Agency project management software, with clients and freelancers included
Agencies do not have a project problem, they have a fifteen projects at once problem. Track every client, every deadline and every billable hour, and see the margin before the job closes. Flat price, unlimited users, so adding a client or a contractor costs nothing.
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What is agency project management software?
Agency project management software runs client delivery rather than internal work. Creative agencies, marketing agencies, advertising agencies and development shops all need the same four things: many concurrent client projects, review and approval steps between draft and sign off, billable and non billable hours, and a way for clients to see progress without seeing your margins. Orangescrum covers this with per project boards, custom statuses for review stages, client users with their own permissions, time tracking, and invoicing from approved hours. The difference from most tools in this category is the price model: seats are unlimited on every plan, so the client, the freelancer and the contractor do not each add to the bill.
Why agency work gets away from you
Built for many clients at once
A board per client project
Run each engagement on its own board, with a portfolio view across all of them so nothing quietly slips.
Review stages you define
Custom statuses model your real process: draft, internal review, client review, amends, approved. Not somebody else's five columns.
Clients in the project
Give the client a role that shows progress and deliverables on their own project, and nothing else. Unlimited users means it costs nothing to do.
Billable and non billable time
Log hours on the task as the work happens, flagged billable or not, so scope creep shows up as a number.
Invoices from approved hours
Turn approved timesheets into an invoice rather than reconstructing the month from memory.
Internal stays internal
Role based access keeps costs, margins, notes, and other clients out of the client's view. Chat can be switched off per project if you would rather it did not exist there.
How an engagement runs
Built for creative, marketing and ad agencies
Which edition includes what
| Capability | CloudManaged SaaS | Self-HostedOn-premise / private cloud | Open SourceCommunity Edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Projects, tasks, and Kanban boards | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom statuses for review stages | Pro | ✓ | ✗ |
| Client users with limited access | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Comments, mentions, and watchers | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| One to one and group chat | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Billable and non billable hours | Pro | ✓ | ✗ |
| Budget and cost against plan | Pro | ✓ | ✗ |
| Client invoicing | Premium | ✓ | ✗ |
| Resource and workload management | Premium | ✓ | ✗ |
| Document management | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
Agency project management FAQ
Can clients get access without costing us more?
Yes. Every plan includes unlimited users, so adding a client is a permissions decision rather than a budget one. Give them a role limited to their own project and they see progress and deliverables, not internal notes, costs, or other clients.
Can we run several client projects at once?
Yes, and that is the normal case. Each engagement gets its own project and board, with a view across all of them so you can see where the crunch is before the week starts.
Does it handle rounds of amends and approvals?
Yes, by making your review stages real statuses. A task moves through draft, internal review, client review, amends, and approved, so the stage a piece of work is at is visible instead of being asked about.
Can we track billable hours?
Yes. Hours are logged on the task and flagged billable or non billable, which feeds cost against budget and the invoice. Billable time is on the Cloud Pro plan and above, and is included in Self-Hosted.
Can we invoice from the tool?
Yes. Invoices are generated from approved time entries. Invoicing is on the Cloud Premium plan and in the Self-Hosted edition.
Is Orangescrum a CRM for our new business pipeline?
No. It manages client delivery work, not sales. There is no lead or deal tracking, and we would rather say that plainly than let you find it out in week two.
Does it have built in chat?
Yes, for one to one and group messages with file sharing, and admins can switch it on or off per project. Anything that decides the work still belongs in a task comment, because that is where the next person will look for it.
Which integrations does it have?
Git Sync for GitHub and GitLab in both editions, Azure DevOps in Cloud, and Slack, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Jenkins in the Self-Hosted edition. There is no connector for design tools today, and no Zapier. If you need to wire something up, the REST API is documented.
What is the best project management software for a creative agency?
The right answer depends on whether you need to see margin. If you only need boards and deadlines, a general tool like Asana or Trello is enough. If you bill by the hour and need to know which client is profitable, you need billable time, budgets and invoicing in the same tool, which is where Orangescrum, Productive, Scoro and Kantata sit. Of those, Orangescrum is the only one that does not charge per user, so freelancers and clients do not add to the bill.
How is this different from Productive, Scoro or Kantata?
Those are agency-native tools with deeper financial reporting, and they are a fair choice if that reporting is your main requirement. They all price per user, so an agency of 20 with 10 freelancers and 15 client contacts pays for 45 seats. Orangescrum is a flat 29, 69 or 349 dollars a month with unlimited users, and covers the delivery side, billable hours, budgets and invoicing. If you want forecasting and detailed revenue recognition, buy one of theirs. If you want delivery, time and margin without per-seat maths, this is cheaper by a wide margin.
Can it handle agency resource management and capacity planning?
Yes, on the Cloud Premium plan and in the Self-Hosted edition. You can see who is loaded and who is free across every client project, and reassign before a deadline slips rather than after. Utilization follows from the same logged hours that feed billing, so there is one number, not two.
How much does it cost for an agency?
Flat monthly plans with unlimited users: 29 dollars Basic, 69 dollars Pro, and 349 dollars Premium. Freelancers, contractors, and clients can all be in the tool without the price moving.
Run the agency, not the spreadsheet
14 day free trial, no credit card. Unlimited users, so your clients and freelancers cost nothing to add.