Best CRM for Architects (Top 7 Picks) | Fit Small Business

Best CRM for Architects (Top 7 Picks)

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems for architects allow these professional firms to manage sales activity and client projects in one system. It’ll have the usual features like deal and lead tracking, as well as specialty tools like proposal generation, project management, and invoicing. The best CRM for architects will offer affordable features that help firms…

Written By
Jack Pittas
Jack Pittas
Nov 7, 2023
16 minute read

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems for architects allow these professional firms to manage sales activity and client projects in one system. It’ll have the usual features like deal and lead tracking, as well as specialty tools like proposal generation, project management, and invoicing. The best CRM for architects will offer affordable features that help firms generate new business and deliver quality services along with an intuitive user experience.

After our thorough evaluation, we’ve determined the seven best CRM for architect software options:

Best CRM for Architects Compared

ProviderStarting Monthly Price per User*Free Plan?Our CRM Rating Out of 5
JobNimbus logoContact for pricing4.66
Visit JobNimbus
monday CRM logo.$104.61
Visit monday CRM
Hubspot CRM logo$15 per user, monthly4.60
Visit HubSpot CRM
EngageBay logo.$13.794.60
Visit EngageBay
The ClickUp logo.$74.55
Visit ClickUp
The Zoho logo.$144.54
Visit Zoho CRM
The Pipedrive logo.$144.36
Visit Pipedrive

*Based on annual billing on a per user, per month basis; monthly billing is also available for slightly higher rates.

JobNimbus: Best Specialty CRM for Architects

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JobNimbus Monthly Pricing Plans*

All JobNimbus plans are tier-based and determined by your feature and user capacity needs. Customers must request custom pricing from the provider.

Key Features:

  • Unlimited contacts database
  • Workflow tracking for jobs on Kanban boards
  • Invoicing capabilities with one-click send function
  • Payment processing via the built-in JobNimbus Payments; can accept automated clearing house (ACH) and card payments
  • General sales and project reporting

*Each plan offers a 14-day free trial. Pricing reflects info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.

Viewing a sales report with navigation menu in JobNimbus.

JobNimbus reporting page (Source: JobNimbus)

Our Expert Opinion

JobNimbus is a great specialty CRM for managing your entire architecture business in a single platform. The prebuilt modules let sales teams manage leads, proposals, and contact data while the professional architect can oversee their jobs and client to-do task lists. Additionally, office managers have an entire set of admin tools to invoice clients, collect payments, and track finances.

Visit JobNimbus

monday CRM: Best for Ease of Use

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monday CRM Monthly Pricing Plans*

Cost:

  • $10 (priced for three-user minimum)

Key Features:

  • Unlimited items like contacts, companies, and tasks stored in the database
  • Document attachments in CRM items
  • Premade CRM templates for storing lead, contact, account and deal information
  • Unlimited custom pipelines
  • Kanban viewing of CRM boards
  • Web-to-lead capture
  • Custom notifications and file sharing with users
  • Collaboration features like file editing, whiteboard collaboration, and the updates tool to communicate with users

*Pricing is based on annual billing on a monthly per-user breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. There is a 14-day free trial for the paid plans. Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.

Creating workflow automations in Monday CRM.

monday CRM automation designer (Source: monday.com)

Our Expert Opinion

monday.com really changed the game when they released their user-ready CRM system last year. By applying the same design principles that made the provider so prominent in the first place, architects can get access to an intuitive interface and easy-to-learn tools to manage their leads, clients, and projects. While the spreadsheet-style format for data management is great for new users, we can’t give enough kudos to the low-code automation features.

Visit monday CRM

HubSpot CRM: Best Free CRM for Architecture Firms

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HubSpot CRM Monthly Pricing Plans*

Cost:

  • $0 for 5 users

Key Features:

  • Contact and company management
  • Activity tracking for CRM records
  • App marketplace access for third-party integrations
  • Deal tracking on up to one pipeline
  • Quote generation
  • Documents storage in the CRM plus contact and deal records; users can also easily share files with prospects
  • Built-in appointment scheduling
  • Ads management for audience creation and generating leads through form submissions
  • Mass email marketing with email templates and campaign automation
  • Blog management with basic search engine optimization (SEO) suggestions
  • Website landing page design tools
  • Customer service ticketing for one pipeline

*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-month breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Each plan offers a 14-day free trial. Pricing reflects info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.
**Pricing uses the monthly CRM Suite costs for individuals and small teams. The provider also offers Enterprise-level products for larger teams for a higher cost. The CRM Suite includes sales, marketing, customer service, content management system (CMS), and operations software in one product. Individual modules can be purchased for lower prices.

Booking an appointment in the free HubSpot scheduling portal.

HubSpot CRM appointment scheduling (Source: HubSpot)

Our Expert Opinion

HubSpot CRM is a great solution for developing client relationships and generating leads. Startup architecture firms, in particular, can get lots of value from the free CRM plan that allows them to schedule appointments, store and share design files, track contacts and deals, and generate quotes, all for $0 per month. The free plan also lets you build your brand through a blog and mass email marketing.

Visit HubSpot CRM

EngageBay: Best for Scaling Revenue

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EngageBay Monthly Pricing Plans*

Cost:

  • $0 for up to 15 users

Key Features:

  • Up to 250 contacts and companies
  • 360-degree profile views with record tagging
  • Predictive lead scoring
  • Custom website pop-ups and online web forms
  • Email integration with for 1,000 branded emails, stored email templates, and up to two automated email sequences
  • Social suite for monitoring social media feeds
  • Deal tracking
  • Built-in appointment scheduling
  • Task management
  • Ticket management with up to two ticket views

*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per user, per month breakdown. Monthly billing is also available for a higher cost and biennial billing is available for a lower cost. Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.

Viewing the marketing module, email sequence tools in EngageBay.

EngageBay marketing module email sequence tools (Source: EngageBay)

Our Expert Opinion

EngageBay is a robust CRM solution for architecture firms to grow their book of business. Between the all-in-one sales, marketing, and service modules, teams can produce and retain revenue in the same interface. We also can’t overlook the cost-effectiveness of the tool. Through the free and affordable subscription options, EngageBay makes it easy to scale revenue and operations efficiently.

Visit EngageBay

ClickUp: Best for Tailoring to a CRM for Architect Businesses

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ClickUp Monthly Pricing Plans*

Cost:

  • $0 for unlimited users

Key Features:

  • Up to five custom workspaces to manage workflows, store data records, track tasks, and collaborate on activity for any business area, including architecture operations
  • File storage and sharing options, including with outside guests like clients
  • Unlimited stored records and tasks
  • Prebuilt templates to create workspaces
  • Custom data fields in workspaces and CRM records
  • Appointment booking
  • Viewing through the list, board, table, and calendar views, plus up to 100 sessions for Gantt, timeline, workload, and map views
  • Built-in whiteboard collaboration on boards with video recording options
  • Up to 100 automated workflows per month
  • Task management with checklists, time tracking, and user assignment
  • Relationship linking, tagging, and priority setting on CRM records
  • Integration with Zapier
  • Use Gmail and Outlook email in the platform for direct and mass email

*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. ClickUp comes with a 14-day free trial. Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.

Viewing a kanban board for a project in ClickUp.

ClickUp board view (Source: ClickUp)

Our Expert Opinion

ClickUp empowers architects to turn a work management system into a centralized solution for tracking all business activity. Thanks to its robust customization capabilities, all processes, from sales deals to marketing campaigns to client design projects to back-office tasks, can be overseen in ClickUp. The comprehensiveness of the platform also pairs nicely with the overall cost-friendliness.

Visit ClickUp

Zoho CRM: Best for Client Management

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Zoho CRM Monthly Pricing Plans*

Cost:

  • $0 for three users

Key Features:

  • Lead, account, and contact management with activity tracking
  • Documents library for storage and file sharing
  • Native integration with Zoho Projects for project management
  • Deal tracking for one sales pipeline
  • Custom email templates
  • Workflow automation
  • Standard CRM reporting

*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Zoho CRM comes with a 15-day free trial for the paid plans. Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.

Tracking activity in an account record using Zoho CRM.

Zoho CRM account management (Source: Zoho)

Our Expert Opinion

Zoho is the best cost-friendly option if your main priority is supporting and retaining clients. Between the built-in account management module, appointment scheduling, file sharing, and communication tools, this product gives you everything you need to sustain a solid relationship. It also makes it easy to generate quotes for architect design projects and handle invoicing upon completion.

Visit Zoho CRM

Pipedrive: Best for Proposal Management

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Pipedrive Monthly Pricing Plans*

Cost:

  • $14 per user

Key Features:

  • Lead and contact management with activity tracking
  • Document storage in CRM records with file sharing options
  • Product catalog
  • Deal management with rotting indicator and deal pipeline reporting
  • Apps marketplace for third-party integrations
  • Duplicate detection and merge
  • Comments and user mentions on CRM records for team collaboration
  • Custom data fields and pipelines
  • Activity reporting with company and user sales goals tracking
  • Artificial intelligence (AI) sales assistant, which supplies users task updates, reminders, progress notifications, performance tips, and forecast assistance

*Pricing is based on annual billing on a per-user monthly breakdown. Monthly billing is available for a higher cost. Paid plans include a 14-day free trial. Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing here.

Customizing a proposal using SmartDocs in Pipedrive.

Pipedrive Smart Docs feature (Source: Pipedrive)

Our Expert Opinion

Pipedrive has the ability to streamline your entire sales pipeline, especially at the later stages. Its Smart Docs feature is a game changer for how architects manage proposals. By letting you automate proposal generation and send signable documents in one click, teams can save tons of time on this tedious pipeline stage.

Visit Pipedrive

How We Evaluated the Best CRM for Architects

To determine the best architect CRM system, we evaluated the specific features relevant to businesses in this profession. For instance, architects often need to send proposals as part of their sales process, so proposal management features were a key feature we wanted to see. We also looked at other useful tools like project management to oversee client work requests and file-sharing tools to easily send clients specs. The tabs below offer insight into our evaluation process of the best CRMs for architects:

Methodology weights
General Features 25%
Niche/Advanced Features 25%
Expert Score 20%
Pricing 15%
Help & Support 15%

We first looked at overall features crucial to any CRM system, regardless of its industry use case. For example, access to third-party integrations and robust system customization allows a business to easily synchronize data across teams and gear their CRM toward their operations. We also wanted to see a mobile app for architects to have CRM access while at job sites and solid reporting tools.

Niche features are capabilities specifically useful for an architect. This includes project management to oversee client design workflows and file-sharing tools to deliver building specs for review. We also wanted to see calendar-sharing features to schedule appointments with leads or clients, proposal management to send job estimates to prospects, and invoicing capabilities.

Expert score took into account what actual users say about each product according to online reviews. This lets us see how real CRM customers feel about the products so we could gain insight into perceived value for the price paid and how useful the features were to architecture firms. It also helped us evaluate the product’s ease of use when setting up, navigating, and operating the CRM.

Pricing considered how affordable the CRM and niche features were. We wanted to see free-forever pricing options and cost-scalable paid plans. This also considered billing flexibility and whether the provider allowed users to save by subscribing annually.

Help and support looked at customer service availability to help prevent poor user experiences. We looked at the number of channels you could go to, like phone, email, and live chat, as well as the hours of operation, such as offering 24/7 support access. We also evaluated the additional options, like a knowledge base or community forum, that users could access for self-service.

Benefits of CRMs to Architecture Firms

By using a CRM that offers niche features useful to architects, like project management and proposal generation, you get the benefit of work centralization. Rather than switching through separate apps to oversee sales operations, marketing campaigns, client design projects, and back-office activity, you can use an architecture CRM and do it all in one platform. It’s also more cost-friendly to get a variety of software in one system compared to many.

How to Choose a CRM for Architecture

When choosing a CRM system for your firm, you should consider your budget capacity and feature needs based on the challenges you want to solve. For example, some architects may want to streamline their proposal management processes, while others are looking to build their brand with email marketing tools. Different CRMs may or may not offer those capabilities. You should also consider your technical experience with a CRM, as certain products are easier to use than others.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

A CRM for architects is a sales management solution that also includes features for operational needs like overseeing design projects, sharing client files, and invoicing. While many general-use CRMs can be customized to fill these needs, teams can also adopt a specialty CRM specifically built for architects.

The best CRM for architects varies depending on product preferences, budget, and feature needs. For example, HubSpot CRM is a great generic product if you primarily want free sales, marketing, and service features. Alternatively, JobNimbus is a solid option if you want an industry-specific CRM built for architect businesses.

Free CRMs for architects are great as they offer a no-obligation, $0 option for users to access certain features to grow their firm. The best free CRM option overall is HubSpot as it comes with a complete range of no-cost sales, marketing, and service tools to help generate revenue. ClickUp, however, is another solid freemium option—it’s a full work management system that can be customized into a CRM and project tracking tool for architects.

Bottom Line

CRMs for architects enable these firms to oversee sales, marketing, and operational activity in one interface. They’ll include features like project management, invoicing, file sharing, proposal generation, and appointment scheduling, in addition to the typical deal tracking and marketing tools found in most CRMs. While we ranked JobNimbus as the best architect CRM option, other products could be better suited depending on your feature priorities and budget.

Visit JobNimbus

Jack Pittas

Jack Pittas is a Content writer to Fit Small Business and Co-Founder of PK Cyber Solutions Inc, a service specializing in business and sales software, cybersecurity, and IT products and expertise. He began his career as a commercial insurance producer, developing deep subject matter knowledge in B2B sales within the insurance space. There, he found an interest in SaaS products and cybersecurity, which prompted him to start a tech consulting firm that later evolved into the business it is today.

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