Tillage vs YardbookThe lawn care business software alternative
Updated . Every Yardbook fact links to its source.
Tillage
Yardbook
Monthly price
$0, unlimited users, quotes and invoices
Starter is free, supported by ads; Business $34.99/mo, Enterprise $49.99/mo
Online payment fees
Your client can cover them
Stripe 2.9% + 30¢, plus a 1% Yardbook fee on Starter with no cap found; Business and Enterprise waive the 1%; ACH not found
Margin on quotes
Variance buffer and profit margin on every line
Unit cost per line shows profit on an estimate; no variance buffer found
The short answer
Yardbook is lawn care and landscaping software with a free Starter plan that includes customers, job scheduling, routing, estimates, invoices, lot measurement and card payments, paid for by sponsored ads. Its Business ($34.99/mo) and Enterprise ($49.99/mo) plans add GPS tracking, bulk texts, QuickBooks sync and drop Yardbook’s 1% payment fee. Tillage is free quote-to-cash software with margin on every line, contracts from approved quotes and payment schedules, and no scheduling or routing. If you run mowing routes and crews, Yardbook does far more. If you mainly quote, sign and bill projects, Tillage is built for that.
Choose Tillage if
- YesYou quote and bill projects, like installs and hardscapes, and don’t need routing
- YesYou want variance and profit margin on every line, and contracts from approved quotes
- YesYou want deposits and milestone payments issued on a schedule
- YesYou want clients to cover fees on deposits and saved-card charges too
Choose Yardbook if
- YesYou run recurring mowing or maintenance routes with crews
- YesYou want free scheduling, routing, timesheets and lot measurement in one place
- YesYou track chemical applications or run snow removal
- YesYour crews want an Android app in the field
Tillage vs Yardbook, feature by feature
| Feature | Tillage | Yardbook |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | Yes$0, unlimited users, quotes and invoices | YesStarter is free, supported by ads; Business $34.99/mo, Enterprise $49.99/mo |
| Online payment fees | YesStripe 2.9% + 30¢ (cards) or 0.8% capped at $5 (ACH), plus 1% capped at $50 per invoice | PartlyStripe 2.9% + 30¢, plus a 1% Yardbook fee on Starter with no cap found; Business and Enterprise waive the 1%; ACH not found |
| Pass fees to clients | YesBoth Stripe and platform fees, set team-wide | PartlyEstimated Stripe fee or a flat $3 on online invoice payments; not on saved-card charges or deposits |
| Quotes and estimates | YesHours × rate, or itemized with units and sections | YesEstimates with a product catalog, property-based pricing and price per cut |
| Variance and profit margin on quotes | YesVariance buffer and profit margin on every line | PartlyUnit cost per line shows profit on an estimate; no variance buffer found |
| Contracts with e-signatures | YesGenerated from approved quotes | PartlyOnline estimate approval with an optional signature; no separate contracts found |
| Deposits and milestone payment schedules | YesPercentages triggered by signing, dates or milestones | PartlyA deposit on estimate approval, in beta by request; no milestone schedules found |
| Recurring invoices and retainers | YesWeekly, monthly, quarterly, every six months or yearly | PartlyRecurring invoice templates and auto invoicing from jobs; you send them and charge saved cards yourself, one at a time or in a batch (beta) |
| Client pages with no login | YesSecure links to approve, sign and pay | YesCustomers view, approve and pay from emailed links; branded company portal on Enterprise |
| Time tracking | NoNot a time tracker | YesEmployee time clock and timesheets, with approvals and export |
| Full accounting and bookkeeping | NoUse alongside your accounting software | NoExpenses and reports; Yardbook says it lacks a balance sheet and cash flow reports |
| QuickBooks or Xero sync | NoComing soon: QuickBooks Online, Xero, Mercury and Puzzle | PartlyOne-way QuickBooks Online sync on Enterprise, in beta; Xero not found |
| AI quote drafting | YesDrafts line items, hours and rates with your OpenAI or Claude key | NoNo AI quote drafting found; AI fills in chemical product records |
| Claude and ChatGPT through MCP | YesQuotes, contracts and invoices | NoNo MCP server found; API keys for Zapier and an AI Events API, in beta |
| Scheduling, dispatch and routing | NoNot a scheduling or dispatch tool | YesJob scheduling, route optimization, crew assignment and quick dispatch; GPS tracking on Business |
Yardbook pricing
Yardbook says it is free because of a sponsored ad model, and premium plans are for larger companies. Its pricing page lists monthly prices and doesn’t say whether they are per user; some third-party sites list them per user. Yardbook doesn’t limit the number of employees. All plans include web and Android app access. Prices as of November 2026.
- Starter
- FreeCustomers, jobs and scheduling, estimates, invoices, routing, expenses, reports, lot measurement, employee access, card payments, snow removal and product catalog. Online payments carry a 1% Yardbook fee on top of Stripe’s
- Business
- $34.99/moAdds bulk emails, bulk texts through Twilio, GPS tracking, automatic backup, automatic invoice reminders, multi-step chemical programs, custom lead capture, and waives the 1% processing fee
- Enterprise
- $49.99/moAdds QuickBooks sync, a branded company portal and no ads
- Tillage, for comparison
- $0/month with unlimited users1% when paid online, capped at $50 per invoice. Your client can cover it. See pricing
Where Yardbook is better
No tool is right for everyone. Here is where it may suit you better.
Scheduling and routing for free
Yardbook’s free plan schedules recurring jobs, assigns crews, and builds route sheets you can optimize for the shortest drive and email to employees. Tillage has no scheduling or routing.
Made for lawn and landscape work
Lot measurement from satellite images, price per cut by property, chemical application tracking with AI-filled product records, and snow removal route templates with quick dispatch.
Crew time and location
Employees clock in and out, crew leaders manage timesheets, and on Business you can see where crew members clocked in on a map.
A field app
Yardbook has an Android app for crews and an iOS app in beta by request. Tillage runs in the browser and has no native app.
Cheaper card payments on paid plans
Business and Enterprise pay only Stripe’s 2.9% + 30¢. Tillage adds a 1% platform fee, capped at $50, on top of Stripe’s fee.
Billing for route work
Auto invoicing turns completed jobs into invoices, grouped by customer or by property, and you can charge saved cards for many invoices at once (beta).
Where Tillage is better for contractors
Quotes that protect your margin
Yardbook lets you enter a unit cost per line to see profit. Tillage adds a variance buffer for job risk and a profit margin to every line, which matters on installs and hardscapes where overruns happen.
Contracts from the approved quote
Yardbook collects a name and optional signature when a customer approves an estimate. Tillage generates a contract with e-signatures from the approved quote.
Deposits and milestones on a schedule
Yardbook’s deposit on approval is in beta by request, and we found no milestone payments. Tillage turns a deposit and progress payments into a schedule that issues each invoice on signing, a date or a milestone.
Fee pass-through everywhere
Yardbook passes fees only on online invoice payments, not on saved-card charges or deposits. In Tillage, clients can cover the Stripe and platform fees at checkout.
Recurring billing that runs itself
Yardbook generates recurring invoices for you to review and send, then you charge saved cards. Tillage’s recurring invoices can charge a saved card or bank account on schedule.
AI and automation you control
Tillage drafts quotes with your own OpenAI or Claude key, and its MCP server lets Claude and ChatGPT create quotes, contracts and invoices. We found no AI quote drafting or MCP server in Yardbook.
Switching from Yardbook
- 1
Export your customers and invoices from Yardbook as CSV, which it offers for customers, invoices, payments and expenses.
- 2
Import your customers into Tillage from the CSV, and add your common services as Tillage items.
- 3
Rebuild your usual estimates as Tillage quotes, with variance and margin on each line.
- 4
Connect Stripe in Tillage, choose whether clients cover the fees, and set up recurring invoices or payment schedules.
- 5
Keep Yardbook for scheduling and routes if you use them, or until open invoices are paid.
Related guides and tools
Invoicing software for contractors
Itemized estimates, deposits and progress billing in one free tool.
Contractor estimate template
Labor and materials laid out for a client to approve.
Contractor invoice template
Line items and units for a job, ready to fill in and send.
Markup calculator
Turn your cost and markup into a selling price.
Sources
Checked Nov 3, 2026. Pricing and features change, so if something here is out of date, email support@tillage.ai and we will fix it.
- Yardbook pricing
- Yardbook home page (why is it free)
- Yardbook general FAQs
- Credit card payments and processing fees
- Charge processing fees to my customers
- Charge a convenience fee
- Credit card on file
- Customer add credit card on file
- Estimate approval
- Deposit payments on estimate approval (beta)
- Enter costs and view profit for each estimate
- Set up a recurring invoice
- Auto invoice based on properties
- Customer billing history
- Timesheets
- How many employees I can create
- Do I need QuickBooks?
- QuickBooks integration (beta)
- CONNECT FAQs
- Zapier integration and API keys
- Customer AI Events guide (beta)
- AI Assist for chemical tracking
- Routing
- GPS location tracking
- Snow removal route templates
- Price per cut
- Lot measurement
- Chemical tracking
- Mobile app FAQ
- iOS app (beta)
- Export data as CSV
Tillage vs Yardbook questions
Is Yardbook free?
Yes, the Starter plan is free and includes scheduling, routing, estimates, invoices and card payments. Yardbook says the free plan is paid for by sponsored ads. Online payments on Starter carry a 1% Yardbook fee on top of Stripe’s 2.9% + 30¢. Business is $34.99 a month and Enterprise is $49.99 a month.
Is Tillage cheaper than Yardbook?
It depends on your plan and payment size. On a $2,500 card payment, Yardbook Starter and Tillage both cost $97.80 ($72.80 to Stripe plus $25). Above $5,000, Tillage’s 1% stops at $50, and we found no cap on Yardbook’s. Yardbook Business and Enterprise drop the 1%, so the same payment costs $72.80 there, plus the monthly plan. In both, your client can cover the fee on online invoices.
Does Tillage do scheduling and routing like Yardbook?
No. Tillage handles quotes, contracts, invoices and payments. If you run mowing routes or dispatch crews, keep Yardbook or another scheduling tool alongside Tillage.
Does Yardbook have a mobile app?
Yardbook has an Android app, and its iOS app is in beta by request. Tillage runs in the browser on your phone but has no native app.
Does Yardbook sync with QuickBooks?
Yes, on the Enterprise plan. Yardbook says its QuickBooks Online sync is in beta and one way, sending invoices and payments to QuickBooks. Tillage’s QuickBooks and Xero sync is coming soon.
