Procore Pricing, Features, Reviews & Comparison of Alternatives

Pros

I have used the software previously as a subcontractor and now working for a general contractor. Procore keeps all necessary construction documentation in one, easy to access place with no space restrictions. It can be utilized offline for those out of the way projects. Once the system is understood and practiced, it is quite useful. Sometimes my office is 500+ miles away from the jobsite. I can be on the phone with my superintendent, looking at the same documents while on the phone discussing the issue. Submittals and RFI can be turned around in a day (if all team members are paying attention and on board with Procore.) I can have owners included on the system with limited access to photos and reports. Everyone in our office uses Procore; project managers, coordinators, AP, AR, and directors. I remember how we used to do everything with hard copies and ship back and forth between team members. Procore speeds up the process and streamlines everything.
I also had to sit through depositions for a project that went wrong, 6 years after the project was completed. All of the evidence was either printed emails, or hard copies of daily reports, pictures, etc. I feel like I would have been better covered and better represented if I had all of my documents organized within the system and structure of Procore.

Cons

While Procore is a great system, it is a complicated system and takes some time and training to adopt and master. Like any other program, Procore can only be as good as the data and information uploaded. I find it most difficult to get architects and engineers on board initially. Once on board, most of them question why they were so reluctant, but it is almost always a process. Subcontractors are very similar, although many of our subcontractors still fax over using email.

Pros

As an Agile-led development team, Procore is constantly improving their product through extensive analytics and actual customer feedback. This is a process I've witnessed first hand. In terms of the product, Procore integrates all the key tools needed for managing projects in the built environment. In addition, the product helps reinforce best practices in construction project management, which coming from a forensic expert, that's definitely a good thing when it comes to proactively managing risk. If more companies simply relied on tools like Procore for managing their projects, there would be a measurable decrease in claims, disputes and litigation.

Cons

Despite extensive multimedia training materials, Procore remains a very difficult tool for onboarding new employees. In addition, the Procore marketing materials didn't set proper expectations for the overhead required to implement Procore company-wide. Additionally, Procore has made the decision to really focus their tools and the language used for describing those tools on very specific roles - primarily general contractors, at-risk CMs with trade contractors and engineers occupying the second tier or class of clients. For agency CMs, architects, other consultants, etc., use of the product is somewhat different from how the documentation describes it.

Pros

Very easy to use and set up the preferences. Document uploads are simple drag and drop functions in most areas. Creating user access templates and controlling or restricting access to certain areas of the platform is very easy. Individuals at all levels throughout the process are fairly easily able to understand what they need to do as it is very intuitive.

Cons

The user access setting need to be customizable at a lower level of detail, I would have rated five stars for Features & Functionality if it weren't for this. I find myself having to give people within the group full Administrative rights to tools in order for them to do what should be a task available at a lower level without full rights to change setup of the tool. If you aren't doing the same or extremely similar projects each and every time, there needs to be a Corporate level for reporting purposes and what they now have as "Company" level would be more the project level for those projects that are almost identical and/or being performed by the same project group. Changes made to the company level affect all the projects underneath that company and many settings are only at the Company level so if your projects aren't VERY similar to each other this may not work out well. In our case, Procore has managed a work around for this but it causes many of the executive dashboard functions to not work right. Limited customization but with a little ingenuity you can figure out ways to make things work.

Pros

> Unlimited storage for your project photos, documents, drawings, etc...
> Easy to use, free mobile app (Android & iOS)
> Everything is archived and stored in an organized manner, it's like having your entire project in a cloud-based filing cabinet
> The project / company directory tool is really great and well organized, you can also easily download a contact's business card for upload into Microsoft Outlook
> The daily log tool is excellent for the superintendent to record all day-to-day activities on the job-site. A report can be produced looking at all daily logs throughout the project. A great asset to have in the occurrence of a dispute.

Cons

> The built-in scheduling tool is cumbersome and sub-par. It's better just to run project scheduling out of different software all-together (I.E. Microsoft Project or Primavera). However, Procore does allow for you to upload your MS Project or Primavera files, this is very handy.
> You cannot create sub-folders within the Photos tool. Just one folder per location / subject to store all of the photos in. We would find it useful to have sub folders, such as: Folder 1 = Pre-Construction Photos, Folder 2 = Building A, Folder 3 = Unit 101 ... ect...
> Once an RFI is created and sent, it cannot be edited. there are many instances in which we need to modify RFIs after they've been sent, sometimes the client even requests it from us.
> It'd be great if the Photos tool on the mobile app allowed for users to take pictures using the cell phone's volume buttons

Pros

1. Comprehensive package. Allows for integration with out accounting, but we haven't opted to go that route yet. Can eliminate many of the other programs we use, but not all.
2. Can limit user access, so I can give everyone access to just what they need.
3. Lots of online training available and assistance from the very start.
4. Fairly easy to use once you know what you are doing.
5. Accessible from any internet-accessible device.
6. Constantly talking about improvement. I haven't been through a major upgrade yet, but they seem to take into account what the contractor needs.

Cons

1. Modules aren't consistent. For example, submittals allow me to edit on behalf of someone. RFIs do not. I've seen this in other products where one tab or module works one way and the other tab is set up different. I expected more consistency between the modules, submittals and RFIs especially.
2. No separate module for ASIs. They can be linked to drawings and markups, but there's no ASI log that people can view. I can save the ASIs in a folder in the online documents, but the user has to go search for them. I can send email notices out to subs, but if a new sub comes on board, they will not have the emails.
3. I cannot scroll through RFIs easily. In Sage I can move easily from one RFI to the next if I'm searching for something particular. In Procore, I have to open an RFI, close it and go back to the log and open the next RFI. One of the things I wanted to do was cut down on the number of steps it took to get to the data I needed. Procore adds steps in this case. Same for Submittals. I have to open/close/open the next.
4. The Save or Close buttons are often way down at the bottom of a window. If I have to go in, enter just a few pieces of info at the top of the submittal or RFI, I then have to scroll all the way to the bottom. Some companies put a Save at the top and bottom for that reason.
5. Was told I could use my iPad/iPhone but the apps are only for information. I cannot add to the contacts/directory unless I login through Safari.
6. So much data on the screen that sometimes the key pieces I need are off the screen. Needs more work on setting up for various screen resolutions. For example, submittal titles and numbers aren't visible when I'm scrolling to the right. Needs something similar to Excel's Freeze function.
7. Email module doesn't work quite like I had hoped. I can drag emails into the online program, but it's difficult to search and view them. Some of the text gets jumbled with the date. They don't even have the Emails on the iPad/iPhone app. No way to sort them other than to tag them, which is difficult. If I copy a ton of emails over, then I have to tag each one manually. Not an efficient process yet.
8. Not easy to bulk edit. Procore had to upload our submittal log for us and then I needed to change a lot of it because it was our first upload. We had to manually open each submittal and edit the information I needed to add or change.
9. Data itself seems difficult to change like contacts, which cannot be deleted, even if you've never used them. Can only mark inactive. Benefit in some cases, but if you enter their email address wrong, it's there unless you contact them to delete it. I would love to be able to do more import/exporting on my own. It would make data entry a lot easier. Especially when setting up a job or entering commitments.