deltek alternativefor agencies

Deltek runs the agency ERP. Forge builds your client tools.

Deltek's agency products - WorkBook, Maconomy, TrafficLIVE - are heavyweight ERPs - the deepest finance and ops stack the largest agencies and networks run on, custom-priced and per seat. Forge builds, brands, hosts and runs the custom client-facing tools your agency needs - portals, status pages - on your domain, for one flat monthly price.

no code · we run the infrastructure · flat monthly pricing
the bottom line

Forge isn’t an app builder. It’s the managed internal-tools team for your agency.

honest take

Deltek is enterprise agency ERP. Forge is the light, managed client layer.

Deltek's agency platforms - WorkBook, Maconomy, TrafficLIVE - are some of the most comprehensive systems in the industry. If you're a global network or a large independent agency that needs deep finance, multi-entity reporting and resourcing across hundreds of people, Deltek is genuinely the standard.

But that depth is the trade-off: it's a multi-month-to-multi-year ERP project, built for finance and ops teams running internal operations, not branded client experiences custom to a specific agency. Forge takes the opposite tack - one specific, branded, client-facing tool (a portal, a status page), built around your agency and run entirely by us, live in minutes with no implementation project and a flat fee.

why forge instead

Built for agency owners, not builders.

Opinionated presets, not a blank canvas

You don't want to describe an app from scratch - you want the right one. Forge gives you a catalog of agency tools (client portals, status pages, time tracking), set up by answering a few plain questions.

Fully managed - zero tech tax

Hosting, database, domains, secrets, updates - all on infrastructure we own and run, that your clients never see. You never connect a service, watch a meter, or redeploy anything.

Built for your whole client roster

Forge is designed around the agency-to-client relationship: a separate, branded, separately-tracked tool for each client - not one app at a time.

It gets better after launch

Every tool ships with usage analytics you can share with clients to prove value, and a feedback channel that quietly improves it - without you lifting a finger.

Flat, predictable pricing

One monthly subscription covers the AI and the hosting. No credits to burn, no usage meter to watch, simple to expense.

Improves for everyone, automatically

Because tools are built from structured presets, feedback from one agency improves the preset for all of them. The whole catalog gets better over time.

side by side

Forge vs Deltek

ForgeDeltek
Who it's forAgencies that want branded, client-facing tools, managedLarge agencies and networks running enterprise ERP
SetupA few plain questions - live in minutesA multi-month-to-multi-year ERP implementation
Who runs itWe do - hosting, data, branding, updatesYou, your finance team and an implementation partner
Per clientA separate, branded, isolated tool per clientOne internal ERP; clients aren't the focus
What you actually getCustom, branded client tools shaped to how you workAn enterprise agency ERP for finance and ops
Pricing modelFlat monthly, transparentCustom enterprise contracts, per seat
learn the lingo

Glossary & calculators

Free agency concepts and tools from Forge - plain-English definitions and instant calculators.

keep looking

Compare other tools, see Forge in action.

design. build. iterate.

The Deltek alternative your agency can actually hand off.

Pick a tool, answer a few plain-language questions, and we build, host and run it for you. No code, no infrastructure, nothing to maintain.