Yardbook alternative for lawn care and landscape estimating with satellite measuring
LandscapeEstimating is a Yardbook alternative for US lawn care and landscape companies whose bids have outgrown a free catalog estimate. You trace turf, beds, sod, pavers, edging, gravel, walls and fence lines on satellite imagery, every layer prices from your own production rates, labor rate and target margin, and the client signs the proposal online. Plans are per company and start at $129 a month, or $64 a month billed yearly, with satellite measuring on every plan.
The problem
Free software is fine until the bids get bigger.
Why lawn care companies look for a Yardbook alternative
Yardbook is free lawn care and landscaping software for businesses in the US and Canada. Reviews from Connecteam and LawnStarter describe a core plan that covers customers, scheduling, time tracking, estimates built from a catalog of products and services, and invoices, with card processing fees and some features, such as the QuickBooks connection, offered as paid extras. LawnStarter's review calls it a better fit for startups than for established businesses, and for a solo mowing route that is exactly right.
The trouble starts when the work changes. A weekly mow priced at a flat rate per lawn does not need a takeoff. A $14,000 backyard with a paver patio, new beds, steel edging and a short block wall does. That bid lives or dies on square feet, linear feet, tons of base and labor hours, and a catalog estimate leaves you to work all of that out somewhere else before you type the totals in.
The reasons owners give us when they start shopping:
- Measuring wheels and drive-outs for jobs that never close
- Install and hardscape bids priced by gut feel instead of production rates
- Two estimators pricing the same yard and landing $1,500 apart
- No way to see the margin on each line before the proposal goes out
- Card fees on a free plan that quietly cost more than a subscription would
How it works
From the address to a signed bid.
How LandscapeEstimating builds the estimate Yardbook leaves to you
The step a catalog estimate skips, measuring the property, is where we start.
- Search the US property address and trace turf, beds, sod, pavers, gravel, walls, fence lines and edging on the satellite map, with square feet and linear feet shown as you draw
- Each layer maps to a service in your cost library, with materials, waste, production rate, labor rate, equipment, disposal, overhead and target margin
- Assemblies on Company and above turn one outline into every line it needs, so a patio outline becomes base tons, bedding sand, pavers with waste and labor hours
- Drop pins to count shrubs, trees, lights or boulders, and each count prices from the library item
- The branded proposal goes out with good, better and best options, the client signs online, and you download it as a PDF for your records
- On Company and above, the signed job exports to QuickBooks Online as invoice lines and a deposit request link goes out once it is signed
The arithmetic on a real lot is laid out on the landscaping estimate example page.
Worked bid
One backyard, priced line by line.
A landscape install bid priced from the satellite trace
A homeowner calls about a backyard refresh. From the office you trace a 300 square foot paver patio, 540 square feet of new beds, 160 linear feet of steel edging, a 40 foot fence line along the back and 12 shrubs.
| Line | Quantity from the map | What your library adds |
|---|---|---|
| Paver patio | 300 sq ft | Base gravel in tons, bedding sand, pavers with waste, labor hours from your install rate |
| Bed prep and mulch at 3 in. | 540 sq ft, 5 cu yd | 10% waste, delivery, man-hours from your spread rate |
| Steel edging | 160 linear ft | Material per foot, install rate |
| Fence line | 40 linear ft | Material per foot and install rate, or a posts, panels and concrete assembly on Company |
| Shrubs, 3 gallon | 12 pieces | Plant cost, planting labor, soil amendment |
Every line carries the same labor rate, overhead recovery and target margin, so the proposal is consistent no matter who builds it. If the client trims the patio to 240 square feet, you drag the outline and the base, sand, pavers and hours reprice together, the same way our paver estimating software prices driveways and walks. Walls are covered in depth on the retaining wall estimating software page.
Who it's for
Companies moving past the starter stage.
Who switches from Yardbook to LandscapeEstimating
If you mainly need routing, crew scheduling and invoicing in one place, a full field service platform may suit you better; our Jobber alternative for landscapers post and the LMN alternative page compare those honestly, and LawnPro pricing shows what a published-price route app costs per crew. If you run maintenance only and price by the visit, staying on a free tool can be the right call.
- Lawn care companies adding installs, sod, mulch and hardscape to a mowing route
- Owner-operators who quote from the truck and want square feet off the satellite map instead of a measuring wheel
- Companies hiring a second estimator who need every bid to price from the same rates
- Offices that keep scheduling and invoicing where they are and want only the estimating side replaced
Compare
Honest about where each one wins.
Yardbook vs LandscapeEstimating feature by feature
Yardbook details come from Yardbook's listing and published reviews (Connecteam, LawnStarter, Capterra), checked in October 2026. Confirm them with Yardbook before you decide.
| Capability | Yardbook | LandscapeEstimating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free core plan, paid extras | $129 a month, $64 billed yearly |
| Estimates | Built from a catalog of products and services | Priced from satellite measurements by layer |
| Satellite takeoff of turf, beds, pavers, walls, fence | Not part of the catalog estimate workflow | Yes, every plan |
| Production rates, waste and target margin per line | Not described in reviews | Yes, cost library on every plan |
| Assemblies, for example patio to base, sand and pavers | Not described in reviews | Company and above |
| Proposals with online signature and PDF | Estimates sent to the client | E-sign and PDF on every plan |
| Scheduling, time tracking, routing | Yes | No, keep your current tool |
| Invoicing and card payments | Yes, processing fees apply | Deposit request links on Company |
| QuickBooks | Offered as a paid extra in reviews | QuickBooks Online export on Company |
Where Yardbook wins: it costs nothing to start and runs the day to day of a small route, from scheduling to invoices. Where we win: the bid itself, measured from satellite imagery in minutes and priced from your own numbers with the margin visible on every line. Many companies use both, Yardbook for the route and LandscapeEstimating for the estimate. The landscape estimating software page walks through the full estimating workflow.
Plans
Priced per company, not per user.
LandscapeEstimating pricing compared with staying on Yardbook
Satellite measuring, the cost library and e-signed proposals are on every plan.
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly | Estimator seats | Satellite measurements |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | $129 | $64 a month | 2 | 60 a month |
| Company | $299 | $149 a month | 6 | 250 a month |
| Operations | $649 | $324 a month | 15 | 800 a month |
The math most owners run is simple. Crew billed yearly is $768 a year. If measured bids save one drive-out a week or win one extra install a season, the plan has paid for itself. Full details are on the pricing page.
FAQ
- Is Yardbook really free?
Yes, Yardbook offers a free core plan for lawn care and landscaping businesses in the US and Canada, covering customers, scheduling, estimates and invoices. Reviews note that card processing fees apply and that some features, such as the QuickBooks connection, are sold as paid extras, so the total cost depends on how you use it.
- What is the best alternative to Yardbook?
It depends on what you are replacing. For estimating, LandscapeEstimating measures the property from satellite and prices every layer from your rates, from $129 a month. For an all-in-one field service platform with scheduling and invoicing, Jobber, LMN and Aspire are the names that come up most often.
- Yardbook vs Jobber, which is better for a growing lawn care company?
Yardbook costs nothing and covers the basics for a starter route. Jobber is a paid field service platform with more automation for scheduling, client communication and payments. Neither prices installs from a satellite takeoff with production rates, which is the gap LandscapeEstimating fills alongside either one.
- Can Yardbook measure a lawn from satellite?
Yardbook's estimates are built from a catalog of products and services, and the reviews we checked do not describe a layer-by-layer satellite takeoff. LandscapeEstimating traces turf, beds, sod, pavers, gravel, walls, fence lines and edging on satellite imagery and prices each layer as you draw.
- Can I keep Yardbook and use LandscapeEstimating for estimates?
Yes. Plenty of small companies keep their route, scheduling and invoicing in the tool they already use and build install bids in LandscapeEstimating. The signed proposal downloads as a PDF, and on Company and above it exports to QuickBooks Online as invoice lines.
- How much does LandscapeEstimating cost compared with Yardbook?
LandscapeEstimating starts at $129 a month, or $64 a month billed yearly, per company with two estimator seats and 60 satellite measurements a month. Yardbook's core plan is free. You are paying for measured, margin-checked bids, not for scheduling.
Get started
Price your next install from the satellite map today
Trace a real US address, let the turf, beds, patio and edging price from your own rates, and check the margin on every line before the client sees it. When it prices the way you do, create your account.