Worklenz vs Accelo: PSA Comparison for Service Firms

Accelo is a PSA for professional services firms (consulting, accounting, engineering, architecture, agencies and IT services) that runs retainers and fixed-fee projects in one tool, with resourcing, project financials, payment processing and a client workspace. Accelo is quote-only. Worklenz covers the delivery loop (projects, time tracking, resourcing, client portal, project finance and invoicing) with published per-user prices, no seat minimum and an open source edition you can self-host.

Competitor prices and plan details were checked on Accelo’s pricing page on 11 November 2026. Worklenz prices are from the Worklenz pricing page. Prices change, so check both before you decide.

Worklenz vs Accelo at a glance

	Worklenz	Accelo
Built for	Agencies and service firms that sell time	PSA for professional services firms
Starting price	Free plan; Pro $8, Business $12 per active user/mo ($6 / $10 billed yearly)	Quote only (based on team size)
Seat minimum	None	Not published
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	Pro and Business, no card	Not published
Time tracking and timesheets	Pro and up	See note below
Resource scheduling and workload	Workload on Pro; full scheduler on Business	See note below
Client portal	Business	Yes (Client Workspace)
Invoicing	Business (create, send, mark paid, record payment)	Yes, with payment processing
Open source / self-host	Yes: AGPL-3.0, free Community edition	No

How Accelo packages it: Accelo doesn’t publish plans or prices. Its pricing page says pricing is based on team size and growth goals, and plans include implementation guidance and onboarding support.

What 10 and 25 people pay per year

To compare like for like, this uses Worklenz Business, the plan with the client portal, invoicing and project finance, against the Accelo tier closest to it.

Team size	Worklenz Business, billed yearly	Accelo
10 people	$1,200 ($1,440 monthly)	Quote only
25 people	$3,000 ($3,600 monthly)	Quote only

Accelo is quote-only, so we can’t put a number on it. Ask for a quote for 10 and 25 users and compare it with the Worklenz column. Teams that only need time tracking, timesheets and the workload view can use Worklenz Pro at $6 per user per month billed yearly.

Where Accelo is stronger

• Retainers and fixed-fee work side by side. Accelo runs ongoing retainers and fixed-fee projects in one tool, with retainer management in its project financials.
• Payment processing and accounting integrations. Accelo lists automated invoicing with payment processing, and integrations with QuickBooks Online, Xero, Sage Intacct, Stripe and PayPal. Worklenz invoices don’t take online card payments.
• Tickets and client approvals alongside projects, and a branded client workspace where clients approve work.

Where Worklenz is stronger

• One system from project to invoice. Tasks, time tracking, the workload view and scheduler, project budgets and rate cards, the client portal and invoices all share the same data. No stitching a PM tool to a time tracker, a scheduler and a billing tool.
• Price and no seat minimum. Worklenz Business is $12 per active user per month ($10 billed yearly), and you pay only for active users.
• Open source you can own. Worklenz is AGPL-3.0. You can self-host the free Community edition on your own servers, keep client data in-house, and avoid lock-in. Accelo is closed, vendor-hosted software.
• Client portal with requests. Clients log in, raise requests with a status history, follow progress, and chat and comment with your team.
• Imports from Asana, Trello, Jira, ClickUp, Monday and CSV, plus iOS and Android apps.

Where Worklenz falls short

Honest gaps, so you can rule Worklenz in or out quickly:

• No timesheet approval workflow yet.
• No online card payments on invoices. You record payments manually.
• No CRM. Worklenz sits alongside the CRM you already use.
• A smaller integration ecosystem than older commercial PSAs. Today it covers Slack (Business), Google and Apple sign-in, and GitHub.

Switching from Accelo to Worklenz

1. Start a free trial of Business. It needs no credit card, and it unlocks the client portal, invoicing and project finance so you can test the whole loop.
2. Bring your projects over. Worklenz imports from CSV, so the usual route is to export your projects and tasks from Accelo as a spreadsheet (check Accelo’s export options) and import them. Rebuild your delivery process as project templates while you’re at it.
3. Set up rates and budgets. Add your organisation rate card, per-project member rates and project budgets so costs and billable value build up from the first time log.
4. Invite clients to the portal once a project is running, so requests and status questions move out of email.
5. Run both tools for one billing cycle, then compare the invoice totals before you switch off Accelo.

Moving a larger team? Book a demo and we’ll walk through the migration with you.

Which should you choose?

Choose Accelo if you need online invoice payments, deep accounting integrations or ticketing alongside projects, and you’re comfortable with quote-based pricing and an implementation process.

Choose Worklenz if you’re an agency or service firm of 5 to 100 people that wants projects, time, resourcing, a client portal and invoicing in one system, at a lower per-user price, with the option to self-host.

See how other teams run on Worklenz: Imperius Agency, Longwapps, Nanosoft Fintech and WTV.

Frequently asked questions

Is Worklenz cheaper than Accelo?

Worklenz Business costs $12 per active user per month, or $10 billed yearly, with no seat minimum: $1,200 a year for 10 people on yearly billing. See the table above for the Accelo figures, and check both pricing pages for current prices.

How much does Accelo cost?

Accelo doesn’t publish prices. Its pricing page says pricing is based on your team size and growth goals, and you request a custom quote (Accelo pricing page, November 2026). Worklenz publishes its prices: Business is $12 per active user per month, or $10 billed yearly.

Can I self-host Worklenz?

Yes. The Worklenz Community edition is open source under AGPL-3.0 and free to self-host with unlimited users. Self-hosted Business adds priority support, SSO, custom branding and backup and restore; contact sales for pricing.

Does Worklenz have a free trial?

Yes. Pro and Business both have a free trial, and you don’t need a credit card to start it.