Kineo vs Deltek Ajera
Deltek Ajera combines project management and project-based accounting in one application for small engineering and architecture firms, with Ask Dela answering questions about Ajera data for Ajera Cloud customers. Kineo runs projects, phase billing, project email, and drawing reviews with QuickBooks Online as the ledger, 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 Deltek Ajera
- Published by
- Kineo
- Deltek Ajera details
- Checked October 2026
Which one fits your firm
Choose Deltek Ajera if you want
- Project management and project-based accounting in one application, with your ledger in the same system
- Ask Dela on Ajera Cloud, answering questions about clients, projects, and project financials and drafting messages
- Timesheet Assist suggestions from recent work and upcoming assignments, and receipt capture that fills in expense reports
- Invoices generated from project data and routed for approval, with bank transactions matched in Ajera
- Schedule Manager and role-based dashboards for workload, utilization, and firm performance
- Client portal payments that reconcile back into Ajera, with the Ajera Payments add-on
Choose Kineo if you want
- QuickBooks Online as your ledger, with customers, invoices, credit memos, and payments kept in sync
- 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
- Published per-seat pricing with every feature on every plan, and a free trial you can start today
Kineo and Deltek Ajera side by side
Each product described in its own terms, from its website and documentation.
| Job | Kineo | Deltek Ajera |
|---|---|---|
| Assistants and automations | ||
| Assistant | A chat beside any screen that reads and edits projects, tasks, time, contracts, and billing drafts with the permissions of the person asking. | Ask Dela, for Ajera Cloud customers, answers questions about clients, contacts, projects, and project financials, including custom fields, and drafts communications you can copy or email. Each company turns it on and chooses which roles can use it. |
| 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. | Timesheet Assist suggests entries from recent work and upcoming assignments, and receipt capture fills in expense reports from a phone. |
| 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. | Built-in automation for approving invoices and matching bank transactions. Ajera 10.3 added automatic bank entries for service charges, interest, and NSF items from the bank feed. |
| Projects and billing | ||
| Projects | Clients, projects, phases, drawing sets, and documents with tasks, reviews, files, and history, and a board by document stage. | Project timelines, workload views, and dashboards for project health. |
| Invoices | 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. | Invoices generated from project data, routed for approval, and delivered electronically. |
| Where the books are kept | QuickBooks Online stays the ledger. Customers, invoices, credit memos, and payments sync, and payments recorded in QuickBooks update Kineo. | Project-based accounting in the same application as your projects, with bank transaction matching. |
| Buying | ||
| Price | $29, $49, or $79 per seat per month, with every feature on every plan. | Priced by quote from Deltek. |
| Getting started | A 14-day free trial you start yourself, or a demo with the founder. | Purchase starts with a demo or a sales conversation with Deltek. |
Assistants and automations
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.
- Deltek Ajera
- Ask Dela, for Ajera Cloud customers, answers questions about clients, contacts, projects, and project financials, including custom fields, and drafts communications you can copy or email. Each company turns it on and chooses which roles can use it.
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.
- Deltek Ajera
- Timesheet Assist suggests entries from recent work and upcoming assignments, and receipt capture fills in expense reports from a phone.
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.
- Deltek Ajera
- Built-in automation for approving invoices and matching bank transactions. Ajera 10.3 added automatic bank entries for service charges, interest, and NSF items from the bank feed.
Projects and billing
Projects
- Kineo
- Clients, projects, phases, drawing sets, and documents with tasks, reviews, files, and history, and a board by document stage.
- Deltek Ajera
- Project timelines, workload views, and dashboards for project health.
Invoices
- 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.
- Deltek Ajera
- Invoices generated from project data, routed for approval, and delivered electronically.
Where the books are kept
- Kineo
- QuickBooks Online stays the ledger. Customers, invoices, credit memos, and payments sync, and payments recorded in QuickBooks update Kineo.
- Deltek Ajera
- Project-based accounting in the same application as your projects, with bank transaction matching.
Buying
Price
- Kineo
- $29, $49, or $79 per seat per month, with every feature on every plan.
- Deltek Ajera
- Priced by quote from Deltek.
Getting started
- Kineo
- A 14-day free trial you start yourself, or a demo with the founder.
- Deltek Ajera
- Purchase starts with a demo or a sales conversation with Deltek.
Bill each phase in Kineo and keep your books in QuickBooks Online
Deltek describes Ajera as one application for project management and project-based accounting, so a firm's projects and its books can be in the same system.
Kineo is built for engineering and architecture firms that keep QuickBooks Online as their ledger.
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.
If your firm's books are in Ajera today, settle with your accountant where they'll be kept before you move any billing.
Give every project, client, and contact its own email address
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.
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.
Ask Kineo's assistant to work on your project records
Ajera's Ask Dela, available to Ajera Cloud customers, answers questions about clients, contacts, projects, and project financials and drafts communications you can copy or email.
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.
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
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.
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
Deltek Ajera
- Priced by quote from Deltek, starting with a demo or a sales conversation
- Ask Dela is available to Ajera Cloud customers
- Ajera Payments, for client payments through a portal, is an add-on
Ajera's terms come from Deltek's Ajera pages, checked October 2026. Ask Deltek for a quote that lists the users, hosting, implementation, and add-ons you need, including Ajera Cloud if you want Ask Dela. Kineo's prices are in US dollars.
Try Kineo on one project while you keep Deltek Ajera
Run one current project in Kineo for a billing cycle, with Deltek Ajera 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 Deltek Ajera produces.
Questions about Kineo and Deltek Ajera
Sources
Deltek Ajera's details come from its own website and documentation, checked October 2026. Products change, so confirm anything that matters to your decision with Deltek Ajera.
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.