Programa alternatives, priced at your real team size
Why designers leave Programa — from Capterra reviews, not guesswork — and five alternatives with prices from each vendor's own page, checked 2026-07-30.
All competitor prices on this page were taken from the vendor's own pricing page on July 30, 2026 and are linked at the bottom. Prices change — tell us if you spot one that has.
Programa is well-liked software. It holds a 4.8 out of 5 on Capterra across 73 reviews as of 2026-07-30, and the studios using it mostly praise the same things Programa promotes about itself: schedules, sourcing and client approvals in one place. So this page is not going to pretend it is bad. If you are searching for alternatives, it is almost certainly for one of a handful of specific, checkable reasons — and the main one is arithmetic.
A note on this query before we start: nearly every page ranking for it is written by a vendor, including this one — we build NYA. What we can offer that the others currently do not is dated numbers. Two of the pages ranking for "programa alternatives" today quote prices that do not match the vendor's own pricing page as of 2026-07-30 — one lists Programa at a per-user rate it does not charge, another understates its own product's current price. Every figure below was fetched from the vendor's own page on 2026-07-30 and is linked at the bottom so you can check it yourself.
Why designers actually switch — from the reviews, not our imagination
We read the Capterra reviews rather than guessing. The complaints that recur are specific and fairly consistent:
- Per-seat cost as the studio grows. Programa Pro is $71 a month with one seat included, then $31 a month for every additional seat. The product does not change at seat four — only the bill does.
- Mobile and iPad experience. Multiple reviewers report pages cutting off and buttons hidden on tablet and mobile — a real problem if you present or approve on site.
- Multi-currency and invoicing friction. Reviewers working with European clients report currency and Stripe-related invoicing problems, and limited invoice management if you do not use Stripe.
- Schedule layout flexibility. Different trades want schedules formatted differently, and reviewers find the layout options restrictive. A few also report saving glitches when reordering schedule items.
- No double-entry accounting. Your books stay in QuickBooks or Xero regardless. This is a deliberate design choice — and one shared by most of the alternatives below, with one exception — but if you expected accounting inside the product, it is not there.
The per-seat maths, front and center
Everything else on this page is secondary to this table. Programa's published rate is $71 a month for the Pro plan with one seat included, plus $31 a month per additional seat, checked on its own pricing page on 2026-07-30.
| Team size | Programa Pro per month | How it's computed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 designer | $71 | Base plan, 1 seat included |
| 2 | $102 | $71 + 1 × $31 |
| 3 | $133 | $71 + 2 × $31 |
| 5 | $195 | $71 + 4 × $31 |
| 8 | $288 | $71 + 7 × $31 |
| 10 | $350 | $71 + 9 × $31 |
Two honest observations from that table. First, at three seats Programa costs $133 and NYA costs $129 — within four dollars, so at that size price alone is not a reason to move. The divergence starts at seat four and compounds from there: at five seats it is $195 against $129, at ten it is $350 against $129. Second, not every alternative fixes this — DesignFiles at five seats on Full Service is also $195. If cost is your reason for leaving, the fix is a flat billing model, not a different per-seat one.
The alternatives, with prices from each vendor's own page
| Software | 1 seat | 3 seats | 5 seats | Billing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYA | $49 | $129 | $129 | Flat per firm |
| DesignFiles (Full Service) | $75 | $135 | $195 | $75 + $30/user |
| Programa (Pro, annual) | $71 | $133 | $195 | $71 + $31/seat |
| Studio Designer (Essentials, annual) | $69 | $207 | $345 | Per user |
| Studio Designer (Premier, annual) | $109 | $327 | $545 | Per user |
| Gather (Spec Pro) | $199 | $277 | $355 | $199 + $39/seat |
| Houzz Pro | Not published | Not published | Not published | Base + $60/user |
NYA — flat per firm, plans and approvals in one place
We build this one, so weigh accordingly. NYA is $49 a month for a solo designer, $129 flat for a studio of up to five, and $299 unlimited — seats included, no per-user fee at any tier. It covers selections, client approvals with per-item permissions, product clipping, floor plans and reflected ceiling plans with dimensioned PDF sheet export. Like Programa, it does not do double-entry accounting — it assumes your books live in QuickBooks or Xero. The trial is 7 days with no card and no contract, so the cheapest way to evaluate the claim is to test it against the table above.
DesignFiles — strongest for e-design packages
DesignFiles is $55 a month for e-Design and $75 for Full Service, each plus $30 a month per additional user, with floor plans and 3D included on both tiers and a 90-day money-back guarantee with no annual contract. If your business is e-design packages and client-facing boards, it is the most directly aimed at you on this list. Note the seat maths above: it is per-seat like Programa, so at five people on Full Service the price is identical to Programa's.
Studio Designer — the one with real accounting
Studio Designer is the exception mentioned earlier: it is the only product here with full double-entry accounting inside the software. It is priced entirely per user — $69, $79 or $109 a month per user on annual billing depending on tier — so a five-person firm pays $345 to $545 a month. If the reason you are leaving Programa is that you want your general ledger inside your project tool, this is the answer, and neither we nor anyone else on this list replaces it.
Gather — deepest specification and procurement focus
Gather is specification software first: Spec Lite at $99 a month, Spec Pro at $199, plus $39 a month per additional seat. It goes deeper on spec sheets and product data than anything else here, but it is the highest entry price on the list and it is not trying to be an all-in-one — no rendering, and less on the client-portal side. It makes sense as a Programa replacement if the schedules were the only part of Programa you used, and you want more of exactly that.
Houzz Pro — read the contract terms first
Stay with Programa if…
Choose by what you actually need
- Flat pricing with selections, approvals and drawing in one tool: NYA — $49 solo, $129 up to five seats, 7-day trial, no card.
- E-design packages and client boards: DesignFiles, from $55 a month.
- Double-entry accounting inside the software: Studio Designer — dearer per seat, but the only one that does it.
- More specification depth than Programa, not less: Gather, from $99 a month.
- Lead generation: none of the above. That is Houzz's marketplace and advertising business (from $499/mo), and it is a different product from workflow software.
Common questions
How much does Programa cost per month?
Programa's Pro plan is $71 per month on annual billing ($89 month-to-month) with one seat included, and each additional seat is $31 per month. There is no free tier; the trial is 7 days with no card required. Figures from programa.design/pricing, checked 2026-07-30.
What is the difference between Programa and Studio Designer?
Programa is built around schedules, sourcing and client approvals, with invoicing but no double-entry accounting. Studio Designer is accounting-led — full books inside the software — and is priced entirely per user at $69–$109 per user per month on annual billing, checked 2026-07-30.
What is the cheapest Programa alternative?
It depends on seats. Solo, NYA at $49/month flat is the lowest published price, with DesignFiles e-Design at $55 next. At five seats the flat model wins outright: NYA is $129/month against $195 for Programa, based on prices checked 2026-07-30.
Does Programa have a free plan?
No. As of 2026-07-30 its pricing page lists no free tier — the entry point is a 7-day free trial of the Pro plan with no card required, then $71 per month.
Is Programa worth it?
By its reviews, yes for many studios: 4.8 out of 5 across 73 Capterra reviews as of 2026-07-30. The recurring complaints are the mobile/iPad experience, multi-currency invoicing friction and per-seat cost as teams grow — if none of those affect you, there is little reason to switch.