The short version: WorkflowMax by BlueRock prices from NZD $13.89 a user a month, but the WIP ledger and capacity planning most growing firms want sit behind the NZD $45 Advanced tier. Xero Projects, Projectworks, Abtrac and Total Synergy each price that same job-costing job differently, and a Microsoft 365 build is the option once a firm already pays for the licence.
Why firms look beyond WorkflowMax
Some of this is history rather than pricing: WorkflowMax was retired by Xero and relaunched under BlueRock, and the full retirement-and-relaunch story, plus the three real options for a firm still unhappy with where that landed it, is covered in WorkflowMax is gone: your next tool doesn't have to be another subscription rather than repeated here. What's new in the current product's own pricing page is a tier structure worth knowing before you shop: the individual WIP ledger and capacity planning, the tools that keep a growing firm's utilisation honest, are gated hard to the NZD $45 Advanced tier, more than three times Essentials' NZD $13.89, no matter how few people you run. A firm that wants that reporting from day one pays the full multiple for it, which is reason enough to compare the field below.
The alternatives, priced side by side
All figures are as published on each vendor's own pricing page, checked 22 September 2026.
| Alternative | Published price | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Xero Projects | Bundled inside Xero Ultimate, NZD $125 a month for 10 users, $7 an extra user | A firm already sized for Ultimate's payroll and forecasting, where job costing rides along close to free. |
| Projectworks | $17 to $41 a user a month, USD, 10-user floor | A firm of 10 to 20 staff wired into Jira, HubSpot or payroll integrations, comfortable billing in USD. |
| Abtrac | $47 for the first user, tapering through $22, $12 and $8 a user to $3.25 a user as headcount climbs | A small consultancy that wants to add seats one at a time with no contract or sales call. |
| Total Synergy | Quote-only; publishes no prices at all | A firm that's decided it wants a full AEC practice-management platform and will sit through a demo for a number. |
| Build on Microsoft 365 | Dataverse NZ$32.40 a user a month, Power BI Pro NZ$22.60, typically $8,000 to $18,000 to build | Firms already on M365 that want to own the job and fee register rather than rent one. |
The same job list, fee tracking and WIP view can be built directly on the Microsoft 365 licence a firm already pays for: a register on Dataverse at NZ$32.40 a user a month, with Power BI Pro at NZ$22.60 for the two or three people who read it. A build like that runs $8,000 to $18,000 with the accounting system joined, a one-off cost against any of the four tools' ongoing per-seat bill. It doesn't replace Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks, which stay exactly where they are.
Common questions
What is the cheapest alternative to WorkflowMax for a small NZ firm?
Abtrac's sliding scale is the cheapest entry for a growing team, $47 for the first user then tapering to $22 and lower as headcount climbs. Xero Projects can look free if a firm already needs Ultimate's payroll and forecasting, since the first 10 project users ride along inside the NZD $125 subscription. Projectworks and Total Synergy don't compete on entry price at all: Projectworks has a 10-user floor billed in USD, and Synergy publishes no price whatsoever.
Does WorkflowMax's own pricing push firms toward these alternatives?
The tier structure is one reason. WorkflowMax's WIP ledger and capacity planning, the tools that keep a growing firm's utilisation honest, are gated to the Advanced tier at NZD $45 a user a month, a jump of more than three times Essentials' NZD $13.89. A firm that wants that reporting from day one pays the full multiple for it.
Can a Microsoft 365 build replace WorkflowMax?
For the job list, fee tracking and WIP view, yes: a register on Dataverse, NZ$32.40 a user a month, with Power BI Pro at NZ$22.60 for whoever reads the report, typically runs $8,000 to $18,000 with the accounting system joined. It doesn't replace Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks, which stay exactly where they are.
Get a straight comparison for your firm
Book a free 30-minute call. Bring your seat count and which of these you've already looked at, and run the numbers yourself first with the ROI calculator if a build is on the table.