Best project management software for consultants in 2026 (features & cost compared) 

These tools balance multi-client tracking with built-in billing:

• GoodDay: Best for multidisciplinary consulting firms that need an all-in-one platform to manage complex projects and multi-client portfolios. Pricing starts at $4/user/month.
• Teamwork.com: Built specifically for client work. It features billable time tracking, client portals, profitability reporting, and multi-client dashboards out of the box. Starts at $9.99/user/month.
• Plutio: Best for independent consultants and small teams. It connects tasks and timers directly to invoicing, contracts, and branded client portals for $19/month.
• Rocketlane: Best for growing or IT-focused consulting teams (30–500 staff). It provides project management, resource allocation, and AI-driven governance starting at $19/user/month.
• Scoro: An end-to-end professional services solution combining project tracking, CRM, and detailed financial management. Pricing starts at $19.90/user/month.
• Asana: A popular general task manager ideal for simple client collaboration. Pricing ranges from $10.99 to $24.99/user/month, though it requires external integrations for time tracking and invoicing.

In this article, we explore the best consulting project management software today to help you make the best choice. 

But if you have any questions that are not covered in this article, you can always connect with our team via info@goodday.work

Comparison of the best project management software for consultants

We reviewed leading consulting project management platforms and selected the strongest options based on features, pricing, and overall value for different workflows. Keep in mind that pricing may change over time because software companies frequently update their features and plans.

Software	Best for	Pricing
GoodDay	Multidisciplinary consulting firms managing complex projects, resources, time, finances, CRM records, and client access	Free for up to 15 users. Professional costs $6 per user monthly or $4 with annual billing. Business costs $10 monthly or $7 annually. Enterprise pricing is customized Pricing details
Teamwork.com	Consulting teams managing billable client work, capacity, budgets, invoices, and profitability	Free for up to five users. Basics costs $9.99 per user monthly with annual billing. Accelerate costs $24.99. Optimize and Enterprise use custom pricing. Monthly billing is also available Pricing details
Plutio	Independent consultants and small teams managing projects, contracts, time, invoices, and portals	Core costs $19 monthly, Pro costs $49, and Max costs $199. Annual billing includes approximately two months free. Custom enterprise agreements are available Pricing details
Rocketlane	Growing consulting and IT services teams standardizing service delivery and resource governance	Essential costs $19, Standard $49, Premium $69, and Enterprise $99 per team member monthly with annual billing. Essential, Standard, and Premium require at least five members. AI Fills costs an additional $29 per user monthly. Nitro plans use custom pricing Pricing details
Scoro	Professional services firms connecting projects, resources, sales, billing, and profitability	With annual billing, Core costs $19.90, Growth $32.90, and Performance $49.90 per user monthly. Monthly prices are $23.90, $38.90, and $59.90. Enterprise pricing is customized Pricing details
Asana	Consulting teams prioritizing accessible task management, portfolios, workflows, and guest collaboration	Personal is free for two users. Starter costs $10.99 annually or $13.49 monthly. Advanced costs $24.99 annually or $30.49 monthly. Enterprise plans use custom pricing. Timesheets and Budgets costs $5.99 per licensed user monthly with annual billing Pricing details

In-depth overview of the top project management software for consultants (free and paid)

We evaluated each platform based on project planning, client collaboration, time tracking, resource management, financial controls, integrations, and access from desktop and mobile devices. The following sections explain which consulting workflows each platform supports and which capabilities require higher plans or separate add-ons.

GoodDay: best for multidisciplinary consulting firms

GoodDay is an all-in-one project management software relied upon by more than 100,000 organizations worldwide. It combines project portfolios, resource planning, finance, CRM, and customer portal. The platform is top-rated in multiple Capterra shortlists.  

Main features

GoodDay offers customizable task types, statuses, and views. Unlimited project hierarchy helps firms organize clients and deliverables, while time, resource, finance, CRM, automation, and reporting modules connect project execution with business operations.

• Unlimited projects, tasks, and project hierarchy
• Custom workflows, statuses, fields, and task types
• Gantt, board, list, table, calendar, portfolio, and resource views
• Dashboards, reports, and advanced analytics
• Native time tracking
• Workload and resource management
• Finance module and expense tracking
• CRM and customer portal
• Unlimited free customer accounts
• Project baselines and risk matrix
• Two-factor authentication
• SAML single sign-on
• Private cloud option
• AI chat and agents

Integrations

GoodDay connects with Google Workspace, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, GitHub, GitLab, Dropbox, Box, Zoom, Zapier, email, webhooks, and external systems through its API.

Desktop and mobile capabilities

GoodDay provides desktop applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux, plus mobile applications for iOS and Android.

Pros and cons

Pros	Cons
The free plan supports up to 15 users, unlimited tasks, unlimited projects, and unlimited hierarchy.	Even though it’s overall user-friendly, it takes time to learn how to utilize the advanced workflows.
Good reputation for responsiveness and usability.	Advanced reporting can take time to configure.
Rich set of features for planning, execution, and tracking.	Because nearly everything can be tailored, users may spend extra time deciding on the setup.
You won’t feel pressured into endless upsells or trendy features your team doesn’t need.	SAML, private cloud, custom access rules, risk management, and other enterprise controls require a custom plan.

Teamwork.com: best for profitable client delivery

Teamwork.com is designed for client-facing work. Consulting firms can use it to plan projects, track billable and non-billable time, manage capacity, monitor budgets, create invoices from logged time, and analyze profitability across individual projects, clients, and service lines.

Main features

Teamwork.com provides task lists, milestones, dependencies, Gantt charts, boards, tables, templates, client users, time logs, budgets, forms, and automations. Accelerate adds workload planning, time budgets, retainers, timesheets, and basic invoicing, while Optimize adds advanced resource scheduling, financial controls, forecasting, and profitability reporting.

• Billable and non-billable time tracking
• List, board, table, and Gantt views
• Project and task templates
• Project, portfolio, and client dashboards
• Client users and external collaboration
• Intake forms and workflow automations
• Workload and capacity planning
• Time budgets and retainers
• Timesheets and time reminders
• Invoices created from logged time
• Project, client, and portfolio reporting
• Resource scheduling by role or skill
• Cost, revenue, and profitability reporting
• Quotes and multi-currency budgets on higher plans

Integrations

Teamwork.com offers more than 150 integrations, including HubSpot, QuickBooks, Xero, Salesforce, NetSuite, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Dropbox, Zapier, webhooks, and API access.

Desktop and mobile capabilities

Teamwork.com provides desktop applications for Windows and macOS and mobile applications for iOS and Android, with mobile support for tasks, projects, files, messages, milestones, calendars, and time logging.

Pros and cons

Pros	Cons
The platform is structured around clients, projects, time, budgets, resources, and profitability.	The free plan is limited to five users, five projects, 100 MB of storage, and two project templates.
Basics includes billable time tracking, project dashboards, portfolios, and multiple project views.	Team workload planning, time budgets, retainers, and invoicing require Accelerate.
Accelerate connects resource capacity, budgets, retainers, timesheets, and logged-time invoices.	Advanced profitability forecasting and role-based resource scheduling require Optimize.
More than 150 integrations and dedicated desktop and mobile applications are available.	Basics requires at least three paid users, while Accelerate requires at least five.

Plutio: best for independent consultants and small practices

Plutio combines projects, proposals, contracts, appointments, time tracking, invoices, payments, forms, conversations, files, CRM records, and client portals. Its fixed monthly plans are particularly suitable for independent consultants who want to run project delivery and administration without purchasing separate applications for every business process.

Main features

Every Plutio plan includes the same core project and business features. Plans differ mainly by active-client limits, contributor capacity, storage, AI credits, workflow actions, white labeling, and single sign-on, allowing solo consultants to access proposals, contracts, invoices, scheduling, time tracking, portals, and automation on Core.

• Projects, tasks, subtasks, and milestones
• List, board, calendar, and Gantt views
• Time tracking and timesheets
• Project, user, and service billing rates
• Proposals and electronic signatures
• Contracts and reusable templates
• Invoices and online payments
• Scheduling and booking pages
• Forms and questionnaires
• CRM and client records
• Branded client portals
• Client inbox and conversations
• Workflow automation
• Plutio Pal AI assistant
• API access and webhooks
• White labeling and SSO options

Integrations

Plutio connects with Stripe, PayPal, Square, Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Meet, Zoom, custom email providers, Zapier, API integrations, and outbound webhooks.

Desktop and mobile capabilities

Plutio works in modern browsers and provides native desktop applications for Mac and Windows and mobile applications for iOS and Android.

Pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Projects, contracts, proposals, invoices, portals, time tracking, and automation are included in every plan.	Core is limited to nine active clients in each month.
Core uses fixed monthly pricing instead of a standard per-user charge.	Core is designed for solo work and does not include additional contributors.
Pro includes unlimited active clients and 30 contributors for $49 monthly.	White labeling and SSO are paid add-ons on Pro.
Native desktop and mobile applications support work across devices.	Max costs $199 monthly, creating a significant increase from Pro for teams needing unlimited contributors and included SSO.

Rocketlane: best for standardized service delivery

Rocketlane is a professional services automation platform for customer-facing delivery. It combines project templates, customer portals, approvals, time tracking, reporting, resource planning, financial management, and governance, making it suitable for growing consulting teams that want consistent processes across onboarding, implementation, and ongoing services.

Main features

Essential provides project delivery, customer collaboration, templates, time tracking, dashboards, and basic automation. Standard adds performance reporting, partner collaboration, forms, and more integrations. Premium introduces resource planning, capacity, utilization, budgets, rate cards, margins, invoicing, expenses, revenue recognition, and portfolio profitability.

• Branded customer portal
• Customer approvals and collaboration
• Project presentations and updates
• List, Kanban, and Gantt views
• Project, document, form, and email templates
• Time tracking and timesheet approvals
• Custom workflow automations
• Project and people performance reports
• Partner and contractor portal
• Resource planning and auto-allocation
• Capacity and utilization tracking
• Project budgets and rate cards
• Margin and profitability reporting
• Revenue recognition
• Invoicing and expense management
• Role-based access controls and SAML on Enterprise

Integrations

Rocketlane integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Slack, Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, Zapier, Workato, Snowflake, and custom systems through its API and app framework.

Desktop and mobile capabilities

Rocketlane is browser-based and provides a mobile application that supports project access and collaboration for internal users and customers.

Pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Essential includes unlimited projects, unlimited customer members, a branded portal, time tracking, templates, and customer approvals.	Essential, Standard, and Premium require at least five paid team members.
Standard adds project and people performance reporting, partner collaboration, forms, API access, Jira, HubSpot, and Slack.	Resource planning, capacity management, utilization, and financial management require Premium.
Premium connects project delivery with rates, margins, revenue recognition, invoicing, and expenses.	Premium costs $69 per user monthly with annual billing before optional AI add-ons.
Enterprise adds tentative planning, skills management, multiple currencies, SAML, and custom reporting.	The listed prices require annual billing, and Nitro AI plans require a sales quote.

Scoro: best for project-to-finance management

Scoro is a professional services automation platform combining CRM, quoting, projects, resources, time, expenses, invoices, budgets, and profitability reporting. It suits consulting firms that want operational and financial information in one system and need detailed control over utilization, project costs, revenue, margins, and forecasting.

Main features

Core covers projects, Gantt charts, tasks, customers, quotes, invoices, dashboards, and work reports. Growth adds project budgets, templates, retainers, recurring work, automation, role-based labor costs, utilization, and financial reporting. Performance introduces detailed resource planning, timesheets, price lists, forecasts, revenue recognition, and team performance reports.

• Project and task management
• Gantt charts, dependencies, phases, and milestones
• Time tracking and detailed work reports
• Contacts, customers, and sales pipeline
• Quotes, invoices, bills, and receipts
• Project budgets and quoted-versus-actual analysis
• Retainer management
• Recurring tasks and workflow automation
• Resource planner and utilization reports
• Role-based labor costs
• Price lists and rate cards
• Cost and profit forecasting
• Revenue recognition and forecasting
• Supplier management
• Team performance reports
• Approval flows and WIP reporting on Enterprise

Integrations

Scoro connects with Xero, QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, Stripe, Expensify, Google Calendar, Microsoft Exchange, Jira, Slack, Google Drive, Zapier, AI tools through its MCP server, and custom systems through its API.

Desktop and mobile capabilities

Scoro is available through desktop browsers and official iOS and Android mobile applications, including mobile time entry for consultants working away from their desks.

Pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Core combines projects, time, customers, quotes, invoices, dashboards, and work reports.	Scoro does not provide a permanent free plan, although a 14-day trial is available.
Growth adds budgets, templates, retainers, automation, utilization, and detailed financial reports.	Project budgets, retainers, recurring tasks, and utilization reporting require Growth.
Performance provides resource planning, rate cards, profitability forecasts, revenue recognition, and team performance reporting.	The resource planner, price lists, timesheets, and revenue forecasting require Performance.
Monthly and annual billing are publicly listed for Core, Growth, and Performance.	Approval flows, WIP reports, multi-account reporting, SSO, and provisioning require Enterprise.

Asana: best for straightforward task coordination

Asana is a general work management platform for tasks, projects, requests, goals, and portfolios. It suits consulting teams that prioritize accessible task coordination and external collaboration. Starter includes unlimited free guests, while Advanced adds portfolios, workload, approvals, proofing, formulas, and native task-level time tracking.

Main features

Personal provides unlimited tasks and projects with list, board, and calendar views for two users. Starter adds Gantt charts, dashboards, forms, templates, custom fields, automations, and guests. Advanced introduces portfolios, goals, workload, approvals, proofing, formulas, and time tracking across tasks and projects.

• Tasks, subtasks, milestones, and dependencies
• List, board, calendar, timeline, and Gantt views
• Forms and workflow automation
• Custom fields and custom templates
• Reporting dashboards
• Unlimited free guests on Starter
• Portfolios and portfolio dashboards
• Goals and goal reporting
• Workload views
• Approvals and proofing
• Native time tracking on Advanced
• Timesheets and budget add-on
• User rates, billable hours, and project budgets through the add-on
• Capacity planning on Enterprise
• Enterprise security and administration

Integrations

Asana supports more than 100 integrations, including Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack, Zoom, Salesforce, Tableau, Power BI, Jira Cloud, Dropbox, and custom connections through its developer platform.

Desktop and mobile capabilities

Asana provides desktop applications for macOS and Windows and mobile applications for iOS and Android, with real-time synchronization across web, desktop, and mobile access.

Pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Personal includes unlimited tasks, projects, storage, comments, and basic views for two users.	The free plan supports only two collaborating users.
Starter adds Gantt charts, dashboards, forms, templates, automations, and unlimited free guests.	Gantt charts, forms, dashboards, custom fields, and free guests require Starter.
Advanced provides portfolios, workload, approvals, proofing, formulas, and native time tracking.	Portfolios, workload, goals, approvals, and native time tracking require Advanced.
The optional Timesheets and Budgets add-on adds rates, billable time, approvals, costs, and budgets.	The add-on costs another $5.99 per licensed user monthly with annual billing and does not replace a full invoicing system.

Essential features of project management software for consultants

Consultants in forum discussions often compare platforms by how effectively they separate clients, display progress, and connect time with billing. A useful system should reduce duplicate data entry while giving consultants, project managers, finance teams, and clients access to the information and permissions appropriate to their roles.

Feature	Description
Multi-client portfolio management	Organizes clients, programs, projects, deliverables, files, permissions, and reports while preserving a consolidated management view.
Billable time and rate management	Records time against specific tasks and applies the correct billable, cost, project, role, or consultant rate.
Budget and profitability tracking	Compares planned and actual time, costs, expenses, revenue, and margins before an engagement exceeds its budget.
Resource and utilization planning	Shows workload, capacity, availability, skills, planned assignments, utilization, and scheduling conflicts across engagements.
Client collaboration	Gives external users controlled access to project updates, files, discussions, forms, approvals, invoices, or portal pages.
Workflow automation	Standardizes recurring handoffs, reminders, approvals, project creation, status changes, and billing-related actions.
Portfolio reporting	Consolidates project status, risks, deadlines, budgets, resources, utilization, and profitability across multiple clients.
Access and security controls	Protects confidential client, staffing, rate, financial, and project information through permissions and authentication controls.

How to select the best project management software for consultants

Selecting the best project management software for consultants requires prioritizing time tracking, client collaboration portals, and flexible budgeting tools. Focus on options that match your scale, such as lightweight task boards for solo operators or comprehensive professional services automation (PSA) platforms for multi-layered teams. 

Client and portfolio structure

Map how your firm organizes clients, practices, programs, engagements, workstreams, and deliverables. The platform should support this structure without forcing unrelated work into one project. Test whether managers can review the entire portfolio while consultants and clients see only the projects, files, discussions, rates, and reports they are authorized to access.

Time, rates, and billing

Confirm how the software records billable and non-billable time and applies consultant, role, project, or client rates. Review whether it supports fixed-fee work, hourly billing, retainers, expenses, approvals, and invoice preparation. Check which capabilities are native, included only on higher plans, or dependent on accounting integrations and add-ons.

Resource planning and utilization

Test resource planning with real roles, skills, working hours, leave, tentative assignments, and active projects. A suitable platform should reveal overloaded consultants, available capacity, utilization gaps, and scheduling conflicts before they affect delivery. Firms planning future work should also confirm whether placeholders, soft bookings, and pipeline-based forecasting are available.

Client access and communication

Decide whether clients need emailed reports, shared dashboards, guest access, approvals, task participation, forms, files, invoices, or a branded portal. Review external-user permissions carefully. Clients should not see internal comments, cost rates, margins, staffing concerns, other clients’ projects, or confidential financial information unless access is deliberately granted.

Reporting and financial visibility

List the decisions each report must support, including delivery status, overdue work, budget variance, utilization, revenue, margin, and forecasted capacity. Confirm whether reports update from live project data and can be filtered by client, project, team, consultant, role, or period. Check export, scheduling, and stakeholder-sharing options.

Integrations and data flow

Identify the systems that must exchange data with the project platform, including CRM, accounting, calendars, email, storage, messaging, identity management, and business intelligence tools. Review native integrations first, then assess Zapier, Workato, API, webhooks, and import options. Confirm which plan supports each connection and whether synchronization is one-way or two-way.

Pricing and plan restrictions

Calculate the total annual cost for the required number of employees, contractors, managers, clients, and finance users. Include minimum-seat requirements, mandatory add-ons, implementation costs, and higher-tier features. A low entry price may not represent the real cost when time tracking, budgets, portals, resource planning, or reporting require upgrades.

How to manage consulting projects: step-by-step workflow

Consulting firms need to manage multiple clients, deliverables, and specialists. Reliable project management software such as GoodDay can organize the entire lifecycle, from the initial request to final delivery and review. You can use this free task list template or other project management templates to create your perfect workflow.

Step 1: Define your project 

Create a client record or top-level folder and document the engagement objective, scope, deliverables, assumptions, budget, stakeholders, and success criteria. Add these details to the task list template so the project team has one reference. Record exclusions, approval responsibilities, and change-control rules before delivery work begins.

Step 2: Create the project structure

Break each deliverable into phases, tasks, subtasks, milestones, and dependencies. Use sections for discovery, analysis, recommendations, implementation, review, and closure where applicable. Add acceptance criteria to important tasks so consultants and clients understand what completion means before a draft or final deliverable is submitted.

Step 3: Assign consultants and planned hours

Give each task one accountable owner, then add contributors, required skills, planned hours, start dates, and deadlines. Review workload before confirming assignments. When specialists support several engagements, reserve capacity and check overlapping commitments rather than assigning the same working hours to multiple clients.

Step 4: Build the delivery schedule

Create the project schedule using task dates, milestones, dependencies, review periods, and client decision deadlines. Use a Gantt or timeline view for sequencing and the task list for daily execution. Include internal quality reviews, client feedback windows, and contingency time. Save the approved plan as a baseline when available.

Step 5: Track time, expenses, and budget

Ask consultants to record time against the correct project and task. Apply the appropriate billable and cost rates, then compare actual hours, expenses, and completion with the approved budget. Review variances weekly so project managers can adjust scope, staffing, priorities, or schedules before profitability and delivery commitments are affected.

Step 6: Manage communication and approvals

Set a consistent schedule for internal reviews, client updates, decisions, risks, and approvals. Keep discussions, files, action items, and decision records attached to the related task or milestone. Use guest or portal access for appropriate client communication while keeping rates, margins, staffing concerns, and internal reviews private.

Step 7: Close and reuse the workflow

Confirm that deliverables are accepted, outstanding actions are completed, final time and expenses are recorded, and invoices are prepared. Compare estimated and actual effort, budget, utilization, and profitability. Document lessons, archive the engagement, and convert effective tasks, reports, approvals, and communication checkpoints into a reusable project template.

Project management software consultants rely on

GoodDay gives firms one configurable platform for all consulting project management needs. 

You can use GoodDay for free to see how it can support your consulting workflows.

And if you have any questions, you can always reach out to our team via info@goodday.work

FAQs

Which tools offer effective team collaboration features for consulting firms?

Leading collaboration tools include GoodDay, Teamwork.com, Rocketlane, and Asana. Among them, GoodDay provides the strongest team collaboration for consulting firms by combining discussions, file sharing, approvals, and client collaboration in one workspace. It keeps project members aligned and improves project delivery without requiring disconnected applications.

What is the best CRM for consultants?

For consultants, GoodDay is the best CRM because it combines CRM records with project management software for consulting firms in a single project management software solution. It strengthens client relationships throughout the sales and delivery cycle while eliminating separate tools, making it especially effective for a growing consulting business.

What is the best Gantt chart tool for consultants?

GoodDay offers the strongest Gantt charts by connecting dependencies, milestones, project timelines, and resource planning in one interface. Unlike many project management platforms, it enables project managers to coordinate complex projects, balance workloads through resource allocation, and accurately track project timelines from planning through completion.

Which work management platform offers the most comprehensive task and project tracking?

GoodDay delivers the most complete task management and project tracking by combining customizable workflows, dashboards, and portfolio management. It helps organizations managing projects across multiple projects while monitoring project progress, project performance, project health, and an entire project portfolio from one configurable environment.

What tools offer billable time tied to tasks, automated invoicing triggers and client portals?

GoodDay, Teamwork.com, Plutio, Scoro, and Rocketlane all support time tracking tied to tasks. GoodDay stands out by combining billing, workflow automation, finance, and native client portals with project accounting. This streamlines invoicing while giving clients secure client visibility into approved work and deliverables.

What’s a good application workspace solution for managing multiple client projects in one dashboard?

GoodDay provides an excellent workspace for multiple client projects by bringing dashboards, project resources, CRM, reporting, and business intelligence into one centralized platform. Teams gain real time visibility across active projects and active engagements, making daily coordination significantly easier than using disconnected systems.

What are the best project management tools with client communication features?

GoodDay ranks first among project management tools because it combines client communication, branded client portals, discussions, approvals, and reporting. Teamwork.com and Rocketlane also perform well, but GoodDay offers broader project management capabilities that improve client delivery for consulting teams working with multiple clients.

What is the best project management software for complex projects?

GoodDay is the best choice for complex projects because its advanced project management features support enterprise-scale consulting project management. The platform connects resource management, budgets, project workflows, project deliverables, and financial management, helping organizations achieve consistent project success across demanding engagements.

Which team collaboration tool brands are recognized for their outstanding integration capabilities?

GoodDay is recognized for outstanding integration capabilities, connecting with Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub, APIs, and Microsoft Teams. Asana and Teamwork.com also integrate broadly, but GoodDay combines connectivity with enterprise security and compliance features, making it a practical adopted project management software for professional services firms.

Which consulting project management software helps track consultant utilization, rates, and project profitability in real time?

GoodDay provides advanced professional services automation that tracks utilization, billing rates, project costs, and project profitability with live financial reporting. Unlike many generic project management tools, it supports informed consulting delivery decisions while helping firms control budgets and optimize consultant performance.

What platforms support repeatable service delivery workflows?

GoodDay, Rocketlane, and Teamwork.com all support repeatable service delivery through templates and automation. GoodDay delivers the broadest support for consulting services, helping most consulting firms standardize processes, manage tasks, meet client expectations, and remain a valuable resource for building scalable, repeatable operational excellence.