QuickBooks is the most widely used small-business accounting software in the U.S., and a mainstay for contractors' books — bookkeeping, accounts payable and receivable, invoicing, payroll, and job costing, with construction-oriented features like progress billing available in higher tiers. It is a proven, deep accounting tool that many contractors and their bookkeepers rely on to close the month.
Corten is construction management software for small and mid-size general contractors and subcontractors (1–20 people; Enterprise for 21+). It is built around an AI that removes manual data entry: it reads the documents you already have — subcontractor quotes, vendor quotes, receipts, timesheets, invoices, drawings — and auto-loads them into the right place, so sub bids flow into trade worksheets and roll up to the bid sheet, and the proposal drafts itself from the winning numbers. Enter once and it flows bid → proposal → budget → schedule → invoice, with approved change orders rolling into the budget automatically. Corten is not accounting software and it is not a drawing-takeoff tool — it is where the estimate, the field work, and the project data live.
Corten's pricing is published and flat: Solo $99/month (1 user), Crew $229/month (2–8 users), General Contractor $449/month (9–20 users), and Enterprise (21+) custom — AI is included in every plan at no extra cost. Crew can be billed monthly or annually; General Contractor and Enterprise are billed annually. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial with full AI included. QuickBooks publishes its own tiered plans and current construction features on intuit.com — see their site for the plan and pricing that fit your books.
| CORTEN | QUICKBOOKS | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Small and mid-size GCs and subs (1–20 people) — estimating, bids, field, and project management | Small-business accounting and bookkeeping, used across many industries including construction |
| What it does | Bid sheets, proposals, budgets, schedules, punch lists, daily logs, RFIs, submittals, and invoicing — one connected workflow | Bookkeeping, AR/AP, invoicing, payroll, and job costing — see intuit.com for its current construction features |
| AI data entry | Reads sub quotes, receipts, timesheets, and invoices; auto-fills trade worksheets, bid sheets, and proposals — you review instead of retype | See QuickBooks' site for its current AI and automation features |
| Bid leveling / sub bids | Sub quotes flow into trade worksheets and roll up to a canonical bid sheet with markups and profit; the proposal drafts from the winning numbers | Not an estimating or bid-management tool — contractors typically pair accounting with a CM tool for this |
| Pricing | Published: $99–$449/mo flat — AI included, no add-on | Tiered plans — published on intuit.com |
| Free trial | 14 days, full AI included — cancel anytime before it ends | See QuickBooks' site for its current trial and offers |
These two tools solve different problems, and many contractors use both: if you need accounting — bookkeeping, AR/AP, payroll, and clean financials for your accountant — QuickBooks is a solid, proven pick. If you want the automation-first way to win and run the work — where scanned sub bids become auto-filled bid sheets and proposals, and the estimate flows straight through to budget, schedule, and invoice — start a Corten trial and load your first bid in minutes.