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Joist Alternative: Jobtable vs Joist
Last updated 1 September 2026. All Joist prices taken from joist.com/pricing on that date and listed in USD.
Joist is built for the one-man show, and for that it is cheaper than Jobtable at $10 to $17 a month against our $59. It is not built for a business with staff. Job scheduling sits on Joist's Run plan at a $100 list price, and no Joist plan publishes seat or team pricing at all. Jobtable is $59/month for 3 users, $10 for each user after that, and is built for contractors who are hiring.
Why contractors look for Joist alternatives
Joist does one thing well and is priced for the contractor doing it alone. People rarely leave because the product is bad. They leave because they grew out of it, and the place it runs out of road is the day you hire.
Two moments trigger the search. The first is putting someone else on the payroll and finding there is no published answer for what a second seat costs. The second is taking on jobs that run for weeks, where you are suddenly tracking draws, change orders and costs against a budget. At that point the products worth looking at are Jobber, Housecall Pro and Jobtable, all built around a crew rather than one person.
How much does Joist cost?
Joist publishes four plans. What matters is not the entry price, it is which tier holds the feature you actually came for.
| Joist plan | Monthly | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Basics | $10 | Up to 5 documents per month, online payments, estimates to invoices, homeowner financing |
| Pro | $17 | Unlimited documents and clients, your logo, line items and document photos, work orders |
| Elite | $32 | Change orders, license and insurance, business and sales reporting, reviews, social integrations |
| Run | $70 intro, $100 list | Organise jobs, schedule visits, link jobs to estimates, invoices and clients |
The Run plan is marked as an introductory price at 30% off, so the $70 is not the standing rate. Joist's pricing page does not state user counts, seats or team pricing on any of the four plans.
What you actually pay, by what you need
Comparing entry prices is the wrong test here, because the two products are priced for different jobs. This is the more useful comparison.
| What you need | Joist | Jobtable |
|---|---|---|
| Estimates and invoices, working alone | $10 to $17 | $59 |
| Change orders | $32 (Elite) | $59 |
| Scheduling and job management | $70 intro, $100 list (Run) | $59 |
| Job costing, progress billing, daily logs | Not listed on Joist's pricing page | $59 |
| A crew of 3 | No seat pricing published | $59 |
| A crew of 6 | No seat pricing published | $89 |
Read the top row honestly. If that is your business, Joist wins and it is not close, and you should stop reading here. Every row below it is a different business. At Run's list price you are paying $100 a month for scheduling on its own, which is $41 more than Jobtable charges for scheduling plus job costing plus progress billing plus three seats.
Jobtable vs Joist: feature comparison
| Jobtable | Joist | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $59/month, or $600/year ($50/month). 3 users included. | $10/month (Basics), capped at 5 documents per month |
| Additional users | $10/month each, or $100/year each on annual billing, added one at a time | No seat or team pricing published |
| Plans to choose from | One plan, all features included | Basics, Pro, Elite and Run |
| Free trial | 14 days, no credit card | 14 days, no credit card |
| Job costing | Included | Not listed on Joist's pricing page |
| Two-way SMS | $19/month add-on, 500 messages | Not listed on Joist's pricing page |
| QuickBooks Online sync | Included | Not listed on Joist's pricing page |
| Timesheets | Included | Not listed on Joist's pricing page |
| Progress billing | Included | Not listed on Joist's pricing page |
| Change orders | Included | Elite plan and above ($32/month) |
| Daily logs | Included | Not listed on Joist's pricing page |
| Recurring jobs and invoices | Included, with pause, resume and per-line-item scheduling | Not listed on Joist's pricing page |
| Online booking and requests | Custom online request forms that land in your unscheduled column. Customers do not pick a slot off your live calendar. | Not listed on Joist's pricing page |
| Third-party integrations | Direct integrations including QuickBooks Online, Stripe and Gmail. See the full list. | Social integrations from Elite. Joist is part of the EverPro toolkit. |
| Paid add-ons | SMS at $19/month, with a dedicated local number and 500 messages included. Jobtable Sites, an SEO website, at $199/month. AI credits as a one-time top-up from $12. | AI Receptionist from $49/month |
| Built for | Construction and trades running multi-stage jobs | Solo contractors quoting and invoicing on the go |
Where Joist is the better choice
This one is easy to be honest about. For a solo contractor who is not trying to grow, Joist is the right answer and we are not. If the following describes you, stay where you are.
Stay with Joist if
- You are a one-man show and you intend to stay one. Joist is built for exactly that and priced for it.
- Your software only needs to produce estimates, invoices and take payment. At $17 a month Pro does that for less than a third of our price.
- You do not track job costs, issue change orders or bill in draws, and you do not expect to start.
- You want a long public track record before committing. Joist has been in contractors' hands far longer than we have, with over 12,000 published ratings.
- You want an AI receptionist answering missed calls from the same vendor.
Switch to Jobtable if
- You have hired someone, or you are about to, and you need to know what a seat costs before you do it.
- You are running a business rather than a one-man operation, and you need the software to hold more than one person's work.
- You are looking at Run and realising $100 a month buys scheduling and not much else.
- You bill in draws, issue change orders, and keep daily logs on jobs that run for weeks.
- You are tracking job costs in a spreadsheet next to the software you already pay for.
- You want QuickBooks Online sync without it being a reason to change plans.
Who built it
Jobtable did not start life as a software product. It started as an internal tool inside a plumbing company that two of our co-founders still run today. They built it because what they were paying for did not match how the work actually happened, and they ran the business on it while it grew from two people to more than thirty. It only became something we sold after other contractors asked to use it.
That is why the feature list looks the way it does. Progress draws, change orders, job costing and daily logs are in the product because the people building it were dealing with those things on live jobs that same week. When a customer calls support about how a holdback should be billed, they are talking to a company that has invoiced one.
Switching from Joist to Jobtable
Most contractors researching Joist alternatives stall on this question, so here is the specific answer. We handle the migration for you and we do not charge for it. Your clients, quotes, jobs and invoices come across, including the line items inside them. You pull the exports out of Joist, send them over, and we load everything into your account and hand it back for you to check before you cancel anything on their side.
If you have photos or documents attached to past jobs, raise that at the start so we can sort out what moves and what is better left sitting in your Joist archive. Coming from Joist the setup is usually quick, since there is less to bring across than from a full field service platform. Most contractors are quoting out of Jobtable the same afternoon.
What contractors say after switching
Frequently asked questions
Who are Joist's main competitors?
Joist sits at the solo end of the market, so it is usually weighed against Invoice Simple, and then against Jobber, Housecall Pro and Jobtable once a contractor starts hiring. Invoice Simple is closest on price and scope. Jobber and Housecall Pro are full field service platforms at several times the cost. Jobtable is aimed at construction businesses with a crew, at $59/month for 3 users.
How much does Joist cost?
Joist publishes four plans, billed monthly: Basics at $10, Pro at $17, Elite at $32 and Run at $70 as an introductory price, 30% off a $100 list price. Annual billing takes two months off each. An AI Receptionist add-on starts at $49/month. Figures checked 1 September 2026.
Is Joist good for a contractor with employees?
Joist's pricing page does not publish user counts, seats or team pricing on any of its four plans, so there is no stated answer to what a crew costs. Job scheduling and job management sit on Run, the newest and most expensive tier. Joist is built and priced for the solo contractor. If you have staff to schedule, pay and track, confirm what that costs with Joist directly before you commit.
What is the cheapest alternative to Joist?
For estimates and invoices alone, nothing beats Joist. Basics is $10/month and Pro is $17/month, both well below Jobtable's $59. The comparison changes once you need job management. Joist puts scheduling on its Run plan at a $100 list price, where Jobtable is $59 for 3 users with additional users at $10.
Is Jobtable a direct replacement for Joist?
Jobtable covers everything Joist does around estimates, invoices and payments, and adds job costing, progress billing, change orders, daily logs and timesheets. It also supports a crew, which Joist publishes no pricing for. Joist offers homeowner financing and an AI Receptionist add-on that Jobtable does not, and has a longer public track record with over 12,000 published ratings.
Can I move my data from Joist to Jobtable?
Yes, and Jobtable does the migration for you at no charge. Clients, quotes, jobs and invoices are imported, including the line items inside them. You pull the exports out of Joist, send them over, and Jobtable loads everything into your account for you to check before you cancel anything. If you have photos or documents attached to past jobs, raise it at the start so it can be handled as part of the move.
Should I switch from Joist to Jobtable?
It depends on whether you are growing. If you are a one-man show and intend to stay one, Joist is cheaper and does that job well, so stay. The switch makes sense the moment you put someone else on the payroll, when jobs start running across several weeks with draws and change orders, or when you find yourself tracking job costs in a spreadsheet alongside the software you already pay for.
Try Jobtable on your next job
14 days free. No credit card, no contract, no setup fee. Coming from Joist? We move your data across for you at no charge.
Get Started FreeSources. Joist plan names, prices and plan features were read from joist.com/pricing on 1 September 2026, from the published Basics, Pro, Elite and Run plan cards. Rating and review-count figures are as displayed on that page. Jobtable pricing is from our pricing page.
Rows marked "not listed" mean the feature does not appear in Joist's published plan descriptions. Joist may offer it in some form. Prices change, so check both pricing pages before you decide.