SideWRK is a cheap invoicing app for painters who work on the side.
From the estimate, to the invoice, to what you actually made on the paint job — with the property and the customer attached.
SideWRK starts every painter at these prices and does this math on every job you write up. Change any number.
What a Painter job looks like in SideWRK.
The painter job as the app lays it out — your own cost sitting on it, and the estimate your customer approves from their phone.
Built for painter side work — in one app
Branded estimates & invoices
Prep, primer, and coats broken out line by line on a numbered estimate with your name, logo, and license number — sent before the tape is even up. It reads professional because it is.
Customers approve from their phone
The homeowner gets a branded link, sees the scope and the photos, and taps Approve — logged with name, time, and amount. Add a ceiling mid-job and they approve the new number before you roll it.
Real profit, not just revenue
Paint and sundries carry a private "your cost" the customer never sees. The Money tab shows what the repaint actually made you after materials — not just what you bid.
Photos that document the work
Shoot the peeling siding, the patched drywall, the finished walls in good light. Before-and-after photos sell paint work better than any pitch — and they stay on the job.
One flow, start to paid
One job carries the whole repaint — estimate, approval, invoice, payment — and flips to Paid on its own when the balance hits zero.
Pre-1978 lead, flagged
Painting a pre-1978 home triggers federal EPA RRP lead-safe rules. SideWRK flags it right on the job so it's never a surprise — the requirement surfaced, with the pamphlet and certification left to you. Never legal advice.
Painter
The work this app was built around.
Estimate. Invoice. Get paid.
SideWRK runs the business side from your phone, on the job.
From the estimate to the invoice to what the paint job actually paid you — with the property and the customer attached.
From first call to "paid" in three steps
Write it up
Add the customer and the rooms, then the work — prep, paint, coats, a photo of the surfaces. Send the branded estimate the same visit.
Send it
They see the scope, the photos, and the price, and tap Approve from their phone. Logged, automatically.
Get paid
It becomes a numbered invoice with your license on it. Record the payment and the repaint's real profit lands in Money.
What should a painter charge?
Painting is priced by the square foot or per room, and prep is where the real time goes. SideWRK opens a painting estimate at $3.50 a square foot all-in, defaulting a single room to $450 and a whole interior to $2,200. Here's how it's priced, plus free calculators to find your number. Which square footage the rate is actually against — floor or wall, and what the same bedroom costs each way — plus an exterior worked all the way to a total, is the Painter Playbook.
Per square foot or per room
Interiors are often priced per room or per square foot of wall and ceiling; exteriors by the square foot of siding. Two coats price higher than one. SideWRK's default is $3.50 a square foot all-in, with a single room at $450, a whole interior at $2,200, and an exterior at $3,800.
Prep and coats
Patching, sanding, caulking, and priming is the hidden labor — a heavy-prep room costs far more than a clean repaint, regardless of size. Drywall patch and paint carries its own $250 default line rather than disappearing into the room price.
Height, trim, paint grade
Tall ceilings, detailed trim, dark-to-light color changes, and premium paint all raise the number. Trim and doors default to $700, and a cabinet refinish to $1,800.
Painting cost calculator
Rooms, coats, and ceilings. Price the repaint before the tape goes up.
The painter rate behind SideWRK's estimating defaults is $3.50/sq ft, with 75% of a typical ticket paying for time rather than materials. Both numbers come from our 2026 Side-Work Rate Report, which publishes the same figures for all 42 trades.
These tools run free right here — inside SideWRK they fill your estimate for you →
Painter guides from the field
Written for the business side of the work — pricing, getting customers, and keeping them. Free to read, no signup.
One plan. Every trade. $19.
There is one plan and this is it. The Painter build you are looking at is one of 42, and every one of them is already switched on — no upgrade, no add-on. Pick up a different trade next month and the app 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.
- Branded estimates & invoices
- License # on every invoice
- Customer approvals + photos
- 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 Painter job, from your own private cost
- Painter expenses, mileage and a year-end tax packet
- Your own Painter 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.
The seams are gone.
The paint call was always coming — same wall, same week.
One app, every trade.
Every trade — all 42 on one $19/mo plan.
Painter FAQ
Can customers approve the estimate from their phone?
Yes — send a branded link; they review the scope and photos and tap Approve, logged with their name, the time, and the amount.
Do I need to install anything?
No — SideWRK runs in any phone browser, nothing to download. Everything syncs to the cloud, so your phone on the job and your laptop at night see the same data.
Can I run more than one trade?
Yes — every trade is unlocked and you switch between them in a tap, sharing one customer list.
What should a painter charge?
Painting is priced per room or per square foot, with two coats costing more than one, and prep — patching, sanding, priming — driving the real labor. Tall ceilings, trim detail, and paint grade raise the number. SideWRK's default is $3.50 a square foot all-in: $450 a single room, $2,200 a whole interior, $3,800 an exterior. Use the free hourly rate calculator to find your number.
How much does it cost?
SideWRK is $19/month — every trade, everything included. You start on the free plan: five jobs a rolling year, no card, and no expiry. Paying lifts every limit — $19 a month, or $190 a year.
Wondering what to charge? How to price Painter jobs — with real numbers →
Run your painter side work like a real business.
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