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The four kinds
| Kind | What it does | Examples | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-production | Scripts, breakdowns, shot lists, call sheets | StudioBinder, SetHero | StudioBinder: free, then $29 a month |
| Client management | Leads, contracts, invoices | HoneyBook, Dubsado | HoneyBook: $29 a month, billed yearly |
| Review and approval | Notes on the cut, versions | Frame.io, Wipster | Frame.io: free, then $15 a member a month |
| Whole-job systems | Most of the above, connected | Cutvey, Vidlead Studio | Cutvey Solo: $49 a month, or $29 billed yearly |
Prices checked November 2026 on each seller's own pricing page. A price we could not read there is left out, so check their site.
Editing, color and sound are craft software, a different category. So is studio or episodic scheduling at feature scale, and union payroll.
What the software should track
A general project tool knows tasks and dates. A production has more moving parts, and each stage feeds the next.
| Stage | What it should hold | What it should hand on |
|---|---|---|
| Before the job | The lead, the shoot date, the scope, the price | A signed scope and a deposit |
| Prep | Crew, holds, locations, shot list, releases | A call sheet |
| The shoot | Who confirmed, who is on set, timecards | Actual cost, footage to post |
| Post | Versions, notes, rounds used, approvals | An approved cut |
| Delivery | Spec check, final files, the balance | Paid invoice, files out |
| After | Costs against budget, crew invoices, 1099 totals | What the job really made |
The right-hand column is the test. Every arrow in that table is a place a small company re-types something, forgets something or loses a day. The more of those hand-offs a product does for you, the more it is worth.
What a job looks like with one system
Take a sample job: a two-minute brand film for a realtor, one shoot day, three crew, two rounds of notes, half on signing and half on delivery.
- The inquiry lands on the lead board. A proposal goes out from your saved rate card and a starter.
- The client signs on their phone. The project opens and the deposit invoice is raised.
- You hold the DP and the sound mixer, then book them. Each gets a deal memo you read first.
- The call sheet fills from the bookings, with the forecast, sunrise and sunset. Crew confirm with one tap.
- A new location at 9 PM reaches only the people whose sheet changed.
- The cut goes up. The client's notes land on the frame, and two rounds are counted.
- Approval raises the final invoice. Payment opens the delivery page.
- The crew's invoices come in against the job, and you can see the margin.
Done across five apps, that same job has you typing the client's name about five times and the date about as often. None of it is hard. It is just where the evenings go.
What it costs
A small studio buying the usual tool for each job would pay about $210 a month across seven tools, one of them a license bought once and spread over a year, and the stack calculator shows each line. Whole-job systems run from about $49 a month to $199 a month. Watch for per-seat pricing, which grows with every editor, and for storage: video fills it fast.
How to choose
Ask these before you sign up for anything:
- Who pays you? If clients do, you need proposals and invoices. If a studio does, you may only need prep tools.
- How many people do you pay on a job? Crew tools matter from about two.
- How long is your average shoot? A long scripted schedule needs a stripboard specialist. A one-day commercial does not.
- How many cuts does a client see? Two or more, and a real review room pays for itself.
- Do your clients need an account? They should not.
- Can you get your data out? Read the export page before you read the features page.
- What does it not do? A vendor that cannot answer this has not thought about your job.
What to watch out for
Generic project tools dressed as production tools. Pages titled "for videographers" often sit on a general CRM with the word swapped in. Look for a call sheet, a day rate and a timecode in the screenshots.
Lists that rank editors under "production software". An editor does not know your client owes you $6,000.
"Replaces everything" claims. Nothing replaces your editor, your payroll service or a real archive, including ours.
Where Cutvey fits
Cutvey is one of the whole-job systems. It is built for commercial, brand, wedding, documentary and event video companies, and for photographers who shoot alongside them. It is not built for feature-length scripted schedules, for post houses moving terabytes a day, or for union payroll. See how it works, what it costs, and the honest list of what it does not do.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between production management and project management software?
Project management tracks tasks. Production management also knows about crew, shoot days, call sheets, versions and approvals. You can force a project tool to do this with enough custom fields, and many small companies do.
Do I need it if I work alone?
Yes for the client side: proposals, contracts and invoices will pay for themselves. Crew tools can wait.
Is it different for wedding, corporate and commercial work?
The stages are the same. Weddings lean on the portal and payment plans, and commercial work leans on crew, budgets and several reviewers. See who it is for.