Joist vs Invoice Fly
Joist and Invoice Fly compete for the same job: getting professional estimates and invoices out of a contractor's phone. Both are single-user document apps with card payments; the differences are pricing structure and trade focus. The bigger question — which neither app answers — is whether documents are actually the part of your business that's leaking money.
The short version
- Joist: built for contractors specifically — $10/month (Basics, 5 documents/month cap), $17/month (Pro, unlimited), $32/month (Elite).
- Invoice Fly: general-purpose invoicing at $8.99/week or $98.99/year — the annual plan is the only price that makes sense.
- Both are single-user and stop at documents: no leads, no jobs, no scheduling, no crew, no CRM.
- If the leak is before the invoice — slow lead response, estimates that take all evening — a document app won't fix it. That's the case for Trusso at $29/month.
Pricing compared
Joist prices monthly per feature tier: Basics at $10/month (capped at 5 documents per month), Pro at $17/month with unlimited documents, Elite at $32/month. Invoice Fly is sold as an app subscription at $8.99/week or $98.99/year — weekly billing works out to over $460/year, so the annual plan is effectively the real price. Both cover one user.
| Joist | Invoice Fly | Trusso | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest sensible plan | $10/mo (max 5 documents/mo) | $98.99/yr (≈ $8.25/mo) | $29/mo (owner + 2 crew) |
| Unlimited documents | From $17/mo (Pro) | Included | Included on every plan |
| Built for contractors | Yes — construction-focused templates | General-purpose invoicing | Yes — full contractor workflow |
| Users | Single user | Single user | Owner + 2 to unlimited crew |
| Leads, jobs, scheduling & CRM | Not offered | Not offered | Included on every plan |
Joist and Invoice Flypricing as published or commonly reported in July 2026 and may change — check each vendor's site for current rates. Joist and Invoice Fly are trademarks of their respective owners.
Features compared
| Feature | Joist | Invoice Fly | Trusso |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auto-import leads from Angi, Thumbtack & Yelp | |||
| AI lead-to-estimate in under 30 seconds | |||
| Unified inbox for marketplace replies | |||
| AI-powered estimates | |||
| Job photos, notes & updates | |||
| Crew clock-in from the field | |||
| Invoices with instant card payments | |||
| Customer CRM & history | |||
| Flat price — no per-tech fees | |||
| Free onboarding & support |
Head to head: documents and payments
Joist is the contractor-specific pick: its templates, workflow and features were built for construction estimates, and the Pro tier at $17/month with unlimited documents is its sweet spot. The $10 Basics tier caps you at 5 documents a month, which a working contractor will blow through in a good week.
Invoice Fly is the generalist: clean invoicing and estimates with Stripe and PayPal payments, sold app-store style at $8.99/week or $98.99/year. On the annual plan it's the cheaper of the two — but watch the weekly billing, which quietly totals over $460 a year for the same product.
What both apps leave on the table
Neither app touches anything before or after the document. Leads from Angi, Thumbtack or Yelp still land in your email and wait. Estimates still get built line by line at the kitchen table. Jobs, schedules, crew hours and customer history still live in texts and memory. For a strictly-solo contractor whose pipeline is word of mouth, that can be fine.
But contractors comparing invoice apps are usually losing more money to slow lead response and slow estimates than to invoice formatting. A $40–80 marketplace lead answered six hours late is gone — and no invoice template gets it back.
When to skip both
If you buy leads, run even a small crew, or juggle more than one job at a time, a document app is solving the wrong problem. Trusso starts at $29/month — more than either app — but it imports marketplace leads automatically, drafts estimates with AI in seconds, and runs jobs, scheduling, crew clock-in, CRM and invoicing in one place. One recovered lead pays the difference for months.
Which one is right for you?
Choose Joist if…
- You want an app built specifically for construction estimates
- Unlimited documents at $17/month fits how many quotes you send
- You prefer predictable monthly pricing
Choose Invoice Fly if…
- You want the lowest annual cost for basic invoicing ($98.99/year)
- Your invoicing needs are simple and not construction-specific
- You already use PayPal with customers
The third option: Trusso
If documents are just one of several things slipping — leads sitting unanswered, estimates eating your evenings, jobs tracked by memory — Trusso replaces the whole stack from $29/month: AI lead capture from Angi, Thumbtack, Yelp and Google, AI-drafted estimates, jobs, scheduling, CRM and invoicing with card payments.
Common questions
Is Joist or Invoice Fly better for contractors?
Joist, narrowly — it's built for construction documents specifically, and $17/month Pro gets unlimited estimates and invoices. Invoice Fly is cheaper on its annual plan ($98.99/year) but general-purpose. Both are single-user document apps.
How much does Invoice Fly really cost?
It's sold at $8.99/week or $98.99/year. The weekly plan totals over $460/year for the same product, so treat $98.99/year as the real price.
Do Joist or Invoice Fly handle leads, scheduling or jobs?
No. Both stop at estimates, invoices and payments for a single user. Lead capture, job tracking, scheduling, crew access and CRM all require a fuller platform — that's the gap Trusso fills at $29–$99/month flat.
What should a contractor with a crew use instead?
A document app can't give crew members schedules or job details. Trusso covers an owner plus 2 crew at $29/month and an owner plus 10 at $59/month, with unlimited documents plus jobs, scheduling, clock-in, CRM and AI lead capture included.
Skip the per-user pricing — try Trusso free
14-day free trial. Flat pricing from $29/month. AI lead capture and estimates included on every plan.
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