Best Project Management Software for Consultants in 2026: Client Projects, Billable Time and Approvals

The best project management software for consultants is usually a tool that ties project work to billable time. Accelo, Productive and Teamwork join projects, time tracking and invoicing for client-service firms, Paymo covers similar ground for solo consultants and small studios, and OpenProject is the open-source option when client data should stay on your own server.

Enlisted's catalogue has few tools built only for consultants, so this guide separates professional services automation (PSA) suites, resourcing tools, approval tools, open-source options and general-purpose trackers, and says what each one needs next to it. Live pricing is in the table and the "Pricing compared" section on this page, so no prices are typed in the text.

What do consultants need from project management software?

A consulting engagement is a project with a budget attached, which makes it different from a marketing campaign or a software sprint. The needs that come up in the vendors' own descriptions are consistent:

• Time and cost against the engagement. The PSA tools in this guide treat hours as the raw material for profitability reports, budgets and invoices.
• Retainers as well as projects. Accelo lists retainers and client billing as a use case, and Teamwork lists recurring budgets.
• Client-facing steps. Intake forms, proofs and approvals decide how much email a project costs you.
• Staffing, once more than one person bills. Kantata and Runn exist for utilization and capacity, which a solo consultant can ignore.

Open-source tools are thinner on this list. OpenProject and Leantime list time tracking, and neither is marketed at consultants, so they suit a firm that values data control over a built-in billing path.

How we picked

Every tool here does project or client-work management, and each is included because Enlisted's listing or the vendor's own pages connect it to consulting, agencies, billable time or client delivery. Open-source tools also need recent GitHub activity and a stated licence. Candidates that fit only loosely, such as AI slide generators and website starters, were left out. For how listings are ranked, see how Enlisted ranks tools.

Best PSA suites for running engagements and billing in one place

PSA platforms are built for firms that sell expertise by the hour, the project or the month. They cost more effort to adopt than a task board, and they are the only group here where time, resourcing and invoicing share one database.

Accelo: best for retainers and engagement profitability

Accelo is a professional services automation platform that connects projects, resourcing, time tracking, client management and financials so a firm can see whether each engagement stays profitable. Its listed use cases are keeping consulting engagements profitable, managing retainers and client billing, and forecasting resources for agencies.

The vendor names integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Sage Intacct, Jira, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. Its own pages describe AI features that flag risks early.

• Best for: consulting and agency firms that bill retainers and want client records, time and invoices in one system.
• Watch out for: prices are not published (the vendor asks buyers for a quote), there is no free plan or trial listed, and a one-person practice may need less than a full PSA.

Kantata: best for staffing and forecasting at a larger firm

Kantata is a professional services automation platform that links scoping, resourcing, delivery and forecasting, with AI trained on a firm's own engagement history. It is the most resource-focused PSA here: examples on the vendor's site include proposing a team from scope, availability and skills, and showing bench information to improve utilization.

• Best for: consulting firms that staff engagements across many billable people and need forecasts from pipeline data.
• Watch out for: pricing is quoted after a request form, and the emphasis on utilization and forecasting is more than a small practice needs.

Productive: best for agencies and consultancies tracking margin per project

Productive is a professional services automation platform for agencies and consultancies that puts resource planning, projects, budgets and invoicing in one place. The feature list covers time tracking, Gantt charts, a sales CRM with an AI notetaker, budgeting and profitability, forecasting and revenue recognition.

• Best for: agencies and consultancies that want project margins and capacity planning side by side and can judge the product on a free trial.
• Watch out for: there is no free plan (a free trial is offered), pricing is per user, and the top tier is quoted.

Teamwork: best for client services teams handling requests

Teamwork.com is a project management and professional services automation platform for teams that deliver client work. It covers intake forms for requests, tasks, a helpdesk called Desk that turns tickets into tasks, client feedback through proofs, time tracking, budgets, rates and profitability reports.

Among the PSA tools in this guide it is the only one with a free plan, which makes it easier to judge before you commit.

• Best for: small consultancies and agencies that field a steady stream of client requests and approvals.
• Watch out for: check which plan includes resource planning and profitability reports, since the free and entry plans may not cover them.

Scoro: best for quote-to-cash and multi-currency billing

Scoro is a business management and PSA platform that carries a project from quote to cash: estimating, CRM, project and task management, time and cost tracking, capacity planning and client billing. The vendor says it supports multiple teams, offices and currencies, and lists integrations with Xero, QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, Stripe and Expensify.

• Best for: consultancies that invoice in several currencies or want sales quotes and delivery in one tool.
• Watch out for: it is priced per user by app bundle, there is no free plan, and the trial has a minimum team size.

Best for small practices and studios: projects, time and invoices without a PSA

Paymo: best for solo consultants and small agencies

Paymo is project management software with time tracking, invoicing, task boards and team scheduling for freelancers, small agencies and service teams. The vendor publishes industry pages for consulting, creative and marketing, and architecture, and the product list includes automatic time tracking, Gantt charts, estimates, online payments and file proofing.

It has desktop and mobile apps and a free plan for a single user, so a solo consultant can start with billable-time tracking and add projects as the work grows.

• Best for: one-person practices and small teams that want tasks, hours and invoices in a single hosted tool.
• Watch out for: it is hosted only with per-user pricing, so cost rises with each person you add.

Best for capacity planning

Resourcing matters once several people bill to the same engagement. These tools plan who works on what, and they are not a replacement for project delivery.

Runn: best for forecasting demand against capacity

Runn is a resource management and capacity planning tool that shows who is available, lets managers assign people to projects and forecasts how upcoming demand will affect capacity. Its listed use cases include consulting firms planning staff allocation and agencies comparing capacity with demand.

• Best for: consulting firms that already run delivery elsewhere and need a staffing and forecasting layer.
• Watch out for: pricing is per resource seat with a minimum seat count, there is no free plan, and the product plans people rather than tracking tasks.

Resource Guru is a lighter alternative for booking people, equipment and rooms against projects, and its industry pages cover agencies and consultants.

Best for client approvals

Filestage: best for getting sign-off on creative and written work

Filestage is an online proofing platform where teams upload files, collect annotated feedback and route content through a defined approval process. It handles documents and PDFs, designs and images, video and live websites, and lists client approvals for agencies as a use case. It also offers review agents that check content against brand guidelines and regulations.

• Best for: consultants and agencies whose deliverables are reports, decks, designs or video that clients must approve.
• Watch out for: it handles review and approval only, so you still need a project tool and a time tracker. It is hosted and closed source.

Ziflow is a comparable proofing and review product aimed at marketing and creative operations teams.

Best open-source and self-hosted options

Consultants often hold client data under contract, which makes self-hosting a real reason to look at open source. None of these three is built for consultants specifically, and none lists invoicing, so each needs a billing step elsewhere.

OpenProject: best self-hosted project manager with cost reporting

OpenProject is open-source project management software under the GPL-3.0 licence that covers Gantt planning, agile boards, roadmaps, bug tracking and time tracking with cost reporting and budgets. A free Community edition can be self-hosted, and there are paid Enterprise plans and a hosted cloud.

• Best for: firms that want budgets and cost reports on engagements, and need the data on their own server.
• Watch out for: invoicing and a client portal are not among the listed features, and someone has to run and update the server.

Leantime: best for teams without a dedicated project manager

Leantime is an open-source (AGPL-3.0) project management system for teams where most members are not trained project managers. It combines kanban, Gantt and calendar views with milestones, sprints, timesheets, goal tracking, idea boards and wikis, and it supports LDAP and OIDC sign-in.

• Best for: small advisory teams that want strategy, goals and tasks in one tool they can host.
• Watch out for: timesheets exist, but billing and rate cards are not listed, so plan a separate invoicing tool.

Solidtime: best open-source time tracker for client billing

Solidtime is an open-source (AGPL-3.0) time tracking app for freelancers and agencies with projects, tasks, clients and billable rates that can be set per project, per project member, per organization member or for a whole organization. One account can manage several organizations, and data can be imported from Toggl and Clockify.

• Best for: consultants who want the time-and-rates half of the job under their own control, alongside a lighter task tool.
• Watch out for: it is a time tracker, not a project planner. See the time tracking guide for consultants for more options.

Best general-purpose tool with a client-work product

Asana: best when your team already works in it

Asana is a work management platform for projects, tasks and goals, and its product line now includes Asana Client Management alongside AI features such as ready-made agents and no-code automation. It has a free Personal plan for a very small team.

Time tracking and invoicing are not in its listed features, so billing means pairing it with a time tracker. Harvest, Everhour and Timely list Asana integrations. For other general-purpose boards, see ClickUp, which lists time tracking among its features, and Wrike, which lists client service delivery. Both also have guides: ClickUp alternatives and Asana alternatives.

• Best for: teams that need flexible project boards and can bolt on separate billing.
• Watch out for: per-seat pricing and no built-in invoicing.

Zoho Projects, also in the table above, is a middle path: its timesheets track billable and non-billable hours and a built-in integration with Zoho Invoice can generate invoices from them, which makes it a middle path for consultants who already use Zoho.

What about creatives and studios?

Project management software for creatives adds one requirement to the consulting list: feedback on files. Paymo lists file proofing, Teamwork delivers client feedback through proofs, and Filestage and Ziflow are dedicated review tools. Workamajig is agency management software for advertising and marketing agencies with project management, accounting, CRM and resourcing, and Managable bundles client CRM, projects, invoicing and bank reconciliation for freelancers, studios and agencies. If your studio sells campaigns, read the guide to project management software for marketing teams.

What should consultants check before buying?

Two requirements decide most of these choices.

1. How does tracked time become an invoice? Some tools invoice directly (Paymo and Scoro list invoicing or client billing, and Zoho Projects hands off to Zoho Invoice). Others expect an accounting tool: Accelo names QuickBooks Online, Xero and Sage Intacct, Scoro names Xero and QuickBooks, and Teamwork lists accounting integrations. Ask whether your accounting package is on the vendor's integration list before you migrate data.
2. Does the pricing model fit your headcount? Accelo and Kantata sell through quotes, Scoro and Runn have minimum team sizes, Productive and Paymo charge per user with trials, and OpenProject and Leantime are free to self-host if you can run them. Count the people who need a login, including part-time associates.

Everything else, such as AI features or dashboards, matters less than whether hours reach an invoice without retyping.

How to choose

For broader lists, see best free project management software or browse every tool in the project management category. Freelancers working alone can also read the guide to project management software for freelancers.