The best contractor estimating apps, compared

Invoice Fly

Good fit for: Contractors and freelancers who set their own prices and want simple estimates and invoices plus time and expense tracking

A phone-first estimate and invoice app with a web app. Estimates come from your saved items and markups, clients e-sign from a link, and estimates convert to invoices. Its e-signature page says its AI can generate an estimate. Payments run through your own Stripe or PayPal account. It adds automatic follow-ups and overdue reminders, recurring invoices, time tracking, an expense tracker with receipt scanning and reports. ^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

BuildWell vs Invoice Fly →

Buildertrend

Good fit for: Established home builders, remodelers and specialty contractors running five or more projects a year with a team

Construction management with estimates built from cost catalogs, takeoff and sub bids, proposals clients e-sign in a portal, progress invoicing, change orders, scheduling, daily logs and budgets, for unlimited users. It integrates with QuickBooks and Xero. Its payments FAQ lists client card payments at 2.99% and ACH at $15 per payment. ^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]}

BuildWell vs Buildertrend →

Contractor+

Good fit for: Contractors who want to start free and grow into CRM, scheduling and project management

A contractor business platform with a free plan of up to 5 estimates or invoices a month. From Pro, Estimatic AI drafts estimates from a description, photos, blueprints or another quote, priced from your cost book, supplier prices and a labor-rate index, using AI credits. Contracts and e-signatures also start on Pro. ^{[14][15][16][17]}

BuildWell vs Contractor+ →

Handoff

Good fit for: Residential builders and remodelers with a team who want AI estimating inside a project platform

Builds residential estimates with AI from a typed or spoken scope, photos or plans, priced from supplier catalogs and localized labor rates, then proposals, e-signatures, milestone invoices and payments, with two-way QuickBooks Online sync on every plan. Pro adds project management, time tracking and unlimited AI credits; Scale adds AI takeoffs. ^{[18][19][20][21]}

BuildWell vs Handoff →

Housecall Pro

Good fit for: Home-service companies that book, schedule and dispatch techs

Field service software with online booking, scheduling and dispatch on every plan, and estimates priced from a price book that can start from Profit Rhino’s ready-made one. Customers approve and e-sign estimates from their phone or email, with optional deposits and progress invoicing. Online invoice payments are 2.99% and bank payments 1%. ^{[22][23][24][25][26][27]}

BuildWell vs Housecall Pro →

Jobber

Good fit for: Home-service businesses running crews and recurring work

Field service software for scheduling, quotes, invoices and payments, with QuickBooks Online and Xero sync on Connect and higher plans. Clients approve quotes in a client hub, can draw or type a signature and pay a deposit as they approve. Progress invoicing is on every plan. Card payments are 2.9% + 30¢ and ACH is 1%. ^{[28][29][30][31]}

BuildWell vs Jobber →

Joist

Good fit for: Small home-service contractors who want low-cost estimates and invoices with room to grow

An estimate and invoice app on iOS, Android and web. AI Estimate drafts an estimate from a typed or spoken description for you to review, and e-signatures are on every plan. Upper plans add reports, change orders and job scheduling, and it syncs with QuickBooks. Card payments are 3.49% + 49¢ in the US. ^{[32][33][34][35]}

BuildWell vs Joist →

BuildWell

Good fit for: Contractors who want each estimate priced from local store prices and wages, then signed and paid

Describe a job by voice, text, photos or a floor plan; the AI picks the work and quantities, and prices come from stores near the job and BLS wages plus your overhead and markup. Clients sign on their phone, estimates become invoices with deposits and progress payments, and card or bank payments go through Stripe at cost. iPhone, Android and web; English or Spanish. Not a scheduling, CRM, time-tracking or accounting tool. ^{[36][37][38][39][40][41]}