MotionOps vs. Buildertrend
Four questions. One honest answer.
Looking for a Buildertrend alternative? Buildertrend is built for residential builders and remodelers managing complex projects. MotionOps is built for contractor teams managing crews and people every day. Answer four questions and see which one fits your business.
Skip to the feature comparisonSee MotionOps in action
Click through the real product at your own pace. No sign-up, no sales call.
Project management for builders vs. field operations for contractor teams
Buildertrend is built for established residential builders and remodelers running complex, multi-phase projects.
MotionOps is built for specialty contractors and growing field teams who manage people every day, not just project milestones.
You see the price before you talk to anyone, and you can start today.
MotionOps
Daily crew operations. Published pricing. Start today.
- Published plans from $39/mo, billed annually. No sales call to see a price.
- 14-day free trial, so you can run real jobs before you commit.
- A daily, color-coded crew schedule with skill-based assignment and days off built in.
- HR built in: employee files and certs, skills and grades, day-off approvals, and performance leaderboards.
- Payroll prep with timesheet QA, overtime tracking, AI receipt scanning, and a payroll-ready CSV export.
- Change orders with customer signatures, liability waivers, and contracts with version tracking.
Buildertrend
Deep for residential builders. Sold through sales.
- Strong residential project tools: Gantt schedules with dependencies and critical path, client selections, and a client portal.
- A subcontractor portal with bid requests, plus purchase orders and bills.
- A mature time clock: geofenced and offline clock-in, shift approval, and daily and weekly overtime.
- Unlimited users and projects in every quote, so cost does not grow with headcount.
- No daily crew dispatch board, and no built-in employee records, skills, or time-off approvals.
- Quote-only pricing after a sales call, a required support tier, and no free trial.
Side-by-side feature breakdown
An honest look at what each platform delivers, and where the gaps are for growing teams.
| Features | MotionOpsFor Growing Contractor Teams | BuildertrendFor Residential Builders & Remodelers |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduling & Dispatch | ||
| Gantt chart scheduling | Gantt with dependencies and critical path | |
| Color-coded schedule | Color-coded by trade or task type | |
| Daily crew dispatch board | Project schedules, no daily dispatch board | |
| Multi-day job scheduling | ||
| Employee days-off integrated with schedule | Personal days overlay on schedule | |
| GPS time clock (clock in / clock out) | Geofenced clock in and out | |
| Offline time clock | Mobile app 9.15 or later | |
| Proposals, Change Orders & Job Management | ||
| Digital estimate / proposal builder | ||
| Selections (client material choices) | Client selections with approvals | |
| Digital contract signing | ||
| Before / during / after photo documentation | ||
| Draw & annotate directly on photos | ||
| Punch list / task management | ||
| Daily logs | Works offline in the mobile app | |
| Client portal | ||
| Subcontractor portal | Sub portal with bids and schedule sharing | |
| Bid management: send RFPs to subcontractors | ||
| Invoicing & Payments | ||
| Invoicing & online payment processing | Buildertrend Payments, per-transaction fees | |
| Multiple invoices per job (progress billing) | Draws and progress invoices | |
| Cost plus materials flow: expenses auto-attach with markup | Open book jobs pull in bills and time with markup | |
| Automatic processing fee added to invoice | ||
| Deposit collection before job start | Optional card fee pass-through to client | |
| Credit card processing fee | From 2.9% + $0.303.2% for Amex | 2.99% per transactionCan be passed to the client |
| ACH / bank transfer fee | 1% up to $20k, 0.5% over | $15 flat per transaction |
| QuickBooks Online sync | All plans; also QuickBooks Desktop | |
| Xero integration | All plans | |
| Purchase orders & bills management | Includes Bill Pay to subs | |
| Time Tracking, Expenses & Payroll Prep | ||
| GPS-stamped clock in / clock out | Geofenced clock in and out | |
| Timesheet QA / manager approval workflow | Review, edit and mass-approve shifts | |
| Overtime tracking | Daily and weekly overtime calculated | |
| AI receipt scan for expense entry | OCR receipt scan into job costs | |
| Payroll prep & CSV export | Approved shifts sync to Gusto, Complete package | |
| HR & Employee Management | ||
| Unlimited users on all plans | Users per plan tier | Unlimited users and projects |
| Defined roles & access levels | Customizable permissions | |
| Sales CRM & lead management | CRM with email drip marketing | |
| Email marketing to leads | Automated email drips with analytics | |
| Communication & Technology | ||
| In-app messaging | Chat and comments | |
| Mobile app (iOS & Android) | ||
| AI features built in | Bill capture, client updates, selections, plans | |
| Gusto payroll integration | Complete package; Gusto subscription needed | |
| Onboarding & Support | ||
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no card required | Demo and sales call only |
| Published transparent pricing | Custom quote after a sales call | |
| Phone / live support | 24/7 support included | |
| Team training resources | Learning Academy, daily trainings, University | |
| Optional coaching add-on | Tier 2 support, price not published | |
IncludedPartial or add-onNot available
What MotionOps adds as your business grows
MotionOps covers the same scheduling, quoting, and invoicing basics as Buildertrend. What sets it apart is what's already
built in for when your business needs more, no upgrade to a different platform required.
Days off and skills on the schedule
Approved days off and employee skills on the schedule, with skill-based crew assignment.
Personal days show on the schedule, with no time-off approvals or skills tracking built in.
Paperwork that protects the job
Proposals, change orders, liability waivers, and version-tracked contracts, all signed digitally.
E-signed proposals and contracts, plus client selections built for residential projects.
Payroll prep that does not depend on Gusto
Timesheet QA, overtime tracking, and AI receipt scanning, then a payroll-ready CSV export.
Approved shifts sync to Gusto with the Complete package and a Gusto subscription.
HR built in, not handed off
Store employee IDs and certs, track skills and grades, approve days off, and run performance leaderboards.
No built-in employee records, skills, or time-off approvals. HR goes through Gusto.
A daily crew schedule, not just a project timeline
A color-coded daily crew schedule, alongside multi-day jobs.
Project schedules and Gantt charts, with no daily crew dispatch board.
A price before the demo
Every plan published, with a 14-day free trial.
Quote-only pricing, a required support tier, and a demo instead of a trial.
Buildertrend pricing vs MotionOps: Published pricing vs. a sales quote
Buildertrend no longer publishes plan names or prices. You get a quote after a demo and a sales call, and every account picks a paid support tier.
MotionOps publishes every plan and starts with a 14-day free trial.
What you see is what you pay.
Up to 5 people: MotionOps Go covers up to 5 users at $119/mo with job costing, overtime tracking, and HR docs. Buildertrend includes unlimited users, but the price comes from a sales quote.
MotionOps
Solo
$39 / mo (annual) · 1 user
CRM, proposals, scheduling, invoicing, digital contracts, QuickBooks Online
Go
Most Popular$119 / mo (annual) · 1–5 users incl.
Everything in Solo + job costing, overtime tracking, HR docs, AI expense tracking. Additional users $29/mo.
Scale
$199 / mo (annual) · 5 users incl.
Everything in Go + multiple locations & service areas, multi-timezone scheduling, team skills & grades, time-off management, job costing reports, white glove onboarding.
Buildertrend
Buildertrend platform
contact sales unlimited users · custom quote
Unlimited users and projects. You see a price only after a demo and a sales call.
10% off when you pay annually upfront.
Support tier
contact sales required · price not published
Every account picks Tier 1 or Tier 2 support. An onboarding manager runs setup in weeks 1 to 2 and onboarding in weeks 3 to 12.
Buildertrend Payments
2.99% per card payment · ACH $15 flat
No monthly fee for Payments. The card fee can be passed to the client.
Paying subs costs $1 per ACH payment or $2 per check.
MotionOps prices are annual. Buildertrend publishes no plan names, prices, or promos (checked 2026-10-27); every account is quoted by sales, and we don’t print third-party estimates. Payment fees are Buildertrend’s published rates.
See all MotionOps plans and features“Before MotionOps, we needed to be present on every job site, every day. Huge change for us was being able to monitor our projects remotely. This gave us time to focus on growth.”

Make the switch if you recognize yourself here
MotionOps is ideal for contractors who've graduated from the basics and need a system that genuinely scales with them. Tap the ones that sound like you.
0 of 8 Nothing picked yet.
Book a demoFAQ
Is MotionOps a good alternative to Buildertrend?
For many contractors, yes. Buildertrend is strong for established residential builders and remodelers: Gantt scheduling, client selections, a client portal, and a subcontractor portal with bids. MotionOps is built for specialty contractors and growing field teams, with a daily crew schedule, HR, and payroll prep built in, published pricing, and a 14-day free trial. If you build or remodel homes with many subs and client selections, Buildertrend may fit better.
How much does Buildertrend cost compared with MotionOps?
Buildertrend doesn't publish plan names or prices. You get a custom quote after a demo and a sales call, every account picks a paid support tier, and paying annually upfront takes 10% off. Quotes include unlimited users and projects. MotionOps publishes every plan: Solo $39/mo, Go $119/mo for up to 5 users, and Scale $199/mo for 5 users, billed annually.
Does Buildertrend sync with QuickBooks Online?
Yes. Buildertrend has a two-way QuickBooks Online integration on all plans, and also works with QuickBooks Desktop and Xero. MotionOps syncs with QuickBooks Online on every plan too, so your books stay where they are.
Does Buildertrend handle time tracking and payroll?
Yes, more than most people expect. Buildertrend's time clock is geofenced, works offline, supports shift approval, and calculates daily and weekly overtime; approved shifts sync to Gusto with the Complete package and a Gusto subscription. MotionOps runs timesheet QA with manager approval, overtime tracking, and AI receipt scanning, exports a payroll-ready CSV, and adds employee files, skills, and day-off approvals that Buildertrend doesn't have built in.
What does MotionOps have that Buildertrend doesn't?
A daily crew dispatch board, built-in employee records and certs, skills and grades tracking, and day-off requests with approvals. MotionOps also publishes its pricing and offers a 14-day free trial; Buildertrend is quote-only, with a demo instead of a trial.
Who should stay on Buildertrend?
Established residential builders and remodelers running complex, multi-phase projects with many subcontractors. Gantt schedules with critical path, client selections, a client portal, a sub portal with bid requests, purchase orders and bills, and unlimited users in every quote are built for that.
Does Buildertrend offer a free trial?
No. Buildertrend offers a demo and a custom quote after a sales call. MotionOps has a 14-day free trial, and you can also book a demo first to see how it handles your crews and project types.
Is it hard to switch from Buildertrend to MotionOps?
No. MotionOps is easy to set up and use from day one, with no steep learning curve. Every account gets a free onboarding session and phone support with real people, and larger teams get white-glove onboarding plus a customer success program. You can try it first with a 14-day free trial before moving anything over.
Can I change the plan?
UPGRADE: You can upgrade anytime. For monthly plans, the new price starts right away. If you choose annual plans, the total amount is charged upfront upon signing up as a client and is non-refundable if you cancel before the year is complete.
DOWNGRADE: For monthly plans, downgrades start with your next billing cycle. For example, if you signed up on the 1st of the month and requested a downgrade on the 15th, the new pricing will apply beginning on the 1st of the following month.
Does MotionOps offer a mobile app? Is there an additional cost for it?
Yes, MotionOps has a mobile app with no additional charge. This app has a variety of features that allow you to manage your MotionOps account through your smartphone or tablet. With the app, you can monitor your workers' activities, keep track of their progress, and stay up-to-date on your project management tasks. The mobile app is designed to be user-friendly, intuitive, and easy to use, making it an excellent tool for managing your business even while you're on the go.
Ready to run your business with real structure?
Join contractor teams that use MotionOps to manage crews, projects, finances, and growth, all from one platform. It will be worth it, we promise.
Book a demo14-day free trial. Plans from $39/month.