Contractor App Builder

Best Invoicing Apps for Contractors (2026)

Seven invoicing options for small contractors compared on deposits, milestone billing, payment fees and price, using each vendor’s own pricing and help pages.

Floot ·

Key Takeaways

  • Decide what else the app must do. If you need full bookkeeping, start with accounting software. If you need quotes, scheduling and invoices together, look at contractor or field service apps.
  • Check deposits and milestone billing specifically. Staged remodels need deposits and payment schedules, not just one-off invoices. Not every app lists them.
  • Payment fees matter more than subscription price. On an 8,000 dollar invoice, a 2.9 percent plus 30 cent card fee is 232.30 dollars; capped bank transfers can cost 10 dollars or less.
  • Watch the limits on cheap plans. Some plans cap invoices per month or year, or billable clients.
  • Building your own fits unusual billing. If your billing schedule does not fit any template, Floot can build an invoicing app from your description, with Floot Payments checkout paid out via Stripe.

Quick-Start Prioritization Framework

AppBest forStarting price (vendor page)
QuickBooks OnlineContractors who want invoicing inside their accountingFree (2 invoices/mo); Simple Start $38/mo regular
JobberService trades wanting quotes, deposits, schedules and invoices together$29/mo annual, $49/mo monthly (Core)
Square InvoicesLow cost to start, with deposits and estimatesFree plan; fees per payment
JoistSolo contractors and small remodelers quoting from a phone$10/mo (Basics)
FreshBooksOwners who want simple invoicing plus bookkeeping$23/mo regular (Lite)
Invoice2goMobile-first invoicing with free bank transfersPrice not shown on page; 30-day trial
Floot (build your own)Contractors with billing that doesn’t fit a templateFree to start; Pro $25/mo

For a small contractor, an invoicing app has three jobs: get a clean, complete invoice to the customer the day a milestone is reached, make it easy to pay, and chase the ones that are late without you having to remember. Beyond that, the right choice depends on whether you also need accounting, quoting and scheduling, or just invoices that get paid. This list covers seven options, from accounting software to contractor-focused estimating apps and payment platforms, plus building your own. Prices and fees come from each vendor’s pricing or help pages as checked on November 11, 2026. They change often, so confirm before you sign up.

What a contractor needs from an invoicing app

General invoicing apps are built for freelancers who bill one amount when a project ends. Contractors bill differently: a deposit, then stages, change orders added along the way, sometimes retainage, and a final balance. Before comparing, list what you actually need.

  • Deposits that are applied automatically to later invoices.
  • Milestone or payment schedules on one job.
  • Change orders added to the contract total.
  • Online payment by card and bank transfer, with clear fees.
  • Automatic reminders before and after the due date.
  • Estimates that convert to invoices.
  • Sync with your accounting, or accounting built in.
  • A phone app so you can invoice from the job site.

1. QuickBooks Online

Best for: contractors who want invoices, expenses and books in one place, and whose accountant already uses QuickBooks.

What it does well

Intuit’s pricing page lists invoices that accept cards and bank transfers through QuickBooks Payments, employee time added to invoices on Essentials, project profitability tracking on Plus, and advanced project financials on Advanced. Because invoicing sits inside your accounting, payments land in the books without re-entry.

What to watch

The Free plan allows up to two invoices a month (unlimited requires QuickBooks Payments) and has no mobile app or third-party integrations. The pricing page does not name progress invoicing on any plan, so check how it handles staged billing in a trial. The paid plans are priced per company with user limits.

Price

Free 0 dollars (1 user). Simple Start 38 dollars a month (1 user), Essentials 85 (3 users), Plus 140 (5 users), Advanced 340 (25 users), regular prices. The page shows 50 percent off for the first three months.

2. Jobber

Best for: service and maintenance trades that want quoting, scheduling, deposits and invoicing in one app.

What it does well

Jobber’s pricing page lists quoting, invoicing and online payments on every plan, with automated quote and invoice follow-ups and QuickBooks Online sync from Connect. Its help center documents deposits on quotes, which apply automatically to the invoice, and payment schedules that split a quote into several invoices, available on all plans. Customers can approve a quote and pay the deposit in one step in its client hub.

What to watch

It is a full field service platform, so you pay for scheduling and crew features even if you only want invoices. Automated reminders need Connect or higher. The help center notes that clients cannot make partial payments toward a quote deposit.

Price and fees

Core (1 user) 29 dollars a month billed annually or 49 with no commitment; Connect from 99 annually (1 user); extra users 29 dollars a month. Card payments 2.9 percent plus 30 cents, bank payments 1 percent, 14-day free trial.

3. Square Invoices

Best for: contractors who want to start invoicing with no subscription and add features later.

What it does well

Square’s invoices pricing page lists invoices, recurring invoices, estimates, contracts and projects on its Free plan. It describes requesting a deposit with a separate due date for the balance, automatic reminders, and contracts with e-signature. The Plus plan adds payment schedules based on milestones, custom templates and a 10 dollar cap on ACH fees.

What to watch

Card fees on the Free plan are higher than on paid plans, and ACH on Free has no cap, which matters on big invoices. The pricing page we checked did not display the Plus monthly price, so confirm it in your dashboard.

Price and fees

Free plan: 0 dollars a month. Square’s help center lists invoice card payments at 3.3 percent plus 30 cents on Free and 2.9 percent plus 30 cents on Plus and Premium; ACH at 1 percent with a 1 dollar minimum, capped at 10 dollars on Plus and Premium. ACH payments deposited into Square Checking have no fee.

4. Joist

Best for: solo contractors and small remodelers who build estimates on a phone and convert them to invoices.

What it does well

Joist’s pricing page lists estimates that convert to invoices, online payments and homeowner financing on every plan, deposits and milestone payments as a feature, change orders and license and insurance details on Elite, and job organization and visit scheduling on the new Run plan. Its 14-day trial includes Run features with no credit card.

What to watch

Basics is limited to 5 documents a month. The page does not list payment processing rates, saying standard fees apply by payment method, so ask before you rely on it for large invoices. The free plan is no longer offered.

Price

Basics 10 dollars a month (8.34 annual), Pro 17 (14.17 annual), Elite 32 (26.67 annual), Run 70 (58.33 annual).

5. FreshBooks

Best for: owner-operators who want straightforward invoicing with built-in bookkeeping and do not need construction-specific features.

What it does well

FreshBooks’ pricing page lists estimates, deposits, recurring invoices, and late fees and reminders on every plan, with proposals, client retainers and e-signatures from Plus and project profitability on Premium. Its stated fees are 2.9 percent plus 30 cents for cards and 1 percent for bank transfers.

What to watch

Plans are capped by billable clients: 5 on Lite and 50 on Plus, which a busy residential contractor can pass. Team members are 11 dollars a month each. The headline promo price lasts four months, so budget on the regular price.

Price

Lite 23 dollars a month regular, Plus 43, Premium 70, Select custom. The page shows 80 percent off for four months. 30-day free trial, no credit card.

6. Invoice2go

Best for: mobile-first contractors who want card fees that drop as you upgrade and free bank transfers.

What it does well

Invoice2go’s pricing page lists unlimited estimates on every plan, bank transfers (ACH) at no fee, invoice and payment reminders, time tracking, expenses and unlimited clients and team members. Card fees fall from 3.5 percent on Starter to 3.0 on Professional and 2.9 on Premium, and Professional and Premium add QuickBooks and Xero integration.

What to watch

Invoices are capped at 30 a year on Starter and 100 a year on Professional. The page does not mention deposits, and lists installment payments as coming soon. Dollar prices did not display on the page we checked, so confirm them at sign-up. The 30-day trial requires a credit card.

Price

Not displayed on the pricing page at our check; three tiers (Starter, Professional, Premium) with monthly and annual billing.

7. Floot (build your own)

Best for: contractors whose billing (deposits, stages, change orders, retainage, customer approvals) does not fit any app’s template, and who want invoicing inside their own job app.

What it does well

Floot is an AI app builder. You describe your billing in plain English, for example deposit rules, milestone names, change order approvals and a reminder schedule, and it builds a web app with its own Postgres database, logins with roles for your office and customers, file storage for photos and PDFs, email sending, scheduled jobs for reminders, and card checkout and subscriptions through Floot Payments, paid out via Stripe. You can build in Floot’s editor or from ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, Codex or Cursor. There is no per-user pricing for people using your app.

What to watch

You design and test it yourself. There is no built-in QuickBooks integration, so syncing to your books would have to be built and tested, or done by export. Floot does not document an offline mode. If one of the apps above already matches how you bill, it will be quicker to adopt.

Price

Free to start (100 building actions a day, one-time 3 dollar hosting allowance). Pro 25 dollars a month with 10 dollars of hosting included; Power 100 dollars a month with 25 dollars of hosting. Hosting beyond that is metered by usage.

Payment fees compared on an 8,000 dollar invoice

Subscription prices get the attention, but processing fees are often the bigger cost for contractors. Here is the arithmetic on one 8,000 dollar invoice using each vendor’s published rate. Rates change; check your account’s current pricing.

App and methodPublished rateFee on $8,000
Jobber, card2.9% + 30¢$232.30
Jobber, bank payment1%$80.00
Square Free, card3.3% + 30¢$264.30
Square Plus, card2.9% + 30¢$232.30
Square Plus, ACH1%, capped at $10$10.00
FreshBooks, card2.9% + 30¢$232.30
FreshBooks, bank transfer1%$80.00
Invoice2go Premium, card2.9%$232.00
Invoice2go, ACHFree$0.00

How to choose

Narrow it down by what else you need the app to do.

You need bookkeeping too

QuickBooks Online or FreshBooks. Check that the plan you pick has enough users or billable clients, and test a staged job.

You need quotes, scheduling and invoices together

Jobber for service work; Joist for estimate-led remodelers on a budget.

You want to start at zero and keep fees low

Square Invoices Free to start, moving to Plus for capped ACH and milestone schedules; or Invoice2go for free bank transfers.

Your billing doesn’t fit a template

Build your own with Floot, inside the same app you use for jobs and change orders.

Common mistakes when picking an invoicing app

A few patterns account for most switching and regret.

  • Choosing on subscription price and ignoring card fees.
  • Not checking invoice or client caps on cheap plans.
  • Assuming deposits and milestone billing are included without testing them.
  • Promo pricing mistaken for the regular price.
  • Running invoicing and accounting in two systems with no sync, then reconciling by hand.
  • Not turning on automatic reminders.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best invoicing app for contractors?

It depends on what else you need. QuickBooks Online or FreshBooks if you want bookkeeping too; Jobber for service trades that want quotes and scheduling; Joist for estimate-led small remodelers; Square Invoices or Invoice2go to keep costs low. Floot is an option if you want to build invoicing around your own process.

Is there a free invoicing app for contractors?

Square Invoices has a free plan, paying only processing fees. QuickBooks has a free plan limited to two invoices a month. Joist no longer offers its free plan. Floot is free to start building, with hosting metered by usage.

Which invoicing apps support deposits?

From vendor pages: Jobber documents deposits on quotes, Square Invoices describes deposits with a separate balance due date, FreshBooks lists deposits on all plans, and Joist lists deposits and milestone payments.

How can I avoid credit card fees on large invoices?

Offer bank transfer and make it the default for large invoices. Square caps ACH at 10 dollars on Plus and Premium, and Invoice2go lists ACH with no fee. Surcharging cards is regulated, so check your state and card network rules first.

Can I send invoices from my phone?

Most options here have mobile apps; QuickBooks’ Free plan does not include mobile access. A Floot app is a web app your phone can open, and Floot can also build native iOS and Android apps.

Do I need progress invoicing?

If you bill in stages on one job, yes. Jobber documents payment schedules on all plans, Square lists milestone payment schedules on Plus, and construction-specific tools offer AIA-style billing.

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