Best Production House Management Software in India (2026)

Short answer: for most Indian production houses that need shoots, crew payroll, equipment and GST-ready billing in one place, DODO is the most complete fit, priced in rupees from ₹2,500 a month. If you mainly need film pre-production paperwork (breakdowns, stripboards, call sheets), StudioBinder or Yamdu are stronger. VFX and animation pipelines are better served by ftrack or VANI.

Disclosure: this guide is published by DODO. We've tried to be fair about where other tools are the better choice. Last updated September 2026.

What is production house management software?

Production house management software is a single system for running the business side of a production house: planning shoot days, assigning crew and freelancers, booking equipment, paying people, quoting and invoicing clients, tracking post-production and delivering files. If you want the longer definition, read what production house management software is and what it should include.

In India the category gets confused with factory "production management" (manufacturing ERPs). This list only covers software for media production — video production houses, ad-film houses, photography and wedding studios, and creative agencies.

How we compared the tools

We looked at six things that matter most to an Indian production house:

1. Shoot scheduling — multi-day shoots, day and night shifts, crew per shoot day.
2. Crew and payroll — freelancers, day rates, staff salaries, overtime.
3. Equipment — inventory, bookings, clash checks, gear rented to crew.
4. Billing — quotations, invoices, GST, UPI and bank payments.
5. Post-production — tracking edits through stages to delivery.
6. Pricing — rupee pricing and whether you pay per user.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	Crew payroll	Equipment	GST billing	Pricing model
DODO	Indian production houses & studios running the whole business	Yes	Yes	Yes	₹ per month, unlimited users
StudioBinder	Film/video pre-production paperwork	No	No first-party gear tracking	No	USD, per plan
Yamdu	Film & series production departments	No	Limited	No	Check with vendor
ftrack	VFX & animation pipelines	No	No	No	USD, per user
VANI	Film, VFX & animation production tracking	No	No	Check with vendor	Contact vendor
monday.com / Asana / Trello	General task management	No	No	No	USD, per user
Excel / Google Sheets + WhatsApp	Very small teams	Manual	Manual	Manual	Free, costs time

Check each vendor's site for current pricing — plans change often.

1. DODO — best all-in-one for Indian production houses

DODO is production house management software built in Jaipur for Indian video production houses, wedding and photography studios, and creative agencies.

What it covers:

• Projects with shoot phases — each phase has its own dates, location, day/night/full-day shift, start time and crew. Works for a three-day ad shoot or a five-event wedding.
• Crew and payroll — roles for admins, managers, employees, freelancers and clients; per-day rates for freelancers on each phase; shift- and task-based pay, overtime and leave for staff; Aadhaar and PAN on file.
• Equipment — one inventory with serial numbers and condition, shift-aware double-booking checks, returns with condition, and per-day rental invoices when you rent gear to your own freelancers.
• Billing — quotations with per-line tax for GST, instalment plans with due dates, payments recorded by cash, bank or UPI, and a live P&L per project.
• Post-production — Kanban stages you define (Edit, Colour, Sound, Album, Delivery), plus an editing-partner module for outsourced or insourced edits.
• Client portal — clients see progress and deliverables in one place.

Pricing: ₹3,000/month monthly, ₹2,750/month half-yearly, ₹2,500/month yearly. Every module and unlimited team members on every plan. See pricing.

Where it's weaker: DODO doesn't produce script breakdowns, stripboards or formatted call sheets. If your work is scripted film with long pre-production, pair it with a pre-production tool or pick one below.

2. StudioBinder — best for film pre-production paperwork

StudioBinder is a cloud tool for film, TV and video production focused on pre-production: script breakdowns, shooting schedules, shot lists, storyboards and call sheets. It's widely used by filmmakers and has an excellent library of free guides.

Where it stops for Indian houses: no payroll, no GST invoicing, and no first-party equipment tracking. Pricing is in US dollars. We compare the two in detail in DODO vs StudioBinder.

3. Yamdu — best for scripted film and series departments

Yamdu is a cloud-based film production management platform with breakdowns, shooting schedules, call sheets, task assignments and crew management. It suits larger scripted productions with many departments working from one script.

Where it stops: it's built around a single production rather than a studio running dozens of client jobs a month, and it doesn't handle Indian billing or payroll.

4. ftrack — best for VFX and animation pipelines

ftrack is a production tracking and review platform for VFX, animation, film and video teams, strong on shot/asset tracking, task assignment and review.

Where it stops: it's a pipeline tool, not a business tool — no crew payroll, equipment or invoicing.

5. VANI — production tracking for film, VFX and animation

VANI is production tracking and project management software aimed at movies, VFX/CGI, animation, games and TV, with bidding, task scheduling, tracking and reporting.

Where it stops: like ftrack, it's focused on the production pipeline rather than shoots, gear and crew pay. Ask the vendor about pricing and GST billing.

6. monday.com, Asana or Trello — best for general task tracking

Generic work-management tools can be shaped into a production board with templates, and they're great for task tracking and approvals.

Where it stops: they have no idea what a shoot day, a day rate, a lens or a GST invoice is. Most studios end up running them alongside spreadsheets, which is the problem they were trying to solve. Per-user USD pricing also gets expensive with large crews.

7. Excel or Google Sheets with WhatsApp

Free and flexible, and where almost every studio starts. It breaks down at around 15–20 shoots a month: dates clash, gear goes missing and freelancer payments get reconstructed from chat history. See spreadsheets vs production management software for the signs it's time to switch.

How to choose

• You run client shoots every week and need to get paid properly: choose a tool that connects shoots, crew pay, gear and invoices — DODO.
• You make scripted films with heavy pre-production: StudioBinder or Yamdu, possibly alongside a business tool.
• You're a VFX or animation studio: ftrack or VANI.
• You're a team of two or three: spreadsheets are fine until the chaos costs you a client.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best production house management software in India?

For an Indian production house that needs shoot scheduling, crew payroll, equipment tracking and GST-ready billing together, DODO is the most complete option and is priced in rupees from ₹2,500 a month. For film pre-production paperwork, StudioBinder and Yamdu are stronger; for VFX pipelines, ftrack or VANI.

Is there production house management software made in India?

Yes. DODO is built in Jaipur specifically for Indian production houses, studios and creative agencies, with rupee pricing, GST on quotations and partner invoices, UPI payment tracking and day/night shift scheduling.

How much does production house management software cost?

DODO costs ₹2,500–₹3,000 per month depending on billing cycle, with unlimited users. International tools usually charge in US dollars, often per user, so costs rise with crew size.

Can I use Trello or monday.com to manage a production house?

You can manage tasks with them, but they don't handle shoot shifts, crew day rates, equipment bookings or GST invoicing, so most studios end up running spreadsheets alongside them.

Does production house management software handle GST?

Tools built for India can. DODO supports tax percentages on quotation lines and GST on editing-partner invoices, and records payments by cash, bank transfer or UPI. Most international tools don't handle GST.