When Joist makes sense
Joist makes sense when your whole problem is producing a clean estimate or invoice quickly and collecting a card payment on the spot. The app is genuinely fast on a phone, e-signature approval is built in, homeowner financing is available on every plan, and the price is hard to argue with. For a handyman or small residential crew with no subcontractors and no Construction Act exposure, Joist covers the basics.
Where Joist falls short for Canadian contractors
Joist stops at the document. Its invoice templates do not carry the period-of-work or contract-reference fields a proper invoice needs under section 6.1 of the Ontario Construction Act, so a Joist invoice does not reliably start the 28-day payment clock. There is no T5018 tracking, no statutory holdback, no lien-deadline awareness, and tax rates are set up and maintained by hand rather than applied from a province-aware engine. The moment you pay a subcontractor or take on Construction Act work, the gaps are structural, not cosmetic.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Markup | Joist |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario Construction Act proper-invoice fields | Advantage: Markup.All 7 fields included by default. Period of work and contract reference are required, not optional. | Not included. Estimate and invoice templates are general-purpose. |
| 28-day payment clock tracking | Advantage: Markup.Automatic from invoice send date, with deadline alerts. | Not available. |
| GST/HST/QST calculation (province-aware) | Advantage: Markup.Published rate for all 13 provinces and territories, including QST on the pre-GST base. | Tax rates are created and maintained manually. No province-aware Canadian engine. |
| T5018 subcontractor tracking | Advantage: Markup.Built-in YTD tracker per subcontractor with $500 threshold alerts. | Not available. |
| Statutory holdback calculation | Advantage: Markup.Automatic per province with release timeline. | Not available. |
| Lien deadline tracking | Advantage: Markup.Per-province preservation windows tracked from last supply. | Not available. |
| Price | Free, Solo $49/mo, Plus $89/mo CAD. The price buys the compliance bundle. | Basics $10, Pro $16, Elite $32 per month. Cheaper, scoped to estimates, invoices, and payments. |
| In-app card payments + homeowner financing | Not in scope. Your client pays you directly: e-Transfer, cheque, card, cash. No processing fee taken by Markup. | Built in on every plan, with processing fees on card payments. |
| QuickBooks sync | CSV export your bookkeeper can import. | Native QuickBooks sync on Pro and Elite plans. |
| Mobile app | Web-responsive. Native mobile app in roadmap. | Full iOS and Android apps. |
Choose Joist if:
- You need fast estimates and invoices with card payment and homeowner financing built into the same document, and you accept the processing fees.
- You work small residential jobs with no subcontractors, no holdback, and no Construction Act exposure.
- Price is the deciding factor and your compliance needs are genuinely zero.
Choose Markup if:
- You work under the Ontario Construction Act and need invoices that qualify as proper invoices and start the 28-day payment clock.
- You pay subcontractors and need T5018 tracking instead of a year-end spreadsheet scramble.
- You need statutory holdback, lien deadlines, and CRA filing dates tracked, not just a nice-looking PDF.
- You want province-correct GST/HST/QST applied automatically instead of maintaining your own tax rates.
Joist alternative: frequently asked questions
Is Markup a good Joist alternative for Canadian contractors?
Markup is a strong Joist alternative when your work involves the Ontario Construction Act, subcontractors, or holdback. Joist is excellent at quick estimates, invoices, and card payments; Markup covers what Joist does not: proper-invoice compliance, the 28-day payment clock, T5018 tracking, statutory holdback, lien deadlines, and a province-aware tax engine.
Does Joist handle Canadian taxes like GST and HST?
Joist lets you create tax rates manually and apply them to estimates and invoices, but it has no province-aware Canadian tax engine. You maintain the rates yourself, including edge cases like Quebec QST on the pre-GST base. Markup applies the published rate for the selected province automatically.
Is Joist Canadian?
Joist was founded in Toronto and keeps a Toronto office. The product serves the broad North American contractor market, though, and does not handle Canadian construction compliance: there is no Construction Act proper invoicing, no T5018 tracking, and no statutory holdback or lien-deadline support.
How much does Markup cost compared to Joist?
Joist is cheaper: Basics $10, Pro $16, and Elite $32 per month. Markup is Free, Solo $49/mo, or Plus $89/mo in CAD. The difference buys the Canadian compliance bundle: proper invoices, the 28-day clock, T5018, holdback, lien deadlines, and CRA deadline tracking. If you have none of those obligations, Joist may be all you need.
Related
Comparison data reflects publicly available information and Markup’s direct testing as of May 2026. Feature sets change. Verify current capabilities on each vendor’s website before making a purchasing decision. Prices shown in CAD where available.