Sonra is practice management for small architecture firms: simple enough that the team actually logs, one flat price however many people use it. Built for practices of 5-25 people, with a 30-day free trial and no sales call.
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Monograph is a well-known project management tool for architecture firms, and it does a lot well. But it's priced per seat, so the bill grows with every hire, and many smaller practices tell us they want something with less to configure - especially if they're still moving off spreadsheets.
In August 2026, Total Synergy and Monograph announced they were joining forces. Total Synergy bought Factor A/E in 2025, so one group now owns three A&E practice management products: Synergy, Factor A/E and Monograph. Monograph keeps running for existing customers, and nothing changes overnight. But if you're reviewing your software anyway, it's a reasonable moment to look at what else is out there.
Sonra was built by a former architect for exactly that audience: practices of 5-25 people who need the essential tools an architecture firm actually uses every day, without the complexity or a per-seat bill. You can sign up, start a 30-day free trial, and have your team tracking time the same week.
How the two stack up on the things architecture firms ask about most.
| Feature | Sonra | Monograph |
|---|---|---|
| Built specifically for architecture firms | ✓ | ✓ |
| Time tracking by project & phase | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phase-based budgets & project health | ✓ | ✓ |
| Team resourcing & scheduling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Role-based access that hides financials from staff | ✓ | ✓ |
| One flat price for the whole firm | $180/month | Per seat |
| Transparent self-serve pricing | ✓ | Tiered / sales-assisted |
| 30-day free trial | ✓ | Demo-led |
| Built for practices of 5-25 people | ✓ | Scales to larger firms |
Comparison based on publicly available information from monograph.com, current as of October 2026. Monograph is a trademark of its respective owner; Sonra is not affiliated with or endorsed by Monograph. Features and pricing change - please verify current details with each vendor.
The reasons architecture practices pick Sonra when they evaluate a Monograph alternative.
$180 a month for the whole firm. Everyone gets a login, so nobody rations seats and the interns' hours get logged too. No demo gate and no surprise quotes as you grow.
Timesheets, fee budgets, tasks and resourcing, with nothing extra to configure before you see value. Simple enough that the team actually logs: most firms are live the same week.
Sonra's founder worked in architecture practices in Ireland and New York before building workforce software, so the workflows match how firms actually run projects, bill clients and protect financial data.
Sonra isn't the right answer for every firm, and Monograph is a good product. You're probably better served staying put if:
If you're a practice of 5-25 people that mostly needs time tracking, fee budgets, tasks and resourcing - and you'd rather pay one flat price and try the product than sit through a sales cycle - that's the firm Sonra is built for.
What firms ask when comparing the two.
Yes. Sonra is practice management software built specifically for architecture firms, covering time tracking, project budgets, resourcing and tasks and resourcing in one tool. It is built for practices of 5-25 people that want a simpler tool than Monograph, at one flat price for the whole firm rather than a price per seat.
Sonra is $180 per month, flat, for the whole firm, however many people use it, with a 30-day free trial. Monograph is priced per seat across its Track and Grow plans; its pricing calculator showed roughly $60-75 per person per month in late September 2026, so a 10-person firm pays several hundred dollars a month.
Time tracking by project and phase, phase-based fee budgets with a projection of where each phase will land once the open tasks are done, tasks with hour estimates and checklists, a personal week planner, team resourcing, time-off requests, clients, and role-based access that keeps financials private from individual employees.
Yes. In August 2026 Total Synergy and Monograph announced they were joining forces. Total Synergy had already acquired Factor A/E in 2025, so one group now owns Synergy, Factor A/E and Monograph. Monograph keeps running for existing customers, but firms reviewing their software often take the change as a moment to compare options. Sonra is independent and built only for small practices.
Yes. Firms usually export their projects and time data from Monograph as CSV, and we'll help you map projects, phases and rates into Sonra during the 30-day trial. Moving from spreadsheets is even simpler - most firms are tracking time in Sonra the same week.
Start a 30-day free trial, or book a demo and we'll walk through your firm's workflow.
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