Staxen vs Contractor Autopilot
Staxen is $59/mo for each AI employee (estimates, job management or invoicing), or $149/mo for all three, with unlimited users and your first job free — and it is one piece of your business. Contractor Autopilot is $149–$499/mo flat for the whole company, unlimited users: one source of truth, 60+ features from the missed call to the paid invoice. No integrations to build, nothing to keep in sync.
What Staxen does well
Staxen is built around the same idea we are: talk to the app like an employee and it does the paperwork. Describe the job and it writes a priced estimate from your own rates, texts it for e-signature with a deposit, then turns it into change orders, milestone invoices and card or ACH payments. It can draft an estimate from a plan PDF by counting material off the prints, the whole app runs in English or Spanish, QuickBooks Online syncs both ways, and $149 a month with unlimited users and a free first job is a fair price for that.
Best for: Solo subs and small trade crews who only need to quote, invoice and get paid, and want to do it by talking to their phone.
Where it leaves you exposed
- →Nothing on their site answers the phone. There is no AI receptionist and no missed-call text back, so the call you miss on a roof is still a missed call.
- →No website, SEO or social posting. Leads only come in through the contact form on a website you already have.
- →Their own comparison pages say Staxen has no dispatch board, no GPS fleet tracking, no payroll, no inventory and no purchase orders.
- →Their voice drafts estimates, change orders and invoices for you to review. Ours runs the whole app (customers, jobs, schedule, expenses, vehicles, clock-in, even website edits) and on Autopilot and up it answers you out loud.
- →Review requests and job-costing reports are not on their site.
One app for the whole business — finally
Staxen connects to QuickBooks Online, Stripe, Gmail and Outlook, and that covers the paperwork side well. Getting found and getting the call answered are separate tools you still buy and keep alive yourself.
The call, the lead, the quote, the job, the invoice, the review and the website all live on the same customer record. Your whole crew and your office get their own login — we never charge per seat.
Get found, capture leads, quote & close, run jobs, get paid — the whole business, not one slice of it.
No Zapier, no CSV exports, no paying a consultant to wire your tools together every time something changes.
The time it gives you back
Say it once and the customer, quote, job, schedule, expense or clock-in is done, while the receptionist answers the next call and the website brings in the one after that. Staxen covers the paperwork; the phone and the marketing are still yours to run.
What it really costs to run Staxen
Until now, nobody ran a contracting business on one app. Here is the rest of the bill you are still paying.
| Staxen, all three AI employees | $149/mo |
| Answering service for the calls you miss | $300+/mo |
| Website and hosting | ~$150/mo |
| Local SEO help | ~$300/mo |
| Review requests and social posting | ~$100/mo |
| Typical all-in | ~$999/mo |
| Contractor Autopilot — all of it, one bill | $149–$499/mo |
Stack costs are typical published US market rates for each category, August 2026. Your numbers will vary — run our free business review and we will price your actual stack.
What it costs at 1, 5 and 10 people
Neither of us charges per user, so the difference is what each price includes.
| Crew size | Staxen | + what it doesn't include | Their all-in | Contractor Autopilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Just you | $149/mo | $850/mo | $999/mo | $499/mo |
| 5 people | $149/mo | $850/mo | $999/mo | $499/mo |
| 10 people | $149/mo | $850/mo | $999/mo | $499/mo |
Staxen is $149 at any crew size, which is fair. But add the phone answering, website, SEO and review requests it does not include and you are near $1,000 a month. Autopilot Pro is $499 with all of it in one place.
Staxen column uses their published list price, read 4 October 2026. "What it doesn't include" is the same basket every time: answering service ~$300, website and hosting ~$150, reviews and social ~$100, local SEO help ~$300. Our column is Autopilot Pro at $499/mo — everything, unlimited users. Starter is $149 and Autopilot is $399.
Side by side
| Feature | Contractor Autopilot | Staxen |
|---|---|---|
| Tell the app what to do by voice | Yes: it runs the whole app and answers out loud from Autopilot (typed replies on Starter) | Yes: push-to-talk, drafts the estimate, change order or invoice for you to review |
| AI receptionist answering 24/7 | Included on Autopilot Pro | Not on their site (Oct 2026) |
| Missed-call text back | Included from Autopilot | Not on their site (Oct 2026) |
| Website, SEO pages and social posting | Included from Autopilot | No: contact-form leads from your existing site only |
| Automatic review requests | Yes | Not on their site (Oct 2026) |
| Quotes, e-signature, deposits, invoices, card payments | Yes | Yes |
| Estimate from a plan PDF | Reads bid requests and spec sheets; drawings not yet | Yes: counts material off the plan sheets |
| Change orders | Included on Autopilot Pro | Yes |
| GPS-verified time tracking, inventory, purchase orders | Included from Autopilot | No inventory or purchase orders, per their own site |
| Job costing and profit reports | Included on Autopilot Pro | Not on their site (Oct 2026) |
| QuickBooks Online | Yes (one-way push) | Yes (two-way) |
| Spanish | AI texts to customers in Spanish; app screens in English | Whole app in English or Spanish |
| Users | Unlimited, one flat price | Unlimited |
| Refunds | 30-day money-back guarantee | Full refund in the first 14 days |
| Price | $149–$499/mo, whole company | $59/mo for each AI employee (estimates, job management or invoicing), or $149/mo for all three, with unlimited users and your first job free |
Staxen pricing and features from their published information, read 4 October 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
The honest verdict
Staxen is the closest thing to us on voice, and for a solo sub who only needs to quote, invoice and get paid, $149 is a strong deal. The difference is everything before the estimate and around the job. Nothing on their site answers your phone, builds your website, ranks you on Google or asks for reviews, and by their own account there is no dispatch board, inventory or purchase orders. Autopilot Pro is $499 flat with all of that included, voice that runs the whole app and talks back, and 30 days to change your mind.
We aren't for everyone
Stay on Staxen if any of this is you. We would rather lose the sale than take money from a contractor we make worse off.
- —You are a solo sub who only needs to quote, invoice and get paid, you price most work off plan sets, or your crew needs the app itself in Spanish. Staxen does that well for $149 and you do not need the rest of what we include.
- —Your books live in QuickBooks Desktop. We connect to QuickBooks Online only, and there is no two-way Desktop sync coming. Do not break month-end for a website.
- —You run 10 or more techs with memberships, commission plans and a real dispatch board. That is ServiceTitan's job. We would be a downgrade and we will say so.
- —You are mid-contract. What you still owe on a term deal is real money, not sunk cost — put us on your renewal date instead of paying two bills.
- —You already have more leads than you can work and only need to send invoices. A bundle you do not use is not a saving.
None of that you? Then the rest of this page is worth your ten minutes.
Questions contractors ask
How much does Staxen cost?
Read from their pricing page on 4 October 2026: $59 a month for each AI employee (Eddie for estimates, Josie for job management, Ivy for invoicing) or $149 a month for all three, month to month with unlimited users. Your first job is free with no card. Tell us if that has changed and we will fix this page.
Does Staxen answer your phone?
Not that we can find. Their site lists an AI assistant you talk to, business texting and lead intake from your website contact form, but no AI receptionist or missed-call text back as of October 2026. Our AI receptionist is live and included on Autopilot Pro at $499/mo.
Staxen and Contractor Autopilot both work by voice. What is the difference?
Staxen turns what you say into an estimate, change order or invoice for you to review. Ours runs every part of the app you have access to (customers, quotes, jobs, the schedule, expenses, vehicles, clock-in and your website) and on Autopilot and up it talks back like an employee would.
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