Forward vs Procore
Most people asking this question are asking the wrong one. Procore is your project's database; Forward is the texting interface on top of it. Here's when each one is the right tool — and why most commercial GCs end up running both.
The TL;DR
Procore is the system of record. Drawings get uploaded to Procore. RFIs live in Procore. Submittals route through Procore. The PM, the architect, and the owner’s rep all sit in front of the Procore dashboard during the project.
Forward is what your field crew uses to ask Procore questions from a phone. A foreman in a man-lift doesn’t open Procore to find out the ceiling height in A300 — they text ceiling height in A300 and get 10’-0” · 423 SF · Level 3 back in four seconds, cited to the BIM model.
Where each one wins
| Job | Procore | Forward |
|---|---|---|
| Document control + version history | The right tool | Defers to Procore |
| RFI workflow (architect ↔ GC ↔ sub) | The right tool | Drafts new RFIs from text; PM approves before posting |
| Submittal review + ball-in-court tracking | The right tool | Reads + cites; doesn’t replace |
| Field worker asking “status of submittal 09 51 13” | Pull out tablet, open Procore, find submittal — 90 seconds | Text it. 4 seconds. |
| Pulling a specific drawing in the field | Open app, navigate to Drawings, find sheet — 30+ seconds | send me a-301 → sheet thumbnail in your iMessage thread. 4 seconds. |
| Onboarding a new tradesperson | Add as Procore user, send invite, train | Add their phone number to the project. Done. |
| BIM model property lookups (room dims, finishes) | Not natively — requires Autodesk integration | Yes, via Autodesk Construction Cloud connect |
The architecture
Forward is not a Procore replacement. It’s a sanctioned OAuth integration that reads from your Procore account and writes back through your PM’s approval queue. The instant you revoke Forward’s OAuth grant in Procore, every Forward interaction with that project stops.
That distinction matters when IT or the project executive asks about risk: Forward never holds a copy of your Procore data. We proxy live queries through to Procore’s API, scoped to the specific company + project you authorized. We aren’t a second source of truth that can drift.
Why most commercial GCs end up running both
The math comes down to where attention is spent. Project teams spend 60-70% of their billable hours in the field, on a phone, in a truck, in a lift — not in front of a 27” monitor. Procore is built for the 30% of the team that sits at a desk. Forward is built for the 70% that doesn’t.
We’ve heard the same story from every PM who’s tried Forward: their field crew was already using SMS to ask the PM questions all day (“what’s the spec on the lobby tile”, “is RFI 142 closed yet”). The PM was manually doing the Procore lookup and texting back the answer. Forward just cuts the PM out of that loop — same source data, same answer, ten seconds instead of ten minutes, no PM context-switch.
When you should NOT pick Forward
Honest list:
- Your project isn’t on Procore. Forward also connects to Autodesk Construction Cloud + OneDrive + SharePoint, but if your project data lives in spreadsheets on someone’s desktop, Forward can’t cite what it can’t reach.
- You want a Procore replacement. We’re not it. Procore is a 15-year-old codebase covering 200+ workflows we don’t touch (financials, scheduling, bid management, capital planning).
- Your field team has zero smartphone adoption. Forward is SMS-first — if your tradespeople don’t carry a phone, you don’t need us.
How to evaluate
Don’t demo Forward from a sales deck. Text the live demo number from your phone right now — +1 (682) 300-6750 — with a real question you’d normally ask your PM. Try things like:
what did rfi 142 saysend me a-301submittal status for 09 51 13ceiling height in a300daily log for 4/22/2026
It’s a live system, not a video. If it can’t answer the question, it’ll tell you exactly why — either the data isn’t available in the connected sources or the query is ambiguous. No hallucinated answers.
Pricing comparison
Procore is sold by GMV (gross construction volume) and runs $375-$1,400 per million dollars of construction completed. Forward is sold per-PM-seat at a fixed $1,499/mo on the Pro plan with unlimited field users and projects. The two pricing models aren’t comparable in absolute terms — a $200M GC pays Procore north of $80K/yr and Forward $18K/yr.
For most teams the right way to think about the cost: Forward pays for itself if it saves your PM 4 hours/month of text-and-reply ping-pong with the field. That’s a fairly low bar.
Try Forward right now
Drop your email above for early access — or skip the form and text +1 (682) 300-6750 from your phone. The live demo answers anything you can ask a project manager in plain English — no signup needed.