Can I use Obra and Ontraq together?

You could, but they overlap on receipt capture and job tagging, so most crews pick one. The useful question is whether the person who needs the numbers is the bookkeeper (Ontraq) or the owner mid-job (Obra).

Does Obra sync with QuickBooks like Ontraq does?

Not live. Obra exports dated, categorized CSVs per project and a full organization export; your bookkeeper records them at the level the books need. Ontraq's two-way QuickBooks sync is its core feature.

Which is cheaper for a three-person crew?

Obra is $36 a month on Pro. Ontraq's three-user Field tier is about $50, and the profitability features live on the tier near $80. Prices checked September 4, 2026.

Obra vs Ontraq: a receipt feeder for QuickBooks, or a ledger for the job

Ontraq codes receipts into QuickBooks Online and adds time and budgets on higher tiers; Obra runs each job's money from field receipts. It depends on who does the books.

The short version

Ontraq is built around QuickBooks Online: receipts are scanned, AI-coded and synced so a bookkeeper spends less time, with GPS time tracking and budget-versus-actual on the higher plans. Obra is built around the job: receipts from a crew over WhatsApp, email or photo become confirmed costs on a project that carries change orders and a reviewed forecast, and the accountant gets exports. If a bookkeeper lives in QuickBooks and wants coded receipts faster, Ontraq is aimed at them. If the owner wants to know what the job will cost before the bookkeeper closes the month, Obra is aimed at the owner.

Obra is the better fit when

You want the job's expected final cost this week, not after the books close
Your crew captures receipts in Spanish or English without a login to accounting
Change orders, the forecast and the original contract belong on one page per job
You don't need a live QuickBooks sync; dated exports for the bookkeeper are enough

Ontraq is the better fit when

A bookkeeper runs QuickBooks Online and the goal is faster, cleaner coded receipts
GPS time clocking and labor by job matter as much as materials
You want a bookkeeping service from the same company
A two-way QuickBooks sync is a requirement, not a preference

Side by side

What you're comparing	Obra	Ontraq
Starting price	Free for one active project; Pro is $12 per user per month or $120 per year.	About $30 a month for two users; budgets and profitability on the top tier near $80; extra users about $9 each.
What it is	A per-project ledger: income, expenses, receipts, change orders, budgets, forecast, close.	Receipt capture and job-based expense tracking synced to QuickBooks Online, with time tracking and budgets by tier.
Receipts from the job site	WhatsApp, email or photo, read into a draft and confirmed by a person.	Photo in the mobile app or email, AI-coded to vendor and category.
Who can capture a cost	Anyone you invite as a submitter, without seeing the project's finances.	Users on the plan's seat count, with customizable access levels.
Labor and time	Labor recorded on the job at a burdened rate; no time clock.	GPS time clocking and labor cost by job on the Field tier and above.
Budgets and forecasting	Budget per category and a reviewed expected final cost on every plan.	Budget-versus-actual, alerts and profitability dashboards on the top tier.
Change orders	Logged per project with date, amount and attachment; original contract stays visible.	Change order management on the top tier.
Languages	English and Spanish, in the app and on WhatsApp.	English site and app; no other languages published.
Accounting handoff	CSV exports of anything, or the whole organization as a ZIP.	Two-way sync with QuickBooks Online; tax report exports.

Facts about Ontraq checked on September 4, 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.

Ontraq and Obra both scan receipts and both tag them to jobs, which is why they get compared. The difference is who the product is for. Ontraq's home is QuickBooks Online: it exists to get coded receipts into the books with less bookkeeper time, and its higher tiers add time tracking and budgets on top. Obra's home is the project: the receipt becomes a confirmed cost on a job that also carries the contract, the change orders and a reviewed forecast, and the books get exports.

Where the two products actually differ

Start from what the owner sees on a Tuesday. In Ontraq, a receipt is scanned, coded and synced; the job's budget-versus-actual and profitability dashboards live on the top tier, and the known costs that make a mid-job margin honest arrive as bills do. In Obra, the same receipt is confirmed to a project whose page already shows a reviewed expected final cost and cash collected, on every plan. The committed costs guide explains why that distinction decides whether the margin you see mid-job is the one you'll get.

The receipts problem

Ontraq captures by app photo and email, from users on the plan's seats. Obra adds WhatsApp and a submitter role, so the person at the lumber counter sends the receipt from the app they already have, in the language they already use, without a seat on the books. On a crew that texts you receipts in Spanish, that's the difference between a receipt and a memory.

What Ontraq does that Obra doesn't

GPS time clocking with labor cost by job, a two-way live QuickBooks Online sync, vendor insurance tracking, and a bookkeeping service from the same company. If those are on your list, Ontraq has them and Obra doesn't. Obra records labor at a burdened rate on the job but does not run a clock.

Price, plainly

Ontraq starts at about $30 a month for two users and reaches about $80 for the tier with budgets, profitability and change orders, plus about $9 per extra user. Obra is free for one active project and $12 per user per month; a crew of three pays $36 with every feature. Prices checked September 4, 2026.

Questions people ask

Can I use Obra and Ontraq together?: You could, but they overlap on receipt capture and job tagging, so most crews pick one. The useful question is whether the person who needs the numbers is the bookkeeper (Ontraq) or the owner mid-job (Obra).
Does Obra sync with QuickBooks like Ontraq does?: Not live. Obra exports dated, categorized CSVs per project and a full organization export; your bookkeeper records them at the level the books need. Ontraq's two-way QuickBooks sync is its core feature.
Which is cheaper for a three-person crew?: Obra is $36 a month on Pro. Ontraq's three-user Field tier is about $50, and the profitability features live on the tier near $80. Prices checked September 4, 2026.

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