COMPARE · CHECKED OCTOBER 19, 2026
Buildertrend vs Peak
Buildertrend is a full construction platform with job costing, client and sub portals and app store apps, priced by custom quote. Peak is free and simpler, for contractors who want leads, estimates and jobs running this week.
TL;DR
Pick Buildertrend if you run several builds a year with lots of moving parts, and you want job costing, client and sub portals and store apps in one platform. Pick Peak if you want leads, estimates, invoices and jobs free, with an assistant that does the follow-up, and you're fine with an app that installs from your phone's browser.
Sign-up opens soon. The demo is open now, with made-up data, no sign-up needed.
SIDE BY SIDE
Buildertrend and Peak, row by row.
What Buildertrend's own pages said on October 19, 2026, next to what Peak does today.
| Buildertrend | Peak |
|---|---|
| What it covers | |
| Scheduling, daily logs, job costing, budgets, change orders, bill pay, a client portal and a sub portal, in one platform. | Leads and customers, estimates with e-sign and change orders, invoices, projects, crews, a dispatch board, a time clock, job photos and daily logs, plus Sherpa. |
| Pricing model | |
| Custom quote only, no published prices. Unlimited users and projects. 10% off when you pay yearly upfront. | The software is free. No per-user fee and no contract. You pay your own texting, email, AI and payment providers directly. |
| AI | |
| Built-in AI writes client updates from job activity, reads bills, and answers questions in plain language. No outside AI subscription needed. | Sherpa looks things up and makes changes in every Peak tool, from chat or from your own AI assistant. Anything that reaches a customer or moves money waits for your OK. It runs on your own AI key. |
| Phone app | |
| iPhone and Android apps, with daily logs, a time clock, schedules and offline access. | Installs from your phone's browser to your home screen. The crew app works offline. No App Store or Google Play app yet. |
| Your data | |
| Lists export to Excel from the Export button on each grid. Syncs with QuickBooks and Xero. We didn't find a way to connect your own AI assistant. | When sign-up opens, your customer data lives in a database you own, not ours. Export contacts as a spreadsheet or download the whole database any time. |
| Getting started | |
| Book a demo and get a quote. Two onboarding tiers help set up your data; the fees aren't stated on its pages. | Sign in and start. Bring contacts and your price book over from spreadsheets. Texting, email, AI and payments start when you connect your own accounts, or we connect them for you (Get set up, $997 one-time). |
WHAT IT COSTS
Their published price, and ours.
Buildertrend
Not published
Buildertrend doesn't publish prices. Its pricing page asks you to get a custom quote, and its FAQ says pricing is set for each business. Every quote includes unlimited users and projects, and it takes 10% off when you pay yearly upfront. There's no free trial; it offers free demos.
From buildertrend.com, checked October 19, 2026. Prices change, so confirm on their site.
Peak tools
$0
Free when sign-up opens (soon). You bring your own accounts for AI, texting, email and payments. Today the tools come with every Peak service plan.
Want our team to run your marketing or lead follow-up? That's a paid service, and the tools come with it. See service pricing.
WHERE BUILDERTREND IS STRONG
Credit where it's due.
- Unlimited users and projects on every quote, so adding office staff or crew doesn't change the price
- Job costing, budgets, change orders and bill pay in the same place as the schedule
- A client portal where homeowners approve selections and change orders, pay invoices and see the schedule
- A sub portal for bids, schedules and daily logs
- AI that reads bills for vendor, line items and cost codes, with no extra AI subscription
WHERE BUILDERTREND IS AHEAD
What Peak doesn't do yet.
If one of these is a must-have, take it seriously.
- iPhone and Android apps in the app stores
- Job costing, budgets and bill pay that Peak doesn't have yet
- QuickBooks and Xero sync
- A sub portal for bids and schedules
Everything not in the Peak tools yet
- iPhone and Android apps in the app stores (the tools install from your phone's browser today)
- QuickBooks and Xero sync
- Full job costing, estimate vs actual on every line
- Payroll
- A built-in AI phone receptionist
- AI takeoff from plans
WHERE PEAK IS DIFFERENT
What you get with Peak that Buildertrend doesn't do.
- The Peak tools are free. Buildertrend is custom-quoted, with no prices on its site and no free trial.
- Sherpa makes changes in every Peak tool, from chat or by text once your number is connected. Anything that reaches a customer or moves money waits for your OK, and you can undo a change within 10 minutes.
- Your own AI assistant, like Claude or ChatGPT, can connect to Peak. We didn't find a way to do that with Buildertrend.
- When sign-up opens, your customer data lives in a database you own, and you can download all of it any time.
The software is free
No per-user fee and no contract for the tools. You bring your own accounts for AI, texting, email and payments, and pay those companies directly at their prices. We don't mark them up.
Your data, your accounts
When sign-up opens, your customer data lives in a database you own, not ours. Export it any time. If you leave, you take everything with you.
Sherpa does the work, inside rules
Tell Sherpa "add a note to Susan Park: gate goes on the north side." It finds her and adds it, or asks you to reply YES first when the rules say so. Anything that reaches a customer or moves money waits for your approval. You can see every rule, and you can only make them stricter.
A team if you want one
You can run the tools on your own. If you'd rather have help, our team runs the marketing, lead follow-up and AI setup for you on a paid plan.
Read every Sherpa rule on what Sherpa will and won't do.
SWITCHING
Moving from Buildertrend to Peak.
Most of it is two spreadsheets. Run both side by side for a week if you like.
Step 1
Export from Buildertrend
In Buildertrend, open a list that has an Export button in the top right corner and click it. It downloads an Excel file. Do this for each list you want to keep. We didn't find a single "export everything" option in its public help pages.
Step 2
Import your customers
In Peak, open Contacts and choose Import. Upload the spreadsheet and match the columns. Rows with the same email or phone merge instead of making duplicates.
Step 3
Bring your price book
The Estimator imports your items and prices from a spreadsheet. There's a template to fill in if your old export doesn't line up.
Step 4
Connect your own accounts
Hook up your texting number, email, AI key and Stripe when you're ready to send and get paid. Nothing goes out until you do.
Step 5
Finish open jobs, then switch
Let jobs already in progress finish where they are, and start new ones in Peak. Rather not do the move yourself? Our team can help.
WHAT YOU SET UP
What works the day you sign in.
The tools are free. Texting, email, AI and payments run on accounts you own, so you pay those companies directly.
Works when you sign in
- Customers, deals, notes and tasks
- Estimates with options, change orders and invoices, shared by link
- Projects, phases, crew schedules, photos and daily logs
- A customer page for each job
Needs your own account
- Texting
- Two-way texts, missed-call text-back, text review requests and texting Sherpa. Connect your own texting account (such as Twilio), with your number registered with the carriers. Nothing sends or charges until you do.
- Sending estimates, invoices and messages by email. Connect your own email sending account. Nothing sends or charges until you do.
- AI
- Sherpa and AI drafts. Connect your own AI key (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google or a compatible provider). Nothing sends or charges until you do.
- Payments
- Card and bank payments on invoices. Connect your own Stripe account. Nothing sends or charges until you do.
Rather not do it yourself? Get set up: we connect all four and import your contacts and price book, $997 one-time.
Pick Buildertrend if
You run several builds a year with lots of moving parts, and you want job costing, client and sub portals and store apps in one platform.
Pick Peak if
You want leads, estimates, invoices and jobs free, with an assistant that does the follow-up, and you're fine with an app that installs from your phone's browser.
BUILDERTREND VS PEAK
Common questions.
When we checked on October 19, 2026, Buildertrend didn't publish prices. You get a custom quote, with unlimited users and projects and 10% off if you pay yearly upfront. The Peak tools are free when sign-up opens, and you pay your own texting, email, AI and payment providers directly.
Yes. Buildertrend lets you export its lists to Excel from the Export button. Save them as spreadsheets, then import your customers in Peak's Contacts and your price book in the Estimator.
Buildertrend's AI writes client updates, reads bills and answers questions inside Buildertrend. Sherpa looks things up and makes changes across every Peak tool, from chat, by text or from your own AI assistant. It runs on your own AI key, and anything that reaches a customer or moves money waits for your OK.
Not full job costing yet. Peak handles estimates, change orders, invoices, payments, schedules, crews, photos and daily logs today. If line-by-line estimate vs actual costing is what you need right now, Buildertrend has it.
MORE BUILDER AND REMODELER SOFTWARE
Sources for this page (5)
- Quote only, unlimited users and projects, 10% off paid yearly upfront: buildertrend.com/pricing/ (read October 19, 2026)
- Personalized pricing, no free trial, full features on every plan, AI features, portals, mobile apps, QuickBooks and Xero, onboarding tiers: buildertrend.com/frequently-asked-questions/ (read October 19, 2026)
- Mobile app features and offline access: buildertrend.com/app/ (read October 19, 2026)
- iPhone app: apps.apple.com/app/id504370616 (read October 19, 2026)
- Export a grid to Excel: buildertrend.com/help-article/buildertrend-setup-customization-faqs/ (read October 19, 2026)
How we checked: we read Buildertrend's public pages, pricing and help center on October 19, 2026, without signing up or logging in. Buildertrend is a trademark of its owner, used here only to identify the product. Peak Engine isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Buildertrend. Spot a mistake? Email hello@peak-engine.com and we'll fix it.
Try Peak next to Buildertrend.
Leads, estimates, invoices, jobs and photos, with Sherpa doing the office work.
Sign-up opens soon. The demo is open now, with made-up data, no sign-up needed.