Softwr

Construction · head to head

GCPay vs Raken

GCPay logo

GCPay

Construction

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Raken logo

Raken

Construction

Daily reporting and field production tracking

From
$40/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.; Raken no pricing tiers published on public website. Pricing requires direct contact with sales at 858-290-4477 or [email protected]
  • They diverge on capability: GCPay covers Pay application workflow, Raken covers Daily reporting.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GCPay and Raken actually diverge.

Attributes where GCPay and Raken differ
AttributeGCPayRaken
Starting priceOn request$40/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWebWeb, Ios, Android
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Raken

  • Daily reporting
  • Photo documentation
  • Time tracking
  • Production tracking
  • Safety toolbox talks
  • Procore
  • Autodesk BIM 360
  • Sage

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 Raken
  • A contractor whose accounts payable team spends the first week of every month rekeying pay applications from PDF emails into Sage or Viewpointnot Raken
  • An owner-facing GC that must produce a clean audit trail of who was paid what and when, with insurance compliance evidence attachednot Raken
  • A construction group standardising on Autodesk Construction Cloud that wants payment application data in the same estate as the project recordnot Raken

Raken

  • Daily logsnot GCPay
  • Field documentationnot GCPay
  • Progress trackingnot GCPay
  • Time managementnot 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.

Raken

  • No pricing tiers published on public website. Pricing requires direct contact with sales at 858-290-4477 or [email protected]

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

Raken

$40/month
  • Lite$40/month
    • Daily reports
    • Photo documentation
    • Time tracking
  • Pro$80/month
    • Everything in Lite
    • Production tracking
    • Toolbox talks
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Custom workflows
    • API access
    • SSO

Which should you pick?

Choose GCPay if

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

Choose Raken if

  • You need daily reporting.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want photo documentation.
Raken review

Questions people ask

Is GCPay or Raken better?
Neither clearly leads. GCPay starts at On request and Raken at $40/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GCPay or Raken?
GCPay starts at On request and Raken at $40/month.
Does GCPay or Raken run on more platforms?
GCPay runs on Web. Raken runs on Web, Ios, Android.
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 Raken is typically brought in for.
What can GCPay do that Raken cannot?
GCPay covers Pay application workflow, Lien waiver exchange, Compliance tracking, Change order management. Raken covers Daily reporting, Photo documentation, Time tracking, Production tracking.

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.

Raken: Does Raken offer a free trial?

Yes, Raken offers a free trial option with no pricing details disclosed on the public website. Interested users can start a free trial or schedule a demo to see the product in action.

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.

Raken: What is Raken's pricing model?

Raken uses a quote-based pricing model. No pricing tiers or rates are published on their website. Pricing must be obtained by contacting their sales team.

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.

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.

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.

Share

Related pages

More on GCPay

More on Raken

Keep looking

Other head to heads