Why this exists.
I started contechtools.fyi as a product of being asked to scale systems in AEC. The initial need came when I was working at WeWork in 2016–17, managing fabricators globally across multiple product lines. We needed a more robust supply chain tool, so I started looking at what was out there that we could implement without overhauling existing processes.
That search started a list — originally a spreadsheet, quickly migrated to Airtable. Each pain point we had was addressed by a constellation of solutions: some large and expensive, others small, bespoke, and maybe too particular to a single use case. What was interesting was how much the right system depended on the specific application. Digging into supply chain led me to ERPs, and eventually MRPs, and that pattern kept repeating.
That dynamic has played out across all my work since. My original Airtable has transformed into what you see here. I don't use it to make every software decision — but when it comes to the core functions of AEC technology, it's where I go first to quickly understand the competitive landscape and figure out what integrates well with what I'm already doing. It's not the only way I validate an idea. It's the starting point.
ConTech Tools is a curated starting point, not an exhaustive database. There is no paid placement. If something is listed here, it's because it showed up as a legitimate option in real work — not because someone paid for the spot.
Most come from my own research and work. The pipeline actively scrapes and analyzes publicly available information — what a tool does, how it presents itself, where it fits in the stack. If you build something that belongs here and it's not listed, or you know of a tool I've missed, feel free to submit it!
Entirely free tier — which feels appropriate for a site about finding the right tools without unnecessary spend.
Claude handles classification and screenshot analysis — making sense of what a tool actually does from what it presents publicly. It's a scrape pipeline, built responsibly, that runs on the same principle as the directory itself: the right tools, stitched together well, do serious work without serious spend.