Kineo vs CMap
Kineo and CMap both run projects, time, and invoicing for engineering and architecture firms. CMap does this in CMap AEC, its practice management product, and adds CMap PIM for document and drawing control, CMap Mail for filing Outlook email, and CMap Intelligence for chat and AI agents. Kineo drafts each phase invoice from the contract with QuickBooks Online as the ledger, gives each project its own email address, and lets its assistant, your automations, and Claude or ChatGPT work on the same project records.
Free for 14 days, with every feature included.
- Compared
- Kineo and CMap
- Published by
- Kineo
- CMap details
- Checked October 2026
Which one fits your firm
Choose CMap if you want
- Resource planning, job costing, and project financials across the firm in CMap AEC
- Document and drawing control built on Microsoft 365 in CMap PIM, with controlled issue, transmittals, approvals, and history
- Outlook email managed, filed, and searched in CMap Mail, which can run without CMap AEC
- CAD and BIM tools alongside drawing approvals, in PIM's Design package
- CMap Chat for plain-English questions about your firm's data, in early access as of October 2026, and six AI agents covering sales to admin
Choose Kineo if you want
- An email address for each project, client, and contact, with imported mail feeding suggestions and automations
- Automations you describe in plain language, like drafting a change order when a client asks for extra work
- An assistant that drafts and edits project records, in Kineo or from Claude, ChatGPT, and Claude Code
- Drawing reviews against your firm's checklists, with each markup filed under the item it answers and outside reviewers by link
- Phase invoices from the contract with retainage and a G703-style continuation sheet, synced with QuickBooks Online
- Published per-seat pricing with every feature on every plan, and a free trial you can start today
Kineo and CMap side by side
Each product described in its own terms, from its website and documentation.
| Job | Kineo | CMap |
|---|---|---|
| Email and assistants | ||
| Project email | An address for each project, client, and contact, from any email provider. Someone on the team checks the sender and imports each message, and Kineo reads it, links it to the project, and suggests tasks and comments. Automations watching the inbox can draft change orders and proposals. | CMap Mail manages, files, and searches Outlook email. CMap PIM manages email alongside the project's documents and drawings in Microsoft 365. |
| Assistant | A chat beside any screen that reads and edits projects, tasks, time, contracts, and billing drafts with the permissions of the person asking. | CMap Chat, in early access as of October 2026, answers plain-English questions from your firm's CMap data. CMap's recorded introduction shows it building reports. |
| Agents and automations | Rules you describe in plain language. They run when email is imported, when something happens in Kineo, on hourly workday checks, or by hand, and they draft documents, create tasks, and email your team. | Six AI agents, named Sales, Operations, Delivery, Finance, Reporting, and Admin, covering jobs such as fee and staffing guidance, finance, and logging time. |
| Claude, ChatGPT, and other assistants | An MCP server with sign-in, so Claude, ChatGPT, and Claude Code work on Kineo records with each person's permissions. | Its Intelligence page lists MCP, for connecting CMap to the AI tools your team already uses, as coming soon. |
| Projects, documents, and drawings | ||
| Projects | Clients, projects, phases, drawing sets, and documents with tasks, reviews, files, and history, and a board by document stage. | Projects in CMap AEC, its practice management product. |
| Time and expenses | Weekly timesheets and expenses with approval, billed at effective-dated rates. The assistant can enter a week of time from a description. | Time and expenses in CMap AEC. CMap also lists logging time among the jobs its AI agents do. |
| Documents and drawings | Drawing sets and documents on each project, with tasks, checklist reviews, files, and history, and a board by document stage. | CMap PIM manages documents and drawings in Microsoft 365, with controlled issue, transmittals, and revision history. |
| Review and approval | Reviews against your firm's checklists, routed by review workflows with reminders. Each markup is filed under the checklist item it answers, each item gets a decision, and a markup can become a task. Outside reviewers join by emailed link. | Drawing approvals are included in PIM Essentials. The Design package adds CAD and BIM tools. |
| Billing | ||
| Invoicing | Drafted by phase from percent complete and approved time and expenses, with retainage and a G703-style continuation sheet. Someone on the team issues and sends each one. | Invoicing in CMap AEC. |
| QuickBooks Online | Customers, invoices, credit memos, and payments sync, and payments recorded in QuickBooks update Kineo. | QuickBooks Online is listed among CMap's integrations. |
| Buying | ||
| Price | $29, $49, or $79 per seat per month, with every feature on every plan. | Starter, Growth, Pro, and Enterprise plans, with prices by quote. |
| Getting started | A 14-day free trial you start yourself, or a demo with the founder. | A quote based on your users, products, and add-ons. Your account team arranges CMap Chat's early access. |
Email and assistants
Project email
- Kineo
- An address for each project, client, and contact, from any email provider. Someone on the team checks the sender and imports each message, and Kineo reads it, links it to the project, and suggests tasks and comments. Automations watching the inbox can draft change orders and proposals.
- CMap
- CMap Mail manages, files, and searches Outlook email. CMap PIM manages email alongside the project's documents and drawings in Microsoft 365.
Assistant
- Kineo
- A chat beside any screen that reads and edits projects, tasks, time, contracts, and billing drafts with the permissions of the person asking.
- CMap
- CMap Chat, in early access as of October 2026, answers plain-English questions from your firm's CMap data. CMap's recorded introduction shows it building reports.
Agents and automations
- Kineo
- Rules you describe in plain language. They run when email is imported, when something happens in Kineo, on hourly workday checks, or by hand, and they draft documents, create tasks, and email your team.
- CMap
- Six AI agents, named Sales, Operations, Delivery, Finance, Reporting, and Admin, covering jobs such as fee and staffing guidance, finance, and logging time.
Claude, ChatGPT, and other assistants
- Kineo
- An MCP server with sign-in, so Claude, ChatGPT, and Claude Code work on Kineo records with each person's permissions.
- CMap
- Its Intelligence page lists MCP, for connecting CMap to the AI tools your team already uses, as coming soon.
Projects, documents, and drawings
Projects
- Kineo
- Clients, projects, phases, drawing sets, and documents with tasks, reviews, files, and history, and a board by document stage.
- CMap
- Projects in CMap AEC, its practice management product.
Time and expenses
- Kineo
- Weekly timesheets and expenses with approval, billed at effective-dated rates. The assistant can enter a week of time from a description.
- CMap
- Time and expenses in CMap AEC. CMap also lists logging time among the jobs its AI agents do.
Documents and drawings
- Kineo
- Drawing sets and documents on each project, with tasks, checklist reviews, files, and history, and a board by document stage.
- CMap
- CMap PIM manages documents and drawings in Microsoft 365, with controlled issue, transmittals, and revision history.
Review and approval
- Kineo
- Reviews against your firm's checklists, routed by review workflows with reminders. Each markup is filed under the checklist item it answers, each item gets a decision, and a markup can become a task. Outside reviewers join by emailed link.
- CMap
- Drawing approvals are included in PIM Essentials. The Design package adds CAD and BIM tools.
Billing
Invoicing
- Kineo
- Drafted by phase from percent complete and approved time and expenses, with retainage and a G703-style continuation sheet. Someone on the team issues and sends each one.
- CMap
- Invoicing in CMap AEC.
QuickBooks Online
- Kineo
- Customers, invoices, credit memos, and payments sync, and payments recorded in QuickBooks update Kineo.
- CMap
- QuickBooks Online is listed among CMap's integrations.
Buying
Price
- Kineo
- $29, $49, or $79 per seat per month, with every feature on every plan.
- CMap
- Starter, Growth, Pro, and Enterprise plans, with prices by quote.
Getting started
- Kineo
- A 14-day free trial you start yourself, or a demo with the founder.
- CMap
- A quote based on your users, products, and add-ons. Your account team arranges CMap Chat's early access.
Give every project, client, and contact its own email address
CMap Mail files and searches Outlook email, and CMap PIM keeps email with the project's documents and drawings in Microsoft 365.
Forward or copy mail to a project's, client's, or contact's own address from any email account, so each message comes in addressed to the work it's about.
When someone on your team imports a message, Kineo reads it and its attachments, files it under the project, and, where suggestions are turned on, suggests the tasks and comments it asks for. Automations watching the inbox can draft the change order or proposal a client asks for and create a task for the project manager to check it. Every imported message also lands in one inbox for the whole firm.
Ask Kineo's assistant to work on your project records
Open Kineo's assistant beside any screen and ask in plain language. It reads projects, contracts, time, and email. It can set up phases and tasks, enter a week of time, record a payment, or draft the proposal, change order, or invoice that follows from what it read, with the permissions of the person asking.
Describe an automation in plain language and see each step before it runs
Pick what to watch, such as a project's inbox, an invoice, or a phase, then write when to act and what to do. Kineo lays out the steps as you type. Automations start when an email is imported, when something happens in Kineo, on an hourly check during the workday, or when you run them by hand.
They draft proposals, contracts, change orders, invoices, and credit notes, create tasks, and email the people on your team you choose. Drafts wait for someone with permission to review them, and if a step fails, the steps that succeeded are kept so you can retry the rest.
Work on Kineo from Claude, ChatGPT, or Claude Code
Kineo runs an MCP server. MCP is the open standard assistants use to connect to other software. Each person signs in with their Kineo account, and the assistant gets the same tools as Kineo's own, within that person's permissions. It can read a project's email, check the phases and fee lines on its contract, draft a change order or the month's invoice, record a payment, and enter a week of time.
In Claude Code, run claude mcp add --transport http kineo https://app.gokineo.com/mcp, then sign in from /mcp.
Review drawings against your firm's checklists, with outside reviewers by link
CMap PIM handles document and drawing control in Microsoft 365, with controlled issue, transmittals, approvals, and revision history.
Kineo's drawing reviews run against your firm's own checklists. Each markup is filed under the checklist item it answers, and each item gets a decision. Review workflows route each set to its reviewers, with reminders, and a markup can become a task for the person revising the sheet. Clients, agencies, and consultants review through an emailed link with the same drawings, markup tools, and checklist as your team, without an account or a seat.
Bill each phase from the contract, with retainage and QuickBooks Online
When a client accepts a proposal, its fee lines become the contract. Kineo drafts each invoice by phase from percent complete and approved time and expenses, withholds retainage where the contract calls for it, and adds a G703-style continuation sheet to the PDF. Customers, invoices, credit memos, and payments sync with QuickBooks Online, which stays your ledger.
When extra work is agreed, an approved change order adjusts the contract's fee lines or phase budgets from its effective date, and the next invoice drafts from the updated contract.
What each costs
Kineo
- Team: $29 per seat per month, or $290 per seat per year
- Team Plus: $49 per seat per month, or $490 per seat per year
- Team Pro: $79 per seat per month, or $790 per seat per year
- Every feature on every plan, with more assistant usage and storage on Team Plus and Team Pro
- Outside reviewers and client portal contacts free, without a seat
- A 14-day free trial, then monthly or annual billing
CMap
- Starter, Growth, Pro, and Enterprise plans
- Prices come from a quote, based on your users, products, and add-ons
- CMap Mail and CMap PIM have their own plans and can run without CMap AEC
- PIM Essentials includes drawing approvals, and PIM Design adds CAD and BIM tools
- API access depends on the plan or comes as an add-on
CMap's plan and package names come from its UK website, checked October 2026, and it has a separate US website. Ask which products and plans your quote covers in your region. Kineo's prices are in US dollars.
Try Kineo on one project while you keep CMap
Run one current project in Kineo for a billing cycle, with CMap still running the rest of the firm, and compare the results with the people who'll use it.
- 1
Set up one project
Add a current project with its client, contract, and phases, and invite the people working on it.
- 2
Send it real email
Turn on the project's email address and forward it the next client request.
- 3
Write one automation
Describe one routine job, such as drafting a change order when a client asks for extra work.
- 4
Review the next drawing set
Route it through your checklist, with an outside reviewer if the project has one.
- 5
Bill the month
Draft the invoice and have your billing lead compare it with the one CMap produces.
Questions about Kineo and CMap
Sources
CMap's details come from its own website and documentation, checked October 2026. Products change, so confirm anything that matters to your decision with CMap.
More comparisons
Try Kineo on a project you're working on now
Set up a project with its contract and phases, invite your team, and give the assistant some of the routine work. Your first 14 days are free, with every feature included.