eSUB
Procore is a cloud-based construction management platform that connects project stakeholders through construction workflows. Its platform covers project management, financial management, quality and safety, preconstruction, and field productivity.
If you are a specialty subcontractor, you may encounter Procore through a general contractor rather than as the company that purchased it. Your project manager or foreman may receive access to the GC’s Procore project to manage RFIs, submittals, drawings, daily logs, and other project requirements.
That distinction matters. This guide explains what Procore is, what it is used for, and what it is like to work inside a GC’s Procore project as a subcontractor. It also explains which project and financial workflows your company may still need to manage outside that project.
Key Takeaways
- Procore is a cloud construction management platform built primarily for general contractors, construction managers and owners.
- It covers project management, financials, quality and safety, preconstruction and field productivity as separately licensed modules.
- Most specialty subcontractors meet Procore as an invited participant on a general contractor’s account rather than as a buyer.
- Guest access lets a sub read and respond inside the GC’s project but does not cover the sub’s own T&M, AIA-style billing or labor tracking.
- Procore does not publish pricing and quotes against annual construction volume rather than user count.
What Procore Does
Procore is cloud-based construction management software that connects project teams, project data, and workflows throughout the construction lifecycle. Its product lines cover preconstruction, project management, resource management, and financial management.
For a specialty subcontractor, the Procore tools you may encounter include:
- Project Management: Procore supports RFIs, submittals, drawings, daily logs, correspondence, and other project records. It has a mobile app that lets field teams access drawings, submit daily reports, and capture photos from the jobsite.
- Quality & Safety: Procore provides tools for site diaries, inspections, incidents, forms, and other quality and safety records. These tools give project teams a central place to document field conditions and follow-up work.
- Preconstruction: Procore's preconstruction products support estimating, bidding, design, documents, and takeoffs before work moves into construction.
- Resource Management: Procore's resource tools cover labor, equipment, and materials. Resource Management can help teams plan, track, and forecast these resources across projects.
- Financial Management: Procore provides tools for project financials, invoices, and other financial workflows. It also offers accounting integrations that connect Procore with existing financial systems.
The important point for a subcontractor is that your access depends on the Procore project and the permissions assigned to your company and users, which are often limited and read-only. A GC or project administrator can give your team access to specific project tools without giving you access to every Procore product used on the project.
Procore can also work alongside accounting and other business systems through its integrations. Procore says its platform connects with more than 500 partner integrations, allowing companies to connect existing tools with their Procore workflows.
Procore's pricing is based on Annual Construction Volume (ACV) and an upfront annual fee by product, rather than a standard per-user monthly rate. For more on Procore’s current pricing structure, see our Procore pricing guide.
Who Procore Is Built For
Procore serves general contractors, construction managers, owners, and specialty contractors managing commercial construction projects.
You use Procore to manage project documents, RFIs, submittals, drawings, daily logs, financial information, quality and safety records, and field activity.
Procore packages these capabilities as different products, so a company can select the products it needs rather than automatically using every capability.
For a subcontractor, access also depends on the GC's project permissions. A GC can invite a subcontractor to its Procore project and control which tools and permission levels that company can access.
That means your Procore experience may be limited to the RFIs, submittals, drawings, or other project tools the GC makes available, rather than the full set of products the GC uses internally. The Procore permissions page highlights which of these permissions can be typically granted to a subcontractor.
What It Is Like to Use a GC’s Procore as a Subcontractor
If a GC runs its project in Procore, your team may need to work in Procore too. The GC adds your company to the project and controls which tools and permissions your team receives. Procore assigns tool permissions at the project level, so your access can differ from one project to the next.
Your Procore workflow can look different depending on your role:
- Foreman: Check current drawings, review project information, and create or respond to RFIs when the project gives you the required access.
- Project manager: Manage RFIs, review submittals, and handle change-related project records assigned to your company.
- Back office: Keep up with project documentation and information coming through the GC's system.
For example, Procore's typical subcontractor permissions give Standard access to RFIs and Change Orders, while Submittals are typically read-only unless the GC grants Standard permission. A subcontractor with Standard Submittals access can be assigned a response step in the workflow.
That permission structure matters because you do not automatically get the same Procore access as the GC. The project administrator decides what your team can see and what it can do.
Learning Procore also depends on what your team needs to use. A foreman who only needs drawings and RFIs has a different workflow from a project manager handling submittals and change orders. Procore provides training and certification resources for specialty contractors, but your team still needs to learn the tools required for each project, which can come at an additional cost for subcontractors that need more training.
The bigger issue comes when you work across multiple GCs.
One project may use Procore. Another may use a different platform. Your company still has to track its own work across those jobs, regardless of which system each GC selects. This can cause confusion when time is of the essence, or when your team needs to learn several platforms.
That means your Procore login does not replace the work your company manages outside the GC's project. You still have your own:
- Project managers and foremen
- Labor and time tracking
- T&M documentation
- Change order pricing and follow-up
- Progress billing
- Project records and internal workflows
Procore can support many of these functions when a subcontractor uses its own Procore account. Procore now markets project execution, cost management, resource management, and other products directly to specialty contractors.
But that is different from being invited into a GC's project.
The practical question for a subcontractor is not whether Procore can manage construction work. It is what your team controls when the Procore project belongs to the GC.
That distinction is why a subcontractor may use Procore every day on a job while still needing its own system for the work, records, and processes it manages across the business.
What Subcontractors Still Run Outside Procore
Working across a GC’s Procore project and your company’s own systems can create duplicate data entry. This creates a double-entry problem when subcontractors maintain field notes, change orders, submittals, and budgets in their own system while entering the same information into the GC's platform. Your PM may update the GC's project while your office maintains the same job information for your own records.
The workflows can also be different. GC platforms often organize information around dollar amounts and schedule changes. Subcontractors need labor, material, equipment, and production quantities to run the work. Moving information between those systems takes additional staff time.
Data ownership is another limitation. There is a risk that subcontractors can lose access to project data on the GC's platform after project closeout. That means the system controlling the project during construction may not remain the system your company controls afterward.
The burden increases across multiple GCs. Many subcontractors work across 2 to 3 different GC software platforms each year (e.g., Procore, Autodesk (Ignite), Textura). Each can bring different permissions, numbering, and documentation requirements.
Your company still has to manage the same labor, costs, billing, and change orders across those jobs. Using a GC's Procore project does not remove that work. It adds another project environment your team may need to maintain.
What Users Say About Procore
Procore reviews on Capterra show clear praise for ease of use, project tracking, and access to project information. According to a review from an owner in construction, Procore has a short learning curve and works well for tracking multiple projects and AIA-style billing. Another assistant project manager in construction claims that real-time drawing updates, progress photos, quality checks, deficiency reports, vendor contract access, and change order history help with project coordination.
The criticisms mainly focus on specific workflows rather than the entire platform. According to one Capterra review, Procore can impose heavy administrative processes on routine maintenance projects, slowing down execution rather than accelerating it. Others complain that Procore can be slow and hard to navigate. Another CRO on Capterra says that QuickBooks integration, cost codes, and separating labor and material data added work to the bidding process.
This is a big deal for specialty subcontractors. The reviews show different experiences with AIA billing, project coordination, preconstruction bidding, and accounting integration. Those workflow details are more useful than an overall star rating when deciding whether Procore fits the work your company actually runs.
How Much Procore Costs
Procore does not have a standard monthly price. Procore charges an upfront annual fee based on the products you buy and your Annual Construction Volume, or ACV. Its pricing includes unlimited users, so adding employees does not create another per-user charge. Learn more about Procore pricing.
For a subcontractor, the quote is only part of the decision. If a GC requires Procore for RFIs, submittals, drawings, or other project workflows, your team may need to use it on that job.
The next question is what your company still needs to run in its own system. Fusion by eSUB is built around the documents and workflows commercial subcontractors manage. Palman Electric used Procore with GCs but switched to eSUB because its team needed more flexibility for internal collaboration, change orders, daily reports, and labor tracking. See how Palman Electric made the switch.
Is Procore Right for a Specialty Subcontractor?
Procore can be the right project platform when a GC requires your team to use it. Your PMs and foremen may need it for RFIs, submittals, drawings, and other project records the GC manages.
The separate question is what your company needs to run its own work. If your team manages T&M, AIA billing, labor, change orders, daily reports, and project records across several GCs, those workflows still need a system that covers them.
Palman Electric is a 120-employee electrical contractor that used Procore with its GCs. Scott Palman said Procore worked well for working with general contractors but did not give his team enough flexibility for internal collaboration, especially with change orders and daily work reports. The team also needed to track man-hours.
Palman Electric then adopted Fusion by eSUB. The team began with one foreman and expanded use to project managers and other foremen. It now uses eSUB for man-hour tracking, change orders, daily reports, labor tracking, and submittals.
That example shows the distinction a specialty subcontractor needs to make. Procore may be part of a job because the GC uses it. Your company still needs to manage the work, records, and costs it owns.
The useful comparison is not which platform is better in general. It is whether your system covers the work your PMs, foremen, and back office manage across your projects.
See more subcontractor case studies or compare Procore alternatives.
FAQs
What is Procore used for?
Procore provides construction management tools for work from preconstruction through closeout. Its products cover areas such as project management, financial management, resource management, quality and safety, and field productivity. The specific tools available depend on the products a company buys and the permissions assigned to each project participant.
Who owns Procore?
Procore Technologies, Inc. is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker PCOR.
Is Procore free for subcontractors?
A subcontractor can access a GC's Procore project through an invitation and the permissions assigned to that project. Procore also offers free company accounts in the United States and Canada, but those accounts provide limited access to invited projects and bids. A free account does not replace the systems your company may need for T&M, AIA billing, labor tracking, or change order pricing.
How much does Procore cost?
Procore does not publish a standard monthly list price. It charges an upfront annual fee by product based on Annual Construction Volume, or ACV, and its standard pricing includes unlimited users. See the Procore pricing guide.
Is Procore good for small contractors?
It depends on the work your company needs to manage. Recent Capterra reviews include positive comments about ease of use and project tracking, along with concerns about workflow complexity, administrative work, and cost. A small contractor should compare the Procore tools it needs with the work it still has to manage outside the platform. See the Capterra reviews.
What is the difference between Procore and eSUB?
Procore supports owners, general contractors, and specialty contractors across preconstruction, project management, financial management, and field work. eSUB is built specifically for commercial subcontractors, with workflows centered on the documents, field records, change orders, billing, and labor processes those contractors manage. The practical difference is the work each system is built to organize.
Do subcontractors need their own software if the GC uses Procore?
Not always. A subcontractor may use the GC's Procore project for the work the GC requires. If the company also needs to manage its own T&M, AIA billing, labor, change order pricing, and internal project records, it still needs a system that covers those workflows. That can mean maintaining information in both the GC's Procore project and the subcontractor's own system.
Keep Control of Your Workflows
Your GC may require Procore on a project. Your company still manages its own labor, billing, change orders, and project records.
Fusion by eSUB is built for commercial subcontractors and the workflows their PMs, foremen, and back office manage. Request a custom Fusion quote built around your team and modules.