HiveSuite
Joist is a contractor platform focused on estimates, invoicing, and payments - with work orders on Pro and change orders and business reports on Elite. HiveSuite is a full business management platform covering scheduling, team management, AI analytics, customer portal, and inventory - plus quoting and invoicing. The question is whether Joist's lighter-weight workflow covers enough of your business, or whether you need a more complete platform.
The short version: Joist is a solid, affordable option for contractors who primarily need estimates, invoices, and payment collection. If you need job scheduling, team management, AI analytics, inventory, and a customer portal, Joist doesn't cover those areas - HiveSuite does.
The Quick Summary
| Category | HiveSuite | Joist |
|---|---|---|
| What It Is | Full business management platform | Estimating, invoicing and payments platform with work orders, client management, and business reports |
| Best For | UK contractors wanting complete job, team, and business management | Sole traders needing simple, mobile estimate and invoice creation |
| Pricing | From £34.99/month (GBP, VAT included, all features) | Basics $10/mo / Pro $16/mo / Elite $32/mo (USD only, no free plan) |
| Scheduling | Calendar, job pipeline, crew assignments WINNER | No scheduling or calendar features |
| Job Management | Full job tracking, status workflows, custom fields WINNER | Work orders (Pro), change orders (Elite) - lighter project workflow |
| Team Management | Roles, permissions, timesheets, crew app WINNER | None |
| AI Features | HiveIntel - natural language queries, dashboards WINNER | None |
| Customer Portal | Full self-service portal on all plans - jobs, approvals, payments, messaging WINNER | Lightweight homeowner portal for document sharing and approvals |
| Inventory | Stock management, purchase orders WINNER | None |
| UK Pricing | Native GBP pricing, VAT included WINNER | USD only - UK users pay in dollars |
| Accounting | QuickBooks | QuickBooks sync on Elite plan only (no Xero - a gap for many UK businesses) |
Pricing
HiveSuite Pricing (GBP, VAT included)
- Solo: £34.99/month - 1 admin + 2 team members
- Small Team: £89.99/month - 5 admins + 5 team members
- Growing Team: £149.99/month - 10 admins + 10 team members
- All features on all plans - scheduling, portal, AI, inventory - everything
- 30-day free trial, no credit card required
Joist Pricing (USD)
- Basics: $10/month - remove Joist branding, add logo, basic estimates and invoices
- Pro: $16/month - price lists, custom contracts, homeowner financing, notifications
- Elite: $32/month - change orders, premium support, QuickBooks sync
- All plans are per account (not per user)
- No free plan available
- USD pricing only - no GBP option for UK users
- No Xero integration (QuickBooks on Elite only)
Where Joist Has Gaps
Joist covers estimates, invoices, payments, and some project-level features (work orders on Pro, change orders and business reports on Elite). But several areas common to fuller platforms are absent:
No Scheduling
Joist has no calendar, no job scheduling, and no dispatch tools. You can send quotes and invoices but cannot schedule or track work on a calendar.
No Team Management
No user roles, no permissions, no timesheets, no crew assignments. Joist is a single-operator tool with no multi-user team features.
No Customer Portal
Clients receive emailed documents. There is no branded self-service portal where clients log in to view jobs, approve quotes, or pay invoices.
No UK Compliance
No VAT compliance features, no CIS support, no Xero integration. UK contractors need to handle these manually or through separate tools.
When Does Joist Actually Make Sense?
There are situations where Joist is a reasonable choice:
- You're a sole trader doing very simple work where a quote becomes an invoice - no scheduling, no team, no complexity
- You're testing the market and not yet sure if investing in a full platform makes sense
- You work primarily in the US where Joist's pricing and payment features are most native
In those scenarios, Joist's simplicity is a genuine virtue. But most UK contractors with any regularity of work quickly outgrow it.
The Bottom Line
Joist is not a business management platform - it's a mobile paperwork tool. It's fine for what it does. But if you're running a real business with jobs to schedule, a team to manage, and customers who need more than an emailed invoice, you need something more capable.
HiveSuite gives you everything Joist does (professional quotes, invoicing, online payment) plus scheduling, team management, a customer portal, AI-powered analytics, inventory management, and recurring invoices - all in GBP with VAT included in the price you see.
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Everything Joist does, plus everything it doesn't. No credit card required.
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