Painter's Log

Painter's Log is back-office software for painting contractors, from estimates and field timekeeping through job costing, invoicing and close-out. It is best suited to owner-operators and crews that want to track job finances alongside the work itself. Its breadth is a strong fit for that workflow, though the free plan's caps and payment fee may make it a short-term starting point rather than a lasting home for a growing business.

Overview

Estimates can be organized into sections and line items, with markup, tax and discounts. Once approved, they can become jobs and invoices, keeping the path from proposal to paid work connected. Customers can review estimates through a direct link and sign electronically; the approval record can include the signature date and IP address.

Field work also feeds into job records. Crews can split clock-ins across job sites using geofences, and timecards can be exported to CSV. Photographed receipts are read into job materials, while paint specifications can be tracked by room and surface, including brand, color, finish and quantity. Reports compare estimated with actual labor and materials costs and show profitability and budget variance while work is in progress. That combination gives contractors a way to see whether a job is tracking to budget before it is finished, rather than relying only on a post-job reckoning.

Key features

Painter's Log combines estimating, scheduling, crew management, timekeeping, job costing, invoicing, payments and close-out. Customers can pay by card or ACH through Stripe. The Free plan charges a 1% Painter's Log fee on payments collected through the app; Pro removes that fee, which can matter more as payment volume grows.

The AI assistant accepts voice or text questions about jobs, customers and costs, can create log entries and retrieve job details, and can summarize the day. Its usefulness is tied to the per-user monthly allowances, so businesses with frequent voice use should compare those caps before choosing a plan. Other reporting includes revenue, cash flow, receivables aging, labor utilization, 1099 exports, production-rate analysis and estimate-accuracy reporting.

The product is bilingual in English and Spanish, including estimates. It runs on Android, iOS and the web; on phones, it can be used in a browser or installed as a mobile app without an app-store download. Pro includes priority support, and the founder can be contacted directly by email. Business data is kept separate and preserved if an account is downgraded or canceled, reducing the concern that a plan change means losing records.

Pricing

The Free plan costs nothing, billed $0/month. It includes 2 users, 5 jobs per month, 20 documents per month across estimates, invoices and change orders, 25 receipts per month, 2 GB of storage, and 300k chat tokens plus 10 voice minutes per month per user. The limits are workable for a small operation evaluating the workflow, but job and document quotas can become restrictive once estimates, changes and invoices accumulate. App-collected payments also incur a 1% fee.

Pro costs $149 a year, billed $149/mo billed annually, or $1,788 billed yearly. It includes 4 users, unlimited jobs, estimates, invoices and receipts, 50 GB of storage, and 2M chat tokens plus 2 hours of hands-free voice per month per user; it also removes the payment fee and includes priority support. Additional active workers cost $24/mo per additional active worker, billed annually. Pro is the more practical choice for contractors who have outgrown Free's quotas or collect enough through the app for the fee to matter. It is an annual commitment, and the Free plan has no paid trial to bridge the decision.

Platforms

Painter's Log is available on Android, iOS and the web. Phone-browser access and installable mobile access without an app-store download give crews a way to use it from a phone without a conventional store installation.

Who it's for

Painter's Log is aimed at painting contractors, particularly owner-operators and small crews that need estimates, field records and job costs connected. English- and Spanish-speaking teams can use bilingual estimates. A contractor seeking only a lightweight quote tool may find the broader job-management scope unnecessary, while a growing team should weigh Pro's annual billing and worker charges against the value of unlimited core documents and jobs.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Estimates can flow into jobs and invoices, and reports compare actual with estimated labor and materials costs while work is underway.
• Pro: Geofenced site timekeeping, receipt capture and room-by-room paint specifications connect field activity to job records.
• Pro: English and Spanish support extends to estimates, and phone access does not depend on an app-store download.
• Con: Free is capped at 5 jobs and 20 documents per month, with only 2 GB of storage, so active contractors can hit limits quickly.
• Con: Free payments through the app carry a 1% fee; Pro avoids it but is billed annually.
• Con: Pro includes 4 users, then charges $24/mo per additional active worker on annual billing, which raises the cost for larger crews.

Alternatives

Painting Contractor Software is the category page for comparing more tools in this field.

• Surfacely is an option for teams wanting broader platform coverage, including macOS and Windows; its free plan starts with 2 team seats, 5 buildings and 2 devices per user.
• PaintQuote Pro suits contractors who need a simpler quoting tool: its free tier provides 2 professional quotes to start, with no recurring free quotes.
• PaintClarity is worth considering for businesses that prioritize unlimited jobs, quotes, painters and admin users on its free plan.
• PaintWiser offers a free plan for a solo user, with 20 quotes per month, scheduling, invoicing and mobile plus web access.
• The EDGE is another option for contractors seeking a paid product with custom pricing.
• DripJobs is a paid alternative with no free plan.
• InsightPaint is a paid alternative with a free trial and a Starter plan that includes 3 team members, 25 active jobs, 50 estimates per month and 5 GB of storage.
• PaintLogic offers a no-time-limit free trial with 3 projects and full Pro features, making it a choice for evaluating a paid workflow before subscribing.

Verdict

Choose Painter's Log if you run a painting business and want estimates, crew activity, materials and job profitability tied together in one workflow. Its strongest reason to buy is the connection between field records and live job-cost reporting. Look elsewhere if you need a low-cost, unconstrained free tier or cannot commit to Pro's annual billing and per-worker charges.