DesignFiles alternative for UK studios Keep your boards. Run the orders here.
From the signed-off scheme, Techstyles runs every order and invoice, each piece with the last day to order it.
Free for 30 days, no card. We move your DesignFiles schedules across free.
DesignFiles is better for moodboards, 3D floor plans and renders. Last checked October 2026; tell us if it has moved on.
What differs
Three differences, in the order that matters.
Including the one where DesignFiles wins.
Strongest after sign-off, not before
DesignFiles is strongest at the front of a project: boards, room schemes, 3D and presentations. Techstyles is strongest once the scheme is signed off: every FF&E line gets an order-by date counted back from the install, and blocked or at-risk lines surface first.
UK books: Xero, GBP and VAT
DesignFiles connects to QuickBooks Online on its Full Service plan and does not list Xero. Techstyles invoices in GBP with UK VAT on the line, invoices go to Xero, and a payment recorded in Xero shows against the project.
Honestly: on price, it depends on the plan
DesignFiles e-Design is $55 a month for one designer; Full Service, which adds invoicing, purchase orders and QuickBooks, is $75. Each extra user is $30, so the bigger the team, the more that low seat price counts. Techstyles is £49 per user, £39 from the sixth, excluding VAT, with Xero, the contractor portal and Techstyles AI on every seat.
After sign-off
After the board is approved, the dates start to matter.
A board shows the client the idea. Once it is approved, every item on it has a supplier lead time and a date it has to be on site, and the window between the two starts closing.
DesignFiles pricing
DesignFiles pricing: cheaper seats, fewer of the tools.
Monthly list price by team size, each in the currency its maker publishes. DesignFiles sells in US dollars only; we have not converted.
| Team | Techstylesexcl. VAT | DesignFilesFull Service, US dollars |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person | £49 | $75 |
| 2 people | £98 | $105 |
| 3 people | £147 | $135 |
| 6 people | £284 | $225 |
Techstyles: £49 per user per month, £39 from the sixth user, excluding VAT. DesignFiles: e-Design $55 and Full Service $75 a month for one designer, plus $30 per extra user, month to month (an Enterprise plan is priced on request), from designfiles.co/plans, checked October 2026.
Read the prices with this
- Invoicing and purchase orders
- Only on DesignFiles Full Service, the plan shown first. The $55 e-Design plan has neither.
- Extra seats
- $30 a seat at DesignFiles against £49 (then £39) at Techstyles. From two people, DesignFiles Full Service is the cheaper bill whenever a pound buys more than $1.07.
- What every Techstyles seat carries
- Order-by dates, two-way Xero, the contractor portal and Techstyles AI.
Credit where due
When DesignFiles is the better buy.
If you are a solo designer whose work is mostly concept and presentation (boards, room schemes, 3D and a shopping list the client buys from), DesignFiles does that job well, on its $55 e-Design plan, with a 90-day money-back guarantee.
That stops being true on the first project where you specify rather than suggest: you raise purchase orders, hold deposits, long-lead items have to land in an install week, and a contractor needs the drawings. We would rather you switched then than paid for the heavier tool a year early.
The short answer
Which is right for your studio?
The short version: DesignFiles to present the scheme, Techstyles to deliver it.
Choose Techstyles if you…
- Raise purchase orders and hold client deposits
- Need long-lead items to land in a fixed install week
- Bill through Xero, in GBP with UK VAT handled
- Hand drawings and schedules to contractors, or plan to grow the team
DesignFiles may suit you if you…
- Work solo, mostly on concept and presentation
- Want moodboards, 3D floor plans and 3D renderings in one tool
- Want the e-Design plan's $55 entry price, or cheap extra seats
- Keep your books in QuickBooks Online
Feature by feature
The whole matrix, nothing hidden.
Including the rows where DesignFiles matches us. “Not listed” means we could not find it in DesignFiles’s public material, not that it cannot be done.
| Feature | Techstyles | DesignFiles |
|---|---|---|
| Procurement and install dates | ||
| Order-by date per item, counted back from the install | Yes | Not listed |
| Product clipper and library | Yes | Yes |
| Spec sheets and FF&E schedule | Yes | Full Service plan |
| Purchase orders | Yes | Full Service plan |
| UK finance | ||
| Two-way Xero sync | Yes | Not listed |
| QuickBooks Online integration | No | Full Service plan |
| Invoicing | Yes | Full Service plan |
| Priced in GBP | Yes | Not listed |
| Design and presentation | ||
| Moodboards and client presentations | No | Yes |
| 3D floor planner and 3D renderings | No | Yes |
| Clients, trades and team | ||
| Client portal | Yes | Yes |
| Contractor and trade portal | Yes | Not listed |
| Tasks and team collaboration | Yes | Yes |
| AI assistance | ||
| Client and supplier emails drafted for you to send | Yes | Not listed |
| Meeting notes with action items you accept as tasks | Yes | Not listed |
| Daily brief across every project | Yes | Not listed |
| Procurement risk insights | Yes | Not listed |
Last checked October 2026, from each product’s public material. Products change; tell us and we will correct it.
Switching
Moving across from DesignFiles.
Migration is free, and we do the moving. Live projects keep running while it happens.
- Product library
- Products come across from your DesignFiles export with images, pricing and supplier details.
- Clients and contacts
- Client records and contact details transfer, so nobody re-keys an address book mid-project.
- Live projects
- Current projects are recreated with rooms, schedules and budgets; clients get new portal access.
- Xero and install dates
- Connect Xero: invoices go out in GBP with VAT, and payments come back to the project. Add each install date and the order-by dates appear on the FF&E you have already specified.
Is Techstyles a good DesignFiles alternative for UK studios?
For a studio that specifies and orders, yes: every FF&E item gets an order-by date counted back from the install, invoices go to Xero in GBP with UK VAT and payments come back, and the contractor portal is on every seat. For a solo designer working mostly on boards and 3D, DesignFiles does that job well, and its e-Design plan is the cheaper entry point.
Is DesignFiles cheaper than Techstyles?
It depends on the plan and the team. DesignFiles publishes $55 a month (e-Design) or $75 a month (Full Service, with invoicing and purchase orders) for one designer, plus $30 per extra user, in US dollars only. Techstyles is £49 per user per month, £39 from the sixth user, excluding VAT, free for 30 days. For a team, DesignFiles' $30 extra seat is the cheaper way to add people.
Does DesignFiles integrate with Xero?
Not as far as its published material shows. It lists QuickBooks Online on the Full Service plan. Techstyles sends invoices to Xero in GBP with UK VAT, and payments recorded in Xero come back to the project.
Can I migrate from DesignFiles to Techstyles?
Yes, and migration is free. We bring your projects, clients and product library across, and you connect Xero on day one.
Move across on your first specified project.
We bring your projects, clients and product library across from DesignFiles.
Free for 30 days, no card. We move your DesignFiles schedules across free.