Struggling to find the best project management software for your architecture firm? With projects, people, and profitability constantly under pressure, generic tools often fall short.
In this guide, we break down the best software for architects, compare leading platforms, and show which solution fits your firm’s size, workflow, and growth goals.
| Tool | Best For | Standout Feature | Starting Price |
|
Milient Project Flow |
Mid-size architecture firms |
Integrated project + resource visibility |
£20/user/month |
|
Monograph |
Small studios |
Visual fee & budget tracking |
£33/user/month |
|
Deltek Ajera |
Large firms |
Accounting & compliance depth |
Custom pricing |
|
Total Synergy |
Small–mid AEC teams |
Stage-based project delivery + invoicing |
$30/user/month* |
|
CMAP |
Engineering-led firms & consultancies |
Financial forecasting + utilisation tracking |
£25–£45/user/month* |
Milient’s Project Flow is purpose-built project management software designed specifically for architecture firms. It supports the full project lifecycle, from planning and delivery to resourcing and fee control, without the complexity of traditional ERP systems.
Unlike generic project tools, Project Flow gives architects a clear, real-time view of project progress, workloads, and financial performance in one connected platform. Its intuitive interface reduces admin overhead and reliance on spreadsheets, making it particularly well suited to mid-size practices managing multiple projects, teams, and deadlines while still protecting design quality and profitability.
Project Flow focuses on the areas architects rely on daily: clarity, coordination, and confidence in delivery. Instead of forcing teams into accounting-heavy workflows, it provides a clean, intuitive way to manage projects, capacity, and fees, helping practices reduce admin, stay on track, and protect profitability as they scale.
Architecture teams often manage multiple live projects across different stages, deadlines, and stakeholders. Without a clear overview, project information ends up scattered across spreadsheets, emails, and shared folders, creating delays, duplicated work, and last-minute surprises.
Project Flow provides a central view of project stages, progress, and fees, helping teams instantly understand what’s on track, what’s slipping, and where action is needed. This improves coordination between project managers and delivery teams, and makes it easier to maintain consistent delivery standards across the practice.
With Project Flow, teams can:
Even strong project plans fail when resourcing isn’t realistic. Without clear capacity planning, firms risk overbooking key team members, missing deadlines, or burning out staff, especially when several projects overlap or priorities shift unexpectedly.
Project Flow helps firms understand who is working on what, and when so workloads stay balanced across projects. Teams can allocate the right people to the right work, forecast availability, and make resourcing decisions proactively rather than reactively.
With Project Flow, firms can:
One of the biggest reasons projects lose profit is that cost issues are discovered too late. Traditional ERP tools can make fee and budget tracking feel finance-owned and complex, leaving delivery teams in the dark until problems escalate.
Project Flow connects time, fees, and budgets in a way that makes financial performance visible without turning architects into accountants. Teams can track time spent against fees, understand whether work is trending over budget, and take action early, protecting margins while maintaining design quality.
With Project Flow, teams can:
Milient offers tailored pricing based on team size and requirements, ensuring firms only pay for the functionality they need, without unnecessary ERP modules or consultant-led complexity.
| Module | Starting price* |
|
Project Flow |
£20/user/month (public pricing) |
*Pricing depends on region, team size, and configuration.
"The project management tool gathers all project functions in the system in our company so that I can get an overview of the progress of all projects which has helped me asses the projects on time and spend less time on administrative work and focus on other services like our customers, has greater flexibility with all different types of workflow being entered to one similar system"
Software Advice Reviewer
Mid-size architecture firms that need better project control, clearer resourcing, and real-time fee visibility, without the complexity, cost, or overhead of enterprise ERP systems.
See how Milient Project Flow supports growing and larger architecture teams.
Monograph is a lightweight project management and fee-tracking tool built specifically for architecture studios. It focuses on visual budgeting, forecasting, and high-level project insight rather than deep operational control.
Known for its design-led interface and tools like MoneyGantt, Monograph is popular with small practices that want quick financial clarity without complex setup. However, it is not designed to manage detailed resourcing or day-to-day project delivery at scale.
Monograph prioritises financial visibility and simplicity over operational depth, making it easy for architects to understand project performance at a glance.
| Plan | Price |
| Monograph | £33/user/month |
As firms grow and projects become more complex, many look to platforms like Milient’s project management solution for deeper resourcing, delivery control, and real-time visibility.
“Interface is very intuitive, time tracking is almost always correct. Although customer support was great at the start but it’s a bit slower and more elusive now, and there is no community forum or easy way we have found to interact with others users to pick their brains and gain from their experience in resolving questions or issues.”
Small architecture studios with straightforward workflows that prioritise visual fee tracking and high-level project insight over detailed resourcing and delivery management.
Deltek Ajera is an integrated accounting and project management solution built specifically for architecture and engineering firms. It combines project delivery with deep financial controls, making it a long-standing choice for finance-led practices that prioritise accounting accuracy, compliance, and reporting.
While Ajera offers extensive functionality and real-time financial visibility, its complexity and training requirements can be challenging for teams seeking a more intuitive, design-friendly project management experience.
Ajera’s feature set is heavily oriented around financial control and compliance, with project management supporting those goals.
| Plan | Estimated Starting Price |
| Deltek Ajera | Custom pricing |
Pricing varies by firm size, configuration, and onboarding requirements, typically placing Ajera at the higher end of the market compared with more focused project management tools.
“I appreciate the real-time data capabilities of Deltek Ajera, which significantly enhance my ability to manage accounting and project tasks effectively. However, I find the process of creating custom reports in Deltek Ajera challenging. The current system lacks adequate resources such as support materials, instructional videos, or detailed 'How To' guides, which could greatly assist in simplifying and streamlining the report customization process.”
Deltek Ajera is best for finance-led architecture and engineering firms that need integrated project accounting, billing, and compliance reporting, and have the internal capacity to manage a more complex system.
Firms seeking a more intuitive, project-first approach often explore alternatives like Milient’s project management platform
Total Synergy is an AEC-focused project and financial management platform built for architects, engineers, and construction design teams. It follows a structured, stage-based approach to project delivery that mirrors traditional architectural workflows, making it a familiar choice for firms that value consistency, compliance, and clear governance.
While it offers solid financial and delivery controls, its rigidity and more traditional interface can feel limiting for teams seeking flexibility and faster day-to-day workflows.
Total Synergy focuses on structured delivery and financial administration, supporting firms that prefer defined processes over flexible planning.
| Plan | Estimated Starting Price |
| Total Synergy | ~$40/user/month* |
*Pricing based on publicly available ranges; exact amounts vary.
“Synergy’s timesheets, document register and ability to save emails to a project database is great. However, what I dislike is their reports.I find creating them and producing them very counter intuitive.I also find that there are multiple feature that could be added to Synergy but when i ask if they can be integrated their isn't a drive to look to expand the potential of the software. Pricing is also quite steep for medium sized practices"
Firms seeking a more intuitive, project-first approach often explore alternatives like Milient’s project management platform.
CMAP is a project and financial management platform widely used by consultancies and engineering-led firms, and is often compared with Deltek Costpoint. It places a strong emphasis on financial forecasting, utilisation, and profitability, making it appealing to organisations that want detailed operational and financial insight.
While powerful, CMAP typically requires careful configuration and onboarding, which can be a barrier for teams seeking a simpler, project-first management experience.
CMAP is designed around financial performance and utilisation control, rather than lightweight project delivery.
| Plan | Price |
| CMAP | ~$40/user/month* |
“Once set up it's very easy to use, they've thought of pretty much everything (for a consulting business), and they're generally responsive to feedback. However, the Fee Estimator template needed a lot of tailoring to fit to our way of doing things and how we cost our work. It's also not really optimised for the tailoring we needed to do, and we've had to use workarounds that makes it a touch less elegant in use."
Consultancies and engineering-led architecture firms that prioritise financial forecasting, utilisation tracking, and detailed operational control, and are prepared to invest in setup and configuration.
Choosing the right project management software for architects goes beyond task lists and timelines. Architecture firms need tools that provide clear visibility across projects, help teams plan capacity realistically, and offer financial insight without adding admin overhead.
When evaluating architecture project management tools, it’s important to focus on how well they support real-world workflows, from early planning through delivery, while scaling with the size and complexity of your practice.
Architectural projects involve multiple phases, stakeholders, and budgets, making visibility critical. Firms need real-time insight into project progress, fees, and risks without relying on spreadsheets or manual reporting. Clear dashboards allow project managers and leadership to quickly understand what’s on track, what’s at risk, and where action is needed, supporting better decisions throughout delivery.
Milient’s Project Flow supports this with intuitive dashboards that bring project progress, phases, and financial performance into one central view, keeping teams aligned and informed without complexity.
See how real-time project and fee visibility works in practice.
Without clear resource planning, firms risk burnout, underutilisation, and missed deadlines. Understanding who is working on what and when, is essential for balancing workloads across projects, especially as teams grow or project demands shift. Effective resource planning helps practices deliver consistently while protecting team wellbeing.
Project Flow includes built-in capacity and resource planning tools that give firms a clear view of workloads across projects, helping allocate the right people to the right work and avoid reactive resourcing decisions.
Generic project management tools often fail to reflect how architecture firms actually work. Concepts like project phases, fees, utilisation, and design-led workflows are frequently missing or poorly supported, forcing teams into workarounds that add time and complexity.
Project Flow is designed specifically for architecture project management, supporting real-world practice needs such as phased delivery, fee tracking, and coordination between project teams, without requiring enterprise ERP systems or accounting-heavy workflows.
Every architecture firm has different priorities depending on size, complexity, and growth plans. Smaller studios may benefit from lightweight tools focused on budgeting, while larger or finance-led practices may require deeper accounting systems.
For firms seeking a balanced approach, combining clear project visibility, practical resource planning, and real-time financial insight, Milient’s Project Flow offers a purpose-built software designed specifically for architectural workflows.
Ready to simplify how your architecture firm manages projects and fees?
Book a demo here and see how Project Flow brings everything into one clear system, built specifically for architects.
To explore more, try Milient today or view our guides on time tracking, billing rates, and project management best practices.