Most painting contractors use a mix of scheduling apps, spreadsheets, and cell phones to keep their business humming. But as your workload grows, you might need even more tools. And when those tools don’t work together, things can get frustrating fast.
Figuring out which ones make sense for your stage of business growth can help you save time, money, and effort for other tasks. That means more time for securing great painting gigs and collecting rave reviews.
This post provides a list of 10 painting contractor software options for growing small businesses. It also explains their features, pricing, and limitations so you know what to expect.
Comparing the painting contractor software
No single tool can handle all your business’s needs. That’s why the list below provides software options to help manage different aspects of your operations.
Here’s the full list of contractor apps:
| Provider | Starting price | Standout features | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quo | $15 per user per month | Shared numbers, 24/7 AI voice agent, auto-replies, call recording, AI summaries and transcriptions, and 9,000+ integrations via Zapier and Make | Small and growing painting contractors that want to scale |
| Jobber | $149 per month for up to five users | Drag-and-drop scheduling calendar, professional estimate templates, mobile job notifications, and Quo integration | CRM and scheduling |
| ServiceTitan | Contact sales | Mobile estimating tool, customer review management, commission tracking, and customizable price books | Large painting contractor companies |
| PaintScout | $99 per month | Automated estimate follow-ups, sales leaderboards, integrated payments, and painting estimating software | Sales teams |
| Housecall Pro | $59 per month for one user | Real-time GPS tracking, automated arrival alerts, consumer financing, and job cost tracking | Tracking crews’ vehicles |
| Projul | $4,788 per year for up to 20 subcontractor profiles | Scheduled crew time blocks, mobile time logging, detailed bids with line items, and lead capture forms | Job management |
| Houzz Pro | Contact sales | Pre-made and custom estimate templates, on-screen takeoff tools, online payments, and financial reporting | Painting estimates |
| Estimate Rocket | $139 per month for up to three users | Branded proposal builder, field hour logging, labor cost tracking, and QuickBooks integration | Building professional proposals |
| mHelpDesk | Contact sales | Materials tracking, QuickBooks sync, customizable invoice templates, and online payments | Invoicing and billing |
| Workiz | Contact sales | Inventory tracking with low-stock alerts, job assignments based on crew location and expertise, and client portals | Inventory management |
Now that you’ve seen how the best painting contractor software compares, here’s a closer look at each provider in detail.
1. Quo: Small and growing painting contractors that want to scale
Pros
- Auto-replies respond to missed calls, texts, and voicemails
- SMS and MMS support for pictures, files, documents, and more
- AI-generated call summaries and transcriptions
- Shared numbers to split responsibility for incoming calls
- 9,000+ third-party integrations via Zapier and Make, plus HubSpot, Salesforce, and Jobber
Cons
- Can’t verify accounts through two-factor authentication*
*Nearly all virtual phone numbers share this problem. For safety reasons, companies like Facebook, Uber, and Google rarely let you authenticate accounts through a virtual phone number.
Quo is the best phone system for painting contractors and businesses. It helps painting contractors manage customer communications more easily so they never leave money on the table. You get unlimited calls and texts in the US and Canada on any plan. Plus, you get access to our AI agent, Sona, which can handle calls anytime you’re unavailable.
The last thing you want is to lose a $5,000 job because a homeowner called while you’re airbrushing a ceiling — and nobody else could pick up. With Quo’s shared numbers, multiple team members can also answer calls and texts from the same business phone number. That means new leads won’t go unanswered during the workday, since calls ring all team members’ devices.
Plus, with Quo’s call notifications, your painters can quickly tell whether an incoming call is personal or work-related. This ensures they answer calls appropriately while on the clock and can easily prioritize important leads.
What happens when homeowners call during or after hours? Quo’s auto-replies can provide a fallback by automatically responding to missed calls, texts, and voicemails. That way, homeowners know when to expect a response instead of calling another painter while they wait.
You can also use Quo’s contractor answering service, Sona, to answer calls 24/7. This makes it easier to qualify leads automatically. First, you set up dedicated phone numbers to use with Google Ads campaigns. Then, let our AI contractor software answer inbound calls, collect project info, and generate AI summaries. Your team can quickly identify high-quality leads for painting contracts, ensuring you never leave money on the table.
Team members can also coordinate clients behind the scenes with Quo’s internal threads and mentions. For example, if a customer asks about a delayed paint delivery, you can tag the project lead and ask about updated arrival times before replying.
Quo makes client management easier, too. For example, you can use:
- MMS messaging to send rich media. Team members can send walkthrough videos so you can review the property before sending workers to the site. Or you can send pictures and documents for clients to review or sign, then text back later.
- Automatic call recording to save context for later. That way, you can store records of approved pricing or project details in case disagreements happen later.
- Integrations with tools you already use. Quo connects directly to tools like Jobber, HubSpot, Make, and Zapier so you can connect to over 9,000 apps. This lets you easily sync data across your tech stack without needing to flip between multiple tabs.
For example, here’s a Make scenario template that uses Quo’s Make integration to send a seasonal offer to your list of past customers all at once. Think exterior painting in the spring or interior work once it gets cold. That way, it’s easier to win back customers who’ve gone quiet and stay top of mind the next time they need a painter.
Start taking calls with Quo in 15 minutes or less. First, sign up for our free seven-day trial. Then pick the number you want to use. You can move any existing local Canadian or US number or a North American toll-free number for free if you already have a dedicated business number with another provider.
Key features of Quo
- Shared numbers and inboxes
- Auto-replies
- Scheduled messages
- Call routing
- AI receptionist, Sona
- CRM integrations
- Call recording
- Call transcriptions and summaries
Quo pricing
Here’s what you can expect from Quo’s pricing:
- Starter: $15 per user per month for unlimited domestic calling, voicemail transcripts, Quo API, business hours, internal threads, and more
- Business: $23 per user per month for phone menus, AI call summaries and transcripts, group calling, custom ring orders, CRM integrations, analytics, automatic call recording, live chat support, and call transfers
- Scale: $35 per user per month for AI call tags, dedicated onboarding, inbound phone support, and priority chat and email support
2. Jobber: Best CRM and scheduling tool
Pros
- Drag-and-drop calendars to manage painting jobs
- Phone notifications whenever jobs are updated or reassigned
- Integrates with Quo’s business phone system
Cons
- Two-way SMS messaging is only included on Jobber’s Grow and Plus plans
- The base plan only includes five users
Jobber is a field service management software that offers tools for painting contractors. With it, you can customize and send professional estimate templates to clients. You also get a drag-and-drop calendar so you can check and book painting jobs at a glance. This is particularly helpful if you’re working on an exterior job, where weather and other delays can push projects back. If you do have to update or reassign a job, easily notify painters with a pop-up on their phones.
You can also integrate Jobber with Quo. That way, you can sync texts, voicemails, recordings, and more to the correct customer record in Jobber. You can also click-to-call any contact inside Jobber with your Quo number. That way, you don’t need to flip between multiple tools to connect with customers.
Just keep in mind Jobber’s base plan supports up to five users. After that, you’ll pay an extra $29 per user per month.
Key features of Jobber
- QuickBooks integration
- Quote customizations
- Optional line items in quotes, with an upgrade
- Job costing, with an upgrade
- GPS tracking, with an upgrade
Jobber pricing
With Jobber, painting teams can pick from three pricing plans:
- Connect: $149 per month for time tracking, online job booking, quotes, scheduling, automated reminders, and invoices with up to five users included, plus $29 per extra user
- Grow: $249 per month for custom workflow automations, automatic time tracking, advanced quote customizations, and job costing with up to 10 users included, plus $29 per extra user
- Plus: $529 per month for premium support, a receptionist, an API, and access to the marketing suite with up to 15 users, plus $29 per extra user
3. ServiceTitan: Best for large painting contractor companies
Pros
- Customer experience management with review tools
- Field estimator to generate accurate quotes
- Customizable price books
Cons
- No public pricing
- May be difficult to set up without dedicated IT resources
ServiceTitan, founded in 2007, is a field service platform that offers painting contractor software. It can help you manage and respond to customer reviews from your phone. You can even send review requests straight from the customer’s job records.
You can also use ServiceTitan to save time on repetitive admin tasks. For example, you can use its mobile estimator tool to finalize measurements and paint details from the field. This makes it easier to close deals during your visit.
You can set up Quo’s Zapier integration to automatically send a message when you add a new customer to ServiceTitan. This helps leads hear from your business right away instead of waiting for a manual follow-up.
You should know ServiceTitan has a lot of features, but it may be more than a smaller painting team needs. Plus, many of its best features cost extra per month. Calls and texts, for example, need the ServiceTitan Phones Pro add-on. You also need to upgrade to send painting estimates from the mobile app. There’s no way to know how much any of this costs without contacting the ServiceTitan sales team.
Key features of ServiceTitan
- Accurate estimates from the mobile app, with an upgrade
- Price books that make it easier for technicians to sell to clients
- Scheduling
- Commission tracking, with an upgrade
- Payroll management, with an upgrade
ServiceTitan pricing
Although ServiceTitan advertises three plans, it doesn’t offer pricing unless you request a demo. Here are the features you can expect to get on each:
- Starter: Access to invoicing, scheduling, price book, and dispatching
- Essentials: Access to payroll management and mobile estimates
- The Works: Access to advanced reporting, customizable memberships, configurable payroll, and commission tracking
4. PaintScout: Best for sales teams
Pros
- Sales leaderboards
- Automated follow-ups
- Customer support and onboarding, with an add-on
Cons
- Onboarding and setup assistance cost extra
- Calendar sync and automated follow-ups require an add-on
PaintScout is field contractor software designed to help you manage your painting business. If a homeowner doesn’t open your painting estimate within three days, you can have the software automatically send an email or text message.
You can also use PaintScout to help motivate your sales team. It offers sales leaderboards that show which team members are closing the most painting jobs. That way, business owners can quickly check which reps have made their quotas and which need additional help.
Just keep in mind that these sales management and scheduling features cost extra. You’ll need the $99 per month Sales plan, plus the Operations add-on at $79 per month, for tools like booking estimates and scheduling visits. Speaking of add-ons, you also need to pay extra for onboarding and setup support. Prices range from $999 to $1,999 — not ideal for small and growing painting contractors.
Key features of PaintScout
- Integrated payments with Stripe
- Painting estimating software
- Sales leaderboards
- Material lists
- Customer chat linked in estimates
PaintScout pricing
PaintScout offers one pricing plan, plus an operations add-on. Here’s what you can expect to get on each:
- Sales Core Platform: $99 per month for proposals, payment processing, follow-ups, and customer chat
- Operations add-on: $79 per month for access to two-way Google Calendar sync, visual sales pipelines, and automated reminders and confirmations
There are also additional onboarding and implementation packages for setup and training support:
- Plus: $999 for contact and product imports, product assignments, production rates setup, and two one-hour training sessions
- Pro: $1,499 for one built-out presentation, plus account settings and estimate types
- Premium: $1,999 for three one-hour training sessions, three built-out presentations, email templates, and estimate templates
5. Housecall Pro: Best for tracking crews’ vehicles
Pros
- Review management
- Mobile app for painting crews
Cons
- GPS tracking requires an upgrade
- Solo users only on the base plan
Housecall Pro helps home service businesses install vehicle GPS tools in their fleets. That way, painting contractors can easily map the most efficient routes to their customers to save time and money. You can also send automated alerts to clients so they get a heads-up when your crew is on the way.
Apart from automated alerts, you can also use the Housecall Pro mobile app to message clients directly from the job site. You might send real-time updates so property owners can give their approval to continue if issues arise. Or customers can message you directly if they want to change the work order — like updating the paint color mid-project.
Want to confirm bookings without the back and forth? If you’re a Quo user, you can use the Zap below to automatically send messages whenever a new job is scheduled in Housecall Pro.
Just keep in mind, most of Housecall Pro’s best features, including GPS tracking, require an upgrade. The Essentials plan costs $149 per month, which is nearly three times the cost of the Basic plan. That said, the Basic plan is designed for solo users only. If you’re a team of two or more, you’ll have to upgrade by default. And once your team grows beyond eight users, prepare to pay for each additional user on the MAX plan.
Key features of Housecall Pro
- Job cost tracking
- Consumer financing
- Card processing rates as low as 2.59%
- Sales proposal tools, require an add-on
- Escalated phone support, requires an upgrade
Housecall Pro pricing
Each Housecall Pro plan includes the mobile app, offline viewing, and live phone and chat support.
There are three to choose from:
- Basic: $59 per month for one user, invoicing, scheduling, quotes, dispatching, review management, and job cost tracking
- Essentials: $149 per month for up to five users, employee GPS tracking, an integration with QuickBooks, and a visual price book
- MAX: $299 per month for up to eight users, escalated phone support, advanced custom reporting, and a dedicated onboarding specialist
You can also access add-ons, such as:
- Accounting: $40 per month to access reliable bookkeeping for your business
- Pipeline: Cost varies between $20 and $30 per month to keep every job, lead, and interaction in one centralized hub
- Payroll: $40 per month, plus $6 per user to process unlimited payrolls
6. Projul: Best for job management
Pros
- Scheduled time blocks for crews
- Detailed bids with separate line items
Cons
- Expensive plans for growing teams
- Spanish app translation requires the most expensive plan
Projul offers painting business software that lets you assign multiple jobs to the same crew in one day. You can create scheduled time blocks for each stop on your painting crews’ to-do lists. They can easily view their route, check off completed jobs, and log their time from the mobile app.
Internally, painting contractors can create detailed bids with separate line items for each stage of the project. This helps homeowners clearly understand the full scope of your work and pricing. It can also help prevent miscommunication when it’s time to invoice.
But note that Projul is expensive for growing painting businesses, with plans starting at $4,788 per year. Want to add unlimited subcontractors as your painting crew grows? Prepare to upgrade to the Core+ plan, which costs $7,188 per year. And if you need a Spanish app translation for multilingual crews, you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro plan — which costs $14,388 per year.
Key features of Projul
- Unlimited projects
- Estimating tools
- Lead capture form
- Client portal, with an upgrade
- Time tracking, with an upgrade
Projul pricing
You can pick from one of three Projul pricing plans:
- Core: $4,788 per year for unlimited projects, CRM and sales tools, lead capture forms, estimating tools, project management, task management, and mobile notifications
- Core+: $7,188 per year for unlimited subcontractors, interactive Gantt Charts with a drag-and-drop visual timeline, time tracking, progress billing, and the ability to convert estimates into tasks
- Pro: $14,388 per year for unlimited users, service invoices, Spanish app translation, automated client reminders, geolocation and geofencing, and the QuickBooks Desktop Integration
7. Houzz Pro: Best for painting estimates
Pros
- 3D floor planners
- Pre-made or from-scratch estimates
Cons
- No public pricing
- Takeoff tools require the second tier
Houzz Pro is a software solution for painting contractors who want a smoother way to run their operations, specifically estimates. You can use its pre-made estimate templates or create one from scratch, depending on your needs. Then you can turn approved estimates into invoices and let homeowners pay online.
Houzz Pro also offers takeoff tools that let you mark up plans on-screen and send bids to homeowners faster. You can use its AutoMate AI to instantly read plans, generate area and length, and count measurements for accurate drawings.
But you should know Houzz Pro requires you to upgrade for these takeoff tools. This can be frustrating if those are the most important features on your list. Plus, Houzz Pro doesn’t list public pricing. There’s no way to compare costs against other tools without contacting sales.
Key features of Houzz Pro
- Financial reporting, with an upgrade
- Selections boards that you can send to clients and team members, with an upgrade
- Create and send bid requests to subcontractors, with an upgrade
- Takeoff tools, with an upgrade
- Online payments
Houzz Pro pricing
There’s no public pricing available for Houzz Pro. That said, it does list the features you can expect on each plan:
- Pro: Estimates, invoicing, online payments, CRM, and integrations with Gusto
- Custom: Takeoffs, project scheduling, daily logs, budgets, bid management, integrations with Google Workspace, and marketing solutions, such as creating a premium profile on Houzz
- Enterprise: Unlimited users, priority support, early feature access, and direct feature influence
8. Estimate Rocket: Best for building professional proposals
Pros
- Designed for mobile users
- Labor cost tracking
Cons
- No desktop app is available
- Only three users are included on the base plan
Estimate Rocket offers cloud-based business management and CRM software to contracting companies. It helps painting teams create branded proposals that are easy to customize and send to homeowners.
You can also use Estimate Rocket to help manage internal teams. For example, your painting crews can log hours from the field directly from their phones. These can help you track hours more accurately, making it easier to calculate labor costs and simplify payroll.
But Estimate Rocket’s base plan is quite pricey, starting at $139 per month for only three full users. Additional full users cost $79 per month, while field users cost an extra $10 per month — not ideal for fast-growing painting companies. You should also know that Estimate Rocket doesn’t offer a desktop app. This can be limiting for the people handling admin work who prefer to manage sensitive details directly from a computer.
Key features of Estimate Rocket
- Integrations with QuickBooks, CompanyCam, and YCBM
- Invoicing and payments
- Mobile apps, no desktop app available
- Labor cost tracking
- Estimating and proposal software
Estimate Rocket pricing
Each Estimate Rocket plan comes with the same core features, onboarding, and one-to-one training. The only difference is the number of users you get on each plan.
You can pick from one of three levels:
- Launch: $139 per month for three full users, additional full users for $79 per month, and additional field users for $10 per month
- Accelerate: $259 per month for seven full users, additional full users for $39 per month, and additional field users for $10 per month
- Expand: $359 per month for 15 full users, additional full users for $19 per month, and additional field users for $10 per month
9. mHelpDesk: Best for invoicing and billing
Pros
- Field reviews can build invoices on the go
- Online payments
- Customizable invoice templates
Cons
- No public pricing
- Users report performance issues such as occasional glitches
mHelpDesk is a field service management tool that helps painting contractors with billing tasks. It can help you issue custom invoices quickly, which clients can pay online via credit card.
First, your painting crews record billable time and materials from the mobile app. This turns them into invoices. Then your office staff finalizes these invoices, syncs them with QuickBooks, and sends them to homeowners to pay online. You can even customize invoice templates with your logo, company information, and terms and conditions.
Unfortunately, there’s no public pricing or plans for mHelpDesk. This makes it harder for painting contractors to compare costs without contacting sales. Plus, past users report the software can be buggy.
See for yourself:
“There [are] small performance issues, like occasional glitches and slowdowns, which may hinder efficiency.” — SoftwareAdvice
Key features of mHelpDesk
- Automated customer contact
- Dispatching
- Job scheduling
- Invoicing
- Payment processing
mHelpDesk pricing
There’s no public pricing available for mHelpDesk. The only way to get a quote is to request a free demo.
10. Workiz: Best for inventory management
Pros
- Job and work order assignments
- Apps for iOS, iPadOS, and Android
- Inventory management for paint colors and supplies
Cons
- No public pricing
- Inventory management requires the most expensive plan
Workiz is a field service management software designed by two locksmiths in 2015. It offers multiple features for house painting teams. For example, you can track inventory levels and get low-stock alerts so crews don’t run out of paint colors or supplies in the middle of a job. You can also assign jobs based on crew schedules, location, traffic, and expertise. That way, your crews can work more efficiently throughout the day.
But Workiz doesn’t offer any public pricing. This makes it harder for painting contractors to compare costs ahead of time. That said, Workiz does mention that every additional user on the Standard plan costs $55 per month. Plus, must-have features like inventory management are only available on the most expensive plan. These costs can add up quickly as your business grows. See for yourself in these user reviews:
“Pricing is my biggest concern. It’s expensive, and many new features come with additional costs.” — G2
“Some features seem restricted unless you upgrade to a higher plan, particularly when it comes to automation and advanced reporting.“ — G2
Key features of Workiz
- Unlimited jobs, invoices, and clients
- Payment processing for better cash flow
- Built-in reports
- Client portals
- Integrated phone system, with a separate upgrade
Workiz pricing
Workiz doesn’t list any pricing online. But it does provide the features you can expect on each tier:
- Standard: Five automations, access to QuickBooks Online accounting software, subcontractor management, and lead tracking
- Pro: 10 automations, performance-based pay, multi-location management, automatic scheduling, and custom reports
- Ultimate: 30 automations, sales proposals, inventory management, equipment tracking, multi-day jobs, and a Zapier integration
Keep in mind that Workiz’s integrated phone system requires a separate pricing plan.
What to look for in painting contractor software
The best painting contractor software depends on the bottlenecks your business is currently dealing with.
Here are three questions to ask that’ll point you in the right direction:
1. Do missed calls and siloed conversations cost you painting contracts?
Between traveling to multiple job sites and transporting equipment, there will always be times you can’t answer calls right away. Even when you can, you might not want to use your personal devices. That’s because only one person will have access to specific customer conversations. This makes it harder to keep track of details like paint selections and work order changes. The last thing you want is for a crew to show up with the wrong paint color — all because someone passed along the wrong job details.
If this sounds like you, you’ll want to look for painting contractor software that lets you collaborate on incoming calls. With Quo’s shared numbers, multiple team members can answer calls and texts from the same business number — all using devices they already own. This ensures leads never fall through the cracks. Plus, everyone on your team can review conversation histories all in one place.
2. Is scheduling creating confusion for your crews?
Do you frequently deal with weather delays or overlapping projects that cause last-minute schedule changes? This creates confusion for your painting crews and office staff. For example, you might have a painter drive to the wrong job site because the last schedule change got lost in a spreadsheet.
Software designed to streamline scheduling can help you quickly manage changing schedules. For example:
- Jobber’s scheduling calendar makes it easier for painting companies to move jobs around. You can also send painters mobile notifications whenever jobs are reassigned or updated.
- Other platforms, like Projul, let you schedule multiple stops for the same crew in a single day. Crews can view their route from the mobile app, check off completed jobs, and track hours, even while moving between properties.
3. Could slow estimates be hurting your ability to win more painting jobs?
Homeowners often talk to multiple painting companies before making a decision. That means they might request quotes from three different painters. So, if your estimate takes days to send, they may move forward with a competitor who responded faster.
You can easily speed up your painting job workflows with PaintScout, ServiceTitan, or Jobber.
For example, you can use ServiceTitan to generate and send estimates directly from the field.
Other platforms, like Jobber, let you create customizable estimate templates. You can manually upload your company name and logo, client information, and more. Either of these tools can help you close jobs during your first visit — before homeowners continue shopping around.
If a homeowner doesn’t open your estimate after a few days, use a tool like PaintScout to automate follow-ups. The software automatically sends them a reminder by email or text message after an interval you set. That way, the opportunity doesn’t go cold.
Quo: The best painting contractor software
To grow a business in the painting industry, you need different types of software that keep you ahead of competitors. That’s because no single tool can handle all your business’s needs.
Quo helps you handle customer communications with ease from devices you already use. You can answer 24/7 with AI voice agents, organize conversations in shared inboxes, and assign follow-up tasks to your team. That way, you can respond quickly to customers and never leave money on the table.
Confirm that Quo is the right fit for your painting business by starting your free seven-day trial. Then, pick a new number or port an existing one to start making calls in 15 minutes or less.
