In this article, you’ll find the best project management software for architects with detailed feature comparisons, pricing, pros & cons, & evaluation criteria to consider.
10 Best Project Management Software For Architects
Here’s our picks for the best project management architecture software in 2024.
In this post, I’ll explain how architecture project management, like many industries, can benefit from employing the right suite of PM software and other digital tools architects need.
Architectural projects need easy communication, usually across a broad array of stakeholders, budgeting, and financial planning help (architects love testing this), as well as logs of absolutely every snippet of conversation that might be relevant to the final result.
Many of these common conundrums and sticky situations can be remedied by replacing messy excel spreadsheets and ad-hoc project planning with the best architect software on the market.
Project management software tools for architects may crossover with what you have come to expect from some construction management software, based on the logistics and requirements of construction projects.
However, they have many features that are specific to architectural project management in particular and which can help streamline workflow, processes, and projects for architectural firms or other professional services firms.
Below you will find an outline of project management software for architects.
The Best Online Architecture Software List
Here’s a shortlist of the best architectural project manager software:
Looking for more? Check out this article on the best project management software.
Architecture Project FAQ
If project management software for architects left you with a question, start here to get your bearings before we get into the software reviews.
What software do architects use?
Architects at architecture firms and other AEC firms will use a range of software, like project scheduling software (Trello, Asana, Basecamp), accounting for architects (Quickbooks, Sage), and/or design software (AutoCAD, Rino 3D, Sketchup).
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Overviews Of The Best Project Management Software For Architects
Here’s a brief description of each of the project management software for architects that are featured on this top 10 list.
1. Mosaic – The must-have planning software for architecture firms
Ideal for firms with 10 or more staff members, Mosaic is the next-generation project and resource management software purpose-built for architecture, engineering, and design firms. Integrating with the firm’s existing ERP or financial software, Mosaic shows you who is doing what, when in one beautiful interface.
Understand what your team can and can’t get done, and balance work across the team to prevent burnout. Identify winning—and losing—projects and clients, so you can do more of what works and less of what doesn’t. Get AI-powered suggestions to instantly assemble project teams with the right skills, availability, and more. Mosaic even forecasts workload to inform hiring and offers the most robust suite of project reporting to enable data-driven decision-making.
Priced at $14.99 per user per month, Mosaic provides a free 30-day free trial. Request a customized product demonstration today.
2. Deltek Ajera – Best for an all-in-one solution
Built specifically around architecture and engineering best practices, this cloud platform is a robust project-based ERP.
Functionalities include project planning, project management, and Business Intelligence (BI). Deltek Ajera is intended for managing the entire project lifecycle, all the way through invoicing and accounting.
Deltek Ajera is known to have a bit of a learning curve, so it lost a few points in the usability section of the evaluation criteria.
Pricing for Deltek Ajera is available upon request.
3. Taimer – Best for CRM capabilities
Taimer has capabilities in sales, project management, finance and accounting, and BI, which makes it a solid option for keeping all your business software and processes in one place.
Additional features relevant to architects include task management, resource scheduling and management, and document management.
As this tool is not specifically created for architects and architecture firms, not all of the features and functionalities are relevant or useful for architects, and it can take some time to sift through the many features to find the information or feature you are looking for.
Taimer starts at around $15/user/month (€13/user/month).
4. Wrike – Best for mid-size and enterprise organizations
Wrike is a collaborative work management platform designed for creative agencies to plan, manage, and complete work at scale.
Project management features include custom workflows, custom dashboards, process streamlining, and collaboration functionalities such as discussion boards, document management, and version control.
One feature Wrike is missing is billing and invoicing capabilities, although it does have a time tracking tool built-in.
Wrike starts at $9.80 per user per month.
5. Teamwork – Best for resource management and planning
Teamwork is an agency management system with triggers to automate your admin and keep projects moving towards completion. Teamwork is great for project planning and team collaboration right in the software.
The tool’s reporting features are helpful for resource planning as you can see reports on projects and individual tasks, which lends itself to forecasting future resources for projects and tasks.
Teamwork has a steep learning curve, as finding the feature or function you are looking for can be difficult amidst the sheer number of them. Some integrations don’t necessarily provide the value that users may be looking for.
Pricing starts at $10/month for 5 users.
6. TeamGantt – Best for creating and maintaining Gantt charts
TeamGantt is a web-based tool with a simple interface for making Gantt charts that can be easily applied to architecture projects. The tool is to drag and drop, which makes it very usable.
TeamGantt also has features for resource and workload management and collaboration, including the ability to view team workloads at a glance, adjust team member availability, track time, and communicate between team members within the software.
TeamGantt works best for smaller and less complex projects, so you may run into some limitations for more complicated projects with lots of phases and task dependencies, or for projects with more team members involved.
TeamGantt starts at $24.95/month.
7. Monday – Best for automation capabilities
monday.com is an intuitive tool for planning, tracking, and collaborating on projects.
The tool includes a robust set of options for automating repetitive and admin tasks, dashboards for tracking and reporting data, and multiple ways to view tasks and projects, including a timeline view, Kanban board view, and calendar view.
Task management features include setting deadlines and dependencies. The tool also includes file sharing capabilities.
This software is missing a few features that architects rely on, including forecasting for future projects and work; version control, which is critical for design; and billing and invoicing features.
monday.com starts at $14/month.
8. Basecamp – Best for communication and collaboration
Basecamp is a project management and internal communication tool with features like project boards, file storage, and task check-ins.
The tool has many collaboration, document management, and task management features and functions, including to-do lists, message boards, calendars and schedules, file and document storage, and client access options. Its signature hill charts are great for visualizing project progress and noting issues or risks.
Basecamp doesn’t include time tracking or billing features, which may be inconvenient for architectural firms. Also, the tool has very limited direct integration options, although it does offer some through third-party tools such as Zapier.
The Basecamp Business tier costs $99/month.
9. Asana – Best for visual project plans
Asana is a project management tool that helps lead architects to create visual project plans for complex projects. The tool has all the project management features that are required or important for keeping projects on track, including tasks and subtasks, due dates, approvals, dependencies, and project templates.
Asana also has a strong portfolio and workload reporting, as well as a suite of admin tools for security, access, and team management.
While Asana has features for communication and collaboration, some users note that it’s easy to lose track of conversations and communications.
Pricing starts at $10.99/user/month.
10. Notion – Best for customization options and capabilities
Notion is a workspace app that includes boards, tables, lists, document templates, and 30+ types of content that can be manipulated to fit the needs of any architecture project.
The tool is highly customizable, so you can create Kanban boards, to-do lists, and company wikis, as well as catalog design assets and set up projects and tasks in a way that works for you and your team.
Notion is missing a few features that architects might find useful, including Gantt charts, communication tools, and reporting and analytics features.
Pricing for Notion starts at $8/user/month.
Other Project Management Software For Architects Options
Here’s a few more that didn’t make the top list. If you need additional suggestions for handy project management software for architects, check these out.
- WorkflowMax — WorkflowMax is a cloud-based project management software from Xero. It also has lead management, document management, and invoicing capabilities, as well as a good number of integrations.
- ArchiOffice — ArchiOffice is a project management software created specifically for use by architects and architectural firms. It includes time tracking capabilities and works on desktop and mobile.
Architect Software Comparison Criteria
What are we looking for when we select project management software for architects for review? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:
- User Interface (UI): Are the UI and UX easy to understand at a glance? Is the layout intuitive and well-designed?
- Usability: Does the software have a manageable learning curve with ample training materials, like white papers, wikis, video tutorials, and webinars? Does the software work on mobile devices?
- Features & Functionality:
- Design elements – Does the tool let you brainstorm, collaborate, make notes, and wireframe as you build upon ideas and plans?
- Budgeting and accounting – Are there money management features included in the project management tools that architects could benefit from, such as invoicing functionalities? Does the tool allow for tracking billable hours and timesheets to keep track of how much time is being spent per project?
- Versioning and document management – Can you return to different versions of a design before changes and features were added? Are they saved for posterity? Can the tool store blueprints? Can you import existing files from tools like Dropbox or Google Docs?
- Asset storage – Can you digitally store and compile different visual, video, and text assets as the project grows?
- Collaboration – Does the tool have built-in collaboration tools and features so architects working on the same project can communicate and work together in real-time, such as chat or mention functions?
- Resource management – Can the tool assist with planning and allocating resources for projects? Does the tool have capabilities for viewing architects’ and other team members’ capacities and workloads and allow for adjustment as needed?
- Task management – Does the tool include functionalities for keeping track of tasks and deliverables? Can users set due dates and deadlines, task ownership, and task dependencies?
- Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools? Any pre-built integrations or add-ons with software that your firm already has in use, such as accounting software or time management software?
- Value for $: How appropriate is the price for the features, capabilities, and use case? Is pricing clear, transparent, and flexible?
What Architecture Planning Software Do You Use?
Have you tried out any PM software for architects listed above? Do you have anything you would add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
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