Is TrestleBook an Obra alternative?

Only if what you wanted from Obra was a place to log your own expenses. TrestleBook's center of gravity is the pay application: the paperwork a subcontractor owes a general contractor to get paid. Obra's center is the job ledger: what came in, what it cost, where it lands. A sub could reasonably run both.

Can my crew use TrestleBook?

Anyone with an iPhone can install it, and the team tier adds seats with roles. It does not publish a Spanish interface or a message-based capture channel. Obra's capturer role and WhatsApp number exist so a crew can send receipts in their language without an app or a seat in the books.

Which one is really free?

Both have a free plan on the checked date. TrestleBook's covers a few active projects and a monthly allowance of pay apps for one user. Obra's covers one active project with the full feature set and no time limit; seats are $12 a month after that. Read both pricing pages for the current limits.

Obra vs TrestleBook: a subcontractor's pay-application app, or a crew's job ledger

TrestleBook is a free-to-start iOS app for subs chasing pay apps and lien waivers; Obra is a bilingual job ledger fed by the crew over WhatsApp.

The short version

TrestleBook is built for the subcontractor's side of getting paid: AIA G702 pay applications, schedules of values, retainage, conditional and unconditional lien waivers, change orders, with expenses and exports alongside. It is an iOS app with a free plan and low monthly tiers. Obra is built for knowing what a job cost while it runs: receipts from the crew over WhatsApp in English or Spanish, cost against contract per project, a forecast of the final number, exports for the accountant. If your money problem is a GC who pays in 72 days, TrestleBook speaks that paperwork. If your money problem is a crew whose receipts never reach the books, Obra was built for exactly that, on any phone, in both languages.

Obra is the better fit when

The crew buys materials and their receipts arrive by message, in Spanish, English or both
You want per-project cost, forecast and margin on a web app that runs on any phone or computer
More than one person captures costs and the office should review before anything posts
You bill your own clients and need a clean per-job ledger, not a pay-app package for a GC

TrestleBook is the better fit when

You are a sub on commercial or GC-run jobs and bill through AIA G702 pay applications
Lien waivers, retainage and schedules of values are the documents that decide when you get paid
Everyone who needs the app has an iPhone or iPad
You want a free plan for a handful of projects with no team seats needed

Side by side

What you're comparing	Obra	TrestleBook
Starting price	Free for one active project; Pro is $12 per user per month or $120 per year.	A free plan for a few active projects and pay apps per month; low monthly tiers above it, the team tier adding five seats, as published on the checked date.
What it is	Per-project money: receipts, income, change orders, forecasts, close, exports.	Construction payment management for subcontractors: pay apps, lien waivers, change orders, documents.
Where it runs	A web app on any phone or computer; installs to the home screen and captures offline.	iOS on iPhone and iPad; no Android or web version is published.
Receipts from the job site	WhatsApp, email or photo from the crew's own phones; scanned into a draft, confirmed by a person.	Expense entry in the app with AI categorization and voice entry, by whoever has the app.
Who can capture a cost	Anyone you invite as a capturer, from their own phone, without seeing the finances.	Single-user by default; team seats with roles are on the top tier.
Getting paid	Records income and change orders against the contract; does not generate pay apps or lien waivers.	AIA G702 pay applications with PDF templates, lien waiver tracking, payment alerts and reminders.
Languages	English and Spanish, per person, in the app and on WhatsApp.	English; no other language is published.
Forecast of the final number	Built in: recorded cost plus a reviewed remaining-to-spend, never below what is recorded.	AI cash-flow forecasting and payment-delay predictions on the business tier; no per-job expected final cost is published.
Handing off to the accountant	CSV of any filtered list, or the whole organization as a ZIP of CSVs.	QuickBooks, Xero and CSV export on the paid tiers.

Facts about TrestleBook checked on September 14, 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.

TrestleBook and Obra show up in the same "free construction app" searches and solve different problems. TrestleBook is about getting paid by a general contractor. Obra is about knowing what the job cost before you bill anyone.

What TrestleBook is

A payment-management app for subcontractors, on iOS. You set up a project with its schedule of values, log completed work, stored materials and retainage, and the app builds the AIA G702 pay application. It tracks conditional and unconditional lien waivers by payment, logs change orders with an audit trail, sends payment alerts, and keeps daily logs, submittals and RFIs alongside. Expenses are in there too, with AI categorization and voice entry, and the paid tiers export to QuickBooks, Xero and CSV. For a sub who waits months for a GC's check, that is the paperwork that decides when the money arrives.

What Obra is

The ledger for each job. Receipts come in from the crew over WhatsApp, in English or Spanish, and someone in the office confirms each one to a project and a category. Every project shows what it has collected, what it has cost and where it is expected to land, and change orders adjust the contract without erasing the original. It runs in the browser on any phone or computer, installs to the home screen, and exports everything as CSV. It does not produce pay applications or lien waivers, and it will not.

Where they overlap

Both log expenses against a project. That is the only feature they truly share, and they treat it differently. In TrestleBook the person with the phone enters the expense. In Obra the crew sends the receipt to a number from their own WhatsApp, nobody installs anything, and the office reviews the draft. If you are a solo sub entering your own costs, that difference does not matter. If a crew buys materials, it is the whole difference.

Deciding

If you bill GCs through pay apps and lien waivers decide your cash flow, TrestleBook does something Obra does not attempt, and its free plan costs nothing to try. If you bill your own clients and the thing you cannot see is what each job cost this week, start with Obra, free for one project and $12 a seat after. If you are a sub with a crew, the honest answer may be both.

Questions people ask

Is TrestleBook an Obra alternative?: Only if what you wanted from Obra was a place to log your own expenses. TrestleBook's center of gravity is the pay application: the paperwork a subcontractor owes a general contractor to get paid. Obra's center is the job ledger: what came in, what it cost, where it lands. A sub could reasonably run both.
Can my crew use TrestleBook?: Anyone with an iPhone can install it, and the team tier adds seats with roles. It does not publish a Spanish interface or a message-based capture channel. Obra's capturer role and WhatsApp number exist so a crew can send receipts in their language without an app or a seat in the books.
Which one is really free?: Both have a free plan on the checked date. TrestleBook's covers a few active projects and a monthly allowance of pay apps for one user. Obra's covers one active project with the full feature set and no time limit; seats are $12 a month after that. Read both pricing pages for the current limits.

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A ready-made spreadsheet to track costs and income per project — with categories and the totals already set up.