Many professional services firms rely on Kantata (formerly Mavenlink) for project management, financial tracking, team collaboration, and business intelligence.
But if Kantata offers so much, why do some teams start looking for alternatives?
Common reasons users switch from Kantata
We spoke with Kantata existing and former clients. Here are some reasons they’re considering switching to another PSA platform.
- Limited estimating tools: Users often turn to spreadsheets for faster, easier project estimates
- Shallow accounting integrations: Connections with tools like Xero and QuickBooks lack depth, leading to manual billing work
- No real-time data: Users rely on exports and manual reporting due to outdated or delayed data
- Rigid reporting: Limited report customization forces teams to build their own outside the platform
- Scheduling inflexibility: Resource planning isn’t agile enough for daily scheduling changes
- Poor visibility into non-billable time – Internal work is hard to track, skewing resourcing and reporting
Here’s our top picks for alternatives to Kantata:
| Tool | Best for | G2 Rating | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoro | Professional services organizations seeking a platform with everything in one single system | 4.5/5 | $26/user/month |
| Jira | Cross-functional teams seeking a flexible project management solution that adapts to technical and marketing workflows | 4.3/5 | Free plan available, $7.75/user/month for Standard |
| BQE CORE | Architecture, engineering, and professional service firms that need to manage projects, track time, handle billing, and monitor financials | 4.1/5 | Custom pricing |
| Monograph | A&E firms looking for a project management solution designed for their industry | 4.7/5 | $45/user/month |
| Float | Agencies and teams of all sizes needing straightforward capacity-based scheduling and project planning | 4.5/5 | $7.50/user/month |
| Productive | Agencies, consultancies, and professional service businesses looking for an all-in-one system to manage resources, projects, and finances | 4.6/5 | $29/user/month |
| BigTime | Accounting and A&E firms that need solid time tracking, project management, and billing | 4.2/5 | $39/user/month |
| Workamajig | Agencies and in-house marketing teams looking for an all-in-one system to manage projects and resources | 4.0/5 | $38/user/month |
| Teamwork | Professional services companies trying to streamline project delivery, team scheduling, and financial reporting | 4.4/5 | Free plan available, $10/user/month for Starter |
1. Scoro
- Founded in: 2013
- Average customer ratings: G2: 4.5 (402 reviews); Capterra: 4.6 (239 reviews)
- Best for: Professional services organizations seeking a platform with everything in one system
Overview
Scoro is a professional serivces automation (PSA) platform that lets you run your entire business from one place. So you can scope new projects, assign tasks, track capacity, and generate invoices in one unified system.
Scoro’s design is simple but still offers powerful results—just ask users. One marketing agency increased its cash flow by 66%, while a global consultancy boosted its profitability by 33% and utilization by 20% after switching to Scoro.
Key features you’ll love
- End-to-end project management with task dependencies, milestones, and budget tracking in one place, plus multiple views like Gantt charts and Kanban boards
- Capacity-based resource management with the Planner for assigning confirmed work and Bookings for reserving team capacity
- Comprehensive resource management with visual planning tools and heat maps to plan capacity and prevent overbooking
- Real-time financial tracking that compares quoted vs. actual costs, helping you maintain healthy project margins
- Automated time tracking options that accurately capture billable hours while cutting down on manual work
- Integrated CRM and sales pipeline tools to manage leads, create professional quotes, and automatically turn deals into project plans
- Streamlined invoicing and billing with customizable templates that automatically pull in project data
- Business intelligence and reporting thanks to over 50 pre-built report templates and executive dashboards that let you track everything from staff utilization to project profitability
Learn how Scoro can be your end-to-end tool:
Integrations
Scoro integrates with over 45 popular tools, including:
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- Slack
- Asana
- Jira
- Gmail & Google Calendar
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Xero
- QuickBooks
You can also connect with more tools through Zapier and SyncHub. Or create your own integrations with Scoro’s API.
What others say about Scoro
“We’ve been using Scoro for over a year now and it’s had a significant impact on our operations. It’s helped us streamline our processes, stay organized, and make data-driven decisions.”
—Cheryl, G2
“Scoro is an all-in-one business management that makes it super easy to manage projects and work collaborations automatically. Scoro is super easy to use, unlike most alternatives.”
—Dilak, Capterra
Pricing
Scoro offers four paid plans:
- Core: $19.90 per user per month
- Growth: $32.90 per user per month
- Performance: $49.90 per user per month
- Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing
Try Scoro for free with a two-week trial.
2. Jira
- Founded in: 2002
- Average customer ratings: G2: 4.3 (6,227 reviews); Capterra: 4.4 (15,116 reviews)
- Best for: Cross-functional teams of all sizes seeking a flexible project management solution for both technical and marketing tasks
Overview
Jira is a project management platform that helps teams of all kinds to plan, track, and deliver projects.
Jira works well for tech teams who need to work on support tickets—but it’s just as effective for marketing teams managing creative projects and campaigns.
The platform helps keep everyone aligned across teams with shared project management boards:
Jira is also owned by global company Atlassian. And with 4.6 million members of the Atlassian community, it’s easy to troubleshoot and get free advice from other users.
Key features you’ll love
- Flexible project views to match any team’s work style, including timeline, board, and calendar
- Easy task scheduling that lets you quickly delegate work to team members, set due dates, and track completion statuses
- Basic capacity tracking with user workload and time tracking reports to get an idea of team availability
- Timesheets where users can quickly log time spent on individual tasks
- IT-focused dashboards showing project updates, metrics on unresolved issues, and comparisons of created vs. resolved issues
- Issues and backlog management for prioritizing work in a queue and managing support tickets and development backlogs
- Atlassian Intelligence to help you find information faster and automatically flag issues
Learn more about how Jira can work for you:
Integrations
Jira syncs seamlessly with other Atlassian products like Confluence and Trello. Plus, it plugs into over 3,000 other tools—more integrations than any other Kantata competitor—including:
- Microsoft 365 (Teams and Outlook)
- Slack
- Gmail
- Zoom
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- Github
- Stripe
- Trello
- Scoro
What others say about Jira
“Jira’s project management tools are amazing. Their entire UI is very easy to use and visually appealing. It’s very easy to set up and implement into your workflow. What’s even better is the easy integration with other Atlassian services like Confluence!”
—Srivishnu, G2
“Jira serves as a hub for various teams, including development, marketing, and support, to coordinate efforts and ensure seamless cross-functional collaboration.”
—Laurence, G2
Pricing
Jira offers a free plan and three paid options, with discounts available for annual billing and larger teams.
- Free: For up to 10 users
- Standard: $8.60 per user per month (20-100 users)
- Premium: $17 per user per month (20-100 users)
- Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing
Check it out with a free account or free trial.
3. BQE Core
- Founded in: 1995
- Average customer ratings: G2: 4.3 (442 reviews); Capterra: 4.5 (784 reviews)
- Best for: Professional service firms—especially architecture and engineering—seeking a project management tool with time tracking and budget reporting
Overview
BQE Core serves over 50,000 users across a range of professional services industries, including architecture and engineering.
It combines project management, accounting, and administrative functions, helping firms connect the dots between projects and financial outcomes.
The software streamlines day-to-day work like time tracking and invoicing. And provides big-picture insights into project performance and profitability:
Key features you’ll love
- Project management dashboards showing key information like budget statuses and work progress
- Resource planning tools to see team workloads and assign staff effectively
- Financial reporting to track project costs, budgets, and profitability across projects and clients
- Billing tools to create invoices and process payments faster
- Time and expense tracking that make it easy for team members to track hours and get reimbursed
- CRM features to keep track of prospects and existing client relationships
- HR management for tracking time off, salary history, and performance reviews
Integrations
BQE CORE offers pre-built integrations with at least six tools:
- QuickBooks
- Google Drive
- One Drive
- Xero
- Microsoft BI
- Microsoft 365
Plus, developers can build custom integrations using the platform’s API.
What others say about BQE CORE
“We use BQE CORE for project management, task management, time and expense management and it’s been a great tool for our business. We really like using the reporting functions to get detailed reports on where the budgets are at for projects.”
—Brandon, G2
“Our experience thus far has been exceptional … BQE CORE is miles ahead in terms of user-friendliness, intuition, and customization capabilities.”
—Angelo, G2
Pricing
BQE CORE’s pricing depends on the number of users and which modules you need (e.g., Accounting, CRM, and HR modules cost extra). To learn more, request a quote.
4. Monograph
- Founded in: 2019
- Average customer ratings: G2: 4.3 (2 reviews); Capterra: 4.5 (234 reviews)
- Best for: A&E firms seeking a streamlined project management tool built for their needs and workflows
Overview
Monograph is a project management platform created by architects for architects. While other tools on this list like BQE Core also support this industry, Monograph is a highly-specialized tool focused solely on architecture and engineering (A&E).
Currently used by more than 12,000 architects and engineers in over 1,500 firms, Monograph helps you build phase-by-phase budgets, auto-assign team members to tasks, report on key metrics, and forecast revenue:
Key features you’ll love
- Phase-based budget tracking that aligns with A&E project schedules
- Automated scheduling for assigning weekly staff and timesheets based on budgeted hours and rates
- Streamlined project accounting that simplifies billing, payments, and profit reporting with its QuickBooks Online integration
- Revenue forecasting tools to predict future income at both project and company levels
- Invoicing and payment processing that speed up billing and help you get paid faster
- Time and expense tracking that makes it easy for staff to log hours to project phases and capture expense receipts
- Reporting showing key metrics like realization rate, utilization rate, firm profitability, and other KPIs
Integrations
Monograph offers one integration with QuickBooks Online.
What others say about Monograph
“It’s clearly a product made by and for architects. When well-used, it helps young designers like myself better understand fees and project timelines in relation to fees.”
—Diego, Capterra
“I love how organized and user friendly it is. It is really essential to our business as a successful architecture firm and helps us with the day to day.”
—Nicole, Capterra
Pricing
Monograph offers custom pricing, which is available on request. Plans start at $25 to $300 per month for one user, billed annually. So for 10 users, the price range would be $250 to $600 per month, paid annually.
Book a demo to see if Monograph is right for you.
5. Float
- Founded in: 2019
- Average customer ratings: G2: 4.3 (1,607 reviews); Capterra: 4.5 (1,610 reviews)
- Best for: Agencies and teams looking for straightforward, capacity-based scheduling and project planning
Overview
Float is a specialized resource planning and allocation tool that focuses on three main activities:
Project planning, team scheduling, and time tracking.
Float’s founders created the platform after getting frustrated using spreadsheets for resource management at their previous ad agency. Now, over 4,500 agencies and consultancies use it.
Float’s clean, visual layout makes it easy to see who has availability, assign tasks, and balance workloads:
Key features you’ll love
- Project planning that let you organize work into phases, milestones, and tasks to keep everything on track
- Capacity management with a calendar view that shows everyone’s availability, so you can prevent burnout and find people with time for new tasks
- Scenario planning so you can map out potential future projects and see how they’ll affect your team’s capacity before committing
- Built-in time tracking through timesheets and a timer app so staff can easily log hours
- Utilization reporting through the “People” and “Project” reports to see how much time your team spends on billable and non-billable work
- Budget tracking options that support different pricing models (hourly, fixed fee, or retainer) and show you projected versus actual costs in real time
- Leave management with simple approval workflows and automatic regional holidays to accurately track team availability and prevent scheduling conflicts
Integrations
Float integrates with 11 tools, including:
- Slack
- Google Calendar
- Outlook
- Asana
- Jira
- Trello
- Teamwork
- Oracle Netsuite
- Aprimo
- Linear
- Zapier
To connect Float with more tools (like HubSpot and Salesforce), use the Zapier integration.
What others say about Float
“As a team of consultants that are consistently working on different projects, Float makes it very easy to track what we are scheduled to work on, for how long, and who with.”
—Aakash, G2
“Float is a great resource management tool that makes scheduling and planning easy. The interface is simple and easy to use, even for beginners. I love how you can quickly see your team’s availability and avoid scheduling conflicts.”
—Hiren, G2
Pricing
Float offers three pricing plans:
- Starter: $6 per user per month (billed annually)
- Pro: $10 per user per month (billed annually)
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for large teams
To see if Float could work for you, sign up for a free trial.
6. Productive
- Founded in: 2014
- Average customer ratings: G2: 4.6 (56 reviews); Capterra: 4.6 (98 reviews)
- Best for: Professional services firms looking for agency or consultancy software to manage resources, projects, and finances
Overview
Created by agency veterans, Productive now helps 200 professional services companies plan projects, assign work to team members, and track time.
The platform stands out for its strong business intelligence capabilities, making it one of the best alternatives to Kantata.
For example, you can use the “Scenario Builder” to model different business situations and forecast revenue and utilization:
Key features you’ll love
- Project management with Gantt charts and shared documents to keep work organized
- Resource planning tools to coordinate team schedules and prevent bottlenecks before they happen
- Flexible time tracking options including timers, timesheets, and automatic suggestions that connect directly to project budgets
- A client collaboration portal that makes it easy to share updates and gather feedback
- Financial reporting and forecasting with real-time profitability tracking, revenue predictions, and scenario modeling to make smarter business decisions
- A sales CRM to track proposals, collaborate with teammates, and convert won deals into projects
- Invoicing and revenue recognition to generate and process invoices with just a few clicks
Integrations
Productive integrates with 10 tools:
- Slack
- HubSpot
- Google Calendar
- Outlook / Microsoft Calendar
- Jira
- Xero
- Sage
- BugHerd
- QuickBooks
- Zapier
You can also use Productive’s Open API to connect with over 1,000 more apps.
What others say about Productive
“Productive is a comprehensive solution for agency management. I’ve found it to have just the right amount of features and functionality to handle project planning, delivery management, billing, and sales pipeline management for our agency.”
—Matt, G2
“We have used Productive since 2022 and it has been invaluable in providing additional insights into the billable utilization and profitability of clients and projects.”
—Kerry, G2
Pricing
Productive offers four pricing plans, with a discount available for companies with over 50 users:
- Essential: $9 per user per month
- Professional: $24 per user per month
- Ultimate: $32 per user per month
Take a free trial or book a demo to try Productive.
7. BigTime
- Founded in: 2002
- Average customer ratings: G2: 4.5 (1,463 reviews); Capterra: 4.6 (650 reviews)
- Best for: Professional services firms—especially in accounting and A&E—that need solid time tracking, project management, and billing
Overview
BigTime is a professional services automation platform that helps over 2,700 firms manage projects, track time, and handle billing in one system.
The platform gives you full visibility into project progress and team capacity. Like in its resource management dashboard:
And BigTime Foresight—the platform’s forecasting and analytics tool—connects resource planning with financial data. It shows you how staffing decisions impact profitability and helps you optimize billable rates based on utilization and project performance.
Key features you’ll love
- Project management tools like Gantt charts that help you coordinate budgets, schedules, and project scopes
- Resource management through availability heat maps that instantly identify over/under utilization and compare planned versus actual capacity
- Time and expense tracking with auto-fill timesheets and easy receipt uploads for accurate expense tracking
- Invoicing and payments tools like branded invoice templates, multi-level approval workflows, and automated reminder emails to speed up collections
- A client billing portal that gives clients visibility into outstanding invoices with options to pay immediately, schedule payments, and save payment methods
- Reporting and analytics through the “Report Center,” with templates for timesheet entries, margin reporting, project profit, vendor expenses, allocation, and more
- An AI assistant called BigTime AI which provides in-app help and an AI-powered report builder that quickly identifies the which data columns to include
Integrations
BigTime connects with 10 tools:
- Slack
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- Google Apps
- QuickBooks
- Sage Intacct
- Jira
- Lacerte
- Zapier
- BambooHR
Plus, BigTime’s ForeSightConnect offers eight integrations, including:
- HiBob
- Teamwork
- Calamari
- Harvest
- Clockify
What others say about BigTime
“BigTime has helped to reduce manual operations in our firm to a large extent. It consolidates our time sheets, accounts receivables, and projects, which in turn enable smoother processes.”
—Sylvain, G2
“We really like BigTime because it has helped us manage our projects better by having a single place to track time and expenses … BigTime has made our processes smoother, which in turn has increased productivity and profitability on our projects.”
—Alexis, G2
Pricing
BigTime offers four pricing plans:
- Essentials: $20 per user per month
- Advanced: $35 per user per month
- Premier: $45 per user per month
- Foresight: Custom pricing
To learn more, book a demo.
8. Workamajig
- Founded in: 2003
- Average customer ratings: G2: 3.8 (280 reviews); Capterra: 3.8 (324 reviews)
- Best for: Agencies and in-house marketing teams looking for an all-in-one system to manage projects and resources
Overview
Workamajig is an agency management platform that brings together project management, resource planning, accounting, time tracking, and sales.
According to the company, Workamajig currently serves more than 3,000 creative organizations and 20% of Fortune 500 companies.
With Workamajig, agencies and in-house teams can easily plan projects and assign work based on capacity. For example, in the “Staff Schedule” view, you can instantly check your team’s utilization and who has free time for new projects:
Key features you’ll love
- End-to-end project management with customizable templates to quickly launch new projects and real-time dashboards to keep everything on track
- Resource management with full visibility into team schedules, availability, and utilization rates
- A sales CRM that lets you track client conversations, create notes, and easily create estimates from templates
- Time tracking with timesheets and a built-in task timer to help creative teams log accurate hours
- A report library with pre-built reports to monitor client profit and loss, project profit and loss, project budgets, and more
- Revenue forecasting based on upcoming projects to help with capacity planning, cash flow management, and making more informed business decisions
- Finance and accounting tools that let you generate invoices without connecting to a separate platform
Integrations
Workamajig integrates with 23 tools, including:
- Google Calendar
- Microsoft Calendar
- Excel
- Google Sheets
- Box
- Edenred Pay
- Plaid
- Mediaocean
- Bionic
You can also use Zapier to connect with other tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Asana, and more.
What others say about Workamajig
“The software is specifically designed for agencies in the creative field and addresses the challenges faced by project managers and billing. It saves a lot of time, and the reports generated give a lot of quick transparency.”
—Nina, Capterra
“Our company has used Workamajig for accounting and project management for four years. I like Workamajig for its ease of use, flexibility, and reporting capabilities.”
—Cindy, Capterra
Pricing
Workamajig offers three plans—In-house, Agency, and Enterprise—and the exact pricing depends on team size:
- 10+ users: $41/user/month
- 20+ users: $39/user/month
- 50+ users: $37/user/month
The Enterprise plan is designed for teams of 100 to over 10,000 users, with custom pricing available upon request. Workamajig doesn’t offer a free trial. But you can request a demo.
9. Teamwork
- Founded in: 2007
- Average customer ratings: G2: 4.4 (1,163 reviews); Capterra: 4.5 (910 reviews)
- Best for: Professional services companies looking to streamline project delivery, team scheduling, and financial reporting in one platform
Overview
Teamwork helps service businesses manage their projects, teams, and finances in one place. Over 20,000 organizations worldwide use it to track everything from client onboarding to final delivery.
For example, project managers can easily see project timelines while keeping an eye on budgets and tasks. Plus, the “Utilization report” shows you who’s overloaded and who can take on more work:
Another cool feature is the client portal, where they can review work, provide feedback, and stay updated on project progress.
Key features you’ll love
- Project management with flexible views including lists, Kanban boards, and Gantt charts to organize and visualize work
- Resource management tools that show team capacity, prevent overbooking, and help balance workloads
- Time tracking that connects worked hours directly to projects for accurate billing and budget monitoring
- Reports on project health, team performance, and other business metrics to guide decision-making
- Budget tracking that shows planned versus actual costs and flags projects at risk of overspending
- Invoicing capabilities that turn completed tasks into billable items for easy client billing
- A client portal where customers can review progress, approve deliverables, and provide feedback
Integrations
Teamwork integrates with over 15 popular tools, including:
- Slack
- Microsoft Office
- Harvest
- Xero
- HubSpot
- Stripe
- Zapier
- TimeJam
- Skyvia
- Bybrand
Teamwork also offers an API for developers to build custom integrations.
What others say about Teamwork
“Teamwork allows our agency of 25+ team members to manage over 30 clients through accurate real time budgeting, time tracking, and clear team member communication.”
Chris, G2
“Teamwork is a remote marketing agency’s best friend. Teamwork excels at fostering collaboration and keeping our team organized. We use it to create and assign tasks, set deadlines, and track progress.”
—Jess, G2
Pricing
Teamwork offers five plans, including a free option for small teams:
- Free: Basic plan for teams of under five users
- Deliver: $10.99/user/month for three or more users, billed annually
- Grow: $19.99/user/month for five or more users, billed annually
- Scale: $54.99/user/month for five or more users, billed annually
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for larger teams
To learn more, sign up for the free plan or book a demo. You can also take a free trial to test Teamwork’s Deliver and Grow plans.
So, what’s the best Kantata Alternative?
If you’re looking for an alternative to Kantata that’s easy to use and set up with transparent pricing, Scoro could be your answer.
Scoro is a comprehensive solution that covers project management, resource planning, finances, and reporting—so you have everything you need in one system.
According to SoftwareReviews, Scoro users were more likely to recommend it, more likely to renew their subscription, and reported higher satisfaction with its value, capabilities, and features than Kantata users.
Similarly, G2 ratings show Scoro outperforming Kantata in key categories, including project management, PSA, work management, and time tracking.
And unlike Kantata, we offer a free 14-day trial to see how our software can help your business. Sign up now to try us out.
