Joist is the estimating app a lot of one-person shops start on, and at $10 to $32 a month it is cheaper than anything we sell. The moment there is a second person, a schedule to keep, or a quote that went quiet, you are outside what Joist's plans do — and that is exactly where BidTorch starts.
14-day free trial · no credit card · or call/text (317) 850-1570
Joist
$10–70/mo
Basics $10 (5 documents a month) · Pro $17 · Elite $32 · Run $70 introductory ($100 list) — the only plan with scheduling. Single-login accounts. Card payments 3.49% + $0.49. 14-day trial, no card.
BidTorch — flat, no per-seat
$89–249 /mo
Solo $89 (2 seats) · Team $149 (5 seats) · Crew $249 (10 seats). Flat — no per-seat fees, ever. AI quote drafting and AI follow-ups included on every plan.
Joist figures read from its pricing page on 2026-09-19. Competitor features from their published pages as of August 2026; Jobber and Housecall Pro list prices re-read 2026-09-08; Joist, Workiz, Service Fusion and FieldEdge list prices read 2026-09-19. ServiceTitan does not publish prices; its range is an estimate. Plans change — check their site for current rates.
An honest comparison names the other side's strengths. Here's where Joist is genuinely ahead:
Basics is $10/mo (five documents a month), Pro $17, Elite $32. If you are a solo operator sending a few estimates a month and nothing else, that is the right price and BidTorch is not.
Joist Payments does contactless Tap to Pay on a phone (2.79% + $0.49) and offers homeowner financing on every plan, Basics included. BidTorch payments are online links through your own Stripe or Square account; no Tap to Pay, no financing.
Joist sells an AI Receptionist add-on at $49/mo. BidTorch has no receptionist in the product.
Joist accounts are single-login. BidTorch Solo comes with 2 seats, Team with 5, Crew with 10, each with roles — a crew login sees the job and none of the money.
On Joist, scheduling visits exists only on the Run plan ($70/mo introductory, $100 list). In BidTorch an accepted quote becomes a scheduled job with time tracking, photos, a punch list and change orders, on Solo at $89.
When a sent quote goes quiet, BidTorch's AI writes a follow-up from that quote's own facts — days out, viewed or not, the option names — as an email and a text your rep sends. Joist sends the estimate; what happens next is up to you.
Card payments run through the Stripe or Square account you already have, at that processor's normal rate, and BidTorch takes no percentage. Joist Payments is 3.49% + $0.49 per card transaction.
Every quote, job and invoice event fires a webhook you can point at Make or Zapier. Your catalog carries cost and markup per line, so a quote shows its margin before you send it.
Not sure the follow-up loop is worth switching for? Put your own quote volume through the quiet quote calculator — free, no signup — and see what the estimates that never got an answer add up to in a year.
Everything on this page about Joist comes from its own pricing page: plans, seat model, trial terms, payment rates and the features it lists per tier. We have not verified Joist feature by feature, so there is no checkmark table here — a guessed one would be worse than none. For the three platforms we track monthly, see the public scorecard.
It is the step after Joist. Joist is an estimating and invoicing app for one person; BidTorch is quoting, jobs, scheduling and invoicing for a small crew, with seats, a crew role, AI follow-up on quiet quotes and webhooks — flat at $89, $149 or $249 a month. If you are still one person sending a few documents a month, stay on Joist.
Only on its Run plan, listed at $70/mo introductory and $100 list as of 2026-09-19. Basics, Pro and Elite have no scheduling. BidTorch includes scheduling, jobs and time tracking on every plan.
Joist Basics is $10/mo, Pro $17, Elite $32 and Run $70 introductory ($100 list), read from joist.com/pricing on 2026-09-19, all single-login. BidTorch Solo is $89/mo for 2 seats, Team $149 for 5, Crew $249 for 10, flat, AI included.
Import a CSV of your services and materials, or send it to us and we load it during the 14-day trial.
Sign up, brand your quote, send it — the AI drafts it and chases it. If you'd rather talk it through first, call or text (317) 850-1570.