Painter's Log vs Housecall Pro
This is an honest comparison. Housecall Pro is a capable, widely-adopted field-service platform. Here's where it's strong, and where Painter's Log is built differently for painters.
No credit card. Free forever for small operations.
Credit where it's due — if these are the things you need most, Housecall Pro delivers:
Painter's Log is built around one question generic tools can't answer well: did the job actually make money?
Every hour and receipt lands on a job, so you see what the job actually cost next to what you bid — while it's running, not at tax time.
Crews clock in by job-site geofence, so hours attach to the right job on their own — and when a painter moves between sites, the shift is split so each job carries its true labor.
Run a small operation on the free plan indefinitely: 5 jobs and 20 documents a month, every feature included. We make money when you do — 1% on payments while you're free, 0% on Pro.
English and Spanish through the whole product — the crew app and your estimates included — not a translated login screen.
Painter's Log runs the operational back office — estimates, scheduling, the jobs, invoicing, job costing. QuickBooks stays for accounting. Most contractors run both.
| Housecall Pro | Painter's Log | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Field service businesses across many home-service industries | Painting contractors only |
| Pricing model | Tiered plans: Basic $79/mo (1 user), Essentials $189/mo (5 users), MAX $329/mo (8 users), + $35/mo per additional user; roughly 25% off annual (May 2026 — see their pricing page) | Free forever (usage-limited), or one Pro plan: $179/mo including 4 users (owner + 3), + $29/mo per additional active worker |
| Free tier | 14-day trial | Free forever — 5 jobs/mo, 20 documents/mo, 1% on payments collected through the app (0% on Pro). No credit card. |
| Job costing (estimate → actual) | Limited — not built around live per-job estimate-vs-actual tracking | The core of the product — estimate vs. actual, per job, as the hours and receipts come in |
| Online payments | Yes — a recognized strength, with strong QuickBooks Online sync | Yes — deposits, schedules, and online payment; 1% fee on free, 0% on Pro (Stripe's standard processing rates apply either way) |
Competitor pricing as published May 2026 — check their pricing page for current rates.
Enter what you quoted, your hours, and your spend — and see your real cost and true margin. Free, no signup.
Try the free “Did I make money?” calculatorFor painting contractors, yes. Housecall Pro is a general field-service platform serving many home-service trades; Painter's Log covers the same lifecycle — estimate, schedule, run the job, invoice, get paid — but is built only for painting, and leads with the piece generic tools treat as an afterthought: what each job actually cost versus what you bid.
Yes — and you don't have to switch all at once. Start on the free plan (no credit card), upload estimate PDFs from Housecall Pro to convert them into job records, and run a job or two side by side before you commit.
Keep it. Painter's Log runs the operational back office around your painting jobs — estimating, scheduling, running the work, invoicing, and job costing. QuickBooks stays for accounting. Most contractors run both.
Painter's Log is free forever for small operations — 5 jobs and 20 documents a month, with a 1% fee on payments you collect through it. Pro is $179/month including 4 users (owner + 3), plus $29/month per additional active worker, and the payment fee drops to 0%. Housecall Pro's published plans were Basic $79, Essentials $189, and MAX $329 per month, plus $35 per additional user, as of May 2026 — see their pricing page for current rates.
Run your whole business on the free plan for as long as you like. We only make money when you do: 1% on payments you collect through Painter's Log while you're free, and 0% once you're on Pro.
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