Painting business software for painting contractors and small painting companies.

Painting business management software that runs the whole job in one offline file: a room-by-room Paint Estimator that works out gallons, crew hours and price, a color schedule the client signs, real margin on every job and invoices that track themselves. Software for a painting business that you buy once, with no monthly fee.

OwnDesk Paint painting business software dashboard, showing active projects, contract value, cost to date, what is outstanding, project health and items that need attention
No subscription Paint Estimator Works offline One-time payment

Key benefits

💵

One-time payment

No monthly fee, no per-user charge and no yearly renewal. The price you see is the whole price.

🎨

A color schedule the client signs

Color, code, brand, sheen and gallons, approved and ordered before the crew arrives.

📐

Room-by-room estimating

Sizes, doors, windows, coats and prep in; gallons, crew hours and price out, then one click to a quote.

📈

Real margin per job

Job price minus paint, expenses and painter hours, from the records you already entered.

What this painting business software does

Everything a small painting company runs on, in one place.

You get a dashboard, a calendar, reports, leads, a Paint Estimator, quotes, clients, projects, a color schedule and tasks on a board.

It also tracks work orders, a site diary, change orders, permits and lead-safe records, safety, punch lists, client approvals, employees, subcontractors, suppliers, equipment and vehicles, and paint stock.

Invoices, purchase orders, expenses and timesheets are included. You can export to CSV or JSON backup, and the app runs in English and Spanish.

A Paint Estimator, room by room

Add one row per room and type the length, width and height, then the doors and windows. Tick ceiling and trim, set the coats and pick a prep level of light, standard or heavy.

It subtracts the openings, measures the trim and shows wall, ceiling and trim paint separately: the gallons you need, the whole gallons to buy, crew hours, your cost, your markup and the price, with the price per square foot. It works from the sizes you type; it does not measure from photos or plans.

Quotes that write themselves

“Create Quote” turns an estimate into a quote with the paint, sundries and labor lines filled in. Tax and markup update as you build, and the quote prints on your letterhead with a signature line.

An accepted quote becomes a project in one click, and the price and the cost budget carry across.

A color schedule for every job

Room, surface, color name and code, brand and product, sheen and gallons, with a color chip if you add a hex code. Move each line from Proposed to Approved to Ordered to Applied.

The dashboard lists the approved colors that are ready to order, and the printed schedule has a client approval line. You type the colors yourself; there is no paint-brand database.

Work orders, site diary and punch lists

The crew’s job sheet with scope, crew size, materials and date, signed by the client on screen when the job is done. A daily site diary records weather, crew, hours, deliveries and delays such as drying time or a client decision.

Touch-ups go on a punch list with who fixes them and by when, and print as a sign-off sheet.

Job costing and invoicing

Job price plus approved change orders, minus expenses and painter hours at their rate. Deposit, progress, final, variation and credit-note invoices, with Paid, Partial and Overdue worked out for you.

Permits, safety, stock and equipment

Lead-safe (RRP) paperwork, HOA approvals and final walkthroughs with an alert on a failed one, toolbox talks and ladder and fume checks, and paint and sundries against a minimum level with low-stock alerts. Sprayers, ladders, scaffold and vans carry their next service date.

Painting business software, honestly

The expensive mistake is the wrong color on the wall.

A painting company loses money on repaints, a sheen change nobody wrote down and a color question that was answered on the phone. The painting contractor business software you choose should keep all three on paper. It should also say where its limits are.

Approvals that do not get lost

A color question for the client, a sheen switch or a change of scope goes under Approvals with a reply-by date and any cost impact. Open ones show on the calendar and on the sidebar badge until they are closed.

Change orders that reach the price

An approved change order is added to the price of its job, and the job cost sheet shows original, changes and revised, so extra work gets paid for.

Works with no signal

The file runs offline in your browser, on a laptop or tablet, in the van or on site. Nothing needs a connection once it is downloaded.

What it does not do

No cloud sync, no customer portal, no texts or emails sent from the app, no online payments, no GPS tracking, no photo library and no two people editing at once. It records the numbers and prints the paperwork; it is not legal or regulatory advice.

How a painting job runs

From first call to paid in four steps.

1

Estimate it

Log the lead, measure each room in the Paint Estimator and turn it into a quote with one click. Print it for the client to sign.

2

Plan the colors

Accept the quote and it becomes a project with its price and cost budget. Build the color schedule, get it approved and order the paint before the crew arrives.

3

Do it and cost it

Issue the work order, keep the site diary, log hours and expenses against the job and record any change orders. Margin updates itself.

4

Invoice and close out

Walk the job with a punch list, get the final sign-off, raise the invoice and see what is still owed. Overdue ones are flagged on the dashboard.

Why painters switch

You are not really choosing between two painting software packages.

Most software for a painting business is rented by the month, and the records live on somebody else’s server. Spreadsheets are free but cannot work out gallons from room sizes, keep a color schedule or tie a job to its real margin.

This painter business software is a file you own, with the painting-specific parts built in.

 OwnDesk PaintSubscription painting softwarePaper & spreadsheets
Price $ 49.00 once Monthly fee, for as long as you use it Free, but it costs your evenings
Room-by-room estimate with gallons and hours Built in (from sizes you enter) Varies Your own formulas
Color schedule with client approval Included Varies A separate sheet
Quote to project to invoice One click each step Usually Retyped each time
Works offline Yes Often needs a connection Yes
Your records if you stop paying Still yours Access ends Still yours
Customer portal, automatic texts, online payments Not included Often included No
Several people at once Not included — one computer at a time Usually included Only through a cloud drive

The subscription column is a general description of painting software sold by the month, not a claim about any single company — features and pricing differ, so check each site.

OwnDesk Paint is single-computer software: it does not sync between devices, send messages, process card payments or replace your accounting package.

From payment to your first estimate

Three steps, about two minutes.

1

Pay with card

Checkout runs on Stripe. Your card details never touch this site.

2

Download and open

The link appears the moment payment clears. Double-click the file — it opens in your browser, no install, no internet needed after that.

3

Look around, then start fresh

It opens with a sample painting company already loaded. Remove the sample data from Settings and add your own clients, rates and jobs.

14-day money-back guarantee Plus support from Adrián, usually the same working day

If OwnDesk Paint isn't right for how you run your painting business, email me and you get a refund — no questions. If something's confusing, you're writing to the person who built it, not a queue. English and Spanish, both spoken here.

14-day refund Reply usually same working day Interior, exterior & commercial painters

Questions

Before you buy.

What is painting business software?
Painting business software is the tool a painting company runs its estimates, jobs, crews and invoices in. For painting that also means measuring rooms to work out gallons and crew hours, a color schedule so nobody paints the wrong color, lead-safe paperwork and punch lists. This one puts all of it in one offline file, so an accepted quote carries straight into a job and an invoice.
Is this painting business management software for a small company?
Yes. It is built for a painting contractor with a small crew: leads, a room-by-room paint estimator, quotes, projects, a color schedule, work orders, a site diary, change orders, permits and lead-safe records, punch lists, subcontractors, suppliers, paint stock, purchase orders, expenses, timesheets and invoices, in more than 25 modules in one file. There are no user accounts, so it is a one-person-at-a-time office tool.
What is the best software for a small painting business?
It depends on how you work. If you need several people editing the same jobs live, texts to customers and online payments, a cloud platform does that, for a monthly fee. If you want estimating, a color schedule, job costing and invoicing in one file you own, with no subscription, this is built for exactly that. It does not sync between devices, has no customer portal and sends no texts or emails.
Is it painting contractor business software, or only for house painters?
It works for interior, exterior, commercial and cabinet work, because the quotes, price lines, crew rates and permit types are yours to set. The Paint Estimator is built around rooms and walls, ceilings and trim, so the quickest results are on interior and exterior repaints. For anything else you add your own lines to a quote.
Is it good estimating software for a painting business?
It is built around a room-by-room Paint Estimator. For each room you type the length, width and height, the doors and windows, whether the ceiling and trim are included, the number of coats and a prep level (light, standard or heavy). It subtracts the openings, shows the gallons you need and the whole gallons to buy, the crew hours, your cost, your markup and the price, with the price per square foot, and one click turns it into a quote. It works from the sizes you type and from the coverage and painter speed you set in Settings; it does not measure from photos or plans.
What does the color schedule do?
Every color on a job sits in one list: room, surface, color name and code, brand and product, sheen and gallons, with an optional color chip. Each line moves from Proposed to Approved to Ordered to Applied. The dashboard lists approved colors that are ready to order, and the printable schedule has a line for the client to approve. You type the color names and codes yourself, because it has no paint-brand color database and never claims a color match.
Does it work as accounting software for a painting business?
Not as bookkeeping. It records the money side of each job: invoices (deposit, progress, final, variation and credit note) with Paid, Partial and Overdue worked out for you, expenses, purchase orders and timesheets, and it shows the real margin per job. It exports CSV for your accountant. It has no general ledger, no bank feeds, no tax filing and no payroll, so keep your accounting package for that.
Does it handle reviews and testimonials?
No. There is no review request, no testimonial collection and nothing is sent from the app, since it sends no texts or emails. What it does is keep the job record clean: a punch list and a signed work order for each job, and a printed final walkthrough for the client to sign, so you finish the job with the paperwork done. Asking for a review stays with you.
Can it track lead-safe (RRP) paperwork and permits?
It keeps the records: lead-safe (RRP) paperwork, HOA approvals, historic reviews, lift or scaffold permits, prep inspections and final walkthroughs, with an alert when a walkthrough fails and the expiry of crew certifications and subcontractor insurance. It organizes your records; it does not replace your state licensing, lead-safe and paint-disposal rules or professional advice.
Does it do job costing and invoicing?
Yes. Job cost comes from the expenses booked to the job plus painter hours times their rate, and the margin is the job price, including approved change orders, minus that cost. The job cards show cost against progress, so a job that is spending faster than it is being painted shows up early. Every quote, change order, work order and invoice prints on your own letterhead, and "Save as PDF" in the print dialog is how you email one to a client.
How much does painting business software cost?
Painting software is usually sold as a monthly subscription, and the price depends on the company, the plan and the number of users, so check each site for the current figure. This one is a single payment for the file, with no monthly fee and no per-user charge.
Can it take card payments, sync with accounting software or run payroll?
No. It records payments against an invoice and shows what is still owed. There are no online payments, card processing, bank feeds or payroll filing, so the money moves through the terminal or app you already use. It exports CSV for your accountant but does not sync with accounting software.
Can several people use it at the same time?
No, and this is the honest limit worth knowing before you buy. There is no cloud sync and no shared database, so it is one computer at a time. A second computer can work from a copy by restoring a backup file, but the two copies do not merge.
Where are my records stored, and is there a subscription?
Records live inside your browser, on your own computer, and nothing is uploaded anywhere. Settings has a backup export and, in Chrome and Edge, an automatic backup file. Keep a backup somewhere else. There is no subscription: one payment for the file, no account, no server, no monthly fee.

Build a paint estimate in it before you decide.

The live demo has real screens and a sample painting company loaded — no sign-up beyond your name and email, no credit card. If it fits, buying takes about a minute.

14-day money-back guarantee · instant download · one-time payment