QuoTrak vs Joist
Two apps built for the same person: a contractor who needs to send a professional estimate today and invoice when the job's done. They differ on what's free, what it costs, and whether you can see your margin before you send.
Prices and plan details checked on joist.com/pricing on 2 November 2026. All prices in USD.
Which should you pick?
You want your margin on the quote, unlimited documents for free, and job costing when you're ready
QuoTrak's Free plan has no document cap and no expiry; Pro adds payments, job costing, change orders and accounting sync for $12 USD a month.
Offering homeowner financing is how you close bigger jobs, or you want a long-established native mobile app
Joist's financing option and its mature iOS and Android apps are the two things QuoTrak doesn't match.
The short version
Joist is one of the best-known estimating and invoicing apps for contractors, and it covers the basics well: estimates, invoices, payments, QuickBooks sync, and change orders on its upper plans. Its free plan is gone as of 2026; Basics is $10 USD a month with a five-document monthly cap, Pro is $17 for unlimited documents, Elite is $32, and Run is $70 at an introductory price ($100 list), each with a 14-day trial. Annual billing takes off two months.
QuoTrak starts from a different question: not "can I send a quote?" but "will this job make money?" Every quote carries your internal costs and shows profit and margin as you type, on every plan. The Free plan has unlimited quotes and invoices with no time limit. Pro, at $12 USD a month billed annually, adds email sending, Stripe payment links, quoted-versus-actual job costing, change orders tied to a project, templates, Field Mode and QuickBooks or Xero sync.
Side by side
| Feature | QuoTrak | Joist |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Free plan | Yes, foreverUnlimited quotes & invoices | Discontinued14-day trial |
| Entry price | $0Pro: $12 USD/mo annual ($144/yr), $15 monthly | $10 USD/moBasics ($8.34 annual); 5 documents a month |
| Unlimited documents | Free | $17 USD/moPro ($14.17 annual) |
| Change orders | Pro, $12 USD/mo | $32 USD/moElite ($26.67 annual) |
| Per-user fees | None | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Quoting & invoicing | ||
| Live profit margin while quoting | YesPer line and per quote | NoExpense tracking only |
| Quote → invoice in one click | Yes | Yes |
| Deposits, progress & milestone invoices | Deposits free, milestones Pro | Deposits |
| Recurring invoices | Pro | Not listed |
| Quoted vs actual job costing | Pro | Track job expenses |
| Reusable templates & cost catalog | ProCatalog on Free | Yes |
| Customer e-signature / acceptance | Accept by email | Yes |
| Getting paid & books | ||
| Online card payments | ProStripe | Joist Payments |
| Homeowner financing | No | Yes |
| QuickBooks Online sync | Pro | Pro and up |
| Xero sync | Pro | No |
| Zapier & Google Sheets | Pro | Not listed |
| On site | ||
| Native mobile apps | Web app, works on any phone | iOS & Android |
| Jobsite photos & crew clock-in | Pro, Field Mode | No |
| Trade calculators | Free, Field Tools | No |
Joist plans and prices from joist.com/pricing on 2 November 2026 (Basics, Pro, Elite, Run; monthly billing unless noted). Joist's feature names and plan assignments are theirs and can change; check their page before you decide. QuoTrak plan details are on our pricing page.
Where Joist is the better choice
Joist has been around since 2013 and it shows in the places that matter to a one-person operation: the native phone apps are polished, the estimate-to-invoice flow is quick, and the customer-facing side (approval, payment) is familiar to a lot of homeowners by now. The feature QuoTrak can't match is financing: Joist lets you offer homeowner financing on a quote, which can close a $15,000 bathroom that a card can't. If that's part of how you sell, Joist earns its place.
Where QuoTrak is the better choice
What you gain
- Margin while you quote. Costs sit behind every line and the Internal Workshop shows profit and margin as you price. Joist tracks expenses; it doesn't tell you whether the quote is any good before you send it.
- Free means free. Unlimited quotes and invoices with no document cap and no expiry. Joist's $10 plan stops at five documents a month.
- Change orders and job costing at $12, not $32. On QuoTrak Pro a change order is priced with its own margin and updates the project's quoted-vs-actual.
- Field Mode. GPS-sorted jobs, GPS-tagged photos, crew clock in and out, and a shareable photo summary for the customer.
- Xero, Zapier and Google Sheets alongside QuickBooks.
What you give up
- Homeowner financing on quotes.
- Native iOS and Android apps. QuoTrak is a web app that works on any phone, but it isn't in the app stores.
- A decade of users and reviews. QuoTrak is newer and smaller.
Switching from Joist
Export your clients from Joist as CSV and import them on QuoTrak Pro. Line items are quickest to rebuild as you go: save each one to your catalog with its price and costs, so the second quote for the same kind of job takes minutes. To try the editor before you move anything, the free quote generator needs no account, and whatever you build there comes with you when you sign up.
Questions
Does Joist still have a free plan?
Not as of November 2026. Joist's pricing page says the free plan is no longer available; the entry plan, Basics, is $10 USD a month and is capped at five documents a month, with a 14-day free trial. QuoTrak's Free plan has no time limit and no document cap.
What does Joist do that QuoTrak doesn't?
Joist offers homeowner financing through the app, has native iOS and Android apps with a large user base, and has been around for over a decade. If offering financing on bigger jobs is part of how you close, that's a real difference.
What does QuoTrak do that Joist doesn't?
Live profit margin on every quote as you price it, quoted-versus-actual job costing with change orders tied to a project, Xero sync alongside QuickBooks, Field Mode for GPS-tagged jobsite photos and crew clock-in, and unlimited documents on the free plan.
Can I import my Joist clients into QuoTrak?
Yes. Export your client list from Joist as CSV and import it on QuoTrak Pro, which includes CSV import and export for customers and the product catalog.
Unlimited quotes, free, with your margin on every one
No credit card. Every signup starts with 7 days of Pro.