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Clearstory vs Raken

Two tools that both now list change orders, from different starting points. Clearstory is a change order platform built around signed digital T&M tags and change order request (COR) logs shared between parties, with AI agents for pricing, tags, review and change notifications. Raken is a field-first daily reporting and field management app that has added change orders with a no-login guest approval mode next to its daily reports, time tracking and safety tools. Partly like-for-like: both track change orders, but Clearstory goes deeper on T&M and COR workflow and Raken wider on daily field records. Desk research from vendor sites read Nov 2, 2026; no winner.

DESK RESEARCH FROM VENDOR SITES. Compiled from vendors' public websites (accessed Nov 2, 2026). Vendor claims are not verified by Means & Methods Lab. No scores or rankings.

In short: Clearstory (Change orders & T&M tags; free option; paid prices not listed) vs Raken (Daily reporting & field management; vendor publishes prices). Facts last checked Nov 2, 2026. No winner declared; desk research from vendor sites.

Side by side

Clearstory vs Raken: vendor-published facts side by side
Sheet rowClearstoryRaken
CategoryChange orders & T&M tagsDaily reporting & field management
AI role (our label)AI features added to established productAI features added to established product
What it doesChange order platform (formerly Extracker) for GCs, specialty contractors and owners, with signed digital T&M tags and shared COR logs. It also lists change order request (COR) logs shared between parties, rate libraries, allowances and contingencies, backcharges, analytics (days aging, ball in court) and ERP/PM integrations. The Clearstory AI page lists four agents: the COR Pricing Agent (Open Beta; send a voice note, attach a takeoff or upload your own priced estimate, and it drafts the COR and pulls rates from the project library, or picks up your numbers if you already price work in your own tools; you edit before it is sent), the T&M Tag Agent (Open Beta; transcribes a voice note with built-in Spanish-to-English translation, matches work against the project rate library, prompts for anything missing and drafts a tag ready for signature), the COR Review Agent (Closed Beta; reviews incoming CORs against your checklist, validates rates against approved schedules, confirms backup documentation and prepares a response package) and the Change Notification Agent (Open Beta; analyzes a design change, identifies impacted trades, flags missing information to raise with the architect, estimates internal cost exposure and drafts the change notification for review). It also groups a Bulk AI Import Agent and an AI Reason Categories Agent under "Beyond the Four Agents". Account owners, admins and PMs can turn AI off for the company or for individual projects, and the pricing FAQ and AI page say customer data is never used to train public or private AI models (vendor statement). Both pages carry a SOC 2 Type II badge. Clearstory's network, dollar-volume and time-saved figures differ between its pages and are not used.Field-first web and mobile app for daily progress reports, time and production tracking, materials and equipment, safety, RFIs, submittals, change orders, forms and documents. Daily reports collect notes, photos, videos and voice-to-text entries that sync in real time into a shareable, branded PDF report with the day's weather; the Daily Reports page also lists collaborator reports that give subcontractors free access to file their own dailies, and reports segmented by supervisor, shift or location. The Time Tracking page lists time cards, a mobile time clock and kiosk mode, geofencing and GPS, custom payroll policies, unlimited cost codes and AI photo ID for flagging attempted time fraud. The app also covers resource scheduling, certifications and a labor map, material and equipment tracking, safety and quality checklists, observations, toolbox talks, incidents with OSHA submit, RFIs, digital forms and document storage. The navigation marks Change Orders, Resource Scheduling and API & MCP as new: the Change Orders page describes change orders with cost items linked to RFIs and submittals, a no-login guest mode where respondents approve, partially approve or reject, and a ball-in-court log; the API & MCP page describes a client-facing API and Raken MCP for connecting field data to AI agents such as Claude and ChatGPT. Heavy civil is listed under Who We Serve. Tagged AI features added to an established product on the strength of AI photo ID and the MCP connection; the homepage itself does not lead with AI, and the Daily Reports page no longer lists AI report summaries. App-store ratings and customer quotes are not used.
Who it's forGeneral contractors, self-performing GCs, specialty contractors (trades listed include concrete, excavation, electrical, mechanical, roofing, firestop, plumbing, structural steel) and project owners; heavy civil is listed.Contractors' field crews, superintendents, and safety managers.
Pricing (as publicly stated)Basic is free for all stakeholders (5 T&M tags and 5 CORs per month, unlimited projects, mobile app, Bulk AI Import). Standard (unlimited CORs and T&M tags, change notifications, analytics, rate management, custom AI COR reason categories) and Professional (API, integrations, allowances, multi-office, Single Sign On) are through Contact Sales. The pricing FAQ says Standard and Professional carry a per-user fee plus a platform fee per project, licensed at the project, office or company level; first-level stakeholders you invite get Plus free on those plans, a free managed pilot is offered, and tailored enterprise agreements are available on request.Per-user subscription in USD, billed annually, minimum 3 users. Basic $23/user/month ($69 a month at the 3-user minimum); Performance $59/user/month ($177 a month at 3 users; adds time tracking, production tracking, safety & quality, RFIs/forms/document storage, insights dashboards and dedicated onboarding). The rendered pricing page shows 5% off at 5 users and 10% off at 10 users; bulk discounts for larger teams through sales.
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Vendor links
Sources

Facts last checked: Nov 2, 2026. Prices change; check the vendor page before relying on them.

Where the vendor descriptions differ

  • What each sells (vendor wording): Clearstory describes a change order platform (formerly Extracker) for GCs, specialty contractors and owners, with signed digital T&M tags, shared COR logs, rate libraries, allowances and contingencies, backcharges and ERP/PM integrations. Raken describes a field-first web and mobile app for daily progress reports, time and production tracking, safety, RFIs, submittals, change orders, forms and documents.
  • Change orders: Clearstory's COR logs are shared between the parties, with analytics on days aging and ball in court. Raken's Change Orders page (marked new in its navigation) describes change orders with cost items linked to RFIs and submittals, a no-login guest mode where respondents approve, partially approve or reject, and a ball-in-court log.
  • Field records: Clearstory's T&M tags are signed digitally in the field and priced against the project rate library. Raken's daily reports collect notes, photos, videos and voice-to-text entries into a shareable PDF with the day's weather, alongside time cards, safety and quality checklists, toolbox talks and incidents.
  • AI (vendor statements): Clearstory's AI page lists a COR Pricing Agent and a T&M Tag Agent (both Open Beta; the tag agent turns a field voice note into a rate-matched tag, with Spanish-to-English translation), a COR Review Agent (Closed Beta) and a Change Notification Agent (Open Beta), and says AI can be turned off by company or project. Raken lists AI photo ID for flagging attempted time fraud at clock-in and Raken MCP for connecting field data to AI agents such as Claude and ChatGPT; its change order page describes no AI.
  • Pricing (read Nov 2, 2026): Clearstory's Basic plan is free (5 T&M tags and 5 CORs a month); Standard and Professional are through sales, with a per-user fee plus a per-project platform fee. Raken lists Basic at $23 and Performance at $59 per user per month in USD billed annually with a 3-user minimum.
  • AI tags: we tag both Clearstory and Raken as AI features added to an established product.
  • Not used here: network size, dollar-volume and time-saved figures, ratings and customer quotes (vendor material). Facts for both tools come from vendor websites (desk research).

Paraphrased from the sources listed above. Vendor claims are reported as claims.

What users say

The facts above come from vendor websites. Whether either tool is any good for your work is something only people who use them can say. These are member reviews, all ratings shown, never edited or removed for being negative.

Used either of these? Share your take

Good or bad, an honest review from an estimator, PM or super helps the next team more than another vendor demo. You post under a handle; your email is never shown.

Questions to ask in your review

  • Whether Raken's change orders are included on the Basic plan
  • How either tool's change order log exports to your accounting or ERP system
  • How Clearstory's beta agents perform on your own rate library
  • What did you use it for, on what kind of work and project size?
  • How long did setup and training take, and who on your team did it?
  • What does it cost you in practice, compared with what the sales call said?

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