Looking for a Joist alternative
Of everything in this category, Joist is aimed at the same person we are: a contractor who wants an estimate or an invoice built on a phone in under a minute. If you have used it, this will feel familiar.
No affiliate links No paid placement
The short answer
Joist is the better choice if you work on an iPhone, want customers to pay by card from the invoice, or want the estimate to invoice flow inside a product with a long track record. Invoice Local is the better fit if you work where there is no signal, want no cap on the free plan, and collect payment by transfer, cash or your own reader.
Both are built around the same insight, which is that contractors do their paperwork standing up. The divergence is in what each considers essential underneath: Joist leans toward payment collection and a mature feature set, while this leans toward working with no connection and keeping the free tier genuinely uncapped.
Free tier limits in this category change, so check Joist current pricing page rather than trusting any number quoted on a comparison page, including this one. What is stable is the shape: a free tier with paid tiers above it.
What Joist does well
It has been aimed at contractors for a long time and the polish shows.
- iPhone and Android. Native on both, which matters if your crew is not all on one platform.
- Payments on the invoice. Customers can pay directly, which measurably shortens collection compared with a transfer they have to initiate.
- Estimate to invoice flow. Built around the way contractors actually sell, not bolted on afterwards.
- Client signatures. Getting an estimate approved on the spot is a real advantage on larger jobs.
- Track record. Years of iteration and support behind it, which is a reasonable thing to value.
Where Invoice Local diverges
Three deliberate differences, each with a cost attached.
- Offline by architecture. Invoices are created and stored on the device, so a basement or a rural site is not a degraded experience. Put the phone in airplane mode and everything except sending still works.
- No cap, ever, on the free plan. Unlimited invoices, quotes and customers. The paid tier is about how the invoice looks, never about volume and never about backup.
- No account to begin. Install, type a business name, invoice. Signing in is optional and only adds cloud backup and sync.
- Twelve languages on the PDF. Not just the interface, the printed document too.
- WhatsApp as a first class channel, which for domestic customers in many markets outperforms email.
Side by side
| Invoice Local | Joist | |
|---|---|---|
| Offline first | Yes, by design | App works, features vary offline |
| Free plan invoice limit | Unlimited | Check current pricing |
| Account required to start | No | Account based |
| iPhone app | Web only today | Yes |
| Card payments by customer | No | Yes |
| Client signature on estimates | No | Yes |
| Invoice PDF languages | Twelve | English focused |
| WhatsApp send | Yes, one tap | Share sheet |
| Paid tier | $4.99 a month | Check current pricing |
Two rows say check current pricing on purpose. Quoting a competitor free tier figure that changes next quarter would make this table wrong and us untrustworthy.
When Joist is the right choice
Any one of these on its own is a good enough reason.
- You or your crew work on iPhones and want a native app
- You want customers to pay by card straight from the invoice or estimate
- You want a signature captured on the estimate before work starts
- You value a longer support history behind the tool you depend on
- Your signal is fine everywhere you work, so offline is not a factor
When Invoice Local fits better
And the cases where the newer, narrower app is the correct call.
- You regularly work in basements, plant rooms or rural properties with no service
- You send more invoices than a capped free tier comfortably allows
- You want to start invoicing without creating an account first
- Most of your customers answer on WhatsApp rather than email
- You invoice in a language other than English and want the PDF to match
- You already collect by transfer, cash or a card reader you own
What each one costs
Invoice Local is free for unlimited invoices, quotes and customers, with the Classic design and a small watermark. Pro is $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year, adding five more designs and removing the watermark. There is no per invoice charge at any level.
Joist offers a free tier with paid tiers above it and, where you use payments, processing fees on what you collect. The honest way to compare is to count how many invoices you actually send in a month and whether you want customers paying by card, because those two answers decide the cost far more than the sticker price does.
Switching questions
Can I import my customers from Joist?
No, there is no import tool. Customers are added as you next invoice them, which rebuilds an active list within a few weeks for most trades but is a genuine cost if you have hundreds of active clients.
Do I lose the ability to take card payments?
Yes, if that is how you currently collect. Invoice Local does not process payments, so you would move to bank transfer, cash or your own card reader. For trades who already work that way it changes nothing, and for those who do not it is the main reason to stay put.
Are the invoices as professional?
Judge for yourself, both are free to try. There are six designs here, one free and five on Pro, each a clean print ready PDF with your business name, or your logo on Pro, bank details, itemized lines and totals in your chosen language.
Why no iPhone app?
Because the Android build shipped first and a native iOS release is separate work. On iPhone the browser app at app.invoicelocal.com covers the same ground. If you need an installed app on iOS today, that is a real reason to choose Joist.
Which devices does it run on?
Android phones and tablets through Google Play, and any modern browser at app.invoicelocal.com. There is no iPhone app yet, so on an iPhone you use the browser version, which builds and sends the same PDF from the same account.
Other comparisons
If you would rather see the app in context than in a table, the trade pages show it billing real work. There is also a free invoice template and a guide to writing an invoice that gets paid.
Two similar apps, one quick test
Send the same invoice with both this week. Whichever you finish faster, without hitting a wall, is the one to keep.