Is Obra a Handoff alternative?

For part of it. Both write an estimate and turn the accepted one into a budget. Handoff goes further before the job starts: voice and photo input, supplier pricing, signatures and online payments. Obra goes further after: field receipts over WhatsApp, change orders, a reviewed forecast and a financial close, at a fraction of the price. It isn't a replacement for Handoff's CRM, scheduling or takeoffs.

Can I use Obra next to Handoff?

Yes, and on Handoff's entry plan it's the obvious pairing: Handoff writes and sends the bid, Obra carries the accepted amount as the budget and collects what the crew spends. On Handoff's Pro plan the budget tracking overlaps, so most would pick one.

Which one prices an estimate more accurately?

They start from different places. Handoff starts from supplier prices for your area and a model trained on other contractors' estimates, which is fast and needs your review for labor and local conditions. Obra starts from what your own jobs cost and your own price book, which is only as good as your history. A new company has more to gain from Handoff's data; an established one, from its own.

Does Handoff have a free plan?

As of September 21, 2026, no: it offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card, then paid plans. Obra's Free plan runs one active project indefinitely, with a small monthly allowance of AI drafts, and every account starts with a 14-day Pro trial.

Obra vs Handoff: the AI that writes the bid, or the estimate priced from your own jobs and tracked after

Handoff's AI writes the estimate from a walkthrough and supplier prices. Obra prices it from your own jobs and tracks the money after. Where each one fits.

The short version

Handoff is an AI estimating product that grew into a residential construction suite: talk or photograph your way through a walkthrough and it writes the estimate from supplier prices for your ZIP code, then sends a proposal the client signs and pays online. It starts at about $150 a month for two users; budget tracking, scheduling and time tracking sit on the Pro plan, about $300 a month with a 12-month commitment. Obra does the estimate and the job money: a quote priced from your own past jobs and price book, then receipts a crew sends over WhatsApp, email or photo landing against the accepted budget, for $12 a seat with a free plan. If winning bids faster is the problem and you want signature and card payment in the same tool, Handoff is the stronger estimating product. If the problem is knowing what each job actually cost, and part of your crew works in Spanish, Obra is the smaller, cheaper fix.

Obra is the better fit when

You want the estimate priced from your own past jobs, not from retail supplier prices you then correct
Budget against actual cost matters more to you than proposals, and you don't want to pay for a suite to get it
Your crew sends receipts by WhatsApp in Spanish or English and shouldn't need a seat
You want to run one real project free, for as long as you like, before paying anything

Handoff is the better fit when

Estimating speed is the bottleneck and you want a bid written from voice notes, photos or plans
You want the client to sign and pay by card or bank transfer from the proposal
You work in the US and supplier prices by ZIP code are a useful starting point
Scheduling, client portals, time tracking and native phone apps are daily tools for your team

Side by side

What you're comparing	Obra	Handoff
Starting price	Free for one active project; Pro is $12 per user per month or $120 per year, no commitment.	About $150 a month for two users, less on annual billing; a 7-day trial and no free plan.
What it is	An estimate plus a per-project ledger: income, expenses, receipts, change orders, budgets, forecast, close.	An AI estimating tool that grew into a suite: proposals, payments, CRM, scheduling, portals, budgets.
How the estimate gets its prices	Your own price book and closed jobs; the AI draft works from a typed scope and marks its figures as reference costs to confirm.	Supplier prices by ZIP code and a model trained on past estimates, from typed scope, voice, photos or files; plan takeoffs on the top plan.
Signing and getting paid	The client accepts from a private link by typing their name; payments are recorded by you. No online card payments or financing.	Digital signatures and online card and bank payments on every plan; homeowner financing from the Pro plan.
Budget against actual cost	On every plan, including Free: the accepted estimate becomes the budget and confirmed costs land against it.	On the Pro plan and above, about $300 a month with a 12-month commitment; not on the entry plan.
Receipts from the job site	WhatsApp, email or photo, read into a draft and confirmed by a person.	Uploaded in the app, read by AI and matched to estimate lines for approval, with budget tracking.
Who can capture a cost	Anyone you invite as a submitter, without a paid seat and without seeing the project's finances.	Users on the plan: two included on the entry plan, five on Pro, more at extra cost.
Scheduling, CRM and portals	Not included, by design.	A lead pipeline on every plan; scheduling, daily logs, time tracking and client portals from Pro.
Languages and apps	English and Spanish throughout, including WhatsApp and client documents; installs from the browser, no app store.	Native iOS and Android apps; the App Store listing names English only. Check current language options.
Accounting handoff	CSV exports of anything, or the whole organization as a ZIP.	QuickBooks Online integration on every plan.

Facts about Handoff checked on September 21, 2026. Prices and plan names change; check the vendor's own site before you buy, and tell us at support@tryobra.com if something here is out of date.

Handoff started as an AI estimator and it shows: the fastest way to a bid in residential construction right now is probably to walk the job talking into Handoff. Since mid-2026 it also tracks budgets against actual costs, which puts it next to Obra on paper. The two still come at the job from opposite ends. Handoff is strongest before the contract is signed; Obra is strongest after.

Where the two products actually differ

Handoff is built around winning the job: an AI that writes the estimate from a typed scope, voice notes, photos or files, prices it from supplier data for your ZIP code, turns it into a proposal the client can sign, and takes the deposit by card or bank transfer. Around that sit a lead pipeline, scheduling, client portals, time tracking and native phone apps. Obra is built around the money on the job: an estimate priced from your own costs, accepted from a private link, which becomes the project's budget; then receipts from the crew over WhatsApp, email or photo, change orders, a reviewed expected final cost, invoices and a close. The decision guide sorts tools by which problem they solve first, and that is the honest question here.

Whose prices go in the estimate

Handoff's draft arrives with prices attached, drawn from large suppliers and localized to your area. That is a real head start, especially for a young company without much history, and the draft still needs your eye on labor and on anything the supplier price doesn't capture. Obra's draft works the other way: it reads your price book and what your closed jobs actually cost, and labels anything it suggests as a reference cost for you to confirm. Accepted estimates feed the price book, and closed jobs feed the next draft. Obra does not read photos, voice notes or plans, and has no supplier price database.

The receipts problem

A budget is only as true as what reaches it. Handoff reads receipts uploaded in its app and matches them to estimate lines, as part of the budget tracking on its Pro plan. Obra's submitter role and WhatsApp channel are built for the receipt that never gets uploaded: the foreman sends the $184 lumber ticket in Spanish from the app they already use, nobody needs a login to the books or a paid seat, and the project's numbers move the same afternoon. The WhatsApp receipts guide covers how crews set that up.

What Handoff does that Obra doesn't

Quite a lot: voice, photo and file input for estimates, plan takeoffs, supplier pricing, AI-written proposals with digital signatures, online card and bank payments, homeowner financing, a lead pipeline, scheduling, daily logs, time tracking, client and subcontractor portals, a QuickBooks Online integration and native iOS and Android apps. Obra's estimates are plain line items sent as a PDF or link and accepted from it, and payments are recorded by hand. If signing and paying inside the proposal is how you close work, that is a real workflow Obra doesn't offer.

Price, plainly

Handoff's entry plan is about $150 a month for two users, with estimating, proposals, signatures and payments. Budget tracking starts on the Pro plan, about $300 a month for five users with a 12-month commitment, less on annual billing. Obra is free for one active project and $12 per user per month; a crew of three pays $36, with budget against actual cost included, and can leave any month. Prices checked September 21, 2026 on Handoff's pricing page.

Questions people ask

Is Obra a Handoff alternative?: For part of it. Both write an estimate and turn the accepted one into a budget. Handoff goes further before the job starts: voice and photo input, supplier pricing, signatures and online payments. Obra goes further after: field receipts over WhatsApp, change orders, a reviewed forecast and a financial close, at a fraction of the price. It isn't a replacement for Handoff's CRM, scheduling or takeoffs.
Can I use Obra next to Handoff?: Yes, and on Handoff's entry plan it's the obvious pairing: Handoff writes and sends the bid, Obra carries the accepted amount as the budget and collects what the crew spends. On Handoff's Pro plan the budget tracking overlaps, so most would pick one.
Which one prices an estimate more accurately?: They start from different places. Handoff starts from supplier prices for your area and a model trained on other contractors' estimates, which is fast and needs your review for labor and local conditions. Obra starts from what your own jobs cost and your own price book, which is only as good as your history. A new company has more to gain from Handoff's data; an established one, from its own.
Does Handoff have a free plan?: As of September 21, 2026, no: it offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card, then paid plans. Obra's Free plan runs one active project indefinitely, with a small monthly allowance of AI drafts, and every account starts with a 14-day Pro trial.

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