You're probably running 5 apps and paying $40/month for a workflow one app can handle.
MileIQ for mileage. Joist for estimates. Something for invoices. Something for leads. Something for expenses. Most solo contractors run this stack without questioning it. Here's what it actually costs and how to cut it down.
| Choose Lead Score if… | Choose Joist if… |
|---|---|
| Lead Score replaces 4–5 separate contractor apps — mileage tracker, CRM, estimating app, invoice tool, and expense logger — for one price, one app, one login. | The average solo contractor pays $30–50/month across 4–5 apps that don't talk to each other. The cost isn't just money — it's the time spent switching between them. |
| You want to simplify your app stack | You need deep accounting integrations (QuickBooks, Xero) |
| You want mileage, CRM, estimates, and invoices in one place | You run a multi-crew operation needing dispatch |
| You want offline-first, no account required | You need enterprise-grade reporting across multiple locations |
| You want to save $200–500/year | You need deep QuickBooks or Xero accounting integrations |
Lead Score vs Joist
Lead Score was built to be the one app on a solo contractor's phone that handles the entire pre-sale workflow. Every feature was added to eliminate a separate subscription.
| Feature | Lead Score | Joist |
|---|---|---|
| Lead qualification | ✓ 5-factor scoring | ✗ Separate app required |
| Auto GPS mileage tracking | ✓ Built in | ✗ MileIQ or Everlance — $9/mo extra |
| PDF estimates | ✓ Built in | ✗ Joist or Invoice Simple — $8–32/mo extra |
| Invoice tracking | ✓ Built in | ✗ Same as estimates app |
| Expense tracking | ✓ Built in per lead | ✗ Separate app required |
| Pipeline analytics | ✓ Close rate, revenue, sources | ✗ Requires CRM — $5–18/mo extra |
| Photo attachments | ✓ Built in | ✗ CompanyCam — $79/mo extra |
| Works fully offline | ✓ Local storage always | ✗ Most apps require internet |
| No account required | ✓ Your device, your data | ✗ Every app requires an account |
| Full accounting / payroll | ✗ Not included — use QuickBooks | ✓ QuickBooks handles this |
| Monthly cost for all of the above | ✓ $9.99/month total | ✗ $30–56/month across 4–5 apps |
The average solo contractor is paying for five apps that don't talk to each other.
It happens gradually. You download MileIQ because your accountant said you should track mileage. You get Joist because someone in a Facebook group recommended it for estimates. You try a CRM because you're losing track of leads. You add an expense tracker. Before long you have five apps, five separate monthly charges, and five separate places your business data lives.
High lead volume doesn't mean high quality. Score before you dispatch.
The real cost isn't just the money — it's the friction. Every time you switch between apps you lose context. A lead in your CRM doesn't know about the estimate in Joist. The mileage in MileIQ doesn't connect to the job in your lead tracker. Fragmented data means fragmented decisions.
In 2025 and 2026, several of these apps made that problem worse by raising prices with no added value. MileIQ up 50%. Invoice Simple capping invoices. Joist moving features behind higher tiers. The typical contractor stack is costing more and delivering less than it did two years ago.
"I was paying for Joist, MileIQ, and a CRM separately. It took me embarrassingly long to realize I was paying three times for one workflow."
— Contractor School member, 2025
What your app stack actually needs to do — and what covers it.
Pre-sale — Lead Score handles all of this: qualify leads before you invest time, track your pipeline, capture job site photos and documents, auto-track mileage to qualifying visits, log expenses per lead, generate PDF estimates, convert estimates to invoices.
Post-sale — what you still need: accounting and tax filing (QuickBooks or Wave), full job management for larger crews (Jobber or Housecall Pro), reputation management (NiceJob or Birdeye). These tools are genuinely better at their specific jobs than Lead Score will ever try to be.
The rule: if it happens before the job is won, Lead Score handles it. If it happens after the job is won and the invoice is paid, you need a specialized tool. Most contractors discover that before the job is won covers far more of their daily app usage than they realized.
What your current app stack actually costs.
Most solo contractors run 4–5 separate apps. Here's the monthly total — and what Lead Score costs to replace all of them.
Or go annual at $59.99/year — less than $5/month for the full stack.
Clear pricing. No surprises.
Joist
$8-32
estimates only · $96-384/year
- ✗ No lead qualification
- ✗ No pipeline analytics
- ✗ Separate tool — one workflow
Lead Score
$9.99
$59.99/year or $99 lifetime
- ✓ 5-factor lead scoring
- ✓ Auto GPS mileage tracking
- ✓ PDF estimates and invoices
- ✓ No account — local storage
- ✓ Works fully offline
- ✓ First 3 leads free
Who should use what.
For a solo contractor or small owner-operated crew, the optimal 2026 app stack is: Lead Score (pre-sale workflow) + QuickBooks or Wave (accounting) + optionally Jobber or HCP if you manage a crew. That's two or three apps instead of five or six.
The highest-leverage change most contractors can make to their app stack isn't adding a new tool — it's replacing four separate tools with one that covers the pre-sale phase completely. That's what Lead Score is built to do.
What contractors ask before switching.
Stop paying for five apps doing one workflow.
Lead scoring, mileage, estimates, invoices, expenses — one price. First 3 leads free.
Free tier · No account required · iOS & Android · Works offline
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