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Construction · head to head

GCPay vs Knowify

GCPay logo

GCPay

Construction

Subcontractor pay application and lien waiver exchange for general contractors in North America

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Knowify logo

Knowify

Construction

Construction and field service management integrated with QuickBooks

From
$99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: GCPay the subcontractor is a compelled user who did not choose the tool, so adoption friction and support load fall on the general contractor, and small trades with one bookkeeper resent every extra portal.; Knowify additional users cost $29/month per person across all plans
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GCPay and Knowify actually diverge.

Attributes where GCPay and Knowify differ
AttributeGCPayKnowify
Starting priceOn request$99/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Construction).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in GCPay

  • Pay application workflow
  • Lien waiver exchange
  • Compliance tracking
  • Change order management
  • ePayments
  • Retainage handling
  • ERP integration
  • Subcontractor portal

Only in Knowify

Nothing recorded that GCPay does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

GCPay

  • A general contractor in a strict lien state that has been burned by a missing unconditional waiver and needs waiver status tied to each payment rather than filed in a shared drivenot Knowify
  • A contractor whose accounts payable team spends the first week of every month rekeying pay applications from PDF emails into Sage or Viewpointnot Knowify
  • An owner-facing GC that must produce a clean audit trail of who was paid what and when, with insurance compliance evidence attachednot Knowify
  • A construction group standardising on Autodesk Construction Cloud that wants payment application data in the same estate as the project recordnot Knowify

Knowify

  • Bidding fixed-price and AIA jobs with team managementnot GCPay
  • Tracking labor and materials costs to project phasesnot GCPay
  • Real-time dispatching and payment processing for crewsnot GCPay
  • Managing change orders and invoicing across projectsnot GCPay

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

GCPay

  • The subcontractor is a compelled user who did not choose the tool, so adoption friction and support load fall on the general contractor, and small trades with one bookkeeper resent every extra portal.
  • Pricing is entirely quoted and keyed to annual subcontracted construction value, which means a contractor with a few very large subcontracts can pay far more than one with many small ones for identical functionality.
  • The ePayment fee structure is decided per general contractor, so a subcontractor cannot predict its cost of getting paid across clients and may be charged on one job and not another for the same work.
  • It is a payment and compliance system, not job costing; commitments still have to reconcile against the ERP, and integration gaps mean many contractors run a manual check anyway.
  • Autodesk acquired parent Payapps in 2024, and the strategic direction is convergence with Autodesk Construction Cloud, so buyers on Procore or a non-Autodesk stack should ask directly what the roadmap commitment to their platform is.

Knowify

  • Additional users cost $29/month per person across all plans
  • Monthly billing costs 50% more than annual billing

Pricing, plan by plan

GCPay

On request
  • GCPay for General Contractors$undefined/year
    • Priced on project count, subcontractor count and annual subcontracted volume
    • Unlimited free subcontractor accounts
    • Lien waiver and compliance tracking
  • ePayments and Waiver Exchange$undefined/month
    • Per-transaction fee disclosed at submission
    • General contractor may absorb the fee or pass it to the subcontractor
    • Subcontractor must acknowledge the fee before submitting

Knowify

$99/month
  • Core$99/month
    • 1 user
    • Bid, execute, and invoice for fixed-price and AIA jobs
  • Advanced$329/month
    • 10 users
    • Project management
    • Job costing tools
  • Enterprise$null/mo
    • Unlimited users
    • Unlimited inventory
    • Custom pricing

Which should you pick?

Choose GCPay if

  • You need pay application workflow.
  • You also want lien waiver exchange.
GCPay review

Choose Knowify if

Nothing in the data separates Knowify from GCPay on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Knowify review

Questions people ask

Is GCPay or Knowify better?
Neither clearly leads. GCPay starts at On request and Knowify at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GCPay or Knowify?
GCPay starts at On request and Knowify at $99/month.
Does GCPay or Knowify run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is GCPay best used for?
GCPay is most often used for a general contractor in a strict lien state that has been burned by a missing unconditional waiver and needs waiver status tied to each payment rather than filed in a shared drive, a contractor whose accounts payable team spends the first week of every month rekeying pay applications from pdf emails into sage or viewpoint, an owner-facing gc that must produce a clean audit trail of who was paid what and when, with insurance compliance evidence attached, a construction group standardising on autodesk construction cloud that wants payment application data in the same estate as the project record. Of those, a general contractor in a strict lien state that has been burned by a missing unconditional waiver and needs waiver status tied to each payment rather than filed in a shared drive and a contractor whose accounts payable team spends the first week of every month rekeying pay applications from pdf emails into sage or viewpoint are not what Knowify is typically brought in for.
What can GCPay do that Knowify cannot?
GCPay covers Pay application workflow, Lien waiver exchange, Compliance tracking, Change order management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

GCPay: Who pays for GCPay, the GC or the sub?

The general contractor pays the subscription. Subcontractor accounts are free. Only the optional ePayment and waiver exchange transaction fee can be passed to the subcontractor, and only with their acknowledgement.

Knowify: How much does Knowify cost?

Knowify Core plan starts at $99/month for annual billing (or $149/month for monthly billing) and includes 1 user. The Advanced plan costs $329/month annually ($399/month monthly) and includes 10 users.

Source
GCPay: How much is the ePayment fee?

It is a flat per-transaction fee, disclosed at the point the pay application is submitted. GCPay has published a $15 figure for the ePayments and waiver exchange service, and the GC decides who bears it.

Knowify: What is the cost per additional user on Knowify?

Additional users cost $29/month across all plans whether on Core or Advanced.

Source
GCPay: Is GCPay owned by Autodesk?

Yes. Autodesk agreed to acquire Payapps, which trades as GCPay in North America and Payapps elsewhere, in January 2024.

Knowify: Does Knowify have a free trial?

A free trial is available for both Core and Advanced plans before requiring a paid subscription.

Source
GCPay: Does it replace our construction accounting system?

No. It handles the application, approval and compliance workflow and then pushes approved payments into your ERP.

Knowify: What add-on features are available on Knowify?

Service Pro ($99/month annually), Live Equipment Tracking ($25/vehicle/month annually), AI Dashcams ($25/dashcam annually), and Tool Tracking ($99/month) are available as paid add-ons.

Source
GCPay: Can subcontractors export their own records?

Subcontractors can download their submitted applications and waivers, but the project record belongs to the general contractor's account, so a sub should keep its own copies rather than rely on continued portal access.

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