Joist alternative for Canada
quoteai vs Joist for Canadian contractors.
Joist is an estimating and invoicing app from Toronto, popular with renovators and small contractors who want simple estimate and invoice templates on their phone.
Prices checked November 13, 2026 on each company's own pricing page.
Choose Joist if
- You send a handful of estimates a month and want the lowest monthly price.
- You want homeowner financing offered on your estimates.
Choose quoteai if
- You want the quote written for you from a description, not a blank template.
- You need contracts, e-signature, deposits and job tracking from the same numbers.
- You work in French or in Québec, with GST and QST on separate lines.
Side by side
| Criterion | quoteai | Joist |
|---|---|---|
| Billed in | Canadian dollars | Not stated on their pricing page |
| Lowest monthly plan | Starter: CA$29/mo, 15 AI quotes a month, quotes only, 1 user | Basics: $12/mo, 5 documents a month |
| Cheapest plan with quotes and invoices | Pro: CA$79/mo, 60 AI quotes a month, contracts and e-signature, invoicing, 2 users | Basics includes estimates to invoices (5 documents a month); Pro, $17/mo, is unlimited |
| Customers pay by card online | From Business (CA$249/mo), paid into your own Stripe account | Online payments listed from Basics |
| Free trial | 7 days, no credit card | 14 days, no credit card |
| How a quote is built | Describe the job in plain words (typed or spoken); the AI drafts line items, quantities and prices in about 30 seconds, and you edit before sending | Estimate templates with your line items; Joist also lists built-in AI tools |
| Canadian sales tax (GST/HST/PST/QST) | Set by the customer's province automatically; each tax on its own line | Not confirmed from their public pages |
| French (Canada) quotes, invoices and client pages | Yes: the app, documents and client pages | Not confirmed from their public pages |
| Pay for one quote, no subscription | Yes, from CA$5 | Not listed on their pricing page |
Source: Joist pricing page · Prices checked November 13, 2026 on each company's own pricing page.
Templates versus a drafted quote
Joist gives you a clean estimate template and you fill it in. quoteai starts from what you would say to the customer ("tear out and replace 40 feet of fence, pressure-treated, two gates") and drafts the lines and prices for you to correct. If your estimates are short and repetitive, a template is fast enough; if each job is different, drafting saves the most time.
Price
Joist is the cheaper subscription: Pro at $17 a month for unlimited documents, against quoteai's Starter at CA$29 for 15 AI quotes. quoteai also sells a single quote from CA$5 with no subscription, for contractors who quote only now and then.
Switching without retyping
If your current app can export clients or quotes to a CSV or Excel file, quoteai imports that spreadsheet: it matches the usual column names (client, email, phone, address, description, quantity, price, total) without a template. Run both for a week if you like; the trial needs no credit card.
Questions
Does Joist still have a free plan?
No. Its pricing page says the free plan is no longer available; there is a 14-day trial.
Is quoteai a Joist alternative for renovators?
Yes, if you want the estimate drafted for you and the contract, deposit and invoice to follow from it. If you only need a cheap template, Joist costs less.
Other comparisons
Try it on your next quote.
Describe a real job and see the quote quoteai drafts, with your province's taxes, before you decide anything.
7 days free, no credit card.
Jobber, Joist and Housecall Pro are trademarks of their owners; quoteai is not affiliated with them. Their prices and features change, so check their sites before you decide. If something here is out of date or wrong, write to info@quoteai.ca and we will correct it.