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POD vs Deltek Cobra: Quick Comparison

How Plan of Day compares to Deltek Cobra for earned value management on commercial construction projects. Feature comparisons based on publicly available information.

Feature comparisons based on publicly available information. Deltek and Cobra are trademarks of Deltek, Inc.; this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by Deltek.
FeaturePlan of Day (POD)Deltek Cobra
Built forCommercial construction, field-first: GCs, owners, and subsDoD and federal program EVM compliance (9 of the top 10 DoD contractors, per Deltek)
Data sourceYour daily field reports plus the pay-app and schedule files you already produceERP cost actuals plus a separate resource-loaded scheduler (Costpoint, Open Plan, P6, MS Project, Excel), per Deltek
EVM cadenceConfirm the reporting period and every surface updates from the same recordAnalyst-assembled, typically on the program reporting cycle
Who runs itThe project manager and the field; no analyst seat requiredProgram controls managers and cost analysts, per Deltek
SetupSelf-serve; first dashboard in minutes, no sales callImplementation and consulting typical; demo request to start
PricingPublished on the websiteQuote-based; not published
Audit trailAppend-only, hash-chained, independently verifiable ledger of project eventsAudit-ready reporting for federal contracts, per Deltek
Federal compliance reporting (IPMDAR, EIA-748)Not offeredPurpose-built, per Deltek
Field intelligence beyond EVMVoice, photo, and file reports mapped to hundreds of KPIsCost and earned value focus, per Deltek
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Deltek Cobra vs Plan of Day
VS

Earned valuewithout acontrols department.

What is Construction Intelligence?

Deltek Cobra was built for DoD program offices: by Deltek's count, nine of the top ten defense contractors run earned value on it. But you are not filing an IPMDAR. You are a commercial builder who wants CPI and SPI without paying an analyst to rebuild a spreadsheet every reporting cycle. POD computes them from the daily reports your team already files, once you confirm the period.

  • Confirmed CPI, SPI, and EAC. POD computes them from your cost and schedule inputs through one engine once you confirm the period.
  • No controls analyst. POD reads the daily reports and the pay-app and schedule files your team already submits.
  • Tamper-evident record. POD writes project events to an append-only, hash-chained ledger a reviewer can independently verify.
  • Published pricing. POD starts at $269/month, self-serve, no sales call.
Watch a Project in 30 SecondsSee Pricing

Deltek Cobra is earned value software for DoD and federal program offices that must produce compliance EVM reporting under EIA-748. Plan of Day (POD) is for commercial general contractors and owners who want confirmed CPI, SPI, and EAC computed from their own field reports, pay apps, and schedules, with no controls analyst on payroll.

Feature comparisons based on publicly available information.

A published price vs a sales conversation

Slide to your team size. POD's price is on the page; no sales call needed.

115+
Executive· Up to 15 users
MonthlyAnnual
Plan of Day
Executive
Mid-size GCs with portfolio intel
$0/mo
$0/year · Up to 15 users · 2,800 uploads/month
Save up to 15% with BYOC
Transparent pricing on website
$0 setup, 15-minute onboarding
Free sub access via Upload Links
Monthly billing, no lock-in
Start Executive Plan
Deltek Cobra
Legacy Tool
Quote-Based Pricing
quote-based pricing; demo request to start
No published pricing
Demo request to start
Implementation and consulting typical
Part of a larger enterprise suite
Building an integration? See API Pricing →

Two earned-value tools. Two different buyers.

Every Cobra cell restates Deltek’s own public positioning and links to it. Every POD cell says what POD does. Where Cobra is the right tool, the table says so.

Where you overlap: POD does it from the field
Earned value (CPI, SPI, EAC)
Deltek Cobra
A full EVM engine for compliance-driven programs
per Deltek
Plan of Day
FROM THE FIELD
POD computes CPI, SPI, and EAC through one engine from your cost and schedule inputs once you confirm the period.
Data source
Deltek Cobra
ERP cost actuals plus a separate resource-loaded scheduler (Costpoint, Open Plan, P6, MS Project, Excel)
per Deltek
Plan of Day
NO ERP NEEDED
POD reads the daily reports, pay apps, and schedule files your team already submits.
Reporting cadence
Deltek Cobra
Assembled by an analyst on the program reporting cycle
Plan of Day
CONFIRM ONCE
POD refreshes every surface, report, KPI tile, and export, from the same confirmed record.
Who runs it
Deltek Cobra
Program controls managers and cost analysts
per Deltek
Plan of Day
NO ANALYST
POD is run by the project manager and the field; no analyst seat required.
Setup
Deltek Cobra
Implementation and consulting typical; demo request to start
per Deltek
Plan of Day
SELF-SERVE
POD is self-serve; first dashboard in minutes, no sales call.
Where POD goes further
Audit trail
Deltek Cobra
Audit-ready reporting for federal contracts
per Deltek
Plan of Day
TAMPER-EVIDENT
POD keeps an append-only, hash-chained ledger of project events a reviewer can independently verify.
Field intelligence beyond EVM
Deltek Cobra
Cost and earned value focus
per Deltek
Plan of Day
BEYOND EVM
POD reads voice, photo, and file reports and generates hundreds of KPIs beyond earned value.
Plain-language questions
Deltek Cobra
Reports and dashboards
per Deltek
Plan of Day
ASK POD
POD answers questions about your project in plain language from the same confirmed data.
Where Cobra is the right tool, by design
Cobra was built for a job POD does not do. If the row below describes your contract, that is Cobra's lane and this page will not pretend otherwise.
Federal compliance reporting
Deltek Cobra
IPMDAR and DOE PARS formats; DCMA, CAS, and EIA-748 standards; 9 of the top 10 DoD contractors
per Deltek
Plan of Day
BY DESIGN
POD does not produce federal compliance EVM reports.
Suite integration
Deltek Cobra
Part of Deltek's project and portfolio management suite alongside Costpoint and Open Plan
per Deltek
Plan of Day
BY DESIGN
POD reads the files those tools export; it is not an ERP or a scheduler.
The facts
Pricing
Deltek Cobra
Quote-based; not published
per Deltek
Plan of Day
POD publishes pricing at planofday.com/pricing.
Built for
Deltek Cobra
DoD, DoE, DoT, and NASA program offices
per Deltek
Plan of Day
POD is built for commercial GCs, owners, and subs.

Feature comparisons based on publicly available information. Deltek and Cobra are trademarks of Deltek, Inc.; this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by Deltek.

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The desk, or the field

On the left, cost actuals and a schedule export arrive in a batch each reporting cycle, an analyst works them, and one CPI comes out and sits there until the next cycle. On the right, the field keeps reporting, a project manager confirms the period, and one confirmed record updates the report, the KPI tiles, Ask POD, and the export together.

Deltek Cobra deskERP actualsSchedulerAnalyst deskmanual rebuildCPI 0.96as of last cycleOne CPI, per reporting cyclePlan of DayDaily logsPay appsSchedulePODConfirmReportKPIsAsk PODExportConfirm once, all surfaces update

POD Intelligence

The CPI × SPI view a controls analyst builds by hand.

Illustrative previews with sample data. Your confirmed project-level CPI, SPI, and EAC appear on your report and dashboard once you confirm a reporting period.

Which one fits your contract?

These are different tools for different buyers. Pick the column that describes you.

Deltek Cobra might be right if...

You run DoD, DoE, DoT, or NASA programs with contractual EVM requirements
You must deliver IPMDAR or DOE PARS formats to a government customer
You have a dedicated controls or EVM analyst who owns the reporting cycle
Your cost actuals already live in Costpoint or a comparable ERP
Your scheduler is resource-loaded in Open Plan, P6, or MS Project and drives the baseline

POD is right if...

You are a commercial GC, owner, or sub with no federal EVM clause
You want CPI and SPI from the daily reports you already file
Nobody on the project is a controls analyst, and you do not want to hire one
You want an append-only, independently verifiable record you can show a lender or auditor
You want to be live this week, self-serve, with pricing you can read

What Deltek Cobra Offers — POD Has It Too

Every feature Deltek Cobra provides, POD delivers — with intelligence built in.

Earned value management (CPI, SPI, EAC)
POD computes CPI, SPI, and EAC from your ingested cost and schedule data once you confirm the period, not from an analyst-built spreadsheet
Cost performance forecasting
POD forecasts EAC from your confirmed cost and schedule data through one canonical engine every surface reads, once you confirm the period
Schedule integration
POD reads uploaded Primavera P6 (XER), MS Project (XML export), and Excel schedules and tracks milestones, float, and critical path
Performance reporting
POD auto-generates dashboards and an AI morning brief from the files you already produce, with no report builder
Audit-ready records
POD keeps an append-only, hash-chained, tamper-evident ledger of project events a reviewer can verify independently
See the full interactive comparison

Frequently Asked Questions

Earned value, from the site up.

Confirm the period. POD does the arithmetic and every surface reads the same number.

Try the Timeline DemoSee Pricing & Free Trial

Keep reading

Earned value management in constructionChoosing project controls softwareEstimate at completion, explained
Try the Interactive Comparison
See every feature side-by-side, what POD matches, what POD adds, and the cost model difference — all in one interactive experience.

Why Teams Switch to POD

What You Get With POD

Feature and cost comparisons are based on publicly available information and each vendor’s own published materials, and may change over time. Product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. POD pricing is published at planofday.com/pricing.

Feature comparisons based on publicly available information. Last updated: September 2026

Deltek and Cobra are trademarks of Deltek, Inc.; this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by Deltek.