Painter's Log

Painter's Log is back-office software built for painting contractors, covering estimating, timekeeping, field capture, job management, job costing, invoicing and close-out. Estimates support sections and line items, markup, tax and discounts. A customer can review an estimate from a direct link and approve it with an online e-signature; an approved estimate can become a job and invoice. Crews can divide clock-ins across job sites using geofences, and timecards can be exported to CSV. Photographed receipts can be read into job materials, while paint specifications can be tracked by room and surface, including brand, color, finish and quantity. Job-costing reports compare estimated with actual labor and materials, showing profitability and budget variance as work proceeds. The AI assistant accepts voice or text questions about jobs, customers and costs, creates log entries, retrieves job details and summarizes the day. Other tools cover revenue, cash flow, receivables aging, labor utilization, 1099 exports, production-rate analysis and estimate accuracy. Painter's Log runs on Android, iOS and the web, including in a phone browser; its mobile app can be installed without an app store download. The product is fully bilingual in English and Spanish, including estimates. The Free plan is available at $0/month. Pro is $149 a month billed annually, with $1,788 billed yearly.

Painter's Log is for painting contractors who need estimates, crew timekeeping, job costing and invoicing in one back-office product. Its room-by-room paint records and field tools suit businesses managing crews and tracking actual material and labor costs during jobs.

The Free plan allows 2 users, 5 jobs per month, 20 documents per month, 25 receipts per month and 2 GB of storage. Its AI assistant includes 300k chat tokens and 10 voice minutes monthly per user, and payments collected through Painter's Log carry a 1% fee. Pro includes 4 users, unlimited jobs, estimates, invoices and receipts, and 50 GB of storage; each additional active worker costs $24 a month billed annually.

Choose Painter's Log if your painting business needs estimating, field timekeeping, job-cost tracking and invoicing together. The Free plan can suit smaller workloads; businesses needing unlimited jobs and documents, more users or lower app payment fees should look at Pro.

Painter’s Log is contractor back-office software that links estimating and field activity with job costs, invoicing and close-out. It is best suited to painting businesses that want those functions in one workflow, rather than a quoting tool alone. The Free plan gives small crews a way to start, but its job and document caps and 1% payment fee make the annual Pro plan more suitable as workload grows.

Overview

Estimates can include sections and line items, markup, tax and discounts, then turn into jobs and invoices after approval. Customers can review an estimate through a direct link and approve it with an e-signature; the example records the signature date and IP address. That creates a convenient approval path tied to the work that follows.

Field records feed into job tracking: crews can split clock-ins across sites using geofences, and photographed receipts are read into job materials. 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 underway. This is the product’s central strength: estimates, field activity and job economics are connected rather than managed as separate tasks.

Key features

Alongside estimates, scheduling and crew management, Painter’s Log handles timekeeping, job costing, invoicing, payments and close-out. Customers can pay by card or ACH through Stripe. The AI assistant accepts voice or text questions about jobs, customers and costs, can create log entries and look up job details, and can summarize the day. Its usefulness will depend on whether a contractor wants to query job records conversationally; it is an addition to the workflow, not a substitute for its core estimating and tracking tools.

Revenue, cash-flow, receivables-aging, labor-utilization and 1099 reports broaden its appeal to owners handling both field operations and business finances. Production-rate analysis and estimate-accuracy reporting can help contractors review how their estimates compare with outcomes. The product is bilingual in English and Spanish, including estimates, a practical advantage for businesses serving customers in either language.

Pricing

Free

The Free plan costs $0 a month, billed $0/month, and includes 2 users, 5 jobs per month, 20 documents per month across estimates, invoices and change orders, 25 receipts per month and 2 GB of storage. Each user gets 300k AI chat tokens and 10 voice minutes per month. A 1% Painter’s Log fee applies to payments collected through the app. It can suit a small operation with modest monthly volume, but the shared document quota and five-job ceiling can become restrictive; the payment fee is another cost to weigh if customers pay through the app.

Pro

Pro is $149 a year, billed $149 a month billed annually, with $1,788 billed yearly. It includes 4 users, unlimited jobs, estimates, invoices and receipts, 50 GB of storage, 2M AI chat tokens and 2 hours of hands-free voice per user per month, plus priority support. Each additional active worker costs $24 a month, billed annually. Pro charges 0% on payments collected through Painter’s Log. It is the clearer fit for a business that exceeds Free’s caps, needs more than two users or wants to avoid the app payment fee; the annual commitment and extra-worker charge matter when budgeting. There is no free trial.

Platforms

Painter’s Log runs on the web, Android and iOS. It also runs in a phone browser, and its mobile app can be installed without an app store download. That gives crews a phone-based route into the product without requiring an app-store installation.

Who it's for

Painter’s Log is built for painting contractors, from owner-operators to crews that need estimates, timekeeping, materials, job costs and invoicing to stay connected. Its tools are more than a solo estimator needs if the priority is simply preparing occasional quotes. Free is a sensible starting point for smaller workloads; businesses with expanding job volume, more workers or meaningful app-collected payments should compare its caps and fees with Pro’s annual cost.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Estimates can flow into jobs and invoices, while time, receipts and actual costs help owners track job performance during the work.
• Pro: Paint specifications by room and surface keep brand, color, finish and quantity attached to the project.
• Pro: English and Spanish support extends to estimates, and mobile access works through a phone browser or installable app.
• Con: Free is capped at 5 jobs and 20 documents per month, with only 2 users and a 1% fee on payments collected through the app.
• Con: Pro’s stated annual billing totals $1,788 per year, with additional active workers billed separately at $24 a month.

Alternatives

For a broader comparison of tools aimed at contractors, see painting contractor software. Surfacely is worth considering if you need a painting-business tool available on macOS or Windows as well as mobile and web. PaintClarity may suit a contractor prioritizing unlimited jobs and quotes, and unlimited painter and admin users on its free plan. PaintQuote Pro is a leaner option for occasional quoting: its free tier starts with two professional quotes and basic customer management, without recurring free quotes.

PaintWiser offers one user and 20 quotes per month on its free plan, with scheduling, invoicing and mobile and web apps. PaintLogic may be a fit for someone who wants a time-unlimited free trial with full Pro features, capped at three projects. Estimate Rocket is a paid option with a free trial and a Launch plan at $139 per month for three full users. InsightPaint is another paid, trial-based option; its Starter plan is $49 per month for three team members and 25 active jobs. ServBuilder offers a paid Starter plan at $79 per month for up to 25 active jobs and five team members, with basic scheduling and an iOS and Android app.

Verdict

Painter’s Log is a strong fit for painting contractors who want estimating, crew time, materials, job costs and invoicing in one system, with reports that follow profitability while work is in progress. Start with Free if two users and its monthly quotas cover the workload. Choose Pro when unlimited jobs and documents, more users or a 0% app payment fee justify the $1,788 annual bill; look elsewhere if your needs stop at occasional quotes or you cannot take on that commitment.