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Clearstory vs Siteline

Two tools subcontractors use to get paid, covering different steps. Clearstory manages change orders: signed digital T&M tags, change order requests (CORs) and shared COR logs, with AI agents in beta and a free Basic plan. Siteline handles monthly billing: pay apps on each GC's forms, lien waivers, lien rights and collections, by custom quote. Not like-for-like. Desk research from vendor pages read Oct 26, 2026; not tested, no winner.

DESK RESEARCH, NOT TESTED. Compiled from vendors' public websites (accessed Oct 26, 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 Siteline (Pay apps & billing; no public prices (quote / sales)). Facts last checked Oct 26, 2026. No winner declared; not tested.

Side by side

Clearstory vs Siteline: vendor-published facts side by side
Sheet rowClearstorySiteline
CategoryChange orders & T&M tagsPay apps & billing
AI role (our label)AI features added to established productNot AI-first
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. Re-read Oct 17, 2026: the Clearstory AI page lists four agents, including two marked Open Beta: the COR Pricing Agent (send a voice note, attach a takeoff or upload your own priced estimate; it drafts the COR and pulls rates from the project library, and you edit before it is sent) and the T&M Tag Agent (transcribes a voice note, matches work against the project rate library, which the vendor says can exceed 10,000 line items in heavy civil, electrical and mechanical, and drafts a tag ready for signature). The page also lists a COR Review Agent (Closed Beta) and a Change Notification Agent (beta; the page labels it both Closed and Open Beta). Our Oct 16 note that these two agents were no longer listed was wrong (most likely the result of an incomplete text extract): re-checked Oct 17, 2026, the page lists all four, as did a Sept 20, 2026 archived copy. Pricing still lists Bulk AI Import and AI COR Reason Categories. Homepage cites 17k+ contractors on the network, $4.8B in CORs shared monthly and 7+ hours saved per person weekly (vendor claims). Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: the pricing FAQ and the Clearstory AI page both say customer data is never used to train public or private AI models (vendor statement). The AI page adds that the T&M Tag Agent has built-in Spanish-to-English translation and prompts for anything missing, the COR Review Agent validates rates against approved schedules and confirms backup documentation, the Change Notification Agent identifies impacted trades and flags missing information to raise with the architect, and account owners, admins and PMs can turn AI off for the company or for individual projects; beta labels unchanged. Re-checked Oct 20, 2026: the Clearstory AI page still lists the same four agents with the same beta labels, the T&M Tag Agent's built-in Spanish-to-English translation and the company- and project-level AI controls, and now groups a Bulk AI Import Agent and an AI Reason Categories Agent under "Beyond the Four Agents"; the homepage figures above are unchanged (vendor claims). Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: the Clearstory AI page still lists the same four agents and beta labels (COR Pricing Agent and T&M Tag Agent Open Beta, COR Review Agent Closed Beta, Change Notification Agent beta) plus the Bulk AI Import and AI Reason Categories agents. The COR Pricing Agent text now also says it can price from drawings and checks a COR against the reviewer's checklist before it is sent. Both the pricing page and the AI page carry a SOC 2 Type II badge, and the pricing table lists Single Sign On on the top tier. Clearstory's own network figures disagree across pages (17k+ contractors and $4.8B in CORs shared monthly on the homepage, 14k+ in the homepage footer, 14,000+ and $2.6B monthly on the AI page), so none of them is used. Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: the Clearstory AI page still lists the same four agents and the same beta labels, including the Change Notification Agent labeled both Closed Beta and Open Beta. The customer, dollar-volume and project figures still differ between the homepage, footer and AI page and are not used here. Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: pricing page unchanged in substance; the site banner says Extracker is now Clearstory, and the page still shows a SOC 2 Type II badge and lists Single Sign On on the Professional tier.Billing software for subcontractors that builds pay apps on each GC's exact forms and tracks compliance documents, change orders and lien waivers. It also covers lien waiver generation and collection, A/R reporting, cash-flow forecasts, collections, and lien rights deadlines. Integrates with accounting systems and GC payment portals. Vendor says it has digitized 23,000+ forms from 17,000+ GCs and cites getting paid 3 weeks faster (vendor claims). The homepage does not describe AI, so we tag it Not AI-first; its pricing page (re-checked Oct 16, 2026) does list "AI vendor waiver validation for incorrect forms, amounts, or dates" as a feature of the Siteline Suite and of its vendor-compliance package. Re-read Oct 16, 2026: homepage now promotes a new Lien Rights Management product, says subcontractors have billed over $14B across 250k+ projects with Siteline, and cites 3 weeks paid faster, 7 days saved per month, 6x faster billing and 50% fewer pay app revisions (vendor claims). The pricing quote form asks how many lump sum, unit price and/or T&M projects you bill per month and which ERP you use (Sage, Vista, Spectrum, QuickBooks and others listed). Re-read Oct 17, 2026: homepage and pricing page unchanged in substance (subcontractor-only billing; AI vendor waiver validation listed on the pricing page; unlimited users and offices in every package). Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: unchanged in substance. The pricing page still lists AI vendor waiver validation in the Siteline Suite and Vendor Management packages, and describes Vendor Management as for subcontractors or GCs that want a focused vendor-compliance and lien-waiver tool; billing itself is still built for subcontractors. The homepage still describes no AI, so the tag stays. Re-checked Oct 20, 2026: homepage and pricing page unchanged in substance (subcontractor billing; AI vendor waiver validation still listed in both packages; the homepage still describes no AI). The pricing page details the Lien Rights Management add-on (state-specific lien deadlines, lien protection status per project, notices generated from project data and sent by certified mail from Siteline), says most customers are up and running within two weeks, and its FAQ names Textura, GCPay and Procore Pay among the GC payment portals Siteline integrates with. Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: homepage and pricing page unchanged in substance (subcontractor billing on each GC's forms; AI vendor waiver validation still listed in the Siteline Suite and Vendor Management packages; the homepage still describes no AI, so the tag stays). The quote form now starts by asking company type (subcontractor, general contractor or other) and whether you do commercial work, and the solutions menu has a General Contractors entry for lien waiver and vendor compliance automation. Outcome figures and customer quotes not repeated. Re-read Oct 23, 2026 for a compare: pricing page unchanged in substance (Siteline Suite for subcontractors; Vendor Management for subcontractors or GCs focused on vendor compliance and lien waivers; AI vendor waiver validation listed in both; Lien Rights Management add-on; GC payment portal integrations named as Textura, GCPay and Procore Pay). The homepage still describes no AI, so the tag stays. Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: homepage and pricing page unchanged in substance (pay apps, lien waivers, vendor waivers, Lien Rights Management, collections and reporting for subcontractors; vendor compliance and lien waivers for GCs). Billing-volume, speed and aging figures are vendor claims and not used. The pricing page still lists AI vendor waiver validation for incorrect forms, amounts or dates; the homepage still describes no AI, so the tag stays. Re-checked Oct 26, 2026 (also read for a compare): homepage and pricing page unchanged in substance (pay apps, lien waivers, Lien Rights Management, vendor management, A/R reporting, collections, forecasting, change order tracking and compliance tracking for subcontractors). The pricing page still lists AI vendor waiver validation for incorrect forms, amounts or dates; the homepage still describes no AI, so the tag stays. Billing-volume, speed and aging figures are vendor claims and 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.Subcontractors' accounting teams, PMs, and executives.
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) through sales. (Pricing checked Oct 16, 2026; unchanged on Oct 19, 2026. 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, and a free managed pilot is offered.) Re-checked Oct 20, 2026: Basic still free with 5 T&M tags and 5 CORs a month; Standard and Professional still through sales; FAQ unchanged. Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: unchanged (Basic free with 5 T&M tags a month, Bulk AI Import and a mobile app; Standard and Professional through sales with a per-user fee plus a per-project platform fee; invited first-level stakeholders get Plus free; free managed pilot). Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: unchanged (Basic free with 5 T&M tags and 5 CORs a month; Standard and Professional through sales on a per-user fee plus a per-project platform fee; Plus free for invited stakeholders; free managed pilot). Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: unchanged (Basic free with 5 T&M tags and 5 CORs a month, mobile app and Bulk AI Import; Standard and Professional through sales on a per-user fee plus a per-project platform fee, licensed by project, office or company; Plus free for invited first-level stakeholders; free managed pilot).Not publicly listed (custom quote based on product usage, billing volume, and integration needs). Pricing page says every package includes unlimited users and offices with no per-seat or location fees. (Checked Oct 16, 2026.) Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: unchanged. Re-checked Oct 20, 2026: still custom quotes; unlimited users and offices with no per-seat or location fees. Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: unchanged (custom quote by product usage, billing volume and integration needs; unlimited users and offices with no per-seat or location fees; most customers live within two weeks). Re-read Oct 23, 2026: unchanged (custom quote; unlimited users and offices with no per-seat or location fees; most customers live within two weeks). Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: unchanged (custom quote; unlimited users and offices with no per-seat or location fees; most customers up and running within two weeks). Re-checked Oct 25, 2026: unchanged (custom quote; unlimited users and offices with no per-seat or location fees; most customers up and running within two weeks; AI vendor waiver validation still listed). Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: unchanged (custom quote; unlimited users and offices with no per-seat or location fees; most customers up and running within two weeks).
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Vendor links
Sources

Facts last checked: Oct 26, 2026. Prices change; check the vendor page before relying on them.

Where the vendor descriptions differ

  • What each sells (vendor wording): Clearstory (formerly Extracker) calls itself construction's purpose-built platform for managing change orders, for general contractors, specialty contractors and owners. Siteline describes pay app and construction billing software for subcontractors, with lien waiver management, lien rights management, vendor management, A/R reporting, collections, forecasting, change order tracking and compliance tracking.
  • Where they overlap: both touch change orders, but differently. Clearstory is built around the change itself (T&M tags signed in the field, COR templates, rate libraries, allowances, backcharges and an owner-facing COR log). Siteline lists a centralized change order log as one feature of a billing platform whose core job is the monthly pay app and its waivers.
  • AI: Clearstory's AI page lists four agents: COR Pricing and T&M Tag (Open Beta), COR Review (Closed Beta) and Change Notification (labeled both Closed and Open Beta on the page), plus Bulk AI Import and AI Reason Categories; it says AI never acts without human review and can be turned off by company or project. Siteline's pricing page lists AI vendor waiver validation for incorrect forms, amounts or dates; its homepage describes no AI.
  • Who it is for: Clearstory sells to GCs, specialty contractors and owners and lists heavy civil among its segments. Siteline's billing is built for subcontractors; its Vendor Management package is aimed at subcontractors or GCs that want lower-tier lien waiver and document collection.
  • Data and security (vendor statements): Clearstory's pricing FAQ says customer data is never used to train public or private AI models, and its pricing and AI pages show a SOC 2 Type II badge. We did not record comparable statements from the Siteline pages read.
  • Pricing (checked Oct 26, 2026): Clearstory Basic is free for all stakeholders (5 T&M tags and 5 CORs a month, mobile app, Bulk AI Import); Standard and Professional are through sales with a per-user fee plus a platform fee per project, and invited first-level stakeholders get Plus free. Siteline is custom quote, with unlimited users and offices and no per-seat or location fees.
  • Not used here: Clearstory's network, dollar-volume and time-saving figures (which differ between its own pages) and Siteline's billing-speed, aging and volume figures and customer quotes (vendor content).

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.

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Questions to ask in your review

  • Whether your bottleneck is getting change orders priced and signed (Clearstory's focus) or getting the monthly pay app and waivers accepted (Siteline's focus)
  • How Clearstory's beta agents perform on your own rate libraries and T&M tags
  • What each would cost for your users, projects and billing volume, and how each connects to your ERP and your GCs' payment portals
  • 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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