Methodology
How we check prices and pick tools
Every price on Tools for the Trade comes from the vendor's own public page and carries the date we read it. Every pick comes from fixed, published rules. This page explains both, plus how we handle conflicts of interest and corrections.
In short
We read each vendor's public pricing page, record the date, and mark anything unpublished as unknown. The quiz and the rankings run on the same code for every tool, and that code never sees whether a vendor pays us.
How we collect prices
- The vendor's own page, nothing else. Prices, plans, free plans and trials are read from each vendor's public pricing page. We track 35 tools, and each tool page links to the exact page we used.
- Every price is dated. Each tool records the day its price was checked, and that date is shown next to the price. The last full check of all tools was Oct 17, 2026.
- Unknown means unknown. If a vendor doesn't publish a price (for example, "contact sales"), we say so and leave it out of totals. We never estimate a price. Right now 7 of 35 tools have no published starting price.
- We say how we read it. When a pricing page blocked direct reading, we read it through a search-engine snippet of that same vendor page and label the source that way (3 tools today).
- Third-party figures are labelled. If we mention a number from anyone other than the vendor, it's marked as third-party and not vendor-verified. Discrepancies go in the price-change log.
- Some things are vendor claims. Integrations and Spanish support are what the vendor says; we haven't tested every connection. Pages are built from vendor-published information, and we haven't tested the tools hands-on unless a page says so.
- Editorial fit is labelled as ours. "Crew size fit" and "trades it suits" are our judgment from how each vendor positions its product.
Prices exclude card-processing fees, taxes, promotions and add-ons unless stated. They change often, so always confirm on the vendor's site before you buy.
How often we re-check
Our policy is to re-check every tracked price at least once every 90 days, and sooner when a vendor announces a change or a reader sends a correction. Because every price shows its own check date, you can always see how fresh it is. When a price or plan changes, the change goes in the price-change log with its date and source. Launch news on What's new is checked against the vendor's own announcement.
How the quiz picks tools
The 6-question quiz runs fixed rules on your answers (trade, crew size, monthly budget, what you use now, your biggest headache, and whether you need Spanish). The same rules power our software-by-trade pages. A stack has three steps:
1. Start free
Everyone gets the free tiers of ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Claude as an AI helper and a free Google Business Profile. If you don't already use QuickBooks, you get free invoicing and card payments with Wave or Square. If missed calls are your headache, free call-answering options from Smith.ai AI Receptionist and ServiceAgent.ai. Roofers also get Roofr for roof measurements.
2. One core system to run the jobs
The first rule that matches your answers wins:
| When your answers say | Core system |
|---|---|
| You already use a job-management app | No new core system. We don't tell you to switch. |
| Your budget is $0 | No core system. Any paid fix from step 3 is shown as something to try first, not added to the total. |
| Roofing | Roofr Essentials plan |
| Remodeling / general contracting, solo | Joist |
| Remodeling, 6+ people and a budget of $600+/mo | JobTread |
| Remodeling, any other case | Contractor Foreman |
| HVAC, plumbing, electrical or garage doors with 16+ people | ServiceTitan (quote-only price, so it's left out of the total) |
| Painting or handyman, solo, budget up to $100/mo | Joist |
| You need Spanish support | Housecall Pro |
| A crew (2+ people) with a budget up to $100/mo | Kickserv |
| Everything else | Jobber |
3. One fix for your biggest headache
| Biggest headache | Pick |
|---|---|
| Missed calls | If your core system is Jobber: Jobber's AI Receptionist add-on. Otherwise, with a crew and $600+/mo: Ruby (live receptionists). Otherwise: Rosie. Crews with $300+/mo also get Quo for a shared business line. |
| Scheduling & dispatching | Handled by the core system; no extra tool. |
| Quotes & estimates | Handled by the core system when you have one. With no core system: Joist (solo) or Contractor Foreman (crews). |
| Invoicing & getting paid | Already on QuickBooks: turn on its payments, no new tool. Solo with up to $100/mo: Wave Pro. Otherwise: QuickBooks Online. |
| Reviews & new customers | NiceJob |
| Payroll & bookkeeping | Solo: no payroll tool. Crews: Gusto, plus QuickBooks Online for books when you're not on QuickBooks and the budget is $300+/mo. |
| Job photos & proof of work | CompanyCam |
How the monthly total is worked out
- We price the cheapest published plan that fits your crew, unless a rule names a specific plan. Crew sizes are counted as 1, 4, 10 or 20 people (for solo, 2–5, 6–15 and 16+), and accounting software as 1, 1, 3 or 5 office logins.
- Tools without a published price are left out of the total and flagged, not guessed.
- With a $0 budget, nothing paid goes into the total: the paid ideas are shown as things to try first.
- Most paid picks also list one or two alternatives, so you can compare.
Comparisons and alternatives
Comparisons put two tools side by side using the same data fields for both. On alternatives pages, every tool in the same category gets points from its own data: free plan +2, published starting price +1, a lower starting price than the tool being replaced (or any published price, if it has none) +1, free trial stated +1, no card needed to start +1, Spanish support claimed +1, and +1 for each crew size it shares with the tool being replaced. Ties go to the lower starting price, then the name.
Conflict-of-interest policy
- Payments never change picks. The quiz rules and the alternatives score are fixed code that reads only your answers and the tool data above. Whether a vendor pays us a commission is not an input to either.
- What an affiliate deal does change: only where the vendor's button sends you (an affiliate link instead of the plain vendor URL) and a "sponsored" label on that link. See our affiliate disclosure.
- Vendors can't buy a verdict. No vendor can pay to change a price, a ranking, a verdict or a quiz rule. Founding partners may fact-check their own page, but a fact changes only when a public source we can cite supports it.
- Free tools come first. Tools with no affiliate program (like Google Business Profile, Wave or the free AI tiers) are recommended whenever they fit.
- Rules change for everyone at once. If we change a rule, it changes for every tool, and this page is updated to match.
Corrections policy
Prices change often, and we will sometimes be wrong. When you tell us about an error, we check it against the vendor's public page. If it's wrong, we fix the page, update the check date, and record price or plan changes in the price-change log. We don't remove accurate facts because a vendor asks. To report one, see contact & corrections.