Who each product is built for
Knowify describes itself as designed for trade contractors at small and medium-sized businesses, in commercial and residential work, and says it is not specifically built for general contractors or homebuilders, while noting that general contractors do use it. It covers bidding, job costing, time tracking and billing, and syncs to QuickBooks.
EZBilling is built for the general contractor: billing the owner, recording and paying subcontractor billings on the same project, and keeping the books in the same system.
EZBilling and Knowify side by side
| EZBilling | Knowify | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | General contractors. | Trade contractors at small and medium-sized businesses, per the vendor, which also notes that general contractors use it. |
| Pay applications in the G702/G703 format | Yes. Owner pay applications from the schedule of values, plus subcontractor pay applications recorded against each subcontract. | Yes, for the trade contractor billing up. Official AIA forms are available through an integration with AIA Contract Documents. |
| Retainage | Retainage receivable and retainage payable tracked separately. Retainage can be released part-way through a job and the reduction shows on the pay application. | Handled in pay applications and synced to QuickBooks Online. The vendor states the retainage amount can be changed part-way through a job. |
| Subcontractor billing and compliance | Subcontracts with their own schedule of values, sub retainage, backcharges and joint checks. Lien waivers (four types) and insurance certificates tracked per vendor. | Subcontracts tracked as purchase orders, with sub licenses and insurance certificates stored and expiry alerts. Collecting sub pay applications and lien waivers is not stated on the vendor pages we reviewed. |
| Job costing and WIP | Job costing by project and cost code, and a WIP schedule with over and under billing. | Job costing with budget against actual by cost code, and a WIP report. |
| General ledger | Built in. Invoices, bills and payments post to a double-entry general ledger. Bank reconciliation and financial statements are on the Professional plan. | No. The vendor states Knowify is not a replacement for QuickBooks Online and is designed to complement it. |
| Certified payroll | WH-347 certified payroll reports generated from imported payroll data. EZBilling does not process payroll. | Certified payroll reports for Davis-Bacon jobs. |
| Pricing | Flat monthly plans, published on the pricing page. | Published on the vendor pricing page, with a 14-day free trial. |
Where a cell says something is not stated, it means the vendor pages we reviewed did not describe it. It does not mean the product cannot do it.
Choose Knowify if
- You are a trade or specialty contractor, including residential work.
- You run QuickBooks and want to keep it as your accounting system.
- You want bidding, scheduling and time tracking in the same tool as billing.
Choose EZBilling if
- You are a general contractor managing subcontractor billings, sub retainage, lien waivers and insurance on every job.
- You want the general ledger in the same system as billing, with retainage carried in its own accounts.
- Your work is commercial and billed on pay applications in the G702/G703 format.
Frequently asked questions
Is Knowify built for general contractors?
Knowify describes itself as designed for trade contractors at small and medium-sized businesses. It says it is not specifically built for general contractors or homebuilders, while noting that general contractors do use it.
Does Knowify replace QuickBooks?
No, according to the vendor. Knowify states it is not a replacement for QuickBooks Online and was designed to complement it.
What is the main difference between EZBilling and Knowify?
Knowify is job management for trade contractors that relies on QuickBooks for accounting. EZBilling is built for general contractors and includes owner billing, subcontractor billing and compliance, job costing and its own general ledger.
Sources
Statements about other products are taken from each vendor's own public pages, as of October 11, 2026. Products change; check the vendor's site for current details. Product names are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to identify the products being compared.
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