The honest side-by-side

Why contractors switch to SayEstimate

Same paperwork. Less money out of your pocket. More tools on the jobsite, and your money never takes a detour through somebody else's account.

SayEstimate Typical big-name field app
$9.99–$59.99/mo · or $299 once, forever $39–$169+/mo, often per user
AI that learns YOUR pricesLearns from every job you win and gets more accurate over time✗ Static guesses you tweak every time
Who holds your moneyNobody, straight to YOUR Stripe accountOften held & paid out on their schedule
Card fee markup0%. Stripe's standard rate onlyMarkup frequently baked in
Team pricingCrew: 8 people, $59.99 flatPer user, per month, forever
Buy-it-once option$299 forever
Invoices & estimatesUnlimited on every planOften capped on lower tiers
📣 AI lead page, homeowners get an instant ballpark✓ Your own link + QR, leads arrive pre-scoped
🎤 Voice walkthrough → priced estimate✓ Talk & snap photos on site
AI reads plans, photos & receiptsRare, or extra
Live web material pricing✓ One-tap current prices
Good / Better / Best proposals✓ Generated by AIManual, higher tiers
E-signatures✓ Every planSometimes gated
Deposits & partial payments✓ Every planHigher tiers
ACH bank payments✓ Low-feeSometimes, with markup
Customer financing at checkout✓ Affirm, subject to approvalSelect plans/partners
Estimate open tracking + alerts✓ 👀 first-open emailHigher tiers
Automatic estimate follow-ups✓ Quiet quotes get a nudge
Automatic payment reminders✓ Every planOften gated
Send estimates by text✓ From your own number, freePaid SMS add-ons
Recurring invoices✓ Auto-create & auto-sendHigher tiers
Progress / milestone billing✓ Bill 25% · 50% · the rest, deposit auto-appliedHigher tiers
Change orders✓ E-signed, tied to the jobTop tiers
Marketing email blasts✓ AI-written, included$79+/mo add-on
Client portal✓ One link per clientTop tiers
Job scheduling✓ Approved work books itself
Automatic review requests✓ Included$150+/mo add-on
Job costing / profitability✓ With AI receipt scanningTop tiers
Instant owner alerts (open/sign/pay)✓ Email the moment it happensVaries
Weekly business digest✓ Monday morning email
6 languages, app AND customer pagesRare
QuickBooks & Excel export✓ Every planHigher tiers
Batch import from your old app✓ One uploadManual or paid migration
Refer & earn3.5% of referred subscriptions, for life

"Typical big-name field app" reflects published pricing and plan gating of leading contractor invoicing/field-service apps as of mid-2026. Offerings change, check current competitor pricing before relying on a specific claim.

The three that matter most

🏦

Your money never detours

Payments settle to YOUR Stripe account directly. No holds, no "payout schedules," no waiting on someone else's risk team to release your own money.

🎤

Estimating is actually different here

Nobody else turns a voice walkthrough and a few photos into a priced, tiered, e-signable estimate. This is the part you'll show your friends.

🧾

The bill stays small on purpose

Flat plans, no per-user fees, no payment markups, and a buy-once option. Software should cost less than the problems it solves.

Looking at a specific app?

We wrote fair, name-by-name comparisons: SayEstimate vs Jobber · SayEstimate vs Joist · SayEstimate vs Housecall Pro

Switching is a coffee break, not a weekend

Export your clients, invoices, and estimates from your current app as CSV, drop them into SayEstimate's batch import, and everything comes over, clients matched, duplicates skipped. Most folks are fully moved in under 20 minutes.

Bring your business over. Keep your money.

14 days free, every feature on. Import your old data in one upload.

Start free

Compare us to a specific tool

Honest, side-by-side breakdowns against the apps contractors ask about most.