A good construction ERP in India connects site operations (material, labour, daily progress) with money (BOQ, RA bills, subcontractor bills, purchase and accounts). Small contractors usually get far with a site app like Onsite or Powerplay plus TallyPrime or Zoho Books for the books. Builders and developers running several projects with sales and collections usually need a fuller ERP such as StrategicERP, Zepth or a configured Odoo.
The rest of this guide explains how to pick between these approaches and what each option costs according to its official site.
What construction businesses need from software
Construction does not fit the "buy stock, sell stock" model that generic ERPs are built on. Our construction industry page sums up the pain points:
- Material sits across several active sites and moves between them
- Most labour is contract labour, paid by attendance at site
- Billing is milestone-based, through running account (RA) bills against a BOQ
- Subcontractor bills and retention money need their own tracking
- Project profit is invisible until the end unless costs are captured live
For developers, add bookings, customer demand letters, collections and channel partners.
How to choose construction ERP software
1. Identify your business model
- Contractor or subcontractor: Your priorities are BOQ, RA bills, labour attendance, material at site and your own client billing.
- Builder or developer: You need all of that plus sales CRM, unit inventory, customer payment schedules and possibly rentals or facility management.
- Infrastructure or EPC: You need budgeting, procurement with vendor evaluation, equipment and asset tracking, and multi-project reporting.
2. Check the site-to-office loop
The biggest value comes from site engineers entering data on a phone: material received, labour present, work done. Ask for a demo on a low-end Android phone and with patchy connectivity.
3. Decide how accounting fits
Many Indian construction firms keep their books in Tally even after adopting a site ERP. Check whether the construction tool has an accounting integration and what it costs. See accounting software for construction.
4. Plan labour and payroll
Daily-wage labour, contractor-supplied labour and salaried staff all behave differently. Some site tools handle labour attendance. For staff payroll and compliance, see HRMS software for construction and attendance software for construction.
Comparison: construction ERP options in India
| Software | Best fit | Key capabilities (per vendor site) | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onsite | Contractors, small and mid builders | Payments and expenses, labour attendance, material inventory, subcontractor billing; BOQ and RA bills, budget control and POs on Business+ | Business ₹12,000/user/year (min. 5 users); Business+ ₹15,000/user/year (min. 5 users); Enterprise from ₹12L+/year |
| Powerplay | Contractors, site teams | Project progress, material, labour attendance, issues, petty cash and budgets, reporting | Price on request |
| StrategicERP | Developers, infrastructure firms | Real-estate sales and CRM, project execution, finance, HR and payroll, procurement, asset maintenance | Price on request |
| Zepth | Large projects, developers | AI-assisted RFIs and submittals, invoice-to-PO matching, change-order risk, schedule forecasting | Price on request |
| Odoo | Firms that want one configurable platform | Accounting, inventory, purchase, project, HR apps | Standard ₹725-950/user/month; Custom ₹1,150-1,420/user/month (yearly) |
| TallyPrime | Contractor bookkeeping | GST accounting, inventory, e-invoicing, cost centres | Silver ₹22,500, Gold ₹67,500 perpetual (+GST); rental available |
Sources: Onsite pricing, Powerplay, StrategicERP, Zepth, Odoo pricing, Tally pricing.
The options in more detail
Onsite: transparent pricing for contractors
Onsite's pricing page is one of the few in this category with published prices. The Business plan covers payments and expenses, labour attendance, CRM, material inventory, task and issue tracking, and subcontractor billing. Business+ adds the features most contractors actually buy an ERP for: BOQ and RA bills, budget control, a central warehouse, RFQs, purchase orders, equipment management, staff payroll and multi-level approvals. Enterprise adds GPS attendance, custom roles, vendor and client portals, and integrations with Zoho, Tally and SAP. Tally or Zoho Books integration is a paid add-on (₹20,000/year plus ₹5,000 maintenance on the lower plans).
Powerplay: site-first app
Powerplay focuses on project progress, daily reports, material, labour attendance, issue management, petty cash and budget tracking, with mobile apps for iOS and Android. It targets owners, project managers, site engineers and contractors. No pricing is published, so ask for a quote.
StrategicERP: real estate and infrastructure depth
StrategicERP offers separate real-estate and infrastructure ERP suites. The real-estate suite covers campaigns, sales automation, project execution, finance and HR/payroll, plus property management for rentals and maintenance. The infrastructure suite covers site management, project budgeting, procurement with vendor evaluation and asset maintenance. It also has mobile apps for CRM, customers and partners. That makes it a natural shortlist item for ERP for builders and developers. Pricing is on request.
Zepth: AI-led project controls
Zepth positions itself as an AI construction platform that covers RFIs and submittals, bid comparison, invoice-to-PO matching, change-order risk flags and probabilistic schedule forecasting. It says it works alongside existing systems rather than replacing them. It suits large projects more than small contractors. Pricing is on request.
Odoo and Tally for the accounting core
Odoo gives you accounting, inventory, purchase and project on one platform, and the Custom plan adds Studio and multi-company support. It works if you have a partner to configure BOQ and RA-bill flows. For contractor bookkeeping software, TallyPrime remains the common choice: cost centres per site, GST, TDS entries and your CA's familiarity. Zoho Books is the cloud alternative, with progress invoicing from Standard and project profitability from Professional.
Recommended stacks
- Small contractor (1-3 sites): Onsite Business or Powerplay for site data, TallyPrime Silver or Zoho Books Standard for the books.
- Mid-size contractor (RA billing, subcontractors): Onsite Business+ with the Tally or Zoho integration, or Odoo configured by a partner.
- Developer with sales and collections: StrategicERP, or a construction ERP plus a real estate software CRM.
- Large EPC or multi-project developer: Evaluate StrategicERP, Zepth and enterprise ERP software side by side.
For project scheduling alone, see project management for construction. Browse all tools under construction software.
Implementation checklist
- Standardise BOQ item codes before migrating.
- Set up each project as a cost centre in accounts and match it in the ERP.
- Define the approval chain for purchase requests and subcontractor bills.
- Train site engineers first. If they do not enter data, nothing else works.
- Start with one live project before rolling out to all sites.
FAQ
What is the best construction ERP in India for small contractors?
Small contractors usually need site tracking plus simple accounting rather than a heavy ERP. A site app like Onsite or Powerplay combined with TallyPrime or Zoho Books covers most needs at a predictable cost.
Which ERP is best for builders and developers?
Developers need sales, bookings and collections as well as execution. StrategicERP's real-estate suite covers both sides. Other options are a construction ERP combined with a real estate CRM, or a configurable platform like Odoo.
Can Tally be used for contractor bookkeeping?
Yes. Use cost centres per project or site, record TDS on subcontractor payments, and keep retention money in separate ledgers. Tally does not handle BOQ or site material, so add a site tool for those.
How much does construction ERP cost in India?
Onsite publishes ₹12,000-15,000 per user per year with a five-user minimum, and Odoo publishes ₹725-1,420 per user per month. Powerplay, StrategicERP and Zepth quote on request.
Do construction ERPs handle labour attendance?
Many do. Onsite and Powerplay both list labour attendance. For payroll and statutory compliance of salaried staff, pair them with HRMS software.
