PayPal Invoicing vs Joist

Two invoicing & payments tools side by side. Prices are the starting plan a small business would pick, in USD.

Compare	PayPal InvoicingPayPal	JoistJoist
In one line	Invoices clients can pay with PayPal, Venmo, or card	Estimates and invoices from your phone, built for contractors
Starting price	Free	From $8.34/mo
Six-person team	$0/mo	$8.34/mo
On $10,000 of card sales	$309/mo	$367/mo
Plans	No monthly fee; PayPal or Venmo 3.49% + 49¢; cards 2.99% + 49¢; +1.5% international	Billed yearly: Basics $8.34/mo (5 documents/mo); Pro $14.17 (unlimited); Elite $26.67; Run $58.33 introductory. Monthly $10/$17/$32. Cards 3.49% + 49¢, ACH 1% capped at $15
Pricing model	Free	Free trial
Free trial	—	14 days
Users	Unlimited	Solo and small crews
Both connect to	QuickBooks Online
Also connects to	Xero, Zoho Books, Akaunting, ZipBooks	No others on record
Team size	Just me · 2–10 people	Just me · 2–10 people
Available in	US · UK · CA · AU	US · CA
Phone support	Plans not stated	None listed
Live chat	Every plan	Plans not stated
Support hours	Not published	Not published
Incidents posted	PayPal has a public status page. Status page	We found no public status page for Joist.
Capterra score	4.7 / 5 from 595 reviews	4.2 / 5 from 90 reviews
Trustpilot score	Not listed	4.5 / 5 from 76 reviews
Fit: Retail shop	35	10
Fit: Restaurant or café	20	5
Fit: Service business	80	55
Fit: Agency or studio	75	10
Fit: Trades or contractor	75	95
Fit: Online store	60	5
Why people pick it	Clients trust and already use PayPal No monthly fee	Estimate to invoice to payment from a phone Cheap entry plan
Where it falls short	Higher fees than Stripe or Square Account holds are a known risk	Basics caps you at 5 documents a month Card fees of 3.49% + 49¢
	Visit PayPal Invoicing ↗	Visit Joist ↗

Six-person prices are what a team of six would pay on the published plans; "Not listed" means those plans don't cover six. Card sales costs include the plan price and card fees at US rates, at a $500 average sale. How we calculate prices