Staxen vs Buildertrend for builders and remodelers

By Zeke Galland, Staxen. Updated 2026-09-08.

Buildertrend is project management for builders running long jobs with clients and subs; Staxen is AI employees that write estimates and chase invoices for trade contractors. As of September 2026 Buildertrend no longer publishes plan prices and quotes you based on construction volume, where recent published tiers ran roughly $339 to $1,099 a month. Staxen publishes its price: $59 a month per AI employee, $149 for all three, first job free with no card. Which one fits depends on whether you run the project or work on it.

What Buildertrend is

Buildertrend is a long-established construction management platform for home builders and remodelers. It handles project schedules, daily logs, client selections, budgets, bids, change orders, purchase orders, invoicing, and a client portal, with QuickBooks and Xero integration and unlimited users on every plan. Builders like that the homeowner, the office, and the subs all see the same project.

Staxen vs Buildertrend, feature by feature

As of September 2026, Buildertrend has moved to quote-based pricing tied to your annual construction volume, so its site shows a form instead of a number; before the change, third-party guides tracked its published tiers between roughly $339 and $1,099 a month, with unlimited users and annual billing discounts. Staxen posts its prices: $59 a month per AI employee or $149 for all three, month to month. For a sub who mainly needs estimating and invoicing, that is the difference between a sales conversation and a sign-up.

The honest verdict

Buildertrend earns its price for a builder coordinating a nine-month custom home: selections, daily logs, vendor bids, and a client portal are the actual job at that scale. A trade sub does not run selections or vendor bids; a sub needs their own estimate priced fast, signed, invoiced, and paid, which is what Staxen's three employees do for $149. The tradeoff is project coordination depth versus speed and cost on your own paperwork. If you hold the prime contract, look at Buildertrend. If you work under someone who does, Staxen covers your side of the job for a fraction of the money.

Pick Staxen if

A trade sub or small remodeler who prices their own work, bills in stages, and does not need selections, daily logs, or vendor bid management.

Pick Buildertrend if

A builder or design-build remodeler running multi-month projects who needs schedules, selections, purchase orders, and a client portal shared across the whole team.

Why contractors move from Buildertrend to Staxen

You were paying builder prices for sub problems

Selections, vendor bids, and daily logs matter to the prime contract holder. If you open Buildertrend mostly to send an invoice, you can do that for $59 with Ivy and skip the rest.

Your GC's Buildertrend does not do your paperwork

Working on a project inside a builder's Buildertrend account does not price your work, produce your estimates, or send your invoices. Staxen is your own office, whoever runs the project software.

A number instead of a quote form

Buildertrend now asks for your volume and calls you back with a price. Staxen's price is on the page, and the first job is free, so evaluating it costs nothing but the one job you were going to do anyway.

Faster from walkthrough to signature

Eddie turns a spoken scope into a priced estimate the client can e-sign from a text the same afternoon. Buildertrend's proposal path is built for long-cycle projects with selections, not same-day quotes.

Frequently asked questions

Is Buildertrend or Staxen cheaper?

Staxen, based on the numbers available. Buildertrend stopped publishing prices in 2026 and quotes by construction volume, but its recent published tiers ran roughly $339 to $1,099 a month per third-party guides. Staxen is $59 per month per AI employee or $149 per month for all three, month to month, with the first job free, no card required and no time limit.

Can I switch from Buildertrend to Staxen?

Yes, with manual steps and an honest caveat. You export your customer list to a CSV, import it into Staxen, and forward estimates or invoices in as documents; there is no one-click migration. The caveat: if you rely on Buildertrend's selections, purchase orders, or daily logs, Staxen does not replace those, so this switch fits subs and small remodelers more than production builders.

My GC uses Buildertrend. Do I still need my own software?

Usually yes. The GC's Buildertrend account manages their project: schedule, selections, and documents they control. It does not write your estimates, carry your prices, or invoice your work to the GC or the homeowner. Your own paperwork still needs its own system, whether that is spreadsheets, an invoice app, or AI employees.

Does Staxen handle client selections or purchase orders?

No. Staxen has no selections workflow and no purchase orders; those are builder coordination features and Buildertrend is genuinely stronger there. Staxen covers estimates with e-signature and deposits, scheduling with SMS reminders, change orders approved by text, invoicing with milestone billing, payments, and QuickBooks Online sync.

What is milestone billing and why do remodelers use it?

Milestone billing splits a job's price across stages: deposit at signing, a draw at demo or rough-in, and the balance at completion. It keeps the contractor from financing the homeowner's project, since money for materials arrives before the supplier bill. On a $40,000 remodel, a 30 percent deposit means $12,000 in hand before the first dumpster shows up.

Start free with Staxen: your first job is on us, no card required.