Workeey is built for your phone. Scan the code with your phone to get the Android app, or open workeey.com on your phone. The iPhone app and a desktop version are coming soon.
Get the Workeey app. Same account, same jobs.
Best apps for painting contractors in 2026
Six apps for painters, from production rate estimating to free invoicing
Painters sell on the estimate. The homeowner usually gets two or three bids for the same living room or the same siding, and the painter who shows up with a clear, well-priced proposal the next morning tends to win. Behind that proposal sits the arithmetic only painters do: wall area, coats, cut-in, prep time, gallons, and a production rate for how fast your crew really rolls.
That is why this list mixes two kinds of software. PaintScout and DripJobs were built for painting companies and know about production rates. Joist, Jobber, Square Invoices and Workeey are general trade apps that handle quotes, scheduling and billing for painters as well as anyone. Two of them, Square and Workeey, have plans that cost nothing.
Every price below comes from the company's own pricing page, read in November 2026. Workeey is our app, and we point out where the painting specialists do more.
A quick comparison
| PaintScout | DripJobs | Joist | Jobber | Square Invoices | Workeey | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price to start | $99 a month billed annually, or $119 monthly | $97 a month | From $10 a month, capped at 5 documents a month | From $29 a month billed annually | $0 a month; paid plan $49 a month per location | Free; Pro $5 and Premium $19 a month |
| Free plan | No; 14-day trial, no card | No; no free trial either | No; 14-day trial | No; 14-day trial | Yes | Yes, free forever, no card |
| Invoicing | Payments and payment links | Online invoicing and payments | Unlimited from its second plan | Yes, with online payments | Unlimited on the free plan | Unlimited, emailed with a pay link |
| Estimates | Production rate estimating and interactive proposals | Proposals; production rates as a paid add-on | Yes, turns into an invoice | Yes (quotes) | Yes; multi-package on the paid plan | 23 a month free, as a quote PDF |
| Scheduling | With its Operations add-on | Job and appointment scheduler | Only on its top plan | Yes, with online booking | Not listed on its invoices pricing page | Time slots, repeating jobs, routes |
| Phone apps | Not listed on its pricing page | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android | Android app on Google Play; runs in any phone's browser too |
| Best for | Painting companies pricing by production rate | Residential painters who lose leads after the estimate | Change orders for the extra room or accent wall | Repaint and touch-up work booked online | A deposit before you buy the paint | A solo painter pricing rooms from saved lines |
Checked November 4, 2026 on each company's own pricing or product page, and on app store listings for phone apps (Jobber, Joist and Square figures re-used from our November 3, 2026 check of the same pages). Prices are in US dollars before tax; card fees are set by each provider. This compares published plans and features, not a hands-on test of every product.
PaintScout
Best fit: a painting company with a dedicated estimator who wants every bid priced the same way.
PaintScout is estimating and sales software made for painters. Its feature list covers production rate estimating with material lists, pre-built templates, photos and internal notes on estimates, optional upgrades the customer can add, change orders, branded interactive proposals sent by email or text, and automated email and text follow-ups. Payments are listed too: deposits and final payments, cards and bank payments, payment links inside the estimate, and Wisetack financing. Two-way Google Calendar sync is listed for booking estimate visits.
The Operations add-on brings customer and job management and job scheduling, for when you want the work after the sale in the same place.
Pricing: Sales is $119 a month billed monthly or $99 a month billed annually, for one user; Operations adds $99 a month, or $79 billed annually; extra team seats are $20 per user a month. Onboarding is free, with optional paid setup packages from $999. No free plan is listed; there is a 14-day free trial with no card.
Who should look elsewhere: a one-person painter who prices by feel and wants to start without a monthly bill.
Source: PaintScout pricing.
DripJobs
Best fit: a residential painting business that gets plenty of leads but loses too many after the estimate.
DripJobs is a CRM for home-service contractors, and its pricing page describes its Production Rates add-on as estimating for painting, pressure washing and other trades. Its idea is the drip: more than 40 ready-made follow-up messages go out automatically as a deal moves from estimate scheduled to proposal sent to job started. Every plan also includes proposals, a customer portal, online invoicing and payments, financing, work orders, and a job and appointment scheduler.
Advanced adds change orders, appointment reminders, good-better-best package pricing and Google Calendar integration. Production rate estimating for painting is a separate add-on, as are two-way texting and job costing.
Pricing: Pro is $97 a month with one admin user; Advanced is $147 a month; Growth is priced on request. Add-ons: Production Rates $99 a month, Job Costing $49, DripJobs Chat $25. Month to month with no contract. The FAQ says plainly that there is no free trial. Apps on iPhone and Android.
Who should look elsewhere: a painter whose problem is pricing, not follow-up, since production rates cost extra on top of the plan.
Sources: DripJobs pricing, its iPhone app listing and Google Play listing.
Joist
Best fit: a painter who wants tidy estimates and change orders without a CRM.
Joist is a contractor estimating and invoicing app. Write the estimate with your logo, line items and photos, send it, and convert it into the invoice when the last coat is dry. Elite adds change orders, which is where an accent wall or an extra bedroom added on the day gets written down before it is painted.
It has no production rates, so square footage and coats are your math. Scheduling appears only on Run.
Pricing: Basics $10 a month for five documents a month, Pro $17 unlimited, Elite $32, Run $70 a month at an introductory price. The free plan was retired; the 14-day trial needs no card.
Who should look elsewhere: a painter who wants a free plan or a built-in calendar.
Source: Joist pricing. Side by side: Workeey vs Joist.
Jobber
Best fit: a painting business that runs lots of smaller repaint and touch-up jobs and wants homeowners to book online.
Jobber's Core plan includes online booking, scheduling, quotes, invoices with online payments and a client hub. Connect adds automated reminders, quote and invoice follow-ups and QuickBooks Online sync, from $99 a month billed annually.
Its pricing page lists no production rates or paint quantities; it is a general field service app that covers a painter's calendar and billing.
Pricing: Core $29 a month billed annually, $39 with a one-year commitment or $49 with none; extra users $29 a month each. No free plan; 14-day trial, no card.
Who should look elsewhere: a painter who wants painting-specific estimating.
Source: Jobber pricing. Side by side: Workeey vs Jobber.
Square Invoices
Best fit: a painter who wants free unlimited invoices and takes cards in person.
Square Free includes unlimited invoices, estimates, recurring invoices, deposits and automatic reminders, all at no monthly cost. Collecting a deposit before you buy paint is built in. Square Plus adds payment schedules for milestone billing on a big exterior job, multi-package estimates and custom templates.
The invoices pricing page lists no scheduling or job tracking, so Square handles the money and leaves the calendar to you.
Pricing: Square Free $0 a month; Square Plus $49 a month per location. Card fees set by Square.
Who should look elsewhere: a painter who wants quotes, schedule and invoices tied together per job.
Source: Square invoices pricing. Side by side: Workeey vs Square Invoices.
Workeey
Best fit: a solo painter or a two-person outfit that wants estimates, invoices and a schedule in one app, on a free plan.
Workeey's free plan is permanent and needs no card: unlimited invoicing, 23 quick estimates a month and 10 payment reminder texts a month, which you turn on for the invoices that need a nudge. Instead of production rates, you price from your own rates and saved lines: a bedroom repaint, a ceiling, trim per linear foot, a gallon of your usual paint. The quote PDF goes from your phone to the homeowner, with a deposit percent printed if you ask for one up front, and once they say yes, one tap converts it to the invoice.
The invoice is emailed with a pay link for card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or US bank transfer through your own Stripe account, with a small processing fee. Connect your bank and matching invoices are marked paid. The schedule books each day of a longer job as its own time slot, repeats jobs for the next 12 visits, and orders estimate visits into a route. The assistant takes typed or spoken requests. Pro adds Google Calendar and QuickBooks sync and 30 texts a month; Premium makes texts unlimited.
It has no production rate estimating like PaintScout's, no automated follow-up drips like DripJobs', no change orders and no financing. Deposits are not collected through the app, and the homeowner cannot accept the quote inside Workeey; they say yes to you. Workeey is built for the phone: the Android app is on Google Play, it runs in any phone's browser, and a desktop version is coming soon.
Pricing: free; Pro $5 a month; Premium $19 a month.
Who should look elsewhere: a painting company with estimators and crews, or one that wants production rates and automatic follow-ups.
Sources: Workeey features and pricing and availability.
How to choose an app for a painting business
Decide where your time goes. If you lose evenings measuring and pricing, an app with production rates earns its fee. If you price quickly but forget to follow up, a CRM with automatic follow-ups wins you more jobs. If both are under control, a simple quote and invoice app keeps costs down.
Get your numbers straight before you load them into any app. How to price painting jobs covers pricing by the room, by the square foot and by the hour; the hourly rate calculator shows what an hour must earn to cover your costs, and the markup calculator checks what you make on paint and supplies.
If you want to start free, Square and Workeey are the two with free plans. The difference: Square focuses on payments and has card taking in person, while Workeey adds the schedule and routes but has no card reader.
Then test with a real bid. Price the next job in your top two apps, send it, and see which one the homeowner finds clearer. For other trades, see the best apps for tradespeople.
More for painters: pages and free templates
- Painting business software — quotes, prep days and the final bill
- Invoicing for painters — prep, coats and the balance after a deposit
- How to price painting jobs — a guide to setting your prices
- How to start a painting business — a step-by-step guide to going out on your own
- Painting invoice template — free, with a filled-in sample
- Painting estimate template — a free quote sample
- Painting receipt template — a free paid-in-full sample
- Free invoice template — every field a trade invoice needs
- Free estimate template — copy it, price it, send it
- Free receipt template — a paid-in-full receipt to copy
- Work order template — the job written down before you bill it
- Late payment reminder templates — texts, emails and a letter to copy and send
- All free templates and tools
What is the best free app for painting contractors?
Square Free and Workeey's free plan are the two free options here. Square includes unlimited invoices and estimates and collects deposits. Workeey includes unlimited invoicing, 23 estimates a month and a schedule with routes, and needs no card.
Which painting apps use production rates?
PaintScout includes production rate estimating with material lists in its main plan. DripJobs offers production rates as a paid add-on. Joist, Jobber, Square and Workeey price from the rates and items you enter.
Do painting apps take deposits?
PaintScout lists deposits and final payments, and Square Free lists deposits. Workeey prints a deposit percent on the quote but does not collect it; you collect the deposit yourself.
Is there a painting app with no contract?
DripJobs says it is month to month with no contract, and Workeey's paid plans are monthly. Jobber's lowest price needs annual billing.