The Joist alternative that runs the whole job — not just the invoice.
Joist is a solid, cheap way to fire off an estimate or invoice. But the job is more than a piece of paper. SideWRK runs it end to end — estimate, customer approval logged with the time and amount, getting paid, and your real profit on every job — for any of 42 trades, from your phone, for $19/mo flat.
SideWRK vs Joist, side by side
| SideWRK | Joist | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19/mo (full job toolkit) | $10 / $17 / $32 / $70 per month (invoicing focus) |
| Built for | Running & getting paid for the whole job | Quick estimates & invoices |
| Get paid | Card & Apple Pay at Stripe’s standard rate | Card payments via processor (per-transaction fees) |
| Logged customer approvals | Yes — name, time & amount, re-auth on changes | Limited |
| Real-profit tracking | Yes — private cost per line | Revenue, not profit |
| Multiple trades, one login | Yes ($19/mo) | General-contractor focus |
| Trade-specific tools | Yes — per trade (permits, tickets, etc.) | Generic |
| Free to start | 5 jobs a year, no card | 14 days (the free plan was discontinued) |
Joist pricing read from joist.com/pricing — prices checked 19 August 2026: $10, $17, $32 and $70 per month, cheaper on annual billing. Joist states its free plan is no longer available. Comparison reflects typical solo use; your needs may differ. Joist is a trademark of its owner; SideWRK is not affiliated with or endorsed by Joist.
Why operators move from Joist to SideWRK
You want the whole job, not a PDF
Estimate, approval, photos, invoice, payment, and profit all live on one job — instead of an invoice in one app and everything else in your head.
Nobody takes a cut but the card network
Card and Apple Pay run at Stripe's standard rate, paid to Stripe. SideWRK adds nothing on top — the flat subscription is the whole bill.
See real profit
A private cost on each line means the Money tab shows what you actually made — not just what you billed. That's the number that runs a business.
To be fair — when Joist is the better pick
You only need invoices, cheaply
If all you want is to send the occasional estimate or invoice and nothing more, Joist’s $10/mo Basics tier is genuinely hard to beat on price. And if you only send a few invoices a month and never need an approval or job costing, Wave’s free Starter plan does that too.
You live in QuickBooks
So does SideWRK — it exports QuickBooks-ready income and expense files straight from your year-end summary, so your bookkeeper imports a clean year instead of you re-typing it. You keep the phone-first app and QuickBooks still gets fed.
One plan. Every trade. $19.
There is one plan and this is it. Every trade is already switched on — this one, and every other trade in the app. Pick up something different next month and it switches with you. Your customers come with you — one book of people, every job you have ever done for them, whichever trade you had your hat on for that day. $190 a year if you pay yearly, which is two months free.
- Estimates & branded invoices
- Customer approvals + photos
- No cut taken on a payment
- Real profit tracking
- All 42 trades, switched on — not a bundle, not an add-on
- One customer list across every trade — the same person, every job you ever did for them
- Unlimited customers and jobs — no caps
- Real profit on every job, from your own private cost
- Expenses, mileage and a year-end tax packet
- Your own page, work gallery and booking requests
- Card, Apple Pay, Venmo, Cash App — Zelle if your bank offers it — or cash
Nothing above is behind a higher tier. There is no higher tier.
SideWRK vs Joist — FAQ
How is SideWRK different from Joist?
Joist focuses on quick estimates and invoices and is inexpensive for that. SideWRK runs the whole job — estimates and branded invoices, customer approvals logged with name/time/amount, getting paid, real-profit tracking, and trade-specific tools — for any of 42 trades in one login.
Is SideWRK cheaper than Joist?
Joist is cheaper on the sticker — $10 and $17/month, or $8.34 and $14.17 if you prepay the year. Its free plan is no longer available. SideWRK is $19/month, flat because it does more than invoicing. If you just need to send the occasional invoice, Joist wins on price; if you want to run and get paid for the whole job, SideWRK is built for that.
Does SideWRK track real profit like Joist?
SideWRK shows your real profit, not just revenue — every part or material carries a private 'your cost' the customer never sees, so the Money tab reflects what you actually made. That profit view is core to SideWRK.
Can I get paid without processing fees?
SideWRK itself takes no cut of any payment — the flat subscription is how we make money, so a big month costs you the same as a slow one. Cards run at Stripe's standard rate, paid to Stripe. Apps that route payments through a processor charge a percentage on every transaction.
Run the whole job — not just the invoice.
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