Clamp vs Bolster: Interactive, customer-selectable proposals and AI estimating from $199 a month with no free trial, or a lower-priced milestone workflow with job costing on every plan
Bolster, formerly CostCertified, sells interactive proposals where the homeowner picks upgrades, plus payment processing, automated scheduling and a cost database, from $199 a month billed annually with no free trial. Clamp's AI estimate is free to try and its job workflow starts at $12.50 a month billed annually, without in-app payment processing or takeoff.
Direct answer: Bolster starts at $199 a month billed annually, or $299 monthly, with no free trial: about 16 times Clamp Solo at $12.50. Proposals, signed milestones, change orders and job costing are on every Clamp plan; Assistant adds e-signing and the customer portal for $41.67. Choose Bolster when homeowners should pick upgrades inside an interactive proposal and pay by card or ACH in the same portal.
Three priced options
A milestone with evidence
Sample data. A Clamp proposal offers three priced options with one recommended, and the customer portal shows a milestone with the evidence behind it before it is paid.
What it costs
| Situation | Clamp | Bolster |
|---|---|---|
| One person, entry plan, billed annually | Solo, billed annually $12.50 a month $149.99 a year | Essentials, billed annually $199.00 a month $2,388.00 a year |
| One person, billed monthly | Solo, billed monthly $19.99 a month $239.88 a year, calculated | Essentials, billed monthly $299.00 a month $3,588.00 a year, calculated |
| Customer portal and e-signatures | Assistant, billed annually $41.67 a month $499.99 a year | Essentials, billed annually $199.00 a month $2,388.00 a year |
| Five-person crew with job costing | Teams (up to 10 people), billed annually $83.33 a month $999.99 a year | Essentials plus 4 additional users, billed annually $279.00 a month $3,156.00 a year, calculated Pro plus 2 additional users, billed annually $439.00 a month $5,172.00 a year, calculated |
Every Clamp feature, next to Bolster
Solo includes 28 of Clamp's 44 features. Bolster's pages show 13 of the 44 in full and 13 in part, across its plans.
Clamp plan
| Feature | Clamp | Bolster |
|---|---|---|
| CRM and leads | 3 of 5 | 0 of 5 |
| Email remindersEmail reminders before appointments, follow-ups, and scheduled installs, deliveries, and inspections. | ✓ Assistant and TeamsAssistant, $41.67 a month billed annually | PartialAssignees notified by email, SMS or chat and clients reminded on pending approvals; reminders before appointments or installs not found |
| Customer appointment remindersHomeowners get an email before an appointment, with confirm and reschedule built in. | ✓ Assistant and TeamsAssistant, $41.67 a month billed annually | Not foundReminders cover clients who have not responded to an approval; appointment reminders not found |
| Five-factor lead scoringA clear yes, no, or maybe on a lead before driving out. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundCRM pipeline with lead sources and conversion analytics; no lead scoring or qualification |
| Lead reportingClose rate, revenue won, open pipeline, close rate by lead source, and lost leads by reason, on Home and the stats screen, with CSV and PDF export. Revenue by source does not exist; see _excluded. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Every plan, Essentials $199Pipeline analytics on conversion rates, lead source effectiveness and project profitability; lost leads by reason and CSV or PDF export not described |
| Daily briefingOverdue invoices, detected trips, follow-ups, appointments, and open proposals in one morning view. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundNot listed on the pricing, product or Academy pages |
| Estimating | 7 of 7 | 3 of 7 |
| Design agreementsPaid preconstruction sits in the document chain, so planning work is paid work. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundDigital contracts and approvals; no paid design or preconstruction agreement found |
| Itemized estimatesAssembly-based estimates with quantities and rates the contractor can inspect line by line. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | ✓ Every plan, Essentials $199Assemblies and items with formulas from dimensions; unlimited estimates and projects |
| Estimate templatesSave an estimate as a template for work done often. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Every plan, Essentials $199Assemblies are reusable templates and quote templates are listed; saving an existing estimate as a template is not described |
| Proposals with multiple package tiersGood, better, best packages in one proposal. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | ✓ Every plan, Essentials $199Good, better, best options and optional items in interactive presentations |
| AI estimating from a plain-language job descriptionDescribe the job in plain words and get an itemized draft: assemblies, quantities, researched baseline rates, with the contractor's own saved rates taking over once set. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | ✓ Essentials $199 (plan card)The plan cards list AI estimating on every plan; the feature matrix marks 'AI estimating, renders, options' Premium only; the estimating page does not mention it |
| Remodel and new-home estimatingOne estimator covers remodels and new homes and detects which one a description is. Detect is the default job type; a contractor can pick Remodel or New home per estimate, or set Kind of work to Remodeling to turn the choice off. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundServes remodelers and custom home builders; no remodel or new-home choice or detection described |
| Labor hours on estimatesEstimated labor hours, shown as a range, on every labor line, with an allowance for setup, cleanup, and material runs (15% by default) the contractor can change in Settings or per estimate. A planning figure; it never appears on proposals, PDFs, or the portal. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundLabor costed through AutoCost labor prices on Pro; estimated hours as a range with an allowance not described |
| Contracts and invoicing | 5 of 5 | 3 of 5 |
| Payment schedulesSplit a proposal into a deposit, milestone payments, and a final payment, then invoice each one from the signed contract. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | ✓ Every plan, Essentials $199Payment terms set at the start; invoices follow the payment schedule |
| Sales tax on documentsAdd a sales tax rate or a flat amount to invoices and other documents, with collected tax totaled by quarter and year. The contractor enters the rate; Clamp does not look rates up. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundNot described on the pricing, estimating, payments or change order pages |
| Customer credits and refundsApply a customer's credit to an open invoice, record a refund, or adjust a balance, with the history kept on the job. Recorded only; Clamp moves no money. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundCredits are not mentioned on the change order or payments pages |
| Change orders that update the contractScope changes get written up and tied to the original contract, so verbal changes stop costing money. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | ✓ Every plan, Essentials $199Created automatically when the job changes, tied to the original contract and signed digitally |
| Invoices tied to the contractEvery invoice belongs to the contract or change order it bills. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | ✓ Every plan, Essentials $199Invoices and receipts created automatically for each payment request |
| Customer portal | 0 of 6 | 1 of 6 |
| Password-free customer portalThe homeowner opens a link. No account, no password, no app to install. | ✓ Assistant and TeamsAssistant, $41.67 a month billed annually | Every plan, Essentials $199Client portal on every plan; clients sign approvals through a link with no account, but whether the portal itself needs a login is not stated |
| Unlimited documents and photos shared to the portalShare job documents and photos to the customer portal without a count cap, subject to per-item size limits. | ✓ Assistant and TeamsAssistant, $41.67 a month billed annually | Not foundDocuments and photos are not described in the portal; CompanyCam photos sync on Pro |
| E-signing on the homeowner's phoneDocuments get signed on the homeowner's own phone, no account required. | ✓ Assistant and TeamsAssistant, $41.67 a month billed annually | ✓ Every plan, Essentials $199Client signs through a secure link on a computer or phone, no account or app |
| Several signers on one documentSend one document to up to five people, each signing their own line, see who has signed, and remind anyone who has not. | ✓ Assistant and TeamsAssistant, $41.67 a month billed annually | Not foundOnly the client signs; multiple signers not addressed |
| Project updates and decisions in the portalPost project updates to the customer's portal and ask the customer to make a decision, which they answer from their phone. | ✓ Assistant and TeamsAssistant, $41.67 a month billed annually | Every plan, Essentials $199Live task updates, change orders and approving work in the portal; a way to ask the customer a decision after signing not described |
| Not delivered email handlingWhen a customer email Clamp sends bounces, the document is marked Not delivered so the contractor can fix the address and resend, or copy the link to text it. | ✓ Assistant and TeamsAssistant, $41.67 a month billed annually | Not foundNot addressed on the approvals page |
| Expense tracking | 5 of 5 | 1 of 5 |
| Automatic GPS mileage trackingBackground trip detection, route maps, IRS rates, trips linked to the job that caused the drive. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundNot listed on the pricing, product or Academy pages |
| Automatic time on siteGPS geofence tracking of hours at the jobsite. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundNot listed on the pricing page or material list and budget page |
| Receipts and expenses on the jobReceipts logged against the job they belong to. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | ✓ Every plan, Essentials $199Receipts and invoice attachments tracked against the project budget |
| Purchase ordersCommitted costs captured between the estimate and the receipt. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundA material list is generated from the estimate; purchase orders not found |
| Accounts payable and vendor billsVendor bills tracked and surfaced in the attention flows, with first-class vendor records. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | PartialInvoice attachments tracked in the budget; vendor bill and payables tracking not found |
| Job costing and reports | 3 of 3 | 1 of 3 |
| Job costingWhat the job actually cost, with a variance and catalog learning loop. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | ✓ Every plan, Essentials $199Actual against anticipated cost per project, with variances entered in the budget tab |
| Accountant export packageA package of the business's records prepared for an accountant. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Pro, $399QuickBooks Online sync of job costs, invoices and payments; no accountant package found |
| Time reporting with CSV exportReported labor time with a time-tracking CSV export for payroll preparation and per-person rate decomposition. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundTime tracking is not listed |
| Jobsites and teams | 2 of 8 | 2 of 8 |
| Teams: up to 10 linked accountsUp to 10 accounts, including the owner, sharing one business. | ✓ TeamsTeams, $83.33 a month billed annually | ✓ Essentials 1, Pro 3Premium listed as 3+, 5 and 10 users on different parts of the pricing page; extra users $20 a month or $192 a year |
| Role-based permissionsFive roles: owner, admin, staff, contributor, viewer. | ✓ TeamsTeams, $83.33 a month billed annually | PartialRole-based access limits sensitive information such as financials; the roles themselves are not listed |
| Unlimited subcontractor linkingSubs share jobsite photos and notes into the business account without consuming a seat. | ✓ TeamsTeams, $83.33 a month billed annually | ✓ Every plan, Essentials $199Subcontractor portal on every plan; whether subs use a paid seat is not stated |
| Jobsites tab: jobs and schedule in one placeA Jobsites tab with Jobs and Schedule views. With Assistant each job has its own screen with its schedule, photos, and updates, and the Schedule view holds every install, delivery, inspection, appointment, and follow-up; Teams adds the crew and subs on each job, shaped by role. Subs invited to a job use it free and see their own jobs grouped by builder. | ✓ Assistant and TeamsAssistant, $41.67 a month billed annually | PartialProjects with a generated schedule, budget and chat; a Jobsites view with photos and updates per job not described |
| Job scheduleSchedule installs, deliveries, and inspections on each job, with the contractor, a supplier, or nobody yet on each item, and see them all in the Jobsites tab. Putting crew or subs on an item is the Teams shared schedule. | ✓ Assistant and TeamsAssistant, $41.67 a month billed annually | Every plan, Essentials $199Schedule generated from estimate items and assigned to staff or subcontractors; deliveries and inspections not mentioned |
| Shared job scheduleOne schedule for the business: installs, deliveries, and inspections visible to the team, with clash notes when dates collide. | ✓ TeamsTeams, $83.33 a month billed annually | Every plan, Essentials $199One generated schedule with tasks assigned to staff and subs; clash notes not mentioned |
| Punch listsThe small final items that close a job out, tracked per job and shareable as a text message or a PDF. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundNot listed on the pricing, product or Academy pages |
| Job site photosPhotos saved to the project with full-screen viewing. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Pro, $399Photos come from the CompanyCam integration; 100 GB file storage on Essentials; a photo library in Bolster itself not described |
| Backup and offline | 3 of 5 | 2 of 5 |
| Full job workflow, offlineLeads, design agreements, estimates, proposals, change orders, and invoices on the phone, working without a connection. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundOffline use not stated on the pricing page; app store badges on the homepage |
| Cloud backupBusiness data backed up to the cloud and restorable on a new device. | ✓ Assistant and TeamsAssistant, $41.67 a month billed annually | ✓ Every plan, Essentials $199Cloud account with 100 GB file storage on Essentials and unlimited on Pro; no separate backup or restore article |
| Business portal: read-only web viewA read-only view of the business in a browser. | ✓ Assistant and TeamsAssistant, $41.67 a month billed annually | ✓ Every plan, Essentials $199Full web app with a sign-in; mobile app badges on the homepage |
| Device backup, restore, CSV export, bulk importLocal backup and restore with CSV export and bulk import. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | PartialItem import tools on every plan; backup, restore and CSV export not found |
| No account required to startThe app opens to local use; an account is needed only for server features or subscribing. | ✓ Every planSolo, $12.50 a month billed annually | Not foundEntry is Get started / Book a demo and a paid plan; use without an account not described |
| Only in Bolster | Where Bolster is ahead | |
| Customer-selected upgrades | Not in Clamp: the customer picks one of up to three priced options | ✓ The homeowner adds or removes options in an interactive presentation and the price follows; Bolster states 15% bigger jobs on average |
| Card and ACH payments in the portal | Not in Clamp: add your own payment link and record what was paid | ✓ Payment requests on task completion, cards 2.99% to 3.99%, ACH 1% capped at $15; funds in 2 business days |
| AutoCost local pricing | Not in Clamp: your numbers are your own | ✓ Real local material and labor prices on Pro and Premium |
| Plan takeoff | Not in Clamp | ✓ On-screen takeoff tool; the pricing matrix lists AI-guided takeoff on Premium |
| Automated schedule and material list | Clamp's schedule is built by hand | ✓ Schedule and material list and budget generated from the estimate and updated as it changes |
| Marketing and lead capture | Not in Clamp | ✓ CRM pipeline, round-robin leads, embedded lead forms and QR codes, OpenQuotes self-serve quoting and an embeddable estimating wizard on every plan |
Nothing here matches. Pick All or another filter.
Bolster column from its pricing page, feature pages and help center, checked October 14, 2026. Not found means not on those pages, not that Bolster can't do it another way. Partly means something narrower than the Clamp feature. No product was tested against another.
Where each Bolster answer comes from
- Bolster Pricing Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Bolster homepage Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Estimating Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Assemblies and templates Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Options, upgrades and selections Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Approval management Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Revisions and change orders Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Progress payments Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Client portal Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Scheduling Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Material list and budget Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- CRM Pipeline Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Integrations Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Bolster Academy Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
- Our story Bolster, accessed October 14, 2026
Verdict
Clamp may fit when
- You want to try the AI estimate free before paying for anything
- You run a one to three person shop and $199 to $299 a month is more software than the business needs
- You estimate at job cost, apply your company markup once, and review actual cost against the estimate at closeout
- You want signed milestones, customer decisions, change orders, invoices, job costing and mileage on the same job without a higher tier
- You already have a payment link or processor and only need the payment recorded against the milestone
- You work with subs who need jobsite access without seeing your customer prices
Bolster may fit when
- You sell upgrades: the homeowner adds or removes options in the presentation and the price follows the estimate
- You want card and ACH payments, invoices and receipts handled inside the same portal the customer signs in
- You want a schedule and a material list and budget generated from the estimate rather than built by hand
- You bid from drawings and want a takeoff tool and a maintained local cost database in the same product (Pro and Premium)
- You want a native QuickBooks Online sync (Pro and Premium)
- You want built-in team and client chat, a CRM pipeline and a subcontractor portal on the entry plan
Before you compare them
- Bolster and Clamp are closer than most pairs on this site. Both draft an estimate with AI, present priced options to the homeowner, take a digital signature, raise change orders, bill in progress payments, keep a customer portal and compare costs against the estimate.
- The gap is in how the proposal sells and how the money moves. Bolster's presentation lets the customer re-estimate the job by adding or removing upgrades, and Bolster processes the payments. Clamp's proposal offers up to three priced options, one recommended, and payments go through your own link and are recorded in Clamp.
- The other gap is price and entry. Bolster Essentials is $199 a month billed annually or $299 monthly for one user, with no free tier and no general free trial. Clamp's AI estimate is free to try and Solo is $149.99 a year.
- Bolster's pricing page includes payments, invoicing, scheduling, change orders, client portal and CRM on every plan; AutoCost, Takeoff, AI rendering and QuickBooks are on Pro ($399 a month billed annually) and Premium. Clamp has no takeoff, no cost database and no QuickBooks sync on any plan.
- Bolster's own pages carry performance claims: 5x faster estimating, 20% more jobs won, 15% bigger jobs from upgrades, 84% less time estimating on its Buildertrend comparison. Those are Bolster's marketing statements, attributed to Bolster here, not findings of this page.
- Bolster's pricing page shows the Premium user count three ways: 3+, 5 users and 10 included. Premium is therefore left out of the cost table rather than guessed.
- Bolster was founded as CostCertified; its Our story page says so without a rename date. Review sites still list it under the old name.
- "Not found" on this page means not found on Bolster's pricing page, product pages or comparison page read on 2026-10-14. It does not mean Bolster cannot do it another way.
- Neither product was tested against the other. No speed or accuracy claim is made.
Workflow
| Feature | Clamp | Bolster |
|---|---|---|
| AI estimate | A draft at direct cost from a plain-language job description, then your markup; one free estimate per email on the web, 3 free credits in the app, then 25 or 50 a month by plan | AI estimating, image and options generation on every plan; no free tier or general free trial |
| Estimate at cost, then markup | Every line at direct cost; the markup from your overhead and profit goal goes on once | Estimates from items and assemblies; real local material and labor prices through AutoCost on Pro and Premium; a single-markup workflow was not found on Bolster's pages |
| Plan takeoff | Not offered | Takeoff drawing tool on Pro and Premium |
| Options and upgrades the customer picks | A proposal with up to three priced options, one recommended; the customer chooses one and signs it | Optional items, upgrades and selections the customer adds or removes from the presentation, priced to the estimate; Bolster states 15% bigger jobs on average |
| Customer decisions after signing | A Decisions needed list: needed by, what it blocks, who owes the answer, the resolution | Selections and approvals in the client portal; a decision list with who owes the answer and what it blocks was not found on Bolster's pages |
| Proposal e-signature | Proposals signed in the customer portal (Assistant and Teams) | Digitally signable contracts embedded in the presentation, on every plan |
| Change orders | A change order on every plan: priced and billed, e-signed in the portal on Assistant and Teams, showing its effect on the contract before signing | Revisions and change orders generate automatically when changes are made or requested and prompt a new approval, on every plan |
| Progress billing | Milestones tied to job events, each with a checklist of evidence; billed as the stage starts | Payment terms set at the start; payment requests sent through the client portal on task completion; an invoice and receipt created for every request |
| Payments | Not processed by Clamp: add your own payment link and record what was paid | Cards 2.99% to 3.99% by card type; ACH 1% with a $2 minimum and $15 maximum; funds in 2 business days, or instantly with a Bolster Business Account |
| Job costing | Every plan: receipts, vendor bills, time at the loaded rate and returns, reviewed against the estimate at close | A material list and budget generated from the estimate; actual against anticipated costs per project, with variances entered in the actuals column; receipt and invoice attachments |
| Time on site | Logged by role per job, or detected automatically when you leave a job site; no GPS crew clock | Not found on Bolster's pricing page or material list and budget page |
| Business mileage log | Automatic trip detection, confirmed per trip, at the IRS rate for its date | Not found on Bolster's pricing or product pages |
| Scheduling | A shared whole-day job schedule your crew and subs confirm (Teams); no Gantt chart | Automated scheduling generated from the estimate, on every plan |
| Customer portal | Sign proposals and change orders, see milestones with their evidence, invoices, photos and schedule, answer decisions (Assistant and Teams) | Client portal on every plan: approvals, payment requests paid by card or bank transfer, and client chat |
| Team and subs | Up to 10 accounts on Teams, plus unlimited free sub invites who never see your prices | Essentials 1 user, Pro 3 users; additional users $20 a month or $192 a year; a subcontractor portal on every plan |
| Lead pipeline and qualification | A five-question score on the first call | CRM pipeline on every plan; a lead-scoring workflow was not found on Bolster's pages |
| Accounting | An accountant export package; no QuickBooks sync | QuickBooks integration on Pro and Premium; invoices auto-created in QuickBooks Online |
| Trying it before paying | One free AI estimate per email on the web and 3 free credits in the app before any plan | No general free trial; a free program for deck contractors by application; a 3-month intro at $897 on monthly Essentials |
What was and was not tested
What was compared: Hands-on testing of either product. Neither was tested against the other, and no speed or accuracy claim is made. Documented, not tested.
| Statement | Basis |
|---|---|
| Published by Clamp, using each product's own pricing pages and documentation. | Clamp's own statement |
| One person, entry plan, billed annually: Bolster Essentials is $2,388 a year as published and Clamp Solo is $149.99. | Verified against a published source |
| Five people with job costing, billed annually: Bolster Essentials with four added users is $3,156 a year (calculated) and Pro with two added users is $5,172 (calculated); Clamp Teams is $999.99 for up to 10 accounts. The plans are not equivalent: Bolster includes payment processing, automated scheduling and, on Pro, takeoff and QuickBooks; Clamp includes time on site, mileage and evidence-based milestones. | Calculated from published prices |
| Bolster's performance figures (5x faster estimating, 20% more jobs won, 15% bigger jobs, 84% less time estimating) are Bolster's own published claims and were not checked. | Verified against a published source |
Switching
- Export your estimates, contracts, invoices and customer list from Bolster before you cancel, and confirm what the export contains.
- Do not assume Bolster history can be imported into Clamp; confirm formats first.
- If customers pay you by card or ACH inside Bolster, set up your own payment link before you switch, since Clamp records payments and does not process them.
- If you bid from drawings with Bolster's Takeoff or rely on AutoCost prices, keep that workflow or a separate takeoff tool; Clamp has neither.
- If your bookkeeping depends on the QuickBooks sync, test Clamp's accountant export with your bookkeeper first.
- Finish open jobs where they started; start new ones in Clamp.
Questions
How much does Bolster cost for one person or three users?
Bolster Essentials is $199 a month billed annually ($2,388 a year) or $299 month to month for one user. Pro covers three users at $399 a month billed annually ($4,788 a year) or $499 monthly, and adds AutoCost, Takeoff, AI rendering and QuickBooks. Monthly billing starts with a three-month payment, and extra users are $20 a month.
Can I try Bolster free before paying for a plan?
Bolster's pricing page does not offer a general free trial, though deck contractors can apply for free access. Monthly plans start with a three-month payment of $897 for Essentials or $1,497 for Pro. Clamp Solo's first month is free on monthly billing, but that is a trial of Clamp, not of Bolster's interactive proposals or in-app payments.
Can homeowners approve milestones and pay inside Bolster or Clamp?
Bolster lets homeowners approve and pay inside its client portal, with card or ACH payments and an invoice and receipt for each payment request. Clamp ties milestones to job stages and evidence checklists, with the portal and e-signing on Assistant and Teams. Clamp uses your own payment link and records the payment rather than processing it, so Bolster is stronger if in-app payment matters.
What does the lower Clamp subscription leave out compared with Bolster?
Clamp Solo costs $149.99 a year against Bolster Essentials at $2,388 a year, but the two cover different needs. Bolster sells interactive upgrades inside the proposal and takes card and ACH payments in the app, and its Pro plan adds takeoff, AutoCost and QuickBooks. Clamp's portal and e-signing start on Assistant at $499.99 a year, so Solo is not the portal-to-portal comparison.
Does Bolster charge for each extra user?
Bolster includes one user on Essentials and three on Pro, and extra users are $20 a month. Its pricing page shows Premium as 3+, 5 and 10 users in different places, so confirm the seat count in writing. Clamp Teams covers up to 10 accounts for $99.99 a month or $999.99 a year, and subcontractor invites are free.
Is Bolster the same company as CostCertified?
Yes. Bolster's Our Story page says the company was founded as CostCertified, so reviews and listings under either name can describe the same business. The page does not give the date of the rename. Use Bolster's current pricing page when comparing plans rather than an older CostCertified listing.
Sources & provenance
- Bolster Pricing Bolster (official source)
- Bolster: Estimating and project management software for contractors Bolster (official source)
- Options, upgrades and selections Bolster (official source)
- Progress payments Bolster (official source)
- Material list and budget Bolster (official source)
- Our story Bolster (official source)
- Bolster vs Buildertrend Bolster (official source)
- Clamp Pricing Clamp Research
- The Clamp Method Clamp Research
Changes: Oct 14, 2026: Initial draft. Reviewed against Bolster's pricing page, homepage, options and upgrades page, progress payments page, material list and budget page, Our story page and its Buildertrend comparison page on 2026-10-14: Bolster's interactive presentations with customer-selected options and upgrades, AI estimating, digital contracts, automated change orders and scheduling, client and subcontractor portals, in-app payments and the budget actuals view are credited; its performance figures are attributed to Bolster; the pricing page's conflicting Premium user counts and AI estimating matrix entry are stated; every 'not found' is limited to those pages. Direct answer rewritten price first (owner ruling 2026-10-14).; Oct 14, 2026: Published after owner approval; FAQ structured data on.