Best quoting software for the way you work
A solo trade, a growing crew and a contractor pricing from drawings each need a different tool. See which free and paid options fit you, with our own two marked.
- Four types of tool and the business each one suits
- Checklist: optional items, deposits, acceptance, invoicing
- The one real quote test to run before paying
By WhizQuote Editorial ยท 10 minute read
The best quoting software is the one that fits how you work. Solo trades and small service businesses often do well with a free quote maker or an invoicing app that handles quotes. Growing teams with crews to schedule look at field service platforms. Contractors pricing from drawings need estimating software with takeoff. Whatever you pick, check optional items, deposits, online acceptance and quote to invoice.
What quoting software does
Quoting software replaces the blank document or spreadsheet. You pick saved items and rates instead of typing them, the tool adds tax and totals, and the quote goes to the customer as a PDF or an online link. Better tools also show when the quote was viewed, let the customer accept online and carry the accepted quote into a job or an invoice.
- Saved items and price lists so you stop retyping the same materials and labor rates.
- Optional items or tiered options the customer can choose between.
- Tax, discounts and deposits calculated for you.
- Online acceptance, sometimes with an e-signature and a deposit payment.
- Follow-up reminders on quotes that have gone quiet.
- Quote to job or invoice without retyping.
Estimating software overlaps but goes deeper into cost. It works out quantities from drawings (takeoff), builds prices from assemblies of materials and labor, and suits contractors who price from plans. Many trades use the words interchangeably.
The four types of quoting and estimating software
Most tools fall into one of four groups. Free quote makers produce a good PDF with no account. Invoicing and accounting apps add quotes to the money side of the business. Field service platforms add scheduling, dispatch and crews. Construction estimating tools add takeoff and cost libraries. Pick the group first, then compare tools inside it.
| Type | Examples | Suits | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free quote maker | WhizQuote (ours) | Occasional quotes, solo trades, trying out a layout | No sending, tracking or job records |
| Invoicing and accounting apps | WhizInvoice (ours), QuickBooks Online, Xero, Zoho Invoice, Wave, Invoice Ninja | Small businesses that want quotes and invoices in one place | Little or no scheduling or field tools |
| Field service platforms | Jobber, Housecall Pro, Tradify, ServiceM8, ServiceTitan | Teams with jobs to schedule and technicians in vans | More setup; most are paid after a trial |
| Construction estimating | STACK, Joist | Contractors pricing from plans or detailed estimates | Overkill for quick service quotes |
Free quoting software and invoicing apps compared
This group suits sole traders and small teams who mainly need a clean quote, a quick path to an invoice and a record of who paid. Several have free plans, each with limits. The features below are the ones we confirmed on each official site; plans change, so check before you commit.
| Tool | Quote features we confirmed | Free option |
|---|---|---|
| WhizQuote quote maker (ours) | Optional items left out of the total until chosen, deposit to book, valid until date, tax presets for 10 countries, PDF in A4 or US Letter | Free, no sign up, no watermark |
| WhizInvoice (ours) | Sends and tracks quotes and invoices, turns an accepted quote into an invoice in one click, tracks payment | You can start free |
| QuickBooks Online | Estimates the customer can accept or decline from the email, converted to an invoice in full or as a percentage for progress billing | Intuit says the estimates feature is limited on its Free and Lite plans |
| Xero | Quotes from templates, online acceptance with a comment, status tracking from draft to accepted or declined, one click conversion to an invoice | Not stated on the page we read |
| Zoho Invoice | Quotes that convert to invoices once approved, customer portal for responding to quotes | Free plan: up to 2 users and 500 invoices a year, with Zoho branding on invoices |
| Wave | Estimates, with deposit requests on estimates | Starter plan at $0 includes unlimited estimates; deposit requests are a Pro plan feature |
| Invoice Ninja | Quotes approved by e-signature, then converted to invoices; a self-hosted option exists | Free plan for up to 5 clients |
Field service and estimating software compared
Field service platforms bundle quoting with scheduling, dispatch, job records and payments, which is worth it once you have more jobs than you can track in your head. Estimating tools focus on working out cost from plans. Again, these are the features we confirmed on official sites.
| Tool | Built for | Quote features we confirmed | Free option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobber | Service businesses across many industries | Optional line items, markups set inside the quote, approval and deposit payment in a client hub, automatic follow-ups, one click conversion to a job | Free trial, no credit card |
| Housecall Pro | Home service businesses, teams of 1 to 100+ | Good, better and best options, approval and e-signature from phone or email, automatic reminders on open estimates | 14-day free trial |
| Tradify | Trades such as electrical, HVAC and plumbing | Price lists and kits, sections with subtotals, optional sections, hidden unit prices if wanted, online acceptance, reminders, conversion to jobs and invoices | 14-day free trial |
| ServiceM8 | Trades and service contractors | Quote and invoice on site; proposals and bundles on paid plans | Free plan: 1 user, 30 jobs a month, quoting included |
| ServiceTitan | Commercial and residential trades with office and field staff | Estimate templates from a pricebook, grouped into tiered proposals that technicians present on a phone or tablet for the customer to sign | Not listed on the pages we read |
| Joist | Contractors and remodelers | Estimate templates, estimate to invoice, QuickBooks sync | 14-day free trial, then paid plans |
| STACK | Specialty and general contractors, suppliers | Takeoff with automatic counting, worksheet estimates with item and assembly libraries | Free account offered; limits not checked |
What free quoting software leaves out
Free plans are real, but each one draws a line somewhere: a cap on users, clients, jobs or invoices, branding on your documents, or key features kept for paid plans. Read the limit before you build your price list inside a tool, because moving later means re-entering every item and customer.
- User and volume caps. ServiceM8’s free plan covers one user and 30 jobs a month. Zoho Invoice’s free plan allows two users and 500 invoices a year.
- Client caps. Invoice Ninja’s free plan stops at five clients.
- Branding. Zoho Invoice adds its own branding line to invoices on the free plan.
- Features held back. Wave lists deposit requests under its Pro plan; ServiceM8 keeps proposals and bundles for paid plans; QuickBooks limits estimates on its Free and Lite plans.
- No account at all. Our quote maker needs no sign up, but that also means it does not send, track or store quotes for you. Your business details and logo are remembered only in your own browser.
When you need estimating software instead
If you price from drawings, a quote builder will slow you down. Estimating software measures areas, lengths and counts straight off the plans, applies assemblies such as “stud wall per linear ft” that bundle materials and labor, and keeps cost libraries up to date. That is what general and specialty contractors bidding on plans need.
For a remodeler quoting a kitchen from a site visit, it is usually too much. A quote tool with saved items, plus a spreadsheet for the odd complicated take-off, does the job. For early budget numbers with a low to high range, the free estimate maker is enough, and the guide to writing an estimate covers the wording.
How to choose quoting software
Start from your situation, not the feature grid. How many quotes you send a month, how many people need access, whether you schedule crews, and which accounting software you already use will narrow the field to two or three tools.
| Your situation | Start by looking at |
|---|---|
| Under 10 quotes a month, working alone | A free quote maker or a free invoicing plan |
| Quotes and invoices, little scheduling | An invoicing or accounting app with quotes |
| Two or more crews, jobs to dispatch | A field service platform |
| Pricing from drawings, bidding on plans | Takeoff and estimating software |
| Office staff plus many technicians | Larger field service platforms with pricebooks and tiered proposals |
Checklist
- Optional items or tiered options the customer can choose
- Deposit on acceptance, as a percent or an amount
- Valid until date and reminders before it passes
- Tax settings for your country and tax-inclusive or tax-added prices
- Online acceptance that records who accepted and when
- Accepted quote to invoice without retyping
- Export of your items and customers if you leave
Test with one real quote before you commit
A trial tells you more than any comparison page, including this one. Take a job you quoted last month, rebuild it in each shortlisted tool, and time how long it takes. Then send it to your own phone and look at it as the customer would. The tool that produces the clearest quote fastest is usually the right one.
- Rebuild a real quoteUse a recent job with materials, labor and at least one optional extra.
- Check the totalsCompare tax, discount and deposit against your original to the cent.
- View it as the customerOpen the link or PDF on a phone and try accepting it.
- Convert itTurn the accepted quote into an invoice and check what carries across.
- Check the exitFind the export for items, customers and documents before you load everything in.
Where WhizQuote and WhizInvoice fit
WhizQuote and WhizInvoice are ours, so weigh what we say about them accordingly. The quote maker is a free browser tool for producing a clear quote PDF quickly. WhizInvoice is the app for sending and tracking quotes and invoices. Neither does scheduling, dispatch or takeoff, so if you need those, a tool from the tables above will serve you better.
- WhizQuote quote maker: free, no sign up and no watermark. Groups of line items with units, optional items, discount, tax by country, deposit, valid until date, scope, exclusions, terms and signature lines, then a real PDF. Open the quote maker.
- WhizInvoice: sends and tracks quotes and invoices, turns an accepted quote into an invoice in one click and tracks payment. Start free with WhizInvoice.
- Templates: prefer a file? The Excel quote template has formulas for lines, tax and deposit.
No sign up and no watermark: build a quote and download the PDF.
Quoting software questions
What is the best free quoting software?
It depends on what you need beyond the quote. For a quick PDF with no account, a free quote maker such as ours works. For quotes plus invoices, Zoho Invoice, Wave, Invoice Ninja and ServiceM8 listed free plans when we checked, each with limits on users, clients, jobs or features.
Is estimating software the same as quoting software?
They overlap. Quoting software focuses on presenting a price and getting it accepted. Estimating software focuses on working out the cost, often from drawings, using takeoff and assemblies. Field service tools often call their quotes estimates, so read the features rather than the label.
Can I just use Excel or Word for quotes?
Yes, and many small businesses do. A good template with formulas handles lines, tax and deposits. What you lose is tracking, online acceptance and quote to invoice conversion. Our Excel quote template and Word quote template are free by email.
Does quoting software need to connect to my accounting software?
If you already keep books in an accounting app, a connection saves retyping and keeps customer records in step. Check that accepted quotes, invoices and payments sync, not just contacts.
What is takeoff in estimating software?
Takeoff is measuring quantities from drawings: areas of flooring, lengths of pipe, counts of fixtures. Estimating software does it on screen, and some tools count repeated items automatically. The quantities then feed the cost estimate.