You're Probably Paying Too Much for Software You Don't Use

Let's play a game.

Open up whatever contractor software you're currently using. Now, without looking at the menu, try to name every feature you've used in the last month.

Go ahead. I'll wait.

...

If you're like most contractors I talk to, you probably named four, maybe five things: estimates, invoices, scheduling, customer list, and maybe payments.

Now here's the kicker: How many features does your software actually have? If you're on ServiceTitan, the answer is "hundreds." If you're on Jobber, it's "dozens."

You're paying for hundreds. You're using five.

The Feature Bloat Problem

Here's how we got here.

Enterprise software companies have a growth problem. Once they've got you as a customer, they need to justify their subscription cost. So they add features. Lots of them. Inventory management, fleet tracking, marketing automation, call recording, AI chatbots, automated review requests, job costing reports...

The list goes on. And on. And on.

Each feature sounds great in a sales demo. "Look at all this stuff you could do!" And maybe you think, "Yeah, I might use that someday."

But someday never comes. Because you're too busy actually running your business.

Let's Talk Numbers

I'm going to be real with you about pricing. Here's what the major players charge:

ServiceTitan

• Starting price: ~$200-300/month (they make you call for exact pricing)
• Per additional user: $50-75/month
• Setup fee: $500-2,000+
• Contract: 12-24 months required

Jobber

• Starting price: $69/month (Core)
• Per additional user: $29/month
• Setup fee: None
• Contract: Monthly available

Housecall Pro

• Starting price: $79/month (Basic)
• Per additional user: $35/month
• Setup fee: None
• Contract: Monthly available

Tallie (that's us)

• Starting price: $29/month (currently free for beta)
• Per additional user: $15/month
• Setup fee: None
• Contract: Never

Now, I'm not saying ServiceTitan is a ripoff. For a large operation with 50+ techs, multiple locations, and dedicated office staff, those features might be worth it. They've got serious enterprise capabilities.

But if you're a crew of 1-5 people? You're paying for a Ferrari when you need a reliable pickup truck.

The "Just In Case" Trap

I hear this all the time: "But what if I need those features later?"

It's a fair question. Nobody wants to outgrow their software and have to migrate everything. That's a nightmare.

But here's the thing: most small contractors never need those features. The businesses that genuinely need call recording and fleet GPS tracking aren't the ones doing $200k-$500k in revenue. They're the ones doing $5M+.

If you grow to that point (and I hope you do!), you'll have the resources to migrate to enterprise software. Until then, you're just paying for features you'll never touch.

What Do You Actually Need?

Let me break down what 95% of small contractors actually use, day in and day out:

Must-Haves:

1. Estimates — Creating and sending professional quotes
2. Invoices — Getting paid for your work
3. Customer Management — Keeping track of who hired you
4. Scheduling — Knowing where you need to be
5. Payments — Taking cards without chasing checks

Nice-to-Haves: 6. Job/Project Tracking — Organizing bigger projects 7. Basic Reporting — Knowing your revenue numbers 8. Mobile Access — Using it from the job site

Everything Else: Honestly? Optional. Nice in theory, rarely used in practice.

The Complexity Tax

Here's something nobody talks about: complex software has a hidden cost.

It's not just the subscription price. It's the time you spend learning it. The frustration when you can't find a feature. The hours wasted navigating menus designed by engineers who've never held a paintbrush or unclogged a drain.

I call this the "complexity tax." And for many contractors, it's higher than the actual subscription.

One painter told me he spent three hours trying to figure out how to send a simple estimate in ServiceTitan. Three hours! That's a small job's worth of billable time, gone.

Simple software isn't just cheaper. It's faster. And in this business, time is money in the most literal sense.

Why We Built Tallie Different

When we started building Tallie, we made a rule: Six screens. That's it.

1. Dashboard
2. Estimates
3. Invoices
4. Projects
5. Clients
6. Schedule

If a feature doesn't fit into one of those six categories, it doesn't exist. No feature bloat. No 47-item menu. No "settings within settings within settings."

You can learn Tallie in about 10 minutes. Not because it's limited — it does everything most contractors need — but because it's focused.

The Real Question

Here's what I want you to ask yourself:

Are you paying for software, or are you paying for peace of mind?

If your current tool genuinely makes your life easier, great. Keep it. The best software is the one that works for you.

But if you're like most contractors — paying $100+ per month, using maybe 10% of the features, and still finding it frustrating — maybe it's time to try something simpler.

The Tallie Difference

I'm not going to pretend we're the only alternative. There are other simple tools out there.

But here's what makes Tallie different:

1. AI-Powered Estimates — Describe the job, get a professional quote. Nobody else does this.
2. Real-Time Pricing — Live Home Depot prices, not guesswork from 2019.
3. $29/month — Period. No gotchas, no tiers, no "contact sales."
4. Built for Contractors — By someone whose best friend is a painting contractor who complained about software for 15 years.

We're in beta right now. It's free. You've got nothing to lose except the hours you're currently spending on software that's too complicated for what you need.

The Bottom Line

Look, I get it. Switching software is scary. There's inertia. There's the fear of losing data. There's the "devil you know" factor.

But every month you overpay for features you don't use is money that could be in your pocket. Every hour you waste navigating complex menus is an hour you're not on the job site or with your family.

You deserve tools that work for you, not against you. And you definitely deserve to keep more of the money you earn.

Simple shouldn't be a luxury. It should be the default.

---

Thinking about switching? Hit me up. I'm happy to answer questions or help you figure out what's best for your business — even if it's not Tallie.