Procore is a construction management platform designed for general contractors, owners, and large project teams. Olumba is a project management tool built specifically for architecture and engineering firms during the design phase. They solve related problems for different audiences at different stages of a project.
If you're a 10-person architecture firm trying to decide between the two, the decision probably comes down to one question: are you managing construction, or are you managing design?
Where Procore is strong
I'm not going to pretend Procore isn't good at what it does. It is. For construction-phase work, it's the industry standard for a reason.
Procore handles RFIs, submittals, procurement, daily logs, budgets, change orders, punch lists, and field coordination across large teams with multiple subcontractors. It has a massive integration ecosystem. Most large GCs use it. Many owners require it. The mobile app works well on job sites.
If your firm manages construction, or if you're doing design-build work where you need to coordinate across the full project lifecycle from design through closeout, Procore covers that range.
Where Procore creates friction for small design firms
The problems show up when a small architecture firm tries to use Procore for design-phase work.
The platform's structure assumes you're a general contractor. The menus, the workflows, the permissions model, the terminology on screen: it's all oriented around construction management. An architect in design development trying to use Procore for drawing distribution and consultant coordination is navigating a platform that wasn't designed for their workflow.
Pricing is the other issue. Procore's model is built for firms managing large construction budgets. For a 10-person architecture firm, the cost is hard to justify when you're only using a fraction of the platform. Setup requires dedicated admin time, and most small firms don't have someone to spare for software configuration.
A 2024 Procore/IDC survey found that 75% of project owners were over budget and 77% were behind schedule, with projects averaging 70 days late. Owners using integrated digital tools performed measurably better. But "integrated digital tools" doesn't have to mean Procore specifically, especially if your work lives in the design phase.
Where Olumba fits
Olumba covers the work that happens before construction starts: document management with version tracking, task assignments with automated reminders, project messaging organized by project instead of by inbox, and a three-tier access model for internal team members, external consultants, and clients.
It's built around how A&E firms with 5 to 25 people actually work during schematic design, design development, and construction documents. The terminology is native. The folder logic matches how architects organize projects. Consultant access is scoped to their discipline. Client access shows them what you want them to see, nothing else.
There are no field tools. No procurement. No daily logs. That scope limitation is the point.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Procore | Olumba |
|---|---|---|
| Document versioning | Yes (construction-focused) | Yes (design-phase, document_group_id lineage) |
| Task tracking with reminders | Limited | Yes, with automated deadline reminders |
| Project messaging | Yes | Yes, organized by project |
| Consultant access control | Yes | Yes, scoped to discipline |
| Client access portal | Yes | Yes, curated project view |
| RFI tracking | Yes (construction) | Yes (design phase) |
| Submittal tracking | Yes (construction) | Yes (multi-department, jurisdiction-aware) |
| Field management / daily logs | Yes | No |
| Procurement / change orders | Yes | No |
| Punch lists | Yes | No |
| Designed for firm size | 50+ people, GC-oriented | 5-25 people, A&E-oriented |
| Setup complexity | High (dedicated admin recommended) | Low (usable without configuration) |
When to use which
Use Procore if you're a general contractor, a large design-build firm, or if your clients contractually require it. It's the right tool for construction management at scale.
Use Olumba if you're a small to mid-size architecture or engineering firm, your work is concentrated in the design phase, and you need document control, task management, and team communication without the overhead of an enterprise platform. The question isn't whether Procore is good. It's whether it's the right fit for the work you're actually doing.