The short answer
Choose for the studio you run now. A multi-person A&E practice and a solo studio can both track phases, time, and budgets, but they need very different systems around that shared core.
Monograph
Published fit: US-based A&E firms with about 5 to 50 people
- Staffing and capacity planning
- Billing, payments, and project accounting
- Pipeline, proposals, and firm reporting
Better fit when several people need to run the practice together.
Official source monograph.com
Phased
Designed for: solo freelancers, independent artists, and one-person studios
- Project → Phase → Task keeps the fee, time, and scope connected
- Grid and List entry views, plus a synced live timer
- Phase budgets, effective rates, and frozen client reports
Better fit when you agree a project price up front and need to protect it during delivery.
Monograph is built to run more of the firm
Its published scope reaches from leads and proposals through project planning, staffing, time, billing, payments, accounting, and firm performance. That breadth is a strength when work must move between principals, project managers, staff, and finance.
Read the official product overview monograph.com
See how each phase is performing before the project ends
Phased starts with one Project → Phase → Task structure. Split the agreed project price across phases, record time through Grid, List, or the live timer, and see how each phase is using its budget. The current effective hourly rate updates as time is added, while the work can still be adjusted. It remains provisional until the phase is finished.
When the client requests work outside the agreement, mark that time Out of scope. It stops consuming the original phase budget, and a Phase or Project Report can present it separately as Additional Work with its own hours and amount. Phased keeps the record clear; you still decide what to charge.
Record time your way. Draw an entry in Grid, add or review it in List, or run the live timer. The running timer stays synced with your account, so you can start it on a desktop and stop it from a mobile browser. The complete workflow is optimised for desktop and mobile browsers, with nothing else to install.
Follow one project through PhasedProject
The client, agreed price, overall budget, tasks, status, and reports.
Phase
A real slice of delivery with its own money or hours budget and health.
Task + time
Calendar work inherits its task, phase, project, rate, and scope context.
Decision + record
Current effective rate, Additional Work, and frozen client reports close the loop.
Compare the tier that covers the job
One offer is priced for a firm in US dollars and the other for one person in euros. Currency, billing schedule, tax treatment, and intended customer all matter here; the monthly figures are not directly equivalent. The complete paid Phased workflow costs €7 with monthly billing or €66 with yearly billing, with phase budgets, effective-rate analysis, Additional Work, and branded reports included.
$25 to $490/month
Paid annually. Its calculator asks for employee count; annual plans are paid upfront.
Annual billing $25 to $490/month $300 to $5,880 per year
Official pricing monograph.com/pricing
€7/month
Annual billing €5.50/month €66 per account per year
See Phased pricingThe paid Phased plan is the full solo workflow. It includes unlimited active projects and phases, money budgets, custom rates, current effective-rate analysis, priced Additional Work, branded reports, and templates. A new account can try it for 30 days without a card.
A focused tool should make its limits obvious
Phased is not a general team timekeeping, billing, or firm-management suite. Its narrower job is helping one person connect project structure, time, scope, and fixed fees. These are the boundaries to consider before choosing it.
- No team seats, no staffing, and no capacity planning across people.
- No accounting, no payments, and no bookkeeping integration. Phased does not issue the billing documents your accountant needs.
- No pipeline, proposals, or opportunity forecasting.
- No firm-level reporting, because there is no firm. The reporting is per project and per phase.
If those become everyday needs, a firm-management platform such as Monograph is the more appropriate category.
Before you decide
Is Phased a replacement for Monograph?
Not for a firm that needs staff planning, timesheet approvals, billing, or project accounting in one system. For one person who needs a calendar, phase budgets, current effective rates, and client-ready project records, Phased covers a narrower workflow without the firm-management layer.
Can I try Phased before paying?
Yes. A new account starts with a 30-day trial of all paid features. No card is required, and the trial does not become a paid subscription automatically.
What happens if my studio grows?
Phased remains one person per account. If a small studio only needs individual time records, each person can keep a separate account and send a Time Report to the studio owner or project lead. Those accounts do not share projects or combine into one management view. When you need roles, approvals, staff allocation, central billing, or firm-level accounting, move to a team or firm-management product; Monograph is designed for that category and publishes a target of about 5 to 50 people.
Can I use the complete Phased workflow on my phone?
Yes. Phased is optimised for desktop and mobile browsers. You can use Grid or List, run the timer, and manage the rest of the workflow in your browser of choice. A running timer stays synced with your account, so it can be started on a desktop and stopped from a phone. Phased does not provide OS-level background activity capture or native app integrations.
Is Phased only for architects?
No. It is especially useful for solo architects, interior designers, graphic designers, artists, consultants, and videographers who agree a project price, organise work into phases, and need to see how the fee holds up against recorded time.