Free Contractor Invoicing
Software. Forever.
Send invoices, accept card payments, and get paid same-day.
Built for plumbers, landscapers, electricians, HVAC pros, cleaners, and every other service business that bills per job. $0/mo. No credit card.
Trusted by solo contractors and growing crews
What you get free, forever
Eight things every contractor needs to invoice, get paid, and book the next job. Zero per month, zero limits, zero asterisks.
Unlimited invoices
Send as many as you want. No monthly cap, no per-invoice fee, no upgrade nag.
Online card payments
Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay, Google Pay. Money in your bank next business day.
Tip requests
Customers can add a tip when they pay. Most contractors who turn this on see real tip income.
Google review requests
Auto-text every paid customer asking for a Google review. Reviews drive the next job.
Estimates
Quote a job, customer accepts online, convert to invoice with one tap. No double entry.
Customer database
Every job, every invoice, every payment, every note — saved per customer, forever.
Job scheduling
Book jobs on a calendar, two-way sync with Google Calendar so nothing falls through.
Mobile-first interface
Designed for the truck cab and the customer's driveway. Invoice on the go, no laptop.
All eight, free forever. See exactly how the free tier works →
Why generic invoicing tools fall short for contractors
Invoicely, Invoice Ninja, Zoho Invoice, FreshBooks — they all send invoices. They were not built for contractors. Here is what is missing.
You re-type the customer every time
Generic invoicing apps treat each invoice as a one-off form. There is no proper customer record — just a name and email field you fill out again next visit. Contractors do repeat work for the same customers for years. You need a customer history, not a fresh blank invoice.
No concept of a job
Contractors do not just bill a number — they do work. A job has a date, an address, a scope, parts, labor, a status. Generic invoicing apps know about invoices but not jobs. So you end up tracking jobs in your head, on a clipboard, or in a notes app, and then guessing at the invoice line items later.
Estimates do not flow into invoices
Contractors quote first, then bill. In a generic invoicing tool, an estimate is a separate document with no link to the invoice. So when the customer says yes, you re-create the entire line-item list from scratch. Twice the work, twice the chance of a typo.
No tip collection or review requests
Generic invoicing tools were built for accountants and freelancers. Contractors are service businesses — tips matter, Google reviews drive the next job, and you need both wired into the invoice flow. Nothing in Invoicely or Invoice Ninja asks customers to tip or to leave a review when they pay. Menutize does both, automatically, free.
How to send your first invoice as a contractor
Five steps. About 10 minutes total — most of which is the one-time payment setup. After that, every future invoice takes 60 seconds.
Add the customer (60 seconds)
Open Menutize on your phone. Tap New Customer. Enter their name plus an email address or mobile number. Address is optional but helpful for routing and for saved job history. That is it — saving the customer takes about 60 seconds and they live in your customer list forever. The next job you do for them is one tap to find them and one tap to start a new invoice. No re-typing, no fishing through email for their last address. If you already have a customer list in a spreadsheet or another invoicing tool, paste the CSV in once and every customer is imported in seconds — you do not have to type the first 200 by hand.
Set up payments (3-5 minutes)
Connect a bank account so card payments deposit straight to you. The setup is built into Menutize and takes 3-5 minutes. You will need the same info any business banking app asks for: legal business name, EIN or SSN, business address, routing number, and account number. Once approved, you can accept Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, Apple Pay, and Google Pay on every invoice you send. One-time setup — you never have to do it again. Approval is usually instant for sole proprietors and LLCs in good standing. If something needs review, you can keep building invoices in draft mode while approval finishes in the background.
Create the line items
Tap New Invoice, pick the customer you just added, and start adding line items. Each line item gets a description, quantity, and price. Break it down the way contractors actually break it down — labor on its own line, materials on its own line, travel or trip charge on its own line, any add-ons separately. Apply tax if your state or city requires it. Add a note at the bottom thanking them or setting expectations on the warranty. The customer sees a clean, itemized invoice that looks like it came from a 30-person shop. If you priced this job out as an estimate first, skip the line-item entry entirely — tap the estimate, hit Convert to Invoice, and the line items copy straight over. The customer's signature on the estimate carries through too.
Send via email or SMS
Hit Send and pick email, SMS, or both. Your customer gets a clean, branded message with a Pay Now link. SMS delivery is the fastest way to get paid for residential work — most contractors see customers tap the link within minutes of getting the text. The customer does not have to download an app or create an account. They just tap the link and the invoice opens in their browser, ready to pay. If they do not pay within a few days, you can re-send the same invoice with one tap, or turn on Automations and let Menutize politely nudge them on a schedule you set. No more awkward "did you get my invoice?" texts.
Customer pays online
The customer opens the Pay Now link, enters their card or taps Apple Pay, and pays in under 30 seconds. The money is on the way to your bank the next business day. You get a notification the second they pay, and the invoice marks itself paid in your dashboard. Right after the payment, Menutize can automatically text them asking for a Google review — and ask if they would like to add a tip. Both are off by default; flip them on once and they fire on every paid invoice from then on. Over a year, the contractors who turn on tips and review requests see two compounding things happen: real tip income they were leaving on the table, and a steady drip of new five-star reviews on Google that pulls more "near me" leads to their business profile.
Free forever. No credit card. See how it works in detail.
What contractors actually need in their invoicing app
After watching hundreds of contractors invoice on a clipboard, on a sticky note, or on a hand-me-down spreadsheet, six things show up over and over.
Mobile-first, because you invoice from a truck
You are not at a desk. You are in a driveway, a basement, a crawlspace, a parking lot. Your invoicing app has to work on a phone, with one hand, while a customer watches.
Instant card payments, because cash flow
Net-30 kills small contractors. Sending a paper invoice and waiting two weeks for a check is how you end up floating payroll on a credit card. A pay-now link gets you paid before you leave the driveway.
Tip requests, because tips matter
Customers tip plumbers, cleaners, lawn guys, and movers all the time — but only when asked. A check-out tip prompt turns into real money over a year. Generic invoicing apps just do not have this.
Review automation, because reviews drive the next job
Customers Google "plumber near me" and pick the one with the most stars. Auto-asking every paid customer for a Google review compounds — one happy customer this week becomes two new jobs next month.
Estimate-to-invoice flow, because contractors quote first
A contractor's job starts with a quote. The customer accepts. The work happens. Then the invoice. Your software has to know all four of those steps and stitch them together so you do not type the line items twice.
Customer history, because the next quote is faster
When the same customer calls back nine months later, you should be able to pull up everything you did for them — date, scope, parts, labor, what you charged. Quote the next job in 30 seconds, not 30 minutes.
How Menutize invoicing works for your trade
Same free tier, tuned to the way your trade actually bills.
HVAC
Quote a tune-up or a system replacement, get a digital signature on the estimate, and convert it to an invoice when the work is done. Add the diagnostic visit fee as its own line item, then credit it back when the customer accepts the repair. Recurring maintenance plans become recurring invoices that bill themselves on the schedule you set, so spring and fall tune-ups never slip through the cracks.
See HVAC use case →Plumbing
Show up, fix the leak, hand the customer a phone with a Pay Now link before you pack up the truck. Tip request fires automatically — plumbers who turn this on add real income year over year. Save every customer's job history so the next call is one tap. Emergency calls? Add a trip-charge line item and a same-day surcharge as standard line items, save them as templates, drop them into any invoice in seconds.
See Plumbing/HVAC use case →Lawn Care & Landscaping
Recurring weekly mowing turns into recurring weekly invoices. One-off jobs — aeration, leaf cleanup, mulch installs, hedge trimming — get their own one-tap invoices. Google Calendar two-way sync keeps your route honest. Customers tap, pay, tip, and you book the next visit before you load the trailer. End-of-season big-ticket jobs like landscape design or hardscape installs convert from estimate to invoice in one tap.
See Lawn Care use case →House Cleaning
Recurring biweekly cleans become recurring invoices that bill themselves on the schedule you set. Add deep-clean, move-out, and inside-the-fridge add-ons as separate line items. Tip prompt fires after every clean — cleaners average meaningful additional income from tip-enabled invoices. Auto-review-request feeds your local SEO every week, which is exactly how solo cleaners outrank franchises in their zip code on Google.
See Cleaning use case →Auto Detailing
Mobile detailers especially — you are at the customer's driveway, you finish the car, you SMS the invoice, they tap and pay before you wipe down. Add ceramic coat, interior shampoo, headlight restoration, and engine bay as line items. Repeat customers see their full detail history when you quote the next one. Package deals (full detail / wash and wax / interior only) save as line-item templates so quoting takes seconds, not minutes.
See Auto Detailing use case →Handyman
Handyman jobs are messy — ten different little tasks at one address. Add each as its own line item, charge labor by the hour or by the task, attach before-and-after photos to the invoice. Estimate today, work next week, invoice on the spot, paid before you load the ladder. Repeat customers come back for more odd jobs every season — their full job history is right there when you quote the next visit, so you remember exactly what you did last time and what it cost.
See Handyman use case →Pool service? Personal training? We have those too. See Pool Cleaning → · See Personal Training →
Three things contractors do not expect to be free
These are the features that make contractors say "wait, all of that is free?" the first week.
Google review request automation
After every paid invoice, Menutize can text the customer your direct Google review link. The ones who say yes go straight to your business profile. Reviews compound — the more you have, the more "near me" searches send leads to you. Most invoicing software charges $20-50/mo extra for this. We give it away.
Tip request collection
Toggle on tip prompts and your customers see a 10/15/20% suggestion at checkout. Plumbers, cleaners, lawn techs, and movers see the biggest impact — tips become a real, predictable line item in your monthly revenue. The contractors who turn it on never turn it off.
Google Calendar two-way sync
Every job you schedule in Menutize lands on your Google Calendar — and every event in Google Calendar shows up in Menutize so you do not double-book. The whole crew sees the route. No more "wait, where am I supposed to be at 2?" texts at noon.
Free Menutize vs paid contractor invoicing apps
Honest side-by-side. The big trade apps charge for what we give away. The generic invoicing apps charge less — but skip the contractor-specific stuff entirely.
| Menutize | Jobber | Housecall Pro | Invoicely | Invoice Ninja | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | |||||
| Card payments | |||||
| Estimates | Limited | ||||
| Customer database | Basic | Basic | |||
| Tip requests | |||||
| Google review automation | Higher tier | Higher tier | |||
| Estimate & invoice open-tracking | Higher tier | Higher tier | |||
| Job scheduling | |||||
| Mobile app | Web-only | ||||
| Monthly cost | $0/mo | From $99/mo | From $49/mo | From $11/mo | From $10/mo |
Reflects publicly advertised pricing as of May 2026. All product names are trademarks of their respective owners and are referenced for comparison only. Menutize is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any of them.
Coming from Jobber specifically? See the dedicated Jobber comparison →
“I used to invoice on a clipboard and bug customers for cash. Now I send a link, they pay before I leave the driveway. Free.”
FAQ
Is Menutize invoicing actually free?
Yes. $0 a month. No credit card required to sign up. Send unlimited invoices, add unlimited customers, and create unlimited estimates and jobs.
How do I get paid?
Card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. Money lands in your bank account the next business day.
Are there invoicing limits?
No. Unlimited invoices, unlimited customers, unlimited estimates, unlimited jobs. Always.
Can I send invoices via SMS?
Yes. Email, SMS, or both. SMS is the fastest way to get paid for residential service work.
Do my customers need an account to pay?
No. They tap the Pay Now link, enter their card, done. No login, no app, no hoops.
Can I see when a customer opens my invoice or estimate?
Yes — and it’s one of the most-loved features on the free plan. Menutize logs every estimate email open, every estimate page view, every invoice email open, and every invoice view, then notifies you the moment it happens. You stop guessing whether the customer has actually seen the bill before you send the awkward follow-up text. Most field-service tools either don’t ship this or gate it behind a higher tier; we ship it free.
How does Menutize make money?
We charge 0.5% on payments processed through us, plus standard card processing rates. We make money when you make money — and nothing if you do not.
Can I use Menutize without setting up payments?
You can draft invoices and estimates without payments turned on. To actually send an invoice and let a customer pay it online, you need payments set up. The setup takes 3-5 minutes.
What about taxes and 1099s?
Export every invoice, payment, and customer to CSV any time and hand it to your accountant. We do not have a native QuickBooks sync yet — that is on the roadmap.
Can I cancel anytime?
There is nothing to cancel. It is free forever. Just stop using it. Your data stays exportable.
Is there a paid plan?
Free is the main plan. Optional add-ons exist for crews and growing shops: Crew seats $15/mo, Automations $19/mo, Site Builder $39/mo. None of them are required to invoice. See full pricing →
Will it work on my phone?
Yes. Menutize is mobile-first. You can invoice from a truck, a job site, or a customer's driveway.
Can I convert an estimate into an invoice?
Yes. Approve the estimate, tap Convert, and the line items, customer, and notes carry over. The customer signs once and you bill once.
Stop paying for invoicing software.
Send your first invoice in 60 seconds. $0/mo. No credit card.
Free forever. How does that work?