A No-Nonsense Review of Joist
Is Joist the best app for your construction business? This in-depth review explores everything you need to make an informed choice
Joist brands itself as the “#1 app for contractors,” but what does that really mean for your business?
At its core, Joist is designed to empower home service professionals by simplifying the often cumbersome tasks of creating estimates, invoices, and managing billings — all from your smartphone or tablet.
Whether you’re on a job site or in the office, Joist’s mobile and web tools make it easier to stay on top of your financials. Beyond these basic functions, Joist also integrates payment processing and project management features, providing a more holistic approach to running a construction business.
In this comprehensive, no-nonsense review, we’ll dissect Joist’s full range of features, evaluating its performance and ease of use to determine if it truly delivers on its promise of being the ultimate tool for contractors.
If you’re looking to streamline operations, improve cash flow, and manage projects with greater efficiency, this review will help you decide if Joist is the right fit for your business.
Starts at $14 / mo.
One-step signup process
Search function for most features
Unique homeowner financing solution
No time-tracking solution
Onboarding could be more extensive
Limited integrations
What Is Joist?
Joist is a contractor management app developed and launched by a Toronto-based team. In 2019, following a three-year restructuring that saw 60 to 100 employees laid off, Joist was acquired by Colorado-based company EverCommerce.
Today, Joist focuses on supporting contractors in the following industries: field services and repair, home improvement, remodeling, general and specialty contractors, residential construction, and others.
Now let’s take a look at Joist’s core features.
Joist Overview
Following its restructuring and acquisition, Joist has refocused on offering the following features:
- Estimates
- Invoices
- Payments
- Homeowner Financing
- QuickBooks Sync
- Client Management
All of these features are available on Joist’s platform. However, in this article, we’ll be focusing on the features included in Joist’s free trial.
Sign-Up and Onboarding
It’s easy to get started with Joist. Simply sign up using your email, password, and industry. For this review, we selected ‘General Contracting.’
The Web App Experience – Joist
Joist welcomes you with a 14-day free trial of all its features. You are also invited to create your first estimate or upgrade to one of Joist’s paid tiers.
The top left corner houses a sample logo which can be customized according to your brand.
There is no video tutorial or onboarding guide for first-time users. However, the platform provides a help center and a chatbot feature should you need guidance in navigating the platform.
The Mobile App Experience – Joist
Joist’s app opens with a brief overview of its features and asks you to either create an account or log in.
Similar to the web platform, the app welcomes you with an invitation to create new estimates or upgrade to a paid tier.
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The overhead menu mirrors the web functionalities and includes tabs for viewing pending, approved, and declined estimates. A search icon sits next to a notification bell at the top right corner.
The bottom menu includes the following items: Estimates, Invoices, Clients, Payments, and Manage (account settings and feature upgrades).
You can click the plus button at the bottom of the screen to create invoices or estimates from scratch or from templates.
These have the same detailed sections as those available on the web platform, including client details, line items, online payments, attachments, contract and signature, and document info.
You can create client profiles or import them into the mobile app. Joist’s mobile payment feature connects your PayPal account to Joist to receive payments from clients.
Finally, you can upgrade to Joist Pro or Elite to access more premium features under the ‘Manage’ tab.
Joist Key Features
Joist’s web platform includes the following features:
- Estimates
- Invoices
- Clients
- Items
- Joist Pro
- Payments
- Reports
What is Joist’s ‘Estimates’ Feature?
‘Estimates’ houses pending, approved, and declined project estimates. The dashboard allows you to search for estimates by name, address, estimate number, or purchase number.
You can create estimates from pre-existing or new clients, add date and tracking number, and include additional information such as rate, markup, quantity, and taxes. The dashboard allows you to add line items.
Joist offers multiple payment options, including online payments. You can also opt to add a fee to cover payment processing, which won’t be visible to clients.
You can create contracts for your estimates and attach signatures. The dashboard also allows you to add notes, photos, and other attachments to your estimates. An option for homeowner financing via Acorn is available.
You can also export estimates into CSV and download them by month and year.
Joist allows you to create project templates, which save all document information except client data. This feature is included in Joist Pro and helps you replicate project records quickly.
What is Joist’s ‘Invoices’ Feature?
The ‘Invoices’ tab lets you view active and paid invoices. The same overhead functions are available: search bar, export into CSV, project templates, and creating a new invoice.
The invoice page shows the same sections as in ‘Estimates,’ with the exception of the homeowner financing option.
As with ‘Estimates,’ you have the option to group items into sections (only available in the ‘Elite’ tier).
What is Joist’s ‘Clients’ Feature?
This section lets you view client profiles at a glance. You can also create a new client and add details like personal and billing information.
What are Joist’s ‘Items’?
This section shows estimate and invoice items by category. You can import, export, and update item data on the platform.
You can also create new items with basic info like name, rate, taxes, markup, and description. The platform allows you to add private notes.
What is Joist Pro?
Joist Pro offers premium features, including logo branding, work orders, synchronization with QuickBooks, photo uploading, client notifications, and others. However, these are only available to Joist’s paid subscribers.
What are Joist’s ‘Payments’?
The ‘Payments’ tab is a similar promotion of Joist’s features as others in Pro: it’s accessible only when you subscribe to either the ‘Pro’ or ‘Elite’ plan.
What are Joist’s ‘Reports’?
This section provides an overview of revenue, estimates, and invoice reports for a specific period of time.
Viewing individual pages is available once you upgrade to the ‘Pro’ or ‘Elite’ plan.
What is Joist’s ‘Homeowner Financing’ Feature?
In order to access this section, you need to open settings and click ‘Homeowner Financing.’ It’s basically a feature that allows clients to fund their orders by a lender (Acorn) so you can get the job done and get paid – clients receive the funds from Acorn instead of the contractor.You can also use Joist’s financing brochure to explain the financing options to clients.
Integrating Other Business Apps With Joist
Joist only integrates with QuickBooks Online and offers no other integrations at this time.
Joist Might be a Good Fit for You If…
…you’re running a home service business using a flat rate pricing model. The app has dedicated features for helping contractors create estimates and invoices on the go.
It also offers financing options for home service clients, which can bring in more revenue for your trade business.
You Might Not Want to Use Joist If…
…you’re managing hourly employees, like many in construction.
Joist lacks a scheduling feature and a centralized calendar. It has no time clock or GPS tracking, so there’s no way to know where your team members are or what occupies their time. Joist is built for a specific business process only — estimating and invoicing — and other workforce management aspects lie outside its range of capabilities.
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Joist Cost/Pricing
Joist offers a free, basic plan (Basic) and two paid tiers in its subscription plans. Its cheapest paid tier is the Pro plan while the costliest tier is the Elite tier.
Pro Tier |
Elite Tier |
|
Base Cost |
$14 / mo. |
$32 / mo. |
User Cost |
N/A |
NA |
Offers? |
2 months free on annual plan |
2 months free on annual plan |
Free Trial? |
7-day free trial |
7-day free trial |
Joist Reviews
Joist users were happy with the app’s core functions (billing and invoicing) but said some user functions could be improved.
iOS user Dynamite John says Joist is his favorite app for bidding and invoicing. However, he voiced complaints about the app’s inability to save estimates, as well as pesky push messages:
iOS user Dynamite John says:
Great app mostly ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is my favorite app for bidding and invoicing! The two reasons I gave it less than 5 stars are as follows: 1. Every time you navigate to a different app during estimate editing mode (example: to copy and paste from your notes), it closes the edit and doesn’t save any changes. The app refreshes each time you close a bid, etc. Makes for a lot of wasted time while it reloads ten times more frequently than needed. I have brought this up to the Joist team and they said they would look into it, but never fixed it.2. The app keeps sending annoying messages to try to get me to sign up for PayPal payments, and no matter how often I decline, they keep throwing it in front of me each time I open the app. Like please stop wasting our time. We are paying for the subscription, and you’re interrupting our busy day. If we could clear up those two issues, I would change my rating to 5 stars, and recommend this app strongly! It still remains the best one out there, but I always feel disrespected by the constant bugging to set up payments (PayPal isn’t trustworthy) and always having to re-edit any time I forget to save changes before I go grab a copy to paste from another app. You should not charge money unless you give satisfaction.
Looking forward to improvements and honesty on their end.
Joist team, please read this and fix it! It used to be different. I know it is possible! Thank you!
Joist user Greg L. says the app is easy to use, but there are too many steps in setting up the banking feature:
Capterra reviewer Greg L. says: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Billing and invoice
Overall: Overall not a bad app would like to see it easier to set up banking
Pros: This software is pretty straightforward easy to set up and use
Cons: Difficulty in setting up the banking feature ask for a lot of information
Our Score (and Why We Chose It)
Based on our sign-up and onboarding experience with the free trial, here’s how we scored Joist:
Alternatives to Joist
Joist brands itself as the “#1 app for contractors,” but there are plenty of alternatives offering similar and dedicated features for construction businesses.
14-day free trial
30-day free trial
30-day free trial
30-day free trial
Demo available upon request
The Bottom Line
Joist sells itself as the number one app for contractors, but the fine print limits that statement to estimating, invoicing, and payment collection. It’s a great app for home service professionals, but it may not be for anyone else who’s being paid by the hour.
At best, Joist can be a companion app for dedicated construction management software. Even then, you’ll find it’s a stretch to use for managing teams and coordinating field workers.
Joist is great at what it does. But if you’re looking for time- and job-tracking solutions for your contractors and construction teams, it’s best to turn your attention somewhere else.
Consider Workyard if you’re looking for something easy to set up, learn, and use. It’s workforce management software built for the field and designed to be easy for your distributed workforce.
Workyard offers core construction project management features such as project planning and scheduling, job progress tracking, budget management, and expense tracking. Discover more of Workyard’s features or sign up for a free trial.
Joist is a billing and invoicing software solution designed for contractors in various industries such as fencing, flooring, drywall, carpentry, and more. Key features of Joist include:
- Creating and sharing professional estimates and invoices quickly
- Accepting online payments and offering homeowner financing options to clients
- Organizing customer information and job details in one place
- Syncing with QuickBooks Online to automate bookkeeping
- Unlocking additional professional features like custom logos, photos, contracts, and notifications with the Joist Pro subscription
The basic version of Joist allows users to create up to 5 estimates and invoices per month, while the Joist Pro subscription provides unlimited documents and access to the full suite of professional features. Overall, Joist aims to help contractors streamline their billing, invoicing, and payment collection processes to win more jobs and increase profitability.
To use the Joist app effectively, follow these steps:
1. Sign Up and Set Up Your Account
Go to the Joist website and sign up for a free account.
Download the app from the App Store or Google Play.
Set up your company information, including your logo, name, address, and tax details.
2. Create Estimates
Use the app to create detailed, professional estimates for your clients.
Include items, descriptions, and prices to ensure accurate quotes.
Send estimates to clients via email or share them directly from the app.
3. Manage Clients and Projects
Store all client information securely in the app.
Track project progress and manage tasks using the app’s project management features.
4. Accept Payments
Offer clients various payment options, including credit cards, debit cards, and online payments.
Accept payments directly through the app and get paid faster.
5. Invoicing and Bookkeeping
Create professional invoices with your logo and send them to clients.
Automate bookkeeping by syncing your jobs and clients with QuickBooks Online.
6. Customize and Manage Notifications
Set up custom messages that will be automatically typed when sending emails.
Receive notifications when clients open or view your estimates or pay your invoices.
7. Use the App on Both Desktop and Mobile
Use the desktop version for easier typing and the mobile app for convenience and portability.
Both versions link to each other, so you can access your data from anywhere.
8. Upgrade to Joist Pro for Additional Features
Unlock additional features like custom logos, photos, and attachments for estimates and invoices.
Offer financing options to clients and track payments more effectively.
By following these steps, you can effectively use the Joist app to streamline your billing, invoicing, and payment collection processes, saving time and increasing profitability for your contracting business
Based on the search results, the Joist app offers the following pricing options:
Joist Basics (free plan): Up to 5 documents per month, unlimited clients, display your logo, add line items and document photos.
Joist Pro: $14/month or $140/year. Includes unlimited documents, online payments, homeowner financing, project templates, QuickBooks sync, and more advanced features.
Joist Elite: $32/month or $320/year. Includes all Pro features plus deposit and payment schedules, custom contracts, client activity tracking, change orders, and priority support.
The app is free to download and the basic Joist Basics plan is free to use. However, the Pro and Elite plans require a paid subscription to unlock the full set of professional features.
Joist also offers optional add-ons like QuickBooks sync for an additional monthly fee. Overall, Joist provides a free plan as well as paid subscription tiers to meet the needs of different sized contracting businesses.
To transfer your Joist app with data to your new phone, follow these steps:
1. Prepare Your New Phone
Ensure your new phone is fully charged.
Set up your new phone and connect it to Wi-Fi.
2. Transfer Data
On your old phone, open the Joist app.
Tap the three horizontal lines on the top left corner to access the menu.
Select “Settings” and then “Export Data.”
Choose the data you want to export, such as estimates, invoices, and clients.
Tap “Export” to generate a CSV file.
3. Import Data on New Phone
On your new phone, open the Joist app.
Tap the three horizontal lines on the top left corner to access the menu.
Select “Settings” and then “Import Data.”
Choose the CSV file you exported from your old phone.
Tap “Import” to transfer the data to your new phone.
4. Verify Data Transfer
Check your new phone to ensure all data has been successfully transferred.
Verify that all estimates, invoices, and client information are present and accurate.
5. Update Your Joist Account
Log in to your Joist account on your new phone.
Ensure your account is updated with the new phone’s information.
6. Update Your QuickBooks Integration (Optional)
If you use QuickBooks, ensure you have the latest version and that your Joist account is synced with QuickBooks.
By following these steps, you can transfer your Joist app with data to your new phone, ensuring continuity and minimizing disruption to your workflow.
