The Best Pre-Construction Software of 2025

Before a project breaks ground, thorough planning has to happen, from creating budgets and timelines to designing plans and securing permits. When it goes well, pre-construction sets the entire project up for smooth delivery, on time and on budget. When it doesn’t, projects can slip, costs may rise, and relationships across the team are strained.

What is pre-construction?

Pre-construction is the planning phase before a construction project breaks ground. Owners, architects, and contractors work to define scope, set budgets, secure permits, and establish timelines. The goal is to anticipate risks and align stakeholders so construction can move forward without costly surprises.

Pre-construction services typically include:

• Planning and design: feasibility studies, schematic design, early models
• Contractor selection: identifying a GC or CM and evaluating vendors
• Budgeting and estimating: forecasting costs, refining estimates, value engineering
• Scheduling and project planning: sequencing work, mapping timelines, allocating resources
• Permitting: preparing and submitting site, building, and trade applications
• Procurement: ordering long-lead materials and engaging subcontractors

Why pre-construction software matters in 2025

Managing all of this manually creates gaps, delays, and budget creep. Pre-construction software centralizes workflows so teams gain visibility, accuracy, and coordination at every step. The best tools now connect stakeholders, automate routine steps, and provide real-time insights that reduce risk and uncertainty.

We evaluated tools on five criteria: 1) fit to a core pre-construction job, 2) data continuity into construction, 3) collaboration quality, 4) forecasting and automation strength, and 5) ecosystem and integrations.

The Best Pre-Construction Software of 2025

From our perspective as a partner to stakeholders across the entire project team from owners, architects, and GCs, we see which pre-construction tools reliably move projects forward. Here are the products we most often find on the most successful, schedule-driven teams.

For Planning and Design Collaboration: Autodesk Construction Cloud

Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) anchors the planning and design phase for many projects. Paired with Revit, it enables architects, engineers, and contractors to co-create and coordinate in real time.

Why it is one of the best: ACC is an industry standard for design collaboration, with deep integrations across Autodesk products and open APIs for downstream tools. Its strength is eliminating version-control issues and surfacing design clashes before they reach the field.

Key features

• Cloud document management and markups
• Real-time multidisciplinary collaboration
• BIM coordination and clash detection
• Integration with Autodesk Revit
• Automation for reviews and issue tracking

Who it is for: Design managers, VDC and BIM teams, architects coordinating models prior to estimating and permitting.

Where it shines: Accelerating design iterations and reducing rework so projects enter estimating and permitting with fewer surprises.

For Bidding and Project Cost Estimation: Beck Technology DESTINI Estimator

Cost overruns are a common risk. DESTINI Estimator gives contractors and developers detailed, collaborative estimating with cost databases, templates, and scenario modeling.

Why it is one of the best: Teams can test design or material options quickly and keep estimates consistent across a portfolio. The AI-driven takeoff accelerates plan-to-estimate conversion.

Key features

• Integrated cost databases and assemblies
• Customizable estimate templates
• Value engineering and “what-if” scenarios
• Connections to accounting and ERP systems
• AI-driven Takeoff for faster quantification

Who it is for: Pre-construction and estimating teams at mid-market to enterprise scale.

Where it shines: Producing reliable cost models faster to inform design, procurement, and budget approvals.

For Centralized Permitting and Faster Approvals: Pulley

Permitting is one of the most unpredictable parts of pre-construction. Pulley is purpose-built to streamline approvals and provide live visibility through CitySync, which integrates directly with more than 19,000 city portals.

Why it is one of the best: Pulley combines a permitting workflow platform with human experts, giving teams real-time status, fewer blind spots, and consistent execution across jurisdictions.

Key features

• Identifies permit requirements with 98% accuracy
• Centralized platform to prepare, submit, and track every application
• Real-time status via CitySync integrations to 19,000+ portals
• Dynamic approval forecasting and standardized reporting
• Digitized forms, comment parsing, and fee pre-payment and reimbursement
• Procore integration for downstream continuity

Who it is for: Owners, architects, and GCs managing multi-site programs or complex jurisdictions.

Where it shines: Removing uncertainty from permitting so projects stay on schedule and reach the market faster. Customers commonly see up to 2x faster approvals.

Best for End-to-End Project Continuity: Procore

Most pre-construction tools specialize in a single task. Procore stands out by carrying pre-construction data forward into project management, financials, and field operations. Its pre-construction solutions connect estimating, bidding, and design coordination. The value is continuity.

Why it is one of the best: Procore is designed for the entire construction lifecycle. It reduces the data loss and inefficiency that often occur when handoffs happen between systems.

Key features

• Centralized bid management
• Estimating with integrated cost data
• Design coordination and issue tracking
• Automated workflows from pre-construction into execution
• Optional AI insights through Procore Helix

Who it is for: GCs and owners that want decisions made in pre-construction to remain connected through build.

Where it shines: Ensuring that budgets, designs, and schedules stay aligned across the project.

Set your project up for success from the start

Pre-construction is critical to project outcomes. The right software reduces risk, increases predictability, and aligns stakeholders around a shared plan.

For permitting in particular, Pulley stands apart as the only platform purpose-built for live visibility and control into approvals. Combined with leaders like Procore, Autodesk, and Beck Technology, Pulley helps ensure that every piece of pre-construction planning is set up for success.

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