Best Procore alternatives for contractors

Why contractors look for a Procore alternative

Procore is one of the most widely used construction management platforms, especially among general contractors and larger specialty contractors on commercial work. It covers documents and drawings, RFIs, submittals, daily logs, quality and safety, and project financials, and it is common for owners, architects and subcontractors to already know their way around it. Its pricing has generally been based on construction volume rather than per user, so whole teams and outside partners can be invited.

The reasons contractors start comparing alternatives:

• Cost tied to annual construction volume rises as you win more work, even if your team and usage stay the same.
• Small and mid-size firms use a few tools, such as drawings, daily logs and photos, and pay for a platform built for much larger projects.
• Setup and training take real effort, and adoption in the field drops if superintendents find it heavy.
• Specialty contractors have workflows, like fabrication tracking, installation by floor or unit pricing, that GC-oriented tools do not model.
• Estimating, scheduling and accounting often live in separate systems, and data still gets re-keyed between them.

The main Procore alternatives

These are well-known construction products sold today. Match the tool to your type of work first: commercial GC, specialty trade or residential builder.

• Autodesk Build (part of Autodesk Construction Cloud): suits firms that work heavily with drawings and models and already use Autodesk design tools. The trade-off is a broad platform with its own learning curve.
• Buildertrend: suits residential builders and remodelers who need scheduling, selections, client communication and financials. The trade-off is that it is aimed at residential rather than commercial projects.
• Fieldwire: suits field teams that mainly need drawings, tasks, punch lists and inspections on a phone or tablet. The trade-off is lighter project financials and office-side tools.
• Contractor Foreman: suits small contractors that want many features at a modest cost. The trade-off is less depth and polish in each module.
• Custom construction software built with Zoti: suits contractors whose estimating, production tracking or reporting is the core of the business and fits none of these. The trade-off is building time before the switch.

Where custom construction software fits

Custom software is not a good reason to reinvent drawing management or a full document control system. Those are well served by existing products, and it is often smarter to keep a tool like Fieldwire or Autodesk Build for plans and markups.

Custom software earns its place in the parts that make your company different, usually estimating, production and job costing. A specialty contractor that tracks installation by floor and phase, a precast or millwork shop tracking pieces from fabrication to install, or a builder with its own estimating rules will find that no general product does this the way they work. A custom build might include:

• An estimating tool with your assemblies, labor rates and markups that turns into a budget when the job is won.
• Production tracking by area, phase or piece, updated from the field on a phone.
• Daily reports, time and materials captured on site and rolled into job cost automatically.
• Change orders with photos and approvals, flowing into billing and the budget.
• Progress billing and pay applications prepared from your own quantities, synced to your accounting system.
• A portal for owners or GCs to see progress, documents and approvals for their projects only.

How to move off Procore

1. Check your contractNote the renewal date and how project data export works before you set a timeline.
2. Archive closed projectsExport drawings, RFIs, submittals, logs and photos for closed jobs, and store them where your team can find them later.
3. Decide on active jobsMost firms finish active projects in Procore and start new ones in the new system, rather than moving work mid-project.
4. Set up templatesBuild your cost codes, forms, checklists and permissions in the new tools before the first new project starts.
5. Bring partners alongTell subcontractors and owners how they will access drawings and submit RFIs, and give them simple instructions.

Checklist for choosing

• Are you a general contractor, a specialty trade or a residential builder? Shortlist tools made for that.
• Do owners and GCs on your projects require a particular platform?
• Which parts do you use weekly today: drawings, RFIs, submittals, logs, financials?
• Where does estimating live, and how does a won estimate become a budget?
• How will cost scale as your construction volume or team grows?
• Will superintendents and foremen actually use the field app every day?