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Construction · head to head

Foundation Software vs Primavera P6

Foundation Software logo

Foundation Software

Construction

Job cost accounting and construction payroll for contractors running certified and union jobs

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Primavera P6 logo

Primavera P6

Construction

Enterprise project portfolio management for construction

From
$2500/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Foundation Software no pricing is published anywhere, so shortlisting requires sitting through a sales process before you know whether the product is within budget at all.; Primavera P6 listed on G-Cloud 14 by reseller RPC UK Limited at £165 to £439 per user per month for Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM
  • They diverge on capability: Foundation Software covers Job costing, Primavera P6 covers CPM scheduling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Foundation Software and Primavera P6 actually diverge.

Attributes where Foundation Software and Primavera P6 differ
AttributeFoundation SoftwarePrimavera P6
Starting priceOn request$2500/year
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWindows, Web, iOS, AndroidWindows, Web
FoundedUnknown1977

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Construction).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Foundation Software

  • Job costing
  • Certified payroll
  • Union payroll
  • AIA billing
  • Equipment costing
  • Service dispatch
  • Mobile time entry
  • Executive dashboards

Only in Primavera P6

  • CPM scheduling
  • Resource management
  • Cost management
  • Risk analysis
  • Portfolio management
  • Oracle ERP
  • Unifier
  • Aconex

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Foundation Software

  • A union electrical or mechanical contractor whose payroll spans several trades and fringe schedules in the same weeknot Primavera P6
  • A general contractor bidding federally funded work that requires weekly certified payroll filingsnot Primavera P6
  • A contractor whose QuickBooks file has outgrown job costing and who is reconciling work in progress in spreadsheetsnot Primavera P6
  • A firm with owned plant that needs equipment hours costed back to jobs to see true contract marginnot Primavera P6

Primavera P6

  • Project schedulingnot Foundation Software
  • Resource planningnot Foundation Software
  • Cost controlnot Foundation Software
  • Portfolio managementnot Foundation Software

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Foundation Software

  • No pricing is published anywhere, so shortlisting requires sitting through a sales process before you know whether the product is within budget at all.
  • Implementation, data conversion and training are billed separately from the licence and routinely run into five figures, which buyers comparing monthly software subscriptions do not budget for.
  • The payroll compliance engine is built for United States federal and state law, so the product has essentially no value to contractors outside the US.
  • The interface is a long-lived Windows-style application, and staff hired from cloud-native tools find it slow to learn compared with Buildertrend or Procore.
  • Project management, document control and field collaboration are weaker than the dedicated construction platforms, so most sites end up running Foundation for money and something else for the job, and paying twice.

Primavera P6

  • Listed on G-Cloud 14 by reseller RPC UK Limited at £165 to £439 per user per month for Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM

Pricing, plan by plan

Foundation Software

On request
  • FOUNDATION$undefined/year
    • Modular licensing, priced by modules and user count
    • Cloud hosted or installed on your own server
    • Separate one-off implementation, data conversion and training fee

Primavera P6

$2500/year
  • P6 Professional$2500/year
    • Project scheduling
    • Resource management
    • Cost tracking
  • P6 EPPMFree
    • Enterprise PPM
    • Portfolio management
    • Advanced analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Foundation Software if

  • You need job costing.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want certified payroll.
Foundation Software review

Choose Primavera P6 if

  • You need cpm scheduling.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want resource management.
Primavera P6 review

Questions people ask

Is Foundation Software or Primavera P6 better?
Neither clearly leads. Foundation Software starts at On request and Primavera P6 at $2500/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Foundation Software or Primavera P6?
Foundation Software starts at On request and Primavera P6 at $2500/year.
Does Foundation Software or Primavera P6 run on more platforms?
Foundation Software runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android. Primavera P6 runs on Windows, Web.
What is Foundation Software best used for?
Foundation Software is most often used for a union electrical or mechanical contractor whose payroll spans several trades and fringe schedules in the same week, a general contractor bidding federally funded work that requires weekly certified payroll filings, a contractor whose quickbooks file has outgrown job costing and who is reconciling work in progress in spreadsheets, a firm with owned plant that needs equipment hours costed back to jobs to see true contract margin. Of those, a union electrical or mechanical contractor whose payroll spans several trades and fringe schedules in the same week and a general contractor bidding federally funded work that requires weekly certified payroll filings are not what Primavera P6 is typically brought in for.
What can Foundation Software do that Primavera P6 cannot?
Foundation Software covers Job costing, Certified payroll, Union payroll, AIA billing. Primavera P6 covers CPM scheduling, Resource management, Cost management, Risk analysis.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Foundation Software: How much does Foundation Software cost?

The vendor publishes no rates. Pricing is assembled per contractor from module selection and user count, with a separate implementation fee, and is only given after a discovery call.

Foundation Software: Does it replace Procore?

No. Foundation is the accounting and payroll system; Procore is project management. They integrate, and many contractors run both.

Foundation Software: Can it handle certified payroll for multiple states?

Yes, it produces state-specific certified payroll formats as well as the federal WH-347, which is the main reason multi-state contractors buy it.

Foundation Software: Is there a cloud version?

Yes, it is offered hosted as well as on-premise, but the hosted version is the same application delivered remotely rather than a rebuilt browser product.

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