Mortar vs Programa for interior design projects
Programa deserves its reputation: it's the best-looking tool in the category, its FF&E schedules are genuinely strong, and a 4.8/5 across 73 Capterra reviews isn't an accident. If you're comparing tools on interface polish alone, Programa wins plenty of those comparisons.
The differences that matter show up in how each tool treats money. Programa's pricing page publishes no payment-processing rates — the payments feature page says 'no surprise fees' without stating the fees. Mortar publishes its full fee schedule, including its own share, on the pricing page. Below is the honest, cited breakdown of where each tool is stronger.
Comparing more than these two? See our full roundup of interior design project management software, covering all nine tools we've researched.
Written by Darren Clark — Founder of Mortar — 25+ years building software
Last updated July 15, 2026
Quick verdict
Choose Programa if a beautiful FF&E schedule workflow is the heart of how you work and you're happy running accounting in Xero or QuickBooks alongside it. Choose Mortar if live visual budgets, order tracking, and published payment fees matter more than interface awards.
Side by side
How they stack up
Mortar
$59/user/mo
Unlimited projects, no onboarding fee
Best for: Visual budgets, procurement, and a branded client portal — with payment fees published
- Visual, colour-coded budgets that update in real time
- Paste-URL product scraping plus a browser clipper
- CSV/XLSX item import with column mapping
- Branded, no-install client portal with a Pinterest-style board view
- Per-item client approvals with date and activity history
- Supplier quote requests with status tracking and reply threading
- Per-item order tracking — ordered, lead time, expected delivery, received
- Invoicing and client payments via Stripe Connect
Programa
$71/mo + $31/seat
Pro plan includes 1 seat; additional seats $31/mo each
Best for: Studios that live in FF&E schedules and want a modern, beautiful interface
- FF&E schedules designers rate highly
- Pinboards and client dashboards
- Invoicing and payments (Programa Pay) bundled in the single plan
- Time tracking
- Unlimited projects, all features on one tier
Feature by feature
Mortar vs Programa: feature comparison
Feature | Mortar | Programa |
|---|---|---|
Visual, colour-coded budgets | ✓ | — |
FF&E schedules | Selections roll up into the live budget | ✓ — its signature strength |
Client portal / dashboards | ✓ | ✓ |
Per-item approvals with activity history | ✓ | — |
Per-item order tracking (ordered / lead time / delivered) | ✓ | Ordering and fulfillment bundled; less granular per-item tracking published |
Native mobile app | No-install portal, mobile-responsive | None — reviewers report mobile web cut-offs |
Payment fee transparency | Published on the pricing page, including Mortar's share | Not published — 'no surprise fees' language, no rates |
Pricing structure | $59 per user/mo flat, unlimited projects | $71/mo incl. 1 seat, +$31 per extra seat |
A closer look at Programa
Programa is probably Mortar's most direct modern rival: an Australian-founded design-management platform built around FF&E schedules, pinboards, client dashboards, and invoicing, with a single all-features Pro plan at $71/month including one seat, plus $31/month per additional seat. Reviewers genuinely love the interface — it holds a 4.8/5 on Capterra across 73 reviews, and the clean, modern design comes up again and again.
The recurring complaints sit underneath that polish: there's no native mobile app and reviewers report the mobile and iPad web experience cuts off parts of pages, some describe schedule edits that don't save ('having to repeat tasks is frustrating'), and invoicing draws criticism for multi-currency failures and limited customisation. On money, Programa's pricing page publishes no payment-processing rates at all — the payments feature page uses 'no surprise fees' language without stating the fees.
What are our strengths?
Mortar
- Payment fees published on the pricing page, including Mortar's share — Programa publishes no rates
- Budgets are the centre of the workspace, not a byproduct of the schedule
- Straight per-seat pricing — no base-plus-seat maths as the team grows
- Per-item order tracking and supplier quote requests built into the same project
Programa
- Clean, modern interface reviewers consistently praise (4.8/5 on Capterra, 73 reviews)
- Strong FF&E schedule workflow
- Single all-features plan — no feature-gating between tiers
- Base price covers the first seat
Which one is for you?
When to choose each tool
When to choose Mortar
- You want the budget — not the schedule — to be the live centre of the project
- Per-item order tracking and supplier quote requests are part of every project you run
- You want the exact payment-fee split in writing before you take a client payment
- You're growing a team and want flat per-seat pricing rather than base-plus-seat maths
When to choose Programa
- FF&E schedules and pinboards are the core of your workflow
- Interface polish materially affects how you and your clients feel about the tool
- Your billing needs are simple, single-currency, and light on customisation
The verdict
The closest call in the category
This is the comparison where Mortar's honest answer is 'it depends on what sits at the centre of your workflow.' Programa is polished, well-reviewed, and strong on schedules — and its own reviewers report no native mobile app, schedule edits that sometimes don't save, and invoicing that struggles beyond the simple cases. Mortar starts from the budget and the money conversation: live visual budgets, per-item approvals and order tracking, and a payment-fee schedule published where a buyer can actually read it. Neither tool does full accounting — both leave the ledger to dedicated accounting software.
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