As a painting contractor, you need to be able to do your estimates quickly, manage your staff and suppliers, and track your business finances. Not to mention the fact that you want to make sure your employees are getting their work done on time and at a high quality.
Fortunately, there are a bunch of great apps out there that can help you do all of these things. Check out this list of our favorite apps for painting contractors that will make your life easier.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Painting Contractors
The right painting contractor app can help you get more organized, wow your customers, and find more painting jobs.
The tricky part is finding these apps — where do you look? And once you’ve found an app, how do you know it’s right for your business?
We’ve curated a complete list of the 16 of the best apps for painting contractors, so you don’t have to do any heavy lifting.
Whether you want to go all-in on a painting estimate app to help you manage your estimates and get paid, or you just need an app to find painting jobs or the right color paint, this list has you covered.
BEST APPS FOR PAINTING CONTRACTORS
01 JOBBER: PAINTING MANAGEMENT AND ESTIMATE APP
02 PAINTING JOB TOOLKIT: QUOTES, INVOICES, CRM
03 QUICKBOOKS ONLINE: ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE
04 FLEETSHARP: GPS AND MILEAGE TRACKING FOR PAINTING JOBS
05 GOOGLE WORKSPACE: CLOUD STORAGE, COLLABORATION, AND SHARING
06 SLACK: REMOTE CREW COMMUNICATION FOR PAINTERS
07 PROFIT MARGIN CALCULATOR: PROFIT MARGINS
08 COLORSNAP: ROOM VISUALIZER
09 PAINT TESTER: ROOM VISUALIZER
10 NIX PAINTS: PAINT MATCHER
11 NICEJOB: REPUTATION MANAGEMENT
12 MAILCHIMP: EMAIL MARKETING SOFTWARE
13 RESPONISBID: SALES PROCESS AUTOMATION
14 CANVA: DIY GRAPHIC DESIGN
15 NEXTDOOR: THE SOCIAL NETWORK FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES
16 ANGI: LEAD GENERATION FOR PAINTERS
Apps for running your painting business
The following apps will help you run a more efficient operation and include business software, fleet management, accounting software, video conferencing, and remote communication.
- Jobber: painting management and estimator app
iOS, Android, and desktop
There’s a reason Jobber business software was voted the #1 most popular and affordable field-service software. Jobber’s painting contractor app provides features to help you run a more efficient and profitable painting business.
These include crew management, scheduling, dispatching, invoicing, and estimating. More specifically, Jobbers lets you:
Dispatch your crew to the correct location with clear work orders
Track painting jobs from start to finish
Track painter’s work hours to help with payroll
Easily accept credit card payments in-person and online
Provide clients with access to an online portal to approve quotes and pay invoices
Build quotes that let you upsell by adding additional in-line items like service packages
Optimize driving routes to save on fuel costs
Integrate with other popular apps for painting contractors
TRY THE JOBBER APP FOR FREE
START NOW
- Painting Job Toolkit
Free Mobile-friendly online desktop tool
A CRM (client relationship manager) lets you organize important client information and track all estimates and invoices. Job Toolkit does all this—and it’s totally free. It’s ideal for startup painting businesses who are trying to level up early on.
Use Job Toolkit to:
Create, send and track professional invoices and estimates from one place
Organize client details and other important notes like paint colors
Give clients access to view invoices and estimates, and also approve and pay invoices
- QuickBooks Online: accounting for painting professionals
Quickbooks painting app for contractors
iOS, Android, and desktop
QuickBooks Online helps you efficiently manage your finances. The cloud-based accounting software lets you manage invoices, expenses, income, financial reports, and payroll from any device. You can also integrate with apps like Jobber to run a tighter ship.
READ MORE: Run a better, more profitable painting business by integrating QuickBooks and Jobber.
- Fleetsharp: GPS and mileage tracker
Fleetsharp fleet management app for painting contractors
iOS and Android
Fleetsharp is a fleet management app that helps you map out more efficient routes for your crew to reduce fuel costs and deliver better service by responding to customer calls quicker.
More specifically, you can track vehicle activity, vehicle location, driver behavior (e.g., speeding), mileage, maintenance alerts, and gas levels.
Just like QuickBooks, you can also integrate with Jobber to make smarter, faster scheduling decisions.
- Google Workspace: cloud file storage and collaboration
Google Workspace apps for painting contractors
iOS and Android
Google provides several free apps (e.g., Gmail, Google Drive, G Suite GoogleDoc, Google Meet, etc.) you can use. For example, Google Drive lets you create, store and collaborate on documents in the cloud from any device.
But if you pay $6/mo, you can get more, including a business email instead of a generic Gmail one, so your business can look even more professional.
- Slack: remote communication for painters
Slack communication app for painting teams
iOS and Android
Communication is crucial when your team is out on the road doing a job. Slack lets you communicate via text, audio, or video through what they call “channels.”
Channels help order conversations so that the right information and people are in one place. For example, you could create a channel dedicated to marketing where you discuss all-things marketing or make one for individual clients to chat about special client requests.
- Profit Margin Calculator: profit margins
Image of profit margin calculator for small businesses
Free
This free 3-in-1 Profit Margin Calculator by Jobber comes in handy when you’re pricing painting jobs and you want to make sure you’re making a profit.
Use it to get three easy calculations to help you price more profitable jobs, stay on budget, and include markup in your prices. Fill in your information to get access to the calculator webpage, then save it to your bookmarks so you can easily refer to it from anywhere.
READ MORE: Profit Margins: A complete guide for small business owners
- ColorSnap: room visualizer
Colorsnap painting app for contractors
iOS and Android
The ColorSnap Visualizer by Sherwin Williams lets you take a photo of a job environment and upload it. The app will then match up to eight colors against the Sherwin-Williams colors and provide color details like which colors complement each other.
The new Paint a Scene feature also lets you use augmented reality—simply tap a wall to change its color. Finally, you can save and share your images and color choice with clients, allowing them to visualize what the end product will look like.
READ MORE: Painting equipment list: 50 must-have tools for professional painters
- Paint Tester: room visualizer
Paint Tester painting app
iOS and Android
Similar to ColorSnap, Paint Tester allows you to take and upload an image of a room. You can then paint the walls by choosing a color from the color picker and using the Smart Paint Bucket feature to apply the colors to the wall without overlapping into other areas.
You’ll get a clean and professional image you can send to clients over email.
- Nix Paint: paint matcher
Nix Paints painting app for contractors
iOS and Android
The Nix Paint app works with the Nix Mini™ Color Sensor and the Nix Pro™ Color Sensor. Use it for paint matching by placing the sensor on any color for an almost instant paint match on your smartphone. You can then view and swipe between a vast collection of color palettes on their app.
Apps for marketing your painting business
Here are six of the best apps for painting contractors to find clients, grow client relationships, and create stunning and well-edited before and after photos to win more business.
- NiceJob: reputation management
reputation management software nicejob and jobber
Android
Customers today read online reviews when deciding what painting contractors to use. Reputation management software like NiceJob helps you track, collect, and manage all your reviews across all channels. With NiceJob, you can:
Collect more reviews by sending automatic review requests as soon as a job is complete
Send automated follow-up emails to remind those who haven’t left a review
Convert reviews into stories that are automatically sent to social media
Pro Tip: Integrate NiceJob and Jobber to connect your existing painting clients to streamline your workflow.
- Mailchimp: email marketing software
Mailchimp app for painting contractors
iOS and Android
Email marketing is targeted, allows you to easily stay top-of-mind, and has one of the best returns.
Mailchimp email marketing software lets you send targeted emails to big groups instead of writing one email at a time, create different email campaigns, and group your audience together based on specific characteristics.
To get started, use the pre-built templates. If you already use Jobber and have existing painting clients, sync them by integrating Mailchimp and Jobber.
READ MORE: How to get painting contracts and grow your business
- Responisbid: sales process automation
Responsibid app for painting contractors
Mobile-friendly software, free trial
If your quoting process is inefficient and your proposals are being ignored, it may be time to invest in Responsibid.
Responsibid helps you book more painting jobs by:
Making you send quotes faster over your website, phone or email, or in-person
Allowing clients to book time slots for jobs that suits them
Letting you send automatic follow-ups over text or email
Responsibid integrates with many of your favorite apps like Jobber and Zapier.
- Canva: DIY graphic design
Canva: design app for painting contractors
iOS and Android
Canva is an easy-to-use DIY design tool. Use it to create marketing materials such as email campaigns, flyers, door-to-door campaigns, business cards, and even social media images.
Canva provides templates and free painting stock images you can use for your painting marketing. You can also upload and edit your own photos, making them ideal for creating before and after shots of painting jobs to “wow” your customers.
- Nextdoor: the social network for local communities
Advertising on Nextdoor: What is Nextdoor?
iOS and Android
Nextdoor is a hyper-local social media network. Its users, primarily homeowners, join to connect with locals, final business nearby, and talk about local events. As a painting professional, you can use Nextdoor to:
Introduce yourself to the community
Offer expert advice and solve customer problems by answering questions
Respond to any recommendations provided by homeowners
Get more recommendations by sharing your Nextdoor business page on invoices and emails
Create Nextdoor ads (sponsorships, local deals, and business posts (free))
READ MORE: Why You Should Advertise on Nextdoor
- Angi: lead generation for painters
Angi website for painting contractors
iOS and Android
Angi, formerly Angie’s List, is a lead generation platform. Platforms like Angi are often hit or miss because success varies based on factors like region, services, and industry. Don’t be afraid to try other lead generation platforms if Angi isn’t working for you.
However, the good news is that Angi offers a paid and free version, making it one of the most affordable options out there to test the waters.
READ MORE: The Best lead Generation Platforms for Contractors
Invest in the right app for your painting business
There’s no shortage of painting apps to help you run and market your painting business, so don’t try them all at once.
Instead, select those apps that address the biggest gaps in your business and add more to your digital toolbox over time.
If you have any other apps you feel we should add to this list, please let us know on Facebook or Instagram!
app to find painters
WRITTEN BY MARKETING TEAM| MAY 21, 2018| FEATURED, FIELD SERVICE, MHELPDESK COMMUNITY, OPERATIONS, PAINTING CONTRACTOR CONTRIBUTOR NETWORK, PAINTING CONTRACTOR INDUSTRY, PAINTING CONTRACTOR NEWS, TECHNOLOGY
28
As a painting contractor, you rely on your skill and work ethic to get your jobs done professionally. Using the right tools is important, too. Paint sprayers, brushes and rollers are standard, but you can also benefit from the latest software. Here are eight of the best applications to help you get the job done.
Divider
Divider
- ColorSnap Visualizer By Sherwin-Williams
One of the most popular painting applications in the industry, ColorSnap suggests colors that will work in at your job site. Simply take a picture of the room, entryway or whatever else, and the software will find up to eight colors that will create a beautiful space. In addition, the program will suggest coordinating colors and help you locate the nearest Sherwin-Williams store.Divider
Divider
- Paint Tester
Paint Tester lets you upload a picture of a room and then fill in the areas with different paint colors so you can try out any number of combinations. Once you’ve created your room, you can send the visual to your clients for approval.
Divider
Divider
- PaintTalk
When you have a problem with a job, the best help comes from other paint contractors. PaintTalk lets you talk to other professionals, allowing you to get expert advice. You can also enjoy the support of other painters and get tips on best practices. - Paint My Place
Paint My Place gives you access to three major paint brands: Benjamin Moore, Dulux and Farrow&Ball. The app is slightly more difficult to use than other paint visualization programs, but you can access many more colors.
Divider
Divider
- mHelpDesk
mHelpDesk is field service software that enables painting contractors to more easily manage their business. This program takes care of schedules, billing, estimates, work orders, and invoices simply and efficiently. The app integrates all aspects of the business into one free application, giving your business an edge on the competition.
Divider
Divider
- Painting Job Estimator
This app let’s you estimate the cost of painting up to ten rooms at once. You simply enter the room’s width, length and height, and you’ll get the square footage, wall and perimeter area. The app gives you specific pricing for each room and will tell you how much paint you will need.
Divider
Divider
Divider
Divider
- Color Capture by Benjamin Moore
Benjamin Moore, one of the major names in paint, has its own program called Color Capture to help you choose color schemes for your painting project.
Divider
Divider
Divider
- Pick-A-Paint By Valspar
Valspar’s entry into painting apps is Pick-A-Paint, which features its brand but functions similarly to Sherwin-Williams’ ColorSnap app and Benjamin Moore’s Color Capture.
Divider
Using the right software makes your job much easier and helps you get the best possible results. You can easily find the right paint combinations to please your client and quickly order the paint from a nearby store. A good field service management application, such as mHelpDesk, allows all departments of your business to smoothly coordinate their efforts, eliminating wasted time and producing happy customers.
Conclusion
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Check out other publications to gain access to more digital resources if you are just starting out with Flux Resource.
Also contact us today to optimize your business(s)/Brand(s) for Search Engines