Productive.io alternatives

Productive.io prices Essential at $10 per user a month billed yearly and Professional at $25, verified 24 September 2026, with the employee record kept in BambooHR, Personio or Rippling. Agencies leaving it weigh Scoro, Kantata, Teamwork.com, Runn and Float. For HR and client delivery in one database, PeopleMuster is the strongest alternative: $3 per person, every module included.

Why people leave

Two rungs, one big step. Essential is $10 per user a month billed yearly and Professional is $25, so the second rung costs more than twice the first. Billing monthly moves those to $12 and $29.
A second system for the staff record. Productive holds time off and capacity, and by its own account it connects out to BambooHR, Personio or Rippling for the employee record. An agency on it runs an HR system beside it and keeps two staff lists in step.
Three seats, minimum. Every Productive plan starts at three seats, so a two-person studio pays for a third chair from day one.

The real options

Six products were compared on 24 September 2026. Each one was scored on its published price, the cost of the next tier up, any seat minimum, and whether the employee record and the client work live in one system. Evaluated from Productive.io's own documentation and pricing, September 2026; every other figure was read from that vendor's own pricing page the same day. A vendor that publishes no figure is listed by how it prices.

PeopleMuster

$3 per person a month. Every module included, no tiers, from the first person.

Who it suits: An agency or software house that wants the staff record and the client work in one database.
Where it wins: Timesheets by project with approvals, a capacity grid that already knows who is on leave, and utilisation by person and project. All of it hangs off the HR record, at one published price.

Scoro

Scoro publishes per-user plans; current prices are on scoro.com.

Who it suits: Agencies that price software by the user and want a per-user plan.
Where it wins: Sells per-user plans, published on scoro.com.
Where it falls short: Prices are on scoro.com, so the per-user figure has to be read there before it can sit beside the others.

Kantata

Prices on request. Kantata's pricing page carries a Request Pricing form and no figure. Verified 24 September 2026.

Who it suits: Larger professional-services firms buying a PSA platform through a sales process.
Where it wins: A Professional Services Automation Platform by its own description, sold to firms that expect a quote.
Where it falls short: No published price, so a small agency cannot put Kantata on a grid beside the vendors that publish one.

Teamwork.com

Free for up to 5 users; Basics $9.99 and Accelerate $24.99 per user a month billed yearly; Optimize and Enterprise by quote. 14-day trial. Verified 24 September 2026.

Who it suits: Client-work teams that start free and want project management priced per user.
Where it wins: A free tier for five users and a published per-user ladder above it.
Where it falls short: Accelerate is $24.99 against Basics at $9.99, and the two tiers above it are quote-only.

Runn

Lite $7 and Standard $11 per resource seat a month billed annually ($9 and $13 monthly); Advanced by quote. 20-seat minimum, 30-day trial. Verified 24 September 2026.

Who it suits: Delivery teams of twenty or more whose whole problem is capacity.
Where it wins: Resource planning is the entire product, and both paid tiers publish a price.
Where it falls short: Paid plans start at 20 seats, so a team of twelve buys twenty.

Float

Starter $7 and Pro $12 per scheduled person a month; Enterprise custom; guests free. Verified September 2026.

Who it suits: Studios whose first question every Monday is who is booked on what.
Where it wins: A scheduling grid with time off in it, at two published prices.
Where it falls short: Scheduling is the whole product. The employee record lives in another system.

Questions people ask

What does Productive.io cost in 2026?

Essential is $10 per user a month billed yearly, or $12 billed monthly. Professional is $25 billed yearly, or $29 monthly, and Ultimate is priced per customer. Every plan starts at three seats and there's a 14-day trial. Read from productive.io/pricing on 24 September 2026.

How do I move from Productive.io to PeopleMuster?

We load your people, leave types and projects with you during setup. The CSV importer takes the same three lists from your Productive export whenever you'd rather do it yourself. The 14 days free cover the setup, so the first bill arrives after the team is already logging hours.

Why is Accelo not on this list?

Accelo, which also answers at the old Forecast address, sells tailored plans with no published figure, verified September 2026. Without a list price it could not be placed on the same grid as the vendors above. Scoro and Kantata stay on because each states how it prices, per-user plans and a request form, even where the figure is withheld.