Wave is free. Joist isn’t. So why would a solo contractor pay for Joist?
Because the two tools solve different problems.
Wave is stronger for bookkeeping, financial reports, and straightforward invoicing.
Joist is built around the contractor job, from estimating and approval to deposits, changes, invoices, and payment.
This guide compares the areas that matter most so you can see which one better fits the way you work.
Joist vs Wave at a Glance
| Joist | Wave | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Solo contractors and small trade businesses | Solo businesses that need bookkeeping and invoicing |
| Main focus | Contractor workflow from estimate to payment | Accounting, bookkeeping, and invoicing |
| Starting price | $10/month | $0 |
| Paid plans | Basics $10; Pro $17; Elite $32; Run $70 introductory price | Pro $19/month or $190/year before temporary promotions. |
| Free option | 14-day full access trial | Free Starter plan |
| Document limits | 5 documents/month on Basics; unlimited on Pro, Elite, and Run | Unlimited estimates, invoices, bills, and bookkeeping records. |
| Estimates | Contractor-focused estimates with line items, markups, photos, signatures, deposits, and more | Estimates with products/services, quantities, taxes, discounts, terms, and estimate-to-invoice conversion |
| Customer approval | Digital signatures | Estimate acceptance on eligible accounts; Wave says acceptance is not a binding contract. |
| Change orders | Yes on Elite, and Run | No dedicated change-order workflow identified |
| Bookkeeping | Expense tracking, reporting, and QuickBooks Online sync on eligible plans | Full double-entry accounting |
| Jobs and scheduling | Available with Run Plan | Not a contractor scheduling platform |
| Payments | Cards, ACH, mobile wallets, Tap to Pay, deposits, and milestone payments | Cards, ACH, deposits, and recurring payments |
What’s the Biggest Difference Between Joist and Wave?
Wave helps you manage the books.
Joist helps you manage more of the job.
Wave is stronger for bookkeeping, accounting, expense tracking, bank transactions, and financial reporting. Joist is stronger for contractor estimates, approvals, deposits, job changes, invoices, and payments.
That difference becomes important once a job stops going exactly to plan.
If a customer adds work after approving the original estimate, Joist is better equipped to keep the new scope and price connected to the job.
Joist vs Wave Pricing
Wave is cheaper to start.
Its Starter plan costs $0, while Joist starts at $10 per month.
But the better value depends on what you need the software to handle. Wave gives you free invoicing and bookkeeping. Joist charges for a more contractor-focused workflow.
How Much Does Joist Cost?
Joist has four pricing plans.
- Basics costs $10 per month and allows up to five estimates or invoices each month.
- Pro costs $17 per month and removes the document limit. It also adds work orders, photos, branding, expense tracking, client activity, and QuickBooks Online sync.
- Elite costs $32 per month and adds change orders and deeper reporting.
- Run currently costs $70 per month at its introductory price. It adds job and scheduling capabilities for contractors managing multiple jobs and visits.
Annual plans include two months free. Joist also offers a 14-day trial with access to all features with no credit card required.
For a contractor quoting work every week, Pro is likely the more useful starting point because five documents can disappear quickly.
How Much Does Wave Cost?
Wave Starter costs $0.
It includes unlimited estimates, invoices, bills, and bookkeeping records.
Wave Pro costs $19 per month or $190 per year. It includes automatic bank imports, transaction categorization, unlimited receipt capture, unlimited users, and automated late-payment reminders.
That makes Starter a genuine free option, not just a trial.
Which Is Cheaper?
Wave wins on subscription price.
If you only need straightforward estimates, invoices, and bookkeeping, paying $0 may be all you need.
The calculation changes when contractor jobs need more, to move jobs forward, like digital signatures, deposits, scope changes, work orders, or staged payments.
At that point, the question is not only what the software costs.
It is about whether the cheaper option covers enough of the job to keep you from managing the missing steps elsewhere.
Related: Free vs. Paid Invoicing Software for Contractors
Which Is Better for Estimates?
Winner: Joist
Wave gives you more estimating capability than you might expect from free accounting software.
You can build estimates with products or services, quantities, prices, taxes, discounts, terms, validity dates, and different currencies. You can also create them on mobile and convert them into invoices.
That works well when the job is simple.
Joist is stronger when the estimate is the starting point for a larger project. Its contractor estimating tools include focused features such as markups, saved project items, job photos, contracts, digital signatures, deposits, and change orders.
Why does that matter?
Because the estimate often becomes the record everyone works from.
If the customer signs, it pays money upfront, then adds more work later, Joist makes it easier to keep the scope, approvals, changes, and final bill connected.
Which Is Better for Invoicing and Payments?
Winner: A tie, depending on how your customers pay
Both Joist and Wave can turn an estimate into an invoice and collect payment online.
The better choice depends on how customers usually pay you and how large your invoices tend to be.
Payment problems are common for small businesses. Federal Reserve research found that roughly four in five small firms face challenges related to customer payments.
Joist Payments supports credit cards, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Tap to Pay, deposits, milestone payments, mobile check deposit, and financing options. That gives contractors more ways to collect money at the jobsite or across different stages of a project.
Wave supports cards and ACH, as well as recurring invoices and automatic payments where eligible. That can be useful if you bill the same customer on a regular schedule.
Joist Payment Fees
- For U.S. users, Joist currently charges 3.49% + $0.49 for card payments.
- ACH costs 1%, and is capped at $15.
- Tap to Pay costs 2.79% + $0.49 on supported devices.
- Buy Now, Pay Later costs 4.99% + $0.49.
Wave Payment Fees
- Wave Starter currently charges 2.9% + $0.60 for Visa, Mastercard, and Discover.
- American Express costs 3.4% + $0.60.
- Wave Pro removes the fixed fee from the first 10 qualifying card transactions each month.
- ACH costs 1%, with a $1 minimum.
Those differences can add up.
| Payment Example | Joist | Wave Starter |
|---|---|---|
| A $1,000 Visa payment | $35.39 | $29.60 |
| $5,000 ACH payment | Capped at $15.00 | $50.00 |
*calculated at the published fee rates
Wave can be cheaper for some card payments But Joist can have an advantage on larger ACH payments.
Joist also goes further for project work with deposits and milestone payments. That can help when you need money for materials upfront, another payment once a stage is complete, and the remaining balance at the end.
Which Has the Better Mobile App for Contractors?
Winner: Joist
Both apps let you work from your phone.
The difference is what kind of work you can finish before you leave the job site.
That matters in a trade where work rarely happens behind a desk. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 1.1% of construction and extraction jobs routinely allow telework.
Wave lets you create estimates and invoices on mobile. Pro users can also work with accounting transactions. Some deeper accounting tasks still require the web version.
Joist is built more closely around the contractor workflow.
You can walk the property, build the estimate, add pricing and photos, send it to the customer, collect a signature, request a deposit, and later turn the approved work into an invoice.
If the customer is ready to pay, Tap to Pay lets you accept an eligible card or mobile wallet payment with a supported phone.
For contractors who spend more time in the field than at a desk, Joist has the advantage.
Which Has Better Contractor Features?
Winner: Joist
Contractor software earns its keep when the job stops going exactly to plan.
A customer may approve the estimate, pay a deposit, then ask for more work halfway through.
Wave can handle the estimates, invoices, and financial records.
Joist gives you more tools for documenting the job itself.
Customers can digitally sign estimates. Contracts and terms can stay with the job. Elite and Run include change orders, so extra work has its own scope and price rather than being folded into the original estimate.
That can prevent a common problem. The extra work does not end up buried in a text message, while the final invoice shows a number the customer was not expecting.
Joist also offers work orders, job photos, expense tracking, homeowner financing, QuickBooks Online sync, and jobs and scheduling on eligible plans.
Joist Run is still not a full dispatch platform for large field teams.
But for an owner operator managing several jobs at once, it keeps more of the work in one place.
Joist vs Wave Integrations
Winner: Depends on your accounting setup
The best choice depends on where the books already live.
Joist Pro, and higher plans, sync with QuickBooks Online. Estimates and invoices created in Joist can sync into QuickBooks automatically, helping avoid entering the same billing information twice.
Wave takes a different approach because accounting is built into the platform. It also supports partner integrations, Make workflows, Wave Connect for Google Sheets, and an API.
Wave’s current documentation does not list a native Quickbooks and Wave integration.
If QuickBooks Online already handles the books, Joist fits more naturally into that workflow.
If invoicing and accounting need to live in the same system, Wave may be the simpler choice.
Reporting, Expenses, and Business Admin
Wave goes further once the question changes from what customers owe to where the business money went.
Suppose three invoices get paid this week.
That is useful to know.
But so are the $600 spent on materials, the fuel bill, the subcontractor payment, and the other costs that reduced what the business actually kept.
Those pressures are widespread. In the Federal Reserve’s 2024 Small Business Credit Survey, 75% of employer firms reported rising costs as a financial challenge, while 51% reported uneven cash flow.
Wave is built to track that wider picture. It combines double-entry accounting with bank activity, expense tracking, receivables, payables, and financial reports such as Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow.
Joist focuses more on the financial side of the contractor workflow. It offers expense tracking, QuickBooks Online sync, and business reporting on eligible plans so you can get a quick view of how your business is doing.
Wave is the better fit for understanding the books.
Joist is the better fit for a higher level picture, and keeping financial information connected to the jobs that created it.
Related: Best Contractor Invoicing Software
Joist vs Wave: Which Should You Choose?
Winner for contractor workflow: Joist
The better choice depends on what is taking up more of your time.
Choose Wave if you mainly need free invoicing, bookkeeping, and detailed financial reports.
Choose Joist if the admin starts earlier in the job with estimates, approvals, deposits, scope changes, and contractor paperwork.
| Choose Joist if: | Choose Wave if: |
|---|---|
| You regularly quote project-based jobs | You want to keep software costs at $0 |
| Labor, materials, and markups shape your estimates | Your quotes and invoices are straightforward. |
| You want customers to be able to digitally sign/approve estimates | Bookkeeping is the bigger problem. |
| You collect deposits or payments in stages | You need Profit and Loss, and Balance Sheet reports |
| You need a clear process for scope changes | You want invoicing and bookkeeping in one platform. |
| Contracts, work orders, and job photos matter | Contractor-specific paperwork is not important |
| You already use QuickBooks Online | You want bank automation and receipt capture with Pro. |
| You want jobs and visit scheduling through Run (or maybe the option in the future) | You do not need contractor job scheduling. |
Wave is a strong fit for a solo operator who wants to keep costs low and the books organized.
Joist makes more sense when every job creates admin before the invoice is sent.
If you are pricing labor and materials, collecting signatures and deposits, documenting added work, and billing in stages, Joist provides more support for this process.
Wave is the stronger accounting tool. Joist is the stronger contractor workflow tool.
Related: Joist Alternatives.
Quoting the work is only the start. Joist helps keep the estimate, customer approval, job paperwork, invoice, and payment connected from the first price to the final balance. Try Joist free for 14 days. No credit card required.
Try It FreeFAQ
Does Joist work with QuickBooks Desktop?
Can a bookkeeper or accountant access Wave?
Can you export Joist reports for an accountant?
Is Wave available outside the United States and Canada?
Can Wave manage more than one business?
Article Sources
- Federal Reserve Banks, 2024 Report on Payments: Findings from the 2023 Small Business Credit Survey, December 5, 2024.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Construction and Extraction Occupations, 2025 Occupational Requirements Survey data released January 16, 2026.
- Federal Reserve Banks, 2025 Report on Employer Firms: Findings from the 2024 Small Business Credit Survey, March 27, 2025.
