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Project cost management software tracks budget against actual spend, converts logged hours into cost using rates, attaches expenses to the project, and forecasts cost at completion. As of Q4 2026, the lowest-priced entry points read from vendor pages are Smartsheet Pro at $9 per member per month billed yearly and Scoro's Time-billing combination at $17 per user per month with a 5-user minimum; schedule-driven cost sits in Microsoft Planner and Project Plan 3 at $30 per user per month paid yearly. The tool that fits depends on one question: do you bill clients for time, run to an internal budget, or forecast resource cost?
In a hurry? The short version
- Agency or service firm billing time: Scoro. Time-billing is $17 per user per month, Quote to Cash $29, End-to-end $57, with a 5-user minimum.
- Internal budgets, comfortable with spreadsheets: Smartsheet Pro at $9 or Business at $19 per member per month, billed yearly; expect to build the cost model yourself.
- Schedule-driven projects with a dedicated planner: Microsoft Planner and Project Plan 3 at $30 per user per month, paid yearly.
- One work platform with light time visibility: monday.com Pro at $22 per seat per month billed annually ($19 with the special offer shown on 2026-10-31).
- Rate-based budgets inside a work platform: Wrike Pinnacle, quoted by sales; Wrike Business at $25 does not list budgeting.
What does project cost management software need to do?
Task tools show what is due; cost tools show whether the project is making money. Five capabilities separate a cost tool from a task board with a timer, and each can be checked on the vendor page before you start a trial.
| Capability | What to check on the pricing page | What the vendors list |
|---|---|---|
| Budget against a plan | Can you set a project budget in dollars or hours, and does actual spend update as work is logged? | Scoro lists Estimating & Budgeting; Wrike Pinnacle lists project, portfolio and client budgets; Smartsheet needs formulas you build |
| Hours converted to cost | Does the tool hold a cost rate and a bill rate per person or role? | Wrike Pinnacle: "bill and cost rates, with billable hours"; Scoro: Labor cost and Billable time |
| Expenses next to labor | Can subcontractor, travel and software spend attach to the project? | Scoro: Bill & Expense Management app; Smartsheet: time and expense tracking in Resource Management |
| Margin and cost-at-completion reporting | Is there a forecast, or only a total after the fact? | Scoro: Margin report in Time-billing; Wrike Pinnacle: forecasting in advanced reporting; Accelo: revenue forecasts |
| Schedule-loaded cost | Does cost follow the critical path? | Microsoft Project: baselines and critical path; Project Standard 2024 lists schedule, task and cost management |
Feature wording from the vendor pricing pages read on 2026-10-31; quoted fragments are the vendors' own text.
Project cost management software compared (2026)
| Tool | Price read 2026-10-31 (US) | Where the cost features sit | Seat or plan limits | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoro | Time-billing $17; Projects & Resources $29; Quote to Cash $29; End-to-end $57, each per user per month (billing period not stated on the page read) | Time & Labor Cost Tracking and Client Billing in Time-billing; Estimating & Budgeting in Quote to Cash and End-to-end | Minimum 5 users; 14-day free trial, no credit card | Best fit for agencies and service firms that bill time and report margin |
| Smartsheet | Pro $9 and Business $19 per member per month, billed yearly; Enterprise custom | Budget formulas you build in sheets; Resource Management add-on lists time and expense tracking | Pro: 1 to 10 members; Business: 3+ members | Best for teams that already think in spreadsheets and will configure their own cost model |
| Microsoft Planner and Project Plan 3 | $30.00 per user per month, paid yearly (annual subscription, auto-renews) | Baselines, critical path, portfolios; desktop Project for advanced scheduling | Planner Plan 1 is $10.00 without baselines and critical path | Best for schedule-driven work with a dedicated planner and Microsoft 365 |
| monday.com Pro | $22 per seat per month billed annually (Standard $14, Basic $9, Free up to 2 seats); special offer shown 2026-10-31: Pro $19, Standard $12 | Time tracking is listed on Pro, not Standard | Offer totals are displayed for 10 seats | Best for one general work platform with light time visibility |
| Wrike | Team $10, Business $25 per user per month billed annually; Pinnacle and Apex by quote | Budgeting with bill and cost rates sits in Pinnacle (contact for pricing) | Team: 2 to 15 users; Business: 5 to 200 users | Budget with rates only on Pinnacle; below that it is task management |
| Accelo (includes Forecast) | Quote only, based on team size and growth goals | Revenue forecasting, resource capacity planning and project budget visibility | No public tier | For professional services firms that want a sales conversation, not self-serve |
Prices read from scoro.com/pricing, smartsheet.com/pricing, microsoft.com (Planner and Project plans and pricing), monday.com/pricing, wrike.com/pricing and accelo.com on 2026-10-31. monday displays totals for 10 seats, with struck-through $140 (Standard) and $220 (Pro) that work out to $14 and $22 per seat; those standard prices are used here, and the lower special-offer prices ($12 and $19, shown on 2026-10-31) are noted where they apply. Wrike states its pricing applies to new purchases on or after January 21, 2026.
What does it cost for a five-person team?
| Five-person team | Monthly cost at list | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Scoro Time-billing | $85 (5 x $17) | At the 5-user minimum; billing period not stated on the page read |
| Scoro Projects & Resources or Quote to Cash | $145 (5 x $29) | Quote to Cash adds estimating and budgeting |
| Scoro End-to-end | $285 (5 x $57) | Everything in the page's end-to-end combination |
| Smartsheet Pro | $45 (5 x $9) | Billed yearly; no cost module |
| Smartsheet Business | $95 (5 x $19) | Billed yearly; time and expense tracking needs the Resource Management add-on |
| monday Pro | $110 (5 x $22) | Billed annually; includes time tracking; $95 (5 x $19) at the special offer shown on 2026-10-31 |
| Wrike Business | $125 (5 x $25) | Billed annually; budgeting with rates is on Pinnacle, quoted separately |
| Microsoft Planner and Project Plan 3 | $150 (5 x $30) | Paid yearly; baselines and critical path |
The cost-bearing tier matters more than the headline price. Smartsheet Pro at $9 is the cheapest sticker, but the page lists time and expense tracking under a separate Resource Management add-on for Business and Enterprise. monday's time tracking arrives with Pro at $22 ($19 with the current special offer), not Standard at $14 ($12 with the offer). Wrike's budgeting with rates is not on Business at $25 but on Pinnacle, which is quote-only. Scoro's 5-user minimum means a two-person team pays for 5 seats: $85 a month at the entry combination.
Tool by tool
Scoro: for agencies and professional services billing clients
Scoro is sold as combinations of apps. Time-billing ($17) bundles Time & Labor Cost Tracking with Client Billing and a margin report. Projects & Resources ($29) adds project management and resource planning without invoicing. Quote to Cash ($29) combines Estimating & Budgeting, project delivery, time tracking and invoicing. End-to-end ($57) adds CRM, expense management and advanced financials. The trade-off is breadth: it is built for service firms, so a team that only wants cost control may not use the CRM and billing apps. Minimum 5 users; 14-day free trial.
Smartsheet: for budget control in a spreadsheet model
Smartsheet suits teams that already think in rows and formulas. Pro is $9 per member per month billed yearly for 1 to 10 members, with rich formulas, Gantt and reports. Business is $19 for 3+ members and adds workload tracking and unlimited automations. Cost tracking is something you build with columns and formulas rather than a packaged module, so setup effort is the real cost. Resource Management, which the page lists as improving estimates with time and expense tracking, is an add-on for Business and Enterprise.
Microsoft Project: for schedule-driven cost
Microsoft Planner and Project Plan 3 is $30.00 per user per month, paid yearly as an annual subscription that auto-renews. It adds baselines and critical path, portfolios and advanced dependencies to Planner Plan 1 ($10.00), and includes the desktop Project app. The on-premises Project Standard 2024 is a $679.99 one-time purchase that Microsoft describes as covering schedule, task and cost management. It rewards teams with a scheduler and a Microsoft 365 footprint. For schedule-heavy technical work, see the engineering project management software guide.
monday.com and Wrike: cost inside a general work platform
monday.com lists time tracking on Pro ($22 per seat per month billed annually, or $19 with the special offer shown on 2026-10-31), above Standard ($14, or $12 with the offer) with Timeline and Gantt views. Wrike Team is $10 and Business is $25 per user per month billed annually; budgeting based on bill and cost rates with billable hours is listed under Pinnacle, whose price is by quote. Both work as one tool for tasks plus light cost visibility. On the pages read, rate-based budgeting is listed only on Wrike Pinnacle; monday's page lists time tracking on Pro but no budget feature among its Free to Pro plans. If monday is on your shortlist, read the Asana vs monday comparison first, since the platform decision precedes the cost-feature decision.
Accelo and Forecast: quote-based resource forecasting
Accelo acquired Forecast, the resource and cost forecasting platform, in July 2025; Accelo states that Forecast completed its brand integration with Accelo on May 28, 2026, that Forecast.app now redirects to Accelo.com, and that existing logins and data are unchanged. Accelo publishes no price: pricing is based on team size and growth goals and is given by quote. It fits professional services firms with a sales conversation in mind, not teams that want to start a trial this afternoon.
Which tool should you buy?
- 5 to 25 people billing clients hourly, margin is the metric: Scoro Time-billing ($17) or Quote to Cash ($29).
- Under 10 people, internal budgets, spreadsheet fluency: Smartsheet Pro ($9).
- 3 or more people with workload tracking needs: Smartsheet Business ($19) plus the Resource Management add-on if you need time and expense tracking.
- Dedicated scheduler, Microsoft 365 already in place: Planner and Project Plan 3 ($30).
- Mostly tasks with simple time logging: monday Pro ($22, or $19 with the current offer); plan to add a dedicated tool if billing becomes central.
- Rate-based budgets across a portfolio, with sales in the loop: Wrike Pinnacle or Accelo; get both quotes in writing.
Choosing the underlying work platform first is often the better order: see the best project management tools for small teams before layering cost on top.
Frequently asked questions
What is project cost management software?
Project cost management software tracks project budgets against actual spend, converts logged time into cost using rates, attaches expenses to the project and forecasts cost at completion. Examples read for this guide include Scoro (from $17 per user per month), Smartsheet (Pro $9 per member per month billed yearly) and Microsoft Planner and Project Plan 3 ($30 per user per month, paid yearly), as of 2026-10-31.
What features should project cost management software have?
Look for a project budget in dollars or hours, cost and bill rates per person or role, expenses attached to the project, and margin or cost-at-completion reporting. Wrike lists budgeting based on team member or job role bill and cost rates only on its quote-based Pinnacle plan, and Scoro lists Labor cost, Billable time and a margin report across its combinations.
What is the cheapest project cost management tool?
Smartsheet Pro at $9 per member per month billed yearly is the lowest self-serve price read, but cost tracking is something you build with formulas. Scoro Time-billing at $17 per user per month (5-user minimum) is the cheapest packaged option read that includes labor cost tracking and billing.
Does Microsoft Project track cost?
Yes. Microsoft describes Project Standard 2024, a $679.99 one-time on-premises purchase, as including schedule, task and cost management. The subscription Planner and Project Plan 3 is $30.00 per user per month paid yearly and adds baselines and critical path.
Which plan of monday.com includes time tracking?
On the pricing page read on 2026-10-31, time tracking is listed on Pro ($22 per seat per month billed annually, or $19 with the special offer shown that day), which includes everything in Standard ($14, or $12 with the offer) plus advanced columns, private boards and time tracking.
Is Forecast still available?
Forecast was acquired by Accelo in July 2025. Accelo states that as of May 28, 2026 Forecast completed its brand integration and Forecast.app redirects to Accelo.com; Accelo gives pricing by quote only.
Is a dedicated cost tool needed, or is time tracking enough?
Time tracking gives hours; cost management needs rates, expenses and a forecast so hours become dollars and margin. If you bill clients or report margin by project, use a tool that lists those features, such as Scoro or Wrike Pinnacle; if you only need hours against a task, a work platform with time tracking such as monday Pro is enough.