If you own or run a construction business, you'll want to keep up with the best construction apps to make you more productive and improve your bottom line. However, technology changes almost daily, so staying up-to-date with the latest digital tools can be difficult.
Timeero is the #1 app built for the construction business
See time and location of every employee on the clock
Since there is no one-size-fits-all app to help manage and run your business, we're here to assist you. So, which app is best for construction? We've assembled a list of what we think are the best construction apps to manage your business in 2023:
Timeero: Best Construction App for GPS & Time Tracking
Timeero: One of the best construction apps to try out
Time management is crucial for the survival of any business, regardless of the industry. And in the construction business, time is literally money.
So you can dramatically improve your bottom line when accurately tracking employee time.
Your first step in managing time effectively is finding a great GPS time-tracking app, preferably suited for construction businesses. Timeero is our preferred construction time and job tracking app when discussing the best construction apps.
Timeero Construction App: Time, GPS, mileage tracking, and scheduling
Features you'll love:
Clock in/out reminders & geofence restricted clock in: your employees will receive reminders to clock in/out when they arrive or leave the job site. In addition, they can be restricted from clocking in if they are off the job site.
Another useful feature is "Who Is Working" - handling mobile teams can be challenging, so Timeero shows you where your employees are at any time and what they are working on. It also allows users to share their location, so managers and other employees can be in the loop about who's on the clock and where exactly they are.
Messaging - the software enables admins or managers to easily send announcements to their employees, for example, if they need to arrive at the construction site earlier.
Scheduling - Timeero’s robust and flexible scheduling helps you automate and improve project planning and task management in your construction business.
What's also great, the app can even help you improve your team's safety, as GPS tracking can help locate employees in the case of an accident.
Timeero comes with payroll software integrations, too, and provides excellent customer support.
Safety Meeting App: Best Construction App for Safety Management and OSHA Compliance
Construction worksite falls rank number one in the cause of construction deaths. Due to the nature of this industry, your team's and employees' safety should be one of your top priorities. If your employees are your most important asset, investing in their safety is vital.
We've listed the Safety Meeting app among the best apps for construction because it keeps employees constantly reminded of risks and precautions of working conditions to keep them safe and protected. On the flip side, it allows construction companies to track and record all Occupational Safety and Health Administration-required safety meetings, accidents, incidents, etc.
Features you'll love:
Customized safety checklists
Over 1,100 well-documented safety meeting topics
Topics are available in both English, and Spanish
Document your safety meetings and incident reports
Take pictures of meeting attendees, incidents, and accidents from the mobile phone
OSHA compliant
Your data is safely stored electronically in the cloud on secure servers.
You can access the app and your data from a computer, tablet, or mobile device (works on both Apple and Android devices)
Pricing plans:
15-day free trial
Single-user plan: $199 per year or $338 for two years
Five-user plan: $279 per year or $474 for two years
Ten-user plan: $349 per year or $593 for two years
20-user plan: $429 per year or $729 for two years
35-user plan: $579 per year or $984 for two years
50-user plan: $739 per year or $1256 for two years
75-user plan: $849 per year or $1443 for two years
100 users plan: $969 per year or $1647 for two years
150-user plan: $1169 per year or $1987 for two years
Autodesk Build (Formerly PlanGrid): Best Construction App for Project Management
PlanGrid, or Autodesk Build as it's now known, allows you to share project drawings through a cloud server. It is unique in its offer: it provides higher collaboration functions like adding markups, measuring, and notifying all parties involved in a project.
This software aims to make the latest versions of blueprint documents available to all parties involved in a project.
Autodesk Build comes with highly-praised apps, and it's designed to help you handle projects of all sizes for all kinds of construction.
Features you'll love:
Intuitive user interface
Track projects in real-time
Full access to all information online and offline
Manage construction RFIs in the field and office
Handle issues, RFIs, and change orders with ease across the project lifecycle
Centralized meetings that drive action and improve collaboration
Manage payments and streamline expenses
The app acts as a project, quality, and safety management solution and allows cost control too
Pricing plans:
Free 30-day trial
Small project & team collaboration: $495 per year or $41 per month
Flexible collaboration across many projects: $830 per year or $73 per month
Collaboration without limits: $1,625 per year or $135 per month
Enterprise Pricing: contact Autodesks' sales team to request the pricing for the whole project or company
Magicplan: Best Construction App for Drawing Floor Plans
Magicplan leverages AI and AR to transform built space into floor plans. And as a plus, it lets you create floor plans in a fun and easy way. You don't have to be tech-savvy to use the app properly. Just point to your app and start measuring.
The software lets you add objects, pictures, and notes to your floor plan drawings - that's why it's one of the best apps for the construction business. One of the cool add-ons is computing material takeoff and estimate. You can set up your price list, and magicplan will do the work for you.
Features you'll love:
Measure and sketch interior plans in 2D & 3D
Add photos, 360° images, notes, custom forms, and markups to create structured reports
All data collected by your team is automatically structured
Automatically calculate pricing on your mobile device
Create a shareable project page for your partners and clients
You can access all of your projects through the magicplan cloud
Pricing plans:
Free plan: up to two projects, all features included
Sketch: $42 per month billed annually for 5 users plus $8 per month for each additional user
Report: $125 per month billed annually for 5 users plus $25 per month for each additional user
Estimate: $375 per month billed annually for 5 five users plus $75 per month for each additional user
Enterprise: Contact for details.
DroneDeploy: Best Construction App for Interior and Exterior Visual Data
Unsurprisingly, drones have found their place in the construction industry. The ability to provide accurate information about your projects and job sites has turned them into an important part of running a successful construction project.
DroneDeploy software integrates with select construction industry drones. It's built to give accurate and clear images of your on-site projects quickly. And as a plus, this impressive app can map 200 acres in 15 minutes!
Features you'll love:
Capture job site data in real-time with autonomous drones and create an interactive site view
Create real-time maps, 3D models, videos, or 360° virtual tours of your sites
Create, document, and share a visual timeline with your teams and stakeholders
Use progress reports to track and communicate the project's progress
Perform quick visual inspections from ground level to rooftops to discover potential costly issues early
Pricing plans:
Free 14-day trial
Individual: $499 per month or $329 when billed annually
Individual Advanced: $599 per month when billed annually
Teams: Contact DroneDeploy to request the price
Enterprise: Contact DroneDeploy to request the price
SmartBid: Best Construction Bidding Software
SmartBid is a contractor bid management software for the construction industry. It's widely used by subcontractors, independent contractors, general contractors, and business owners in the U.S. and Canada. We've included SmartBid in our list because it effectively helps subcontractors and general and specialty contractors during the pre-construction phase.
It simplifies the pre-construction process and streamlines their communication too. So it's no wonder it has become an indispensable tool for them to submit and compare bids and manage the pre-construction process overall.
Features you'll love:
Access to qualified subs based on your project needs
The software offers a Contact Database Management service - so you can access up-to-date and verified contact record information.
Easily send invitations to bid
Robust and integrated sub prequal tool
Prequal calling service
Access bidding opportunities nationally
Share project documents
Open application integration
Highly-rated customer service
Contact SmartBid company for pricing information.
iAuditor: Best Construction App for Site Inspection
SafetyCulture'siAuditor allows you to be proactive in preventing accidents and injuries. This app is built to help you identify potential hazards before they happen. It also helps in connecting field crews with everyone in the organization.
Aside from that, iAuditor makes reporting issues easier for your field teams. Workers can perform quick digital inspections via their iOS or Android device. They can receive reminders about procedures that must be done via this app too.
Features you'll love:
Get an instant view of what's happening on the field
Set up smart inspection forms in minutes
Use automated construction inspection lists to make your safety procedures quicker and easier
Assign actions on the spot
Identify weaknesses (frequently failed items, for example) with instant analytics
Set inspection reminders for your team members
Pricing plans:
Free plan: for small teams of up to 10 team members
Premium plan: $24 per user per month, or $19 per user when billed annually
Enterprise: Contact iAuditor for a quote
GasBuddy: Best Construction App for Finding Cheap Gas
Gas prices are hitting new heights, so finding the cheapest gas available wherever you are has become increasingly important. Crowdsource gas-price finder GasBuddy is unique among the apps for construction jobs as it's designed to help you save on gas. Users of the app can check gas prices and find out where to go to get the best prices.
The app also allows users to combine discounts and deals for instant savings.
Features you'll love:
Explore real-time gas prices in specific areas and find the cheapest gas stations
Save on gas purchases with the GasBuddy free card (it works at 95% of the stations)
Earn points - GasBack rewards on your everyday gas purchases
Pricing plans:
Free version: The free plan allows you to save up to $0.25 per gallon with every purchase
Plus: $7.99 per month or $89 per year. GasBuddy Plus card allows you to save up to $0.20 a gallon up to 50 gallons a month when you fill up and $0.05 on every fill after that.
Premium: $9.99 per month or $99 per year. With GasBuddy Premium, you can save up to $0.40/gal, but you are guaranteed fuel savings of $0.20 per gallon. This plan includes 24-hour road assistance too.
ShareMyToolbox: Best Construction App for Tool and Equipment Tracking
When discussing apps for construction workers, it's impossible not to mention ShareMyToolbox. It's designed for a smoother workflow, making tool and equipment tracking simple. With this software, it's easy for field workers to search, find and transfer tools using a phone. And what's also great - an up-to-date inventory is always available as the field crews are responsible for updating tool movements.
The software's entire system is mobile and cloud-based, which makes it quick and easy to set up.
Features you'll love:
Automatic inventory of tools with complete visibility
Quickly find out who has each tool at all times
Transfer tools easily from idle job sites
An inventory list is available in the cloud for everyone to see it
You can set up automatic service due alerts
Pricing plans:
Free 14-day trial: test the enterprise system; no credit card required
Base system: $65 per month
Additional users: $50 for 5 additional users
Raken: Construction Management and Field Reporting App
Raken's construction management software helps construction professionals collect accurate project data in real time. The mobile app enables field crews to input project data wherever they are. This way, Raken provides you with up-to-date insights on every project.
It's possible to upload time-stamped photos, videos, and notes for better visibility. And all that data is automatically uploaded to the web-based app, allowing office staff to review it.
Features you'll love:
Field reporting can be used from any device without any training
You can finish your field reports on the go while walking the job site
All reports are automatically stored in project folders
Super Daily allows external subcontractors access to every project for free so that they can do their daily reports
Get real-time field productivity data: collect detailed, accurate production data straight from the field. You can add photos, notes, or other attachments too.
Pricing plans:
Free 15-day trial period: you'll be provided with access to all the Performance plan features
Basic: contact the sales department to get detailed pricing information
Pro: contact the sales department to get detailed pricing information
Performance: contact the sales department to get detailed pricing information
Joist: Contractor Invoicing & Estimates App
Are you looking for a free estimating and invoicing app for construction and contractors? You can't go wrong with the Joist app. It allows you to create your estimates and invoices from anywhere. As a contractor, you want your invoices paid on time. The last thing you want is to keep asking a client if they received an invoice.
One of the nice features we like about Joist is being alerted when an invoice is read. This way, you'll be notified whenever an invoice is open.
Joist has free and paid plans. The paid version lets you create customizable invoices and connect to third-party apps such as QuickBooks Online.
Features you'll love:
The app's interface is simple, and the software is easy to navigate overall
With estimating tool, you can create and share quick and professional estimates
The mobile invoicing tool allows users to create and send professional invoices
Accepting credit card payments from clients is made easy
Pricing plans:
A 7-day free trial
Starter: free plan
Joist Pro: $13 per month (2 months free if billed annually)
Joist Pro Elite: $30 per month (2 months free if billed annually)
Fieldwire: Construction Management & Punch List Software
Fieldwire brings together the entire project team as it allows everyone from the foreman to the project manager to collaborate and share information in real time. If you opt for this app, you can benefit from coordinating effectively, tracking performance, and reducing risks by capturing all relevant information and issues on the spot.
Fieldwire can be set up in minutes, and your mobile teams can adopt it without training.
Features you'll love:
You can enable conversations regarding specific tasks with push notifications to accelerate decision-making and resolution
Fieldwire allows you to record inconsistencies or issues on-site
You can automatically generate PDF reports, share them with the project team, owner, or architect, and mark up plans with notes, photos, and videos.
It's also possible to use an open API to integrate with any technology using a single cloud platform.
Pricing plans:
Basic: free plan for small teams, includes up to 100 sheets and 3 projects
Pro: $54 per user per month when billed monthly, $39 per user per month when billed annually
Business: $74 per user per month when billed monthly, $59 per user per month when billed annually
Enterprise: Contact for details.
GoCanvas - An Excellent Reporting App
GoCanvas software is designed to help large and small business owners and professionals save time and money by eliminating the need for paperwork and speeding up data collection. App users can customize reports or use a template to collect information, distribute the data, and sync to the app or their cloud.
It's possible to add team members as collaborators too. Additional functions worth mentioning include building and distributing forms to field workers, auto-email forms, reassigning work from one employee to another, and providing job details.
Features you'll love:
The app comes with a form builder that allows you to replace your paper-based processes.
You can easily capture someone's signature on your mobile device. The same applies to photos - for example, you may need them for equipment inspection.
You can upload a database to this software, like your customer list.
Accounting software integrations. It's also possible to integrate payment functionalities into the GoCanvas app.
Pricing plans:
Free 10-day trial, no credit card required
Business: Contact for details.
Professional: Contact for details.
Enterprise: Contact for details.
Procore: Construction Project Management App
Procore is a construction project management software designed to help you complete projects safely, on time, and within budget. It aims to help construction firms increase project efficiency and accountability and streamline project documentation and communication.
Users say that it's easy to use, keeps you organized, is easy to integrate with other software solutions, and offers full project management tools.
In addition, Procore comes with a full array of features and tools, including project management, quality and safety, and training tools.
Features you'll love:
Detailed reporting insights will allow you to mitigate risks and make data-driven decisions.
You can set up the automatic distribution of reports to all the stakeholders and share visual reports to communicate more effectively.
With Procore, it's easy to create more accurate estimates and create and manage bids.
Invoice collection, review, and approval are simplified. You can even track and manage all invoices from one location.
The app integrates with construction accounting software.
Pricing plans:
Procore offers its users custom quotes, so you'll need to provide them with specific information before getting a quote.
All-in-One Calculator: Construction Calculator App
All-In-One Calculator Free is a free app that helps you do construction-related calculations. It includes over 75 calculators and unit converters in one. The app currently has a 4.7-star rating with numerous positive reviews praising it.
Features you'll love
Versatile, user-friendly app
Efficiently perform unit and currency conversions
Calculate percentages, volumes, proportions, and areas hassle-free
Pricing plans:
All-in-one Calculator is a free construction calculator app.
Bottom Line: Best Construction Apps
Apps have become game-changing for many businesses. Regarding the construction industry, numerous innovative solutions are designed to make things easier for construction workers and management.
If you are not using an app to run your construction or trade business yet, you may reconsider your approach! And if you're wondering what is the best app for construction - bear in mind that it depends on your business's needs.
Know of an app for construction businesses that we haven't covered? Feel free to reach out to us so we can cover it.
Vesna is a psychologist, researcher, and writer with a wide range of interests focused on one goal: utilizing digital solutions to take businesses to the next level. Her expertise in human resources and workforce trends combined with her understanding of software’s role in business optimization is invaluable in helping them stay on top of the curve.