5 Best Facility Management Software in 2024

As a facilities manager, you’re tasked with managing the day-to-day operations and maintenance of spaces and the people that occupy them. On any given day, you’re faced with an endless to-do list that may include everything from overseeing facility maintenance and repairs, to energy management, space planning, health and safety, security and more.

Facility management (FM) software acts as a centralized database, providing you and your team with a comprehensive overview of all of the facilities under your supervision. Whether you work in construction, real estate, retail or manufacturing, FM software can support you in managing your workload, staying on top of your various tasks and ensuring that your buildings and spaces remain well-maintained, safe and functional.

What Makes the Best Facility Management Software?

When it comes to FM software solutions, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. The right software is one that is tailored to fit your organization’s specific needs and integrates smoothly with your existing operations, making tasks like work order management easier and boosting overall efficiency. 

Another perk of FM software is that it digitizes your entire facility management system, helping you move away from unreliable paper-based systems and ensuring that all your information is securely stored and easily accessible whenever and wherever you need it. 

The right FM software will help you:

• Manage maintenance operations for various types of buildings and facilities, such as plants or warehouses
• Keep track of inventory management for equipment, parts or materials
• Schedule work requests for equipment inspections, repairs and maintenance
• Incorporate health, safety and environmental compliance documents and best practices
• Access facilities through key and lock tracking systems

The Best Facility Management Software at a Glance

Coast – For Customizable Location Fields

Coast is a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software that excels in its ability to offer robust facility management options, including customizable parent and child location fields. Choose which fields show up on forms and checklists and who can see them, adding and removing fields as needed.

Tailor the CMMS software to match the structure of your organization and streamline operations with precise management and tracking of the various facility components you’re responsible for, making it easier for you to oversee and maintain facilities efficiently.

Key features:

• Unparalleled customization: You can easily rename fields to use the labels and terms your team already knows, making the app more intuitive and reducing the learning curve. This kind of customization helps the software slot effortlessly into your organization’s existing workflows, boosting efficiency and prioritizing user-friendliness. 

• Manages work orders on the go: Access work orders whenever, wherever from a single dashboard with Coast’s mobile app. Keep an eye on maintenance requests when you’re out of office, check how tasks are progressing, and enable your staff to close out work orders as soon as they’re done right from their mobile device. 
• Keeps the lines of communication open: Coast lets you send messages, announcements, photos, videos and documents right within your work orders, so you don’t have to keep track of messages across multiple platforms. Each chat group includes tools for creating and assigning tasks, checklists and procedures to keep everything organized. Your team gets automatic notifications when tasks are assigned, and you’ll be alerted as soon as they’re completed.

Coast pros:

• People outside your organization can submit work orders easily via a QR code
• Sleek, modern design that’s also user-friendly
• Tailored workflows and tasks to fit your specific needs

Coast cons:

• Certain native integrations are limited
• Reporting features are only accessible with a paid plan

Coast price:

Coast’s pricing model is perfect for small- to medium-sized businesses, yet scalable enough for larger organizations needing more advanced functionalities.

• Free plan: $0 per user/month, with basics like unlimited messages, cards and limited file uploads
• Starter plan: $20 per user/month, adding custom views, workspace permissions and unlimited file uploads
• Pro plan: $39 per user/month, with extras like custom workflows, reporting, dashboards and prioritized support
• Enterprise plan: Custom pricing for features like multi-site management tools and customizable dashboards

FMX – For Real-Time Data

FMX facility management software is a great fit for schools and government entities alike. With its real-time data and reporting features, administrators can easily monitor facility conditions and track maintenance activities. You’ll get alerts as issues come up, allowing for quick responses to service requests. FMX’s user-friendly interface boosts operational efficiency and helps with informed decision-making, tracking work orders and scheduling preventive maintenance — all while keeping you compliant with regulatory standards.

Key features:

• An activity dashboard that does it all: FMX’s activity dashboard offers real-time updates on maintenance tasks, work orders and facility conditions, providing a comprehensive overview of tasks that are ongoing, upcoming or completed. The dashboard also lets you customize the layout to suit you best, while delivering performance metrics and visualizations to help you monitor operational efficiency.
• Timely alerts and notifications: FMX provides a host of alerts and notifications to keep you up to speed on the status of work orders. Critical issue alerts let you know when there’s an urgent problem or equipment failure that needs immediate attention, while compliance reminders keep you on track with regulatory standards by notifying you about upcoming deadlines and inspections. Plus, FMX lets you customize notifications, so you get the alerts that matter most to you based on your role and preferences.

FMX pros:

• Real-time data enables prompt responses and informed decision-making
• Reporting features provide actionable insights that help you understand equipment repair trends and budget accordingly

FMX cons: 

• Limited customization options including restricted field customization, reporting and workflows

FMX price:

FMX offers pricing options typically based on subscription plans that vary according to features, user count and facility size. Pricing details often include tiered plans with different levels of functionality and support. For the most accurate and up-to-date pricing, it’s best to contact FMX directly or request a quote tailored to specific needs.

MaintainX – For On-the-Go Work Orders

MaintainX software is known for its user-friendly mobile app, which empowers you to manage your facilities from the field and beyond. The app allows you to create, assign and track work orders right from your phone, delivering real-time updates and communication, streamlining maintenance programs, enhancing responsiveness and improving operational efficiency.

Key features:

• Easy-to-use mobile app: MaintainX software stands out for its ease of use, giving you the power to effortlessly manage facility operations from anywhere. Its capabilities include creating and tracking work orders, assigning tasks and accessing real-time updates. Its user-friendly interface minimizes training time and boosts productivity by enabling data entry on the go.
• Intuitive work-order creation: Its simple design makes it easy to create work orders and add procedures and checklists to them.

MaintainX pros:

• Intuitive design makes the app easy to navigate without extensive training
• Ability to make changes to multiple work orders simultaneously

MaintainX cons:

• Third-party integrations could be more intuitive for smoother connectivity with other tools
• Lack of customization options, like the ability to highlight important text and change fonts

MaintainX price:

• Basic: $0 per user/month, offers essential features for small teams, including unlimited work orders, procedures and requester users
• Essential: $16 per user/month, builds on the Basic plan with additional features such as image attachments, unlimited repeating work orders and extended analytics access
• Premium: $49 per user/month, includes all Essential features plus advanced tools for parts inventory, purchase orders, time and cost tracking, and access to a dedicated account manager
• Enterprise: Custom pricing, provides all Premium features along with advanced controls for multi-site management, asset health insights, IoT integrations, and custom security and permissions

Fracttal – For Predictive Maintenance

Fracttal’s facilities management solution excels in predictive maintenance, helping you to forecast the reliability of individual assets. Its advanced analytics and data-driven insights help identify potential issues before they lead to failures, allowing for proactive maintenance and reducing unexpected downtime. By leveraging real-time data and historical trends, Fracttal helps optimize asset performance and extends the lifespan of critical equipment.

Key features:

• Stays ready so you don’t have to get ready: Fracttal’s predictive maintenance harnesses the power of advanced analytics and real-time data to help you anticipate and prevent asset failures, optimizing performance and extending equipment lifespan with advanced analytics and real-time data.
• Robust reporting and analytics: Fracttal’s comprehensive reports help identify trends for informed decision-making, leading to better resource management and cost control.

Fracttal pros:

• Fracttal’s virtual assistant boosts efficiency and cuts down on manual workload by providing real-time support and automating routine facility management tasks. 
• Easy to upload photos, videos and documents

Fracttal cons:

• Depends heavily on a network connection, can be limiting if connectivity issues arise
• Flat-rate pricing is on the high end 

Fracttal price:

Fracttal offers flexible pricing plans that scale with your organization’s growth, allowing you to choose the number of users and features that best suit your needs. Fracttal doesn’t list its prices on its website but it provides three different packages, depending on how extensive your team wants the maintenance management software to be.

• Starter: Provides digital transformation for your operation, allowing you to digitize your maintenance team and measure results in real time

• Pro: Offers advanced functionality for professional management, including linking, automating and integrating maintenance management

• Enterprise: Expands upon the Pro offerings with automated processes, integrations and advanced APIs included, and personalized support

AkitaBox – For Asset Mapping 

AkitaBox’s cloud-based software provides real-time facilities data and space management in a visual, easy-to-use format that you can customize. It can help your team simplify operations, reduce risk and tackle even the toughest facility management challenges. With AkitaBox’s location-based asset mapping, you get a detailed visual of your assets within the facility, making it easy to locate and manage them based on their physical placement. Designed for industries like commercial real estate, AkitaBox gives property managers and facility operators precise mapping and management tools to effectively oversee complex real estate portfolios.

Key features:

• Location-based asset mapping: AkitaBox’s location-based asset mapping gives you a high-level view of your assets within a facility or facilities. This feature lets you view and manage assets based on their exact locations, making maintenance and operational tasks a breeze. With a clear visual representation of your assets, you can effortlessly track and maintain equipment, spot potential issues before they arise and proactively plan for future needs. This approach is especially helpful for managing complex facilities, like those in commercial real estate, where precise asset management is key to staying efficient and controlling maintenance costs.
• Quality tracking and data: This facilities management solution allows facility managers to track energy consumption of various facilities, helping companies with regulatory compliance and sustainability.

AkitaBox pros:

• Industry-specific tools enhance asset management and operational efficiency, particularly for commercial real estate
• Intuitive interface that makes onboarding easy for most teams

AkitaBox cons:

• Lacks comprehensive inventory management features, which may limit the tracking of supplies and parts
• Not as customizable as other facility maintenance software 

AkitaBox price:

AkitaBox’s pricing is calculated based on the software you choose and the square footage of your facilities, with a single annual fee that scales with the size of your building portfolio. Unlike many providers that charge per user, which can complicate reporting and limit usability, AkitaBox offers a pricing model that allows all stakeholders within an organization to access the software. This approach avoids the issues of shared accounts and user limitations, making it easier for teams across various departments to use the software to tackle complex facility management challenges.

Choosing the Best Facility Management Software for 2024

The best FM software integrates customization, maintenance schedules, real-time data, mobile accessibility, predictive maintenance and detailed asset mapping. Customization is key to ensuring the tool fits seamlessly with your existing systems and delivers the exact features you need. Coast, FMX, MaintainX, Fracttal and AkitaBox each offer unique advantages: Coast for its flexible customization, FMX for real-time insights, MaintainX for its user-friendly mobile app, Fracttal for predictive maintenance and AkitaBox for its detailed asset mapping capabilities. 

Ultimately, the best choice depends on your unique needs and priorities. To find out if Coast is the right fit for you, sign up for a free account today and explore its features firsthand.