Looking around for software for your construction business but not clear on how much you should be paying for it? Honestly, it’s not an easy answer. There are times when even free or open source construction software involves hidden fees that can send your original budget into turmoil.
Keeping this in mind, we’ve put together this comprehensive guide to help you compare the pricing of top-rated construction solutions. You’ll also learn how construction tools are licensed and priced (including the pricing of top systems), and the full scope of construction software’s pricing range. Ultimately, this will help you find the ideal product that fits your price point.
How is construction software priced?
Pricing for construction software depends on the type of products you need and the amount of construction you do. The more projects you run through the platform, the more value you receive from the software in terms of cost savings, efficiency, and productivity gains.
Pricing of a construction management software really depends upon your answers to the following questions. These will help you understand your business needs and identify how much money you’re likely going to spend on construction management software.
1. How big is your business: Are you a solopreneur, or a small, medium, or large business?
2. What kind of software features do you need: Basic or advanced?
3. What kind of pricing commitment are you comfortable with? Subscription-based or a long term deal?
4. Is there any need to set up a demo or is a consultation required? (This tends to require more time in the research process.)
5. Does free or open source software address your business needs?
Based on how you answer the above questions, the same system could cost you thousands more or hundreds of dollars less. For example, BrickControl can cost as low as $64 per month or all the way up to $847 per month depending on the features you choose.
Construction management software price ranges
Construction management solutions primarily come with a subscription-based pricing model that doesn’t require procuring a license. Instead, users pay recurring monthly or annual fees to the software vendor.
Construction management software cost starts as low as $44 and can go as high as $2,850 per contractor per month. However, for more contractors and advanced functionalities, businesses can expect to pay around $299 to $9,900 per month.
We can classify the different pricing plans based on the number of contractors as basic, premium, and advanced. The price for these three pricing ranges goes lower to higher as the basic plan covers just a few basic features of the management software whereas premium plans covers advanced features in addition to basic features. Also, the advanced plan is the highest priced among the three due to more advanced features that support large teams or enterprises. For reference, below is a snapshot of some popular construction management software.
Only products with publicly available pricing information were included in this table. We summarized publicly available pricing sources including vendor websites as of January 2, 2022, beginning with the lowest monthly pricing (not including annual discounts) for packages that include the core functionality for a software category. We list pricing for more advanced packages (per user, when available) that also include the core software feature(s). As always, your company’s specific needs may differ and final pricing will vary.
A note on features:
Many different construction organizations use construction management systems or construction project management software that have features that enable collaborative workflow and data access, integrating multiple teams and office locations into a shared work environment. These building software solutions provide scheduling and real-time completion data, including the monitoring of production status, start and finish dates, as well as budgets and expenditures. They also typically offer tools for data organization and presentation, such as construction templates. The core or basic functionalities include document management, project tracking, and scheduling.
Construction management software upfront and recurring costs
When we evaluate construction software price quotes, you’ll notice three main categories of pricing models: perpetual license, subscription license, and free and open source. You may already have a basic understanding of these options, but let’s consider the full upfront, recurring, and hidden costs of each:
1. Perpetual license
- What it is:
- Commonly used for:
- Upfront costs:
- A one-time license fee
- Hardware (e.g., servers)
- Recurring costs:
- Monthly, annual, or ad hoc maintenance (e.g., updates, patches, and upgrades)
- Premium support offerings (e.g., expanded phone support hours)
- Hidden costs:
- Customization (e.g., reporting and analytics capabilities)
- Integration with existing systems
- IT staff overtime (or hiring more IT staff) to maintain servers
You pay an upfront fee for the license to own the construction software and use it forever.
On-premise deployments where the system is hosted and maintained in-house on your own servers.
2. Subscription license
- What it is:
- Commonly used for:
- Upfront costs:
- Recurring costs:
- A monthly subscription fee per provider/user (this can range from $44 – $9,900+)
- Premium support offerings (e.g., expanded phone support hours)
- Hidden costs:
- Customization (e.g., reporting/analytics capabilities)
- Integration with existing systems
You pay a monthly fee to use the construction software for a specific amount of time.
Cloud-based deployments, where the system is hosted remotely and can be accessed on compatible devices over the internet.
3. Free and open source license
- What it is:
- Commonly used for:
- Upfront costs:
- Recurring costs:
- Hidden costs:
- Customization (e.g., reporting/analytics capabilities)
- Integration with existing systems (e.g., such as accounting, project management, etc.)
There are no fees to be able to use the construction software, and you can use it freely, modify, and share it.
If your IT budget can’t accomodate a construction software then you should try free tools to manage your project workload without burning a hole in your pocket.
There are no recurring costs. You can use it freely typically with limited features.
Additional fees to expect
Once you’re familiar with the different pricing models, there are additional fees when implementing a new construction software that are equally important to understand. These extra expenses are universal, regardless of your chosen vendor’s pricing model, so make sure you’re factoring the following into your budget:
- Data migration: Transfer your clients’ data from your old software by exporting it as files that can be imported into the new system. This is often a surprise cost for buyers.
- Training: Depending on how extensive staff training for the new system is, it can cost anywhere from nothing at all to several thousands of dollars. These days, vendors provide a wealth of free online training materials, such as webinars and how-to videos, that can help cut down on those extra costs. However, you might find it worthwhile to bring in an implementation specialist to get your staff up to speed as soon as possible in order to reduce costly downtime. This will typically cost more.
- Maintenance and upgrades: It is important to know what maintenance and support services are being offered by the vendor and whether they are included in your software subscription or licensing fees. On the other hand,you might already have employees on your team to provide maintenance and support. It’s important to be sure of what support your software vendor offers, in case your team is unable to provide maintenance for the tool which could directly affect the ROI that your software was intended to deliver.
- Hardware and IT: Is there any need to make additional purchases or enhancements to your existing infrastructure to implement the software? A common requirement might be the need to upgrade individual employee hardware, such as computers or mobile devices.
It’s important to take these often-overlooked costs into account before you begin evaluating vendors. This way, you can add them to your budget at the start.
What are the best construction management software packages?
Do the construction management tools listed in this guide fall within your software budget? If yes, then compare their features and read real user reviews of more than 120 similar products listed on our construction management category page.
Note: This article is intended to inform our readers about business-related concerns in the U.S. It is in no way intended to provide financial advice or to endorse a specific course of action. For advice on your specific situation, consult your accountant or financial consultant.