time online. If you want Monograph's fees and invoices, the alternatives are BQE CORE and Deltek Ajera, also quote only.

Read next: how Business billing works, Asana alternatives for architects and designers, and the best project management software for engineering firms.