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Redline vs Joist: the paperwork, or the whole week.

Redline's Free plan gives you the chat, contacts, a job pipeline and a calendar for $0, with no end date. Joist is a focused estimate and invoice app for small residential contractors, with scheduling on its top plan. If paperwork is your only problem, Joist may be all you need.

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The short version

Redline runs the week around the paperwork: who called, which estimates have gone quiet, what's booked Thursday. On Free you get all of that by chat, plus quotes built from a photo. Solo at $29 a month adds invoices, card pay links, expenses and profit per job.

Joist is an estimating, invoicing and payments app for small residential contractors in the US and Canada, typically 1 to 3 people: general contractors, remodelers, handymen, electricians, plumbers, roofers, painters and landscapers. Its estimates handle sections, markups, logos and contracts, with change orders and e-signatures, and it takes cards, ACH, Tap to Pay, PayPal, deposits and milestone payments, with customer financing.

Joist's site lists Basics at $10 a month for up to 5 estimates or invoices a month, Pro at $16 a month with unlimited estimates and invoices and QuickBooks sync, Elite at $32 a month adding change orders and reports, and Run, which adds job organization and visit scheduling, at a $70 a month promotional price. Annual plans include two months free. Joist says its former free plan is no longer available; the trial is 14 days of Run features with no card.

Vanity swap, deposit to final bill

Estimate for the Gallaghers: pull old vanity and top, set new 36 inch vanity they're supplying, new faucet and supply lines, patch and paint the wall. $1,150 labor, $85 materials. 30% deposit.

Drafted for Erin Gallagher: demo and haul-away, set customer-supplied vanity, faucet and supply lines, patch and paint. $1,235 total with a $370.50 deposit.

Save it?

Job's done and the deposit is in. Invoice the balance, $864.50.

Here's the invoice for Erin Gallagher: $864.50, balance on the vanity swap. Approve it and the pay link goes live.

Invoices, deposits and pay links are on Solo and up.

Redline and Joist, side by side

	Redline	Joist
How you use it	Chat first. You message it ("invoice Sullivan for the roof job") and it updates contacts, jobs, the calendar and invoices, asking you to confirm before it changes customer records. Web and iPhone.	An app for building estimates and invoices, with scheduling and job organization on the Run plan.
Free plan	Yes. $0 with no end date: AI chat, contacts, pipeline, calendar, scheduling assistant, Quick-Sort and a Pro Page. 1 seat and 4,000 AI credits that don't refill.	No. Joist says its former free plan is no longer available. 14-day trial of Run, no card.
Starting price	Solo at $29 a month, or $23 a month billed yearly. 7-day free trial on the web.	Basics at $10 a month for up to 5 estimates or invoices a month, per its site.
Seats	Free and Solo: 1. Team ($129 a month): 3. Team+ ($299 a month): 10, plus extra seats at $29 each.	See their site.
Quotes	Itemized quotes by chat, including from a site photo, with an optional deposit %. Good, better and best options and tax are in the Quote composer (Solo and up). Saved as drafts; you email the customer from your own Gmail. No quote link, online approval or e-sign today.	Estimates with sections, markups, logos and contracts. Change orders and e-signatures.
Invoicing and payments	Solo and up. Branded card pay links on your own Stripe account, no Redline fee on top. Card only, US dollars. Overdue flags at day 3, 7 and 14.	One-tap estimate to invoice. Cards, ACH, Tap to Pay, PayPal, deposits, milestone payments, financing. QuickBooks sync from Pro.
Scheduling	Every plan. Suggests up to 3 open slots, groups visits in the same town, sets up repeating visits with one save. No calendar sync, no online booking.	Visit scheduling on the Run plan only.
Dispatch	Team and up. Dispatch board, tech app, assign jobs by chat, crew chat. Techs tap their status; there's no GPS.	See their site.
What Joist has that Redline doesn't	Not in Redline today.	Customer e-signatures on estimates, change orders, milestone payments, ACH and PayPal, customer financing, QuickBooks sync, review prompts.
What Redline has that Joist doesn't	A Free plan. A calendar, scheduling assistant and pipeline on that Free plan. Crew dispatch on Team.	No free plan. Scheduling only on Run, its top plan.

Joist details come from Joist's own website, checked October 2026. Plans and prices change, so confirm on their site before you decide.

Who should pick which

Pick Joist if

Your main headache is getting estimates signed and turned into invoices
You write change orders mid-job and want them signed
You bill in milestones on bigger remodels
Customers ask to pay by bank transfer, PayPal or financing
You keep the schedule in your head and don't need a calendar app
You work in Canada

Pick Redline if

Estimates go quiet and you need to see which ones to chase
You juggle a dozen small jobs a week and need them on a calendar
You want the office side free and only pay when you invoice
You'd like to say what the job was and get the paperwork back
You plan to add a helper and want a tech app later (Team)

Questions contractors ask

Can customers sign a Redline quote?

Not today. Redline builds the quote, with itemized lines and a deposit % (options and tax are in the Quote composer on Solo and up), and saves it on the customer's file. You email it from your Gmail and they reply. Joist has e-signatures if a signed estimate matters to you.

Does Redline handle change orders?

Not as a separate document. You can raise the job's value by chat ("add the subfloor repair, $420, to the Gallagher job") and bill the new total, but there's no signed change order.

How do the prices compare?

Joist lists Pro, with unlimited estimates and invoices, at $16 a month. Redline Solo is $29 a month, or $23 billed yearly, and includes the calendar, pipeline, chat and overdue alerts as well as invoicing. If you only need estimates and invoices, Joist costs less.

Where can I see other options?

See Joist alternatives, or how Redline works for handymen and remodelers.

See your whole week in one place.

Start free with the chat, calendar and pipeline. Turn on invoicing when you're ready.