StudioHaus vs Programa.
Last updated · August 2026
Two tools built for designers rather than contractors — one leading with specification documents, one leading with the studio's daily operations and books.
Unlike the construction-suite incumbents, both StudioHaus™and Programa were built for interior designers specifically. The difference is the center of gravity. Programa grew up around the specification document — FF&E schedules, finish schedules, the sourcing that feeds them — and expanded outward into studio management. StudioHaus starts from the other end: the studio’s operations and finances — billing, the client relationship, the books — for boutique interior design studios, from solo designers to multi-designer firms. It is also the newer of the two, generally available with a self-serve free trial.
What Programa is
Programa is project management and specification software for interior designers and architects. Its named modules include Specifications (FF&E, finish, lighting, and joinery schedules), a Web Clipper and Product Library for sourcing, Presentations, Mood Boards, a Client Dashboard with approvals, Project Management with tasks and Kanban views, Time Tracking, Invoicing & Payments, and Procurement for tracking orders, shipping, delivery, and installation. Programa reports serving more than 6,000 studios across 80+ countries. Its QuickBooks integration drafts invoices in QuickBooks when created in Programa, syncs sent and paid statuses, matches client contacts, and imports tax rates.
Programa’s published pricing lists a Pro plan at $71 per month including one seat, with additional seats at $31 per month each, unlimited projects, and a 7-day free trial with no credit card required.
What StudioHaus is
StudioHaus is a practice-management platform purpose-built for boutique interior design studios — from solo designers to multi-designer firms. Its core: a branded client portal where files live, conversations happen, clients approve designs, and invoices get paid by card through Stripe once the studio connects its own Stripe account; contracts drafted, sent, and e-signed in-platform; billing that turns specified items into deposit and balance invoices and pushes them to QuickBooks Online in one click; purchase orders tracked from ordered to received against a firm-wide vendor book; project financials with margin and expense tracking; a web clipper that sends products into your library; and a route planner that logs site-visit drives, applies the IRS standard mileage rate, and books the result as a project expense that shows in the margin — a studio expense most tools leave in a second app. For the workflow behind that, see how to bill design clients: deposits, balances, and invoicing.
Pricing is one plan: $69 per month with every feature and one seat included, additional seats $20 per month each. Two seats is $89, three is $109, five is $149. Clients never count as users. Billed monthly, no annual contracts, self-serve signup with a 14-day free trial and no card required.
At a glance
| Dimension | Programa | StudioHaus |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Interior designers and architects, solo to large teams | Boutique interior design studios — solo designers to multi-designer firms |
| Center of gravity | Specification schedules and sourcing | Studio operations, billing, and the books |
| Client-facing surface | Client Dashboard with approvals | Branded client portal — files, conversations, approvals, invoices sent and tracked |
| Sourcing | Web Clipper + Product Library | Web clipper + product library |
| Procurement | Order, shipping, delivery, and installation tracking | Purchase orders with an Ordered → Production → Confirmed → Received lifecycle, vendor book, lead-time and vendor-spend reporting |
| Contracts | Not a named module on programa.design | Drafted, sent, and e-signed in-platform; signed PDF with timestamp and IP |
| Payments | Invoicing & Payments | Clients pay invoices by card through Stripe in the portal, once the studio connects its Stripe account |
| QuickBooks Online | Integration — invoice drafts, status sync, tax rates | Invoices push in one click; payments mirror automatically; tax added in QuickBooks |
| Mileage | Time tracking for billable hours | Dedicated route planner — drives booked as project expenses at the IRS standard mileage rate |
| Published pricing | $71/mo incl. 1 seat; +$31/seat/mo; 7-day trial | $69/mo incl. 1 seat; +$20/seat/mo; 14-day trial |
| Maturity | Established — 6,000+ studios reported | Newer — generally available, self-serve trial |
How to choose
If the specification document is the heart of your practice — long FF&E schedules across many rooms, formal procurement tracking through delivery and installation — Programa is built around exactly that, and its per-seat model scales to larger teams. If you run a boutique studio and the pain is operational — deposits and balances, mileage that never gets logged, invoices that don’t match the books — StudioHaus puts those first. For a three-person studio, the published list prices also differ in shape: three seats on Programa list at $133 per month, while three seats on StudioHaus list at $109. Thinking about what to share with clients and when or how studios run procurement is a good way to find your own center of gravity before choosing.