TL;DR: Managing site data across many construction projects is a governance job: who sets up each project, who can see what, how data stays consistent, and what happens when a job closes. Drone platforms hold the site record; construction management systems hold documents and workflows. Choose on project structure, roles, outside access and single sign-on.
Key takeaways
- Finding information wastes time. According to an FMI and PlanGrid study, construction professionals spend 35% of their time on non-productive work, including looking for project information.
- Bad information leads to rework. According to the same study, rework from miscommunication and inaccessible information cost the US industry more than $31 billion in 2018.
- The portfolio is large. According to the US Census Bureau, construction put in place in the US was worth $2,164.4 billion in 2025.
- Pricing models differ by platform. Some charge by user, others by construction volume or plan, which changes the cost of giving owners and subcontractors access.
- Single sign-on is an IT question as much as a feature. Birdi (birdi.io), for example, offers it only on its Ultimate plan, at extra cost.
What changes when you manage site data across many projects?
Across many projects, the problem shifts from capturing data to governing it. Someone has to set up each project the same way, give the right people the right access, keep naming and coordinate systems consistent, and close projects cleanly. Without that, each project becomes its own system, and finding data across the portfolio is slow.
The people involved multiply too. A digital or innovation lead runs the drone program. Project managers need their own sites. Owners, designers and subcontractors need to see some data but not edit it. IT needs single sign-on and to know where data is stored. A platform that handles one project well may not handle forty.
Two kinds of system
Most contractors run two systems that share this job. A construction management system, such as Procore, holds documents, RFIs and workflows. A site data platform holds drone maps, point clouds and 360 photos. The list below covers both, since the choice of one affects the other. For sharing within a single team, see our guide to sharing drone maps.
How did we choose and compare the platforms?
We chose platforms that contractors use to hold drone and site data across a portfolio, and compared them on project structure, roles and guests, single sign-on, data types in one view, access for people outside the paid team, and pricing model. Birdi is listed first, and the order is not a ranking. Facts were checked on October 7, 2026.
Where a vendor does not publish a detail, such as its single sign-on terms, we say so rather than guess. Storage location and data residency matter to many IT teams, so ask each vendor directly where your data will be held.
The best software for multi-project construction data in 2026
The platforms compared here for multi-project construction data are Birdi, DroneDeploy, Propeller, Esri Site Scan for ArcGIS and Procore. Four hold drone and site data, and one is a construction management system that many contractors pair with them. Each entry carries the same fields, checked on October 7, 2026.
1. Birdi
Best for: Contractors running drone capture across many projects who want a workspace per project, consistent roles, and outside access without paid seats.
Typical customer size / segment: Mid-sized construction and civil teams of roughly 30 to 500 staff.
Key strengths:
- Workspaces per project or client, branded as Birdi's, the client's or co-branded.
- Roles from organization admin to workspace user, plus guests who view and download without a paid seat.
- Sites within a workspace group every survey of one location, and DJI FlightHub 2 media can sync into a separate store per workspace.
Single sign-on: Through WorkOS, with SAML or OIDC providers such as Microsoft Entra ID, Okta and Google Workspace. Ultimate plan only, at an additional monthly cost.
Access for people outside the paid team: Guests use no seat; Plus includes 20 guest seats and Growth 50.
Data types in one view: Orthomosaics, elevation models, point clouds, 360 photos, video, PDFs and DXF overlays.
Watch-outs: Not for a GIS analyst who needs a full desktop GIS. It also does not suit anyone who wants existing aerial imagery of each site supplied.
Pricing: Growth is $287 USD a month, billed annually, with 5 users. Ultimate is priced by quote (checked October 7, 2026).
2. DroneDeploy
Best for: Enterprises standardizing drone, 360 and phone capture across many projects with one vendor.
Typical customer size / segment: Large contractors and enterprises, with individual pilot plans at the low end.
Key strengths:
- Aerial, Ground and Ground Pro products cover outdoor and interior capture.
- Progress AI runs across a portfolio, with work-in-place status for all active projects in one place.
- Exports and syncs with Esri, Autodesk and Procore.
Single sign-on: Not published on its pricing page; ask.
Access for people outside the paid team: View-only map links; Progress AI reports shared without a full seat.
Data types in one view: Orthomosaics, 3D models, 360 walks, panoramas and video.
Watch-outs: Team plans are by quote. Viewers need a paid account to use the tools, a cost theme in its reviews.
Pricing: Team plans by quote; Flight & Analysis is $4,188 USD billed annually for one pilot (checked October 7, 2026).
3. Propeller
Best for: Earthworks and civil contractors running survey-grade drone programs across many sites.
Typical customer size / segment: Earthworks, civil and mining contractors.
Key strengths:
- Unlimited sites under its annual platform fee, with 40 standard users.
- Private workspaces and a read-only public API on Propeller Scale.
- Machine data from DirtMate alongside surveys.
Single sign-on: Not stated in the material we read.
Access for people outside the paid team: New users get view-only permission by default.
Data types in one view: Surveys, point clouds, design surfaces, 360 photos and machine data.
Watch-outs: Pricing is by quote, and the platform centers on the survey team.
Pricing: Contact for pricing.
4. Esri Site Scan for ArcGIS
Best for: Organizations already standardized on ArcGIS that want drone capture and processing inside it.
Typical customer size / segment: Enterprises and agencies with an ArcGIS deployment.
Key strengths:
- Cloud drone mapping, from flight planning to processing.
- Results live alongside the organization's other ArcGIS data.
- Part of Esri's wider reality and digital twin tools.
Single sign-on: Through ArcGIS account management; check the options with Esri.
Access for people outside the paid team: Through ArcGIS sharing; viewers need ArcGIS access.
Data types in one view: Drone outputs plus any ArcGIS layer.
Watch-outs: Its strength is the ArcGIS ecosystem, so it suits teams with GIS staff more than project teams without them.
Pricing: Contact for pricing.
5. Procore
Best for: Contractors who want documents, drawings, photos and workflows for every project in one system, with unlimited users.
Typical customer size / segment: General contractors, owners and specialty contractors of all sizes.
Key strengths:
- Unlimited users, including clients, subcontractors and vendors, according to Procore.
- Unlimited storage for documents, email and photos.
- One system of record across projects.
Single sign-on: Enterprise-grade security; check SSO terms with Procore.
Access for people outside the paid team: Unlimited users on every contract.
Data types in one view: Documents, drawings, photos and project records; drone data through partners.
Watch-outs: It is a construction management system, not a drone platform, so drone maps and point clouds come from another tool.
Pricing: An annual fee by product, based on annual construction volume (checked October 7, 2026).
What should a drone program's governance checklist include?
A drone program's governance checklist should cover naming, coordinate systems, access, retention and offboarding. Decide them once for the whole portfolio, then apply them to every project. Without that, each project manager invents their own, and data across projects stops being comparable or findable.
The checklist
- Naming: one convention for projects, sites and capture dates.
- Coordinate systems: a standard per region, with vertical datum and geoid recorded.
- Access: who creates projects, who edits, and who views; guests for owners and subcontractors.
- Single sign-on: confirm plan, cost and identity provider with IT before rollout.
- Retention: how long data is kept after a project closes, and where.
- Offboarding: remove access for people who leave, and hand data to the owner if the contract requires it.
For keeping surveys consistent within each site, see our guide to organizing repeat drone surveys.
Who should have access to construction site data?
Everyone who needs to act on site data should have access at the right level. Project teams edit. Owners, designers and subcontractors usually only view and download. IT administers access through single sign-on where possible. The pricing model decides how easy that is: per-seat pricing pushes people to share screenshots instead.
That is why outside access is a selection criterion, not a detail. A platform where owners and subcontractors view at no extra cost keeps one record in use. Our guide to managing site data across teams covers the day-to-day side.
Frequently asked questions
How do contractors organize drone data across projects?
Most set up one workspace or project per job, with a standard naming convention, coordinate system and set of roles. Each survey of a location goes into the same site, dated, so it can be compared later. A digital lead usually owns the standard and checks new projects follow it.
Who should have access to site data?
Project teams usually edit, while owners, designers and subcontractors view and download. IT manages identities through single sign-on where available. Choose a platform whose pricing does not make it expensive to give view access to the people outside your team who need it.
Do you need SSO for a drone data platform?
Many larger organizations require single sign-on so IT can control access centrally. Check the plan and cost: some platforms include it, while others, such as Birdi, offer it only on top plans at extra cost. Confirm which identity providers are supported before rollout.
Where is drone data stored?
It depends on the platform and sometimes the plan. Ask each vendor which regions host your data, whether you can choose, and how data is backed up. Data residency matters to many owners and public clients, so settle it before the first project goes live.
What happens to project data when a job finishes?
That should be set by your retention policy and the contract. Common choices are to archive the project, hand data to the owner, or keep it for a defined period for defects and disputes. Remove access for people who no longer need it, and record what was handed over.
About the author
This guide was written by the Birdi team. Birdi (birdi.io) is a geospatial AI workspace that construction, civil and mining teams use to share drone surveys, 360 photos and site data in one map. We checked every product fact against each vendor's own website or help center on October 7, 2026.
Related reading
- Operational visibility across sites: seeing many sites in one view.
- A single source of truth: keeping one record for construction site data.
- GIS for small teams: tools for teams that need to collaborate.
- Birdi for construction: how construction teams use one shared map.
Sources
Independent
- FMI and PlanGrid. "Construction Disconnected." 2018. http://pg.plangrid.com/rs/572-JSV-775/images/Construction_Disconnected.pdf
- U.S. Census Bureau. "Monthly Construction Spending, December 2025." https://www.census.gov/construction/c30/pdf/pr202512.pdf
Vendor documentation (read October 7, 2026)
- Birdi Help Center. "How to create, customize and manage your workspaces" and "How to update a user role and permissions." https://help.birdi.io/en/articles/11091547
- Birdi Help Center. "Single sign-on" and "How to connect DJI FlightHub 2 to Birdi." https://help.birdi.io/en/articles/15218574
- Birdi. "Pricing." https://www.birdi.io/pricing
- DroneDeploy. "Pricing" and "Progress AI." https://www.dronedeploy.com/pricing
- Propeller Help Center. Annual Platform Access Fee and sharing articles (2026). https://help.propelleraero.com
- Esri. "Site Scan for ArcGIS." https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/site-scan-for-arcgis/overview
- Procore. "Pricing." https://www.procore.com/pricing
