Joist vs GroundUp
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Joist
Streamline your contracting business with this app. Create professional estimates and invoices quickly, accept payments, and manage client information all from your mobile device. Save time and win more jobs with organized project management.
- Create professional estimates and invoices
- Accept credit card and PayPal payments
- Manage client information
- Convert estimates to invoices
- Attach photos and contracts
- Export to accounting software
Read full descriptionHide full description
Win more jobs and get paid faster with Joist — the ultimate estimate, invoice & job management tool for contractors. Manage your business entirely from your iPhone or iPad. Create professional quotes in seconds, schedule work, accept secure payments, and stay ahead of the competition with the industry's most trusted tool for builders. Whether you are estimating on-site, scheduling upcoming work, or sending professional bills from the office, Joist saves time, keeps you organized, and helps you stay on top of your workday. Note: Payments functionality is currently available in the US & Canada. ——— WHY CONTRACTORS LOVE JOIST • SAVES TIME – Complete administrative work at the jobsite or on-the-go. Stop spending evenings catching up on paperwork, paper notes & digital receipts. • STAY ORGANIZED – Keep every job organized in one place. Connect customer details, estimates, invoices, notes, and schedules so you always know where work stands without digging through texts or spreadsheets. • PLAN WITH CONFIDENCE – See upcoming work in a simple calendar view, avoid scheduling conflicts, and always know what’s coming next. • WIN MORE JOBS – Send your client an estimate before you leave. Be the first to create an estimate & give them the opportunity to say YES on the spot. • SPEED UP ESTIMATING & INVOICING – Build estimates & invoices quicker by selecting from your list of commonly used materials + labor rates. • ACCEPT PAYMENTS – Accept Credit Card & PayPal payments directly through Joist. No more driving around to pick up checks. • EASILY MANAGE CLIENTS – Create, organize & store valuable info to access your clients' data anytime, on the go. • LOOK PROFESSIONAL – Show clients you are the contractor they should trust with customized estimates & invoices. ——— KEY FEATURES • Create & organize jobs, keeping notes, photos, estimates & invoices connected • Schedule visits for every job & track workload in a simple calendar view • Customize estimates & invoices with company info & logo • Attach a client contract & collect a signature on the spot • Accept Credit Card & PayPal payments directly through the app • Build a list of commonly used items, services & materials • Attach photos to your estimates & invoices • Preview, print, or email estimates & invoices on the spot • Create personal messages & digital receipts for your clients • Convert estimates into invoices ASAP • Keep track of customer payments & bills • Export data into your accounting program to reduce costs • Access all your info from any device or the web — Joist is cloud-based. ——— USE CASES & VERSATILITY • On-Site Estimates: Walk through a job & create a quote before leaving the property. • Smart Scheduling: Plan your workday, set up job site visits, and stay on top of active work. • Job Organization: Keep estimates, invoices, client notes & photos grouped neatly under each job. • Instant Invoicing: Convert approved quotes into professional bills & send instantly. • Mobile Payments: Accept payments immediately upon job completion. • Project Tracking: Use the estimator for accurate material & labor margins. ——— WHO USES JOIST General contractors, handymen, electricians, plumbers, builders, landscapers, roofers, painters, HVAC, flooring, remodeling, construction & more! ——— WHAT OTHER CONTRACTORS ARE SAYING "Now I can do quotes on the fly! I don't have to walk through the job & write everything down; it's all programmed into my iPad right from material cost to cost per square foot! This app is so awesome." ——— JOIST SUBSCRIPTIONS You can subscribe to Joist Pro or Joist Elite (Monthly/Annual). Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off 24 hrs prior to the end of the current period. Manage settings in App Store or iTunes. ——— Joist is FREE to Download & FREE to try! Available on iPhone, iPad & desktop. Get support FAST: hello@joist.com | www.joist.com | In-app live chat Terms: https://www.joist.com/terms/ Privacy: https://www.joist.com/privacy-policy/
GroundUp
Manage construction projects, crew, and finances from your phone or desk. Track tasks, budgets, and daily logs with voice input. Connect your team and partners for seamless collaboration.
- Project organization
- Crew management
- Partner collaboration
- Estimates and proposals
- Financial tracking
- Voice-to-text daily logging
- Offline functionality
Read full descriptionHide full description
GroundUp is construction management made for residential work — from new homes to remodels — not enterprise GCs with office staff. Everything you need to manage your projects, your crew, and your money, from your phone or your desk. No more juggling texts, spreadsheets, and your Notes app. YOUR DAY AT A GLANCE Open the app and see what needs you across all your projects — who's on site, what's waiting on you, money that needs attention, and what's coming up — so nothing falls through the cracks. YOUR PROJECTS, ORGANIZED Manage tasks, timelines, budgets, files, permits, and daily logs from a single workspace. Every project gets a full dashboard with setup guidance that helps you hit the ground running. And when you need something, search finds it across every project. YOUR CREW, CONNECTED Invite your whole team with a simple code. Crew members get their own app — designed to be so simple they won't need to ask a single question, in English or Spanish, whichever each of them prefers. Check-ins, hours, task updates, photos, and availability — all in one place. Crew is always free, no matter how many you invite. PROJECT PARTNERS Bring in anyone who helps run or follow the project — they get their own account and see only what you give them access to: progress, budgets, files, tasks, the timeline. They can follow the daily log feed and comment on and like updates, so you stay coordinated without group chats and status calls. Just want to show someone progress? Share a project link — no account needed, and you choose what they see. ESTIMATES & PROPOSALS Price a project line by line, send a polished PDF proposal, and when it's accepted, turn it into a project with its budget and funding already set up. Chasing new work? Track your leads alongside your estimates, from the first call to a new project. YOUR FINANCIALS, TRACKED Set your budget by category, log expenses as they happen — scan a receipt and the details fill in — and keep track of unpaid bills before they're due. Invoice your client or your lender from the same place, and always know how much funding is left. When you need the numbers, one tap exports everything to a clean Excel spreadsheet, ready for your accountant, lender, or records — or bring an existing budget in from a spreadsheet. DAILY LOGGING WITH VOICE Log your day by voice — tap the mic, talk, and AI pulls out the details: trades on site, materials, delays. Or type it out. Add photos, and the weather is attached automatically. Every log is saved to the project's feed, where you can search it anytime. PROJECT REPORTS Generate professional reports in a few taps. Choose your date range, pick what to include, and get a clean, shareable PDF. Send a detailed report to your lender or a quick update to your client — same data, tailored for the audience. PERMITS & INSPECTIONS Track permits, schedule inspections, and look up your local building department — all from the app. You'll get a reminder the day before every inspection. BILINGUAL Every screen works in English and Spanish, and each person picks their own — you can run the app in English while your crew uses it in Spanish. Notifications and invoices follow each person's language too. Translated with a construction-specific glossary so nothing gets lost. WORKS OFFLINE No signal on site? No problem. Log your day, check off tasks, record expenses, and take photos — everything saves on your phone and syncs automatically when you're back online. MADE BY A BUILDER FAMILY GroundUp isn't a generic project management app with a hard hat slapped on the icon. It's made by a family that builds and remodels homes for a living — designed around how builders actually work, not how a software company imagines they do. Terms of Use (EULA) / Términos de uso (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: GroundUp at 100% against Joist's 61%. GroundUp also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Joist's advantage is ratings volume (14K vs 3) and chart position (#17 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Joist sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and GroundUp sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $79.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
GroundUp holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Joist has 14K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of Joist's written reviews are positive against 100% of GroundUp's.
Joist ships an update every 2 weeks, GroundUp weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Joist | GroundUp |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (14K ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 61.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14K — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #17 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 193 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Joist Software Inc. | GroundUp Technologies LLC |
Customer experience
Joist
GroundUp
Bugs and requests
Joist
Reported bugs
4 issues- Freezing when removing photos
- Estimates and invoices not being delivered
- Inconsistent behavior across devices
- Issues with payment processing and funds being held
Requested features
5 requests- Offline mode
- Ability to customize invoices and estimates
- More payment options
- Integration with accounting software
- Better organization and search for past invoices
GroundUp
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Joist
- Quickbooks Sync Monthly$9.991 Month
- Joist Basics Monthly$9.991 Month
- Joist Pro Monthly$16.991 Month
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Joist Elite Monthly$31.991 Month
- Quickbooks Sync Annual$90.991 Year
- Joist Run Monthly$99.991 Month
- Joist Basics Annual$99.991 Year
- Joist Pro Annual$169.991 Year
- Joist Elite Annual$319.991 Year
- Joist Run Annual$999.991 Year
GroundUp
- Builder Monthly$79.991 Month
- Pro Monthly$149.991 Month
- Builder Annual$699.991 Year
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Pro Annual$999.991 Year









