Plancraft alternative 2026: what trade businesses should look for
This guide covers German law and practice. A UK edition is in preparation.
A Plancraft alternative makes sense if you mainly capture quotes right on site, want mandatory details checked before sending, and want to trace prices back to your own history. Handschlag is built for exactly that as a German iPhone app for sole traders and small trade businesses: you describe the job, check the quote and send it only after your approval.
Plancraft alternative: what to settle first
Anyone searching for a “plancraft alternative” should not start with a feature list. What matters is where in the business the quote costs time today.
For many trade businesses the bottleneck is not the PDF itself but what comes before it: services are discussed on site, later reconstructed in the office from notes, and then priced. An alternative to a quoting program therefore has to fit the workflow, not just the office setup.
Settle first whether you are looking for a solution for capturing quotes on the move, reusing prices, mandatory details, data protection or follow-up. If you are comparing several programs, the guide Quoting apps for tradespeople compared: what businesses should look for helps as well.
A Plancraft alternative for trade quotes
A quoting app for the trades has to turn discussed services into clear line items. That includes quantity, unit and price per line item. Those details matter not only for the customer but also for your own post-calculation.
With Handschlag, services, quantities and prices are spoken. The dictation becomes line items with quantity, unit and price. If no price is spoken, the app searches the same business’s earlier quotes and shows where the price came from. If there is no spoken price and no match in the history, the field stays empty.
That matters for businesses that do not want guessed prices on a quote. The business can see whether a price is backed up, comes from the voice input or still needs to be added.
A Plancraft alternative with voice input
Voice input makes most sense when the quote begins where the job is discussed. On site, services can often be captured more precisely than later at the desk.
Handschlag is built for that flow. The job is spoken into the iPhone. The app recognises quote line items from it. Speech recognition and the processing of the job’s contents run on the device.
For a practical test, do not just check that voice input exists. Check whether typical phrases from your trade are understood, whether quantities and units are separated correctly, and whether price fields stay clear when there is no reliable price.
Checking a Plancraft alternative: comparison table
| Area | Question for the business | Handschlag according to the source material |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | Can service, quantity, unit and price be captured straight from the conversation? | Services, quantities and prices are spoken and carried into line items. |
| Price source | Is it visible where a price came from? | Prices can be taken from the same business’s earlier quotes; the source is shown. |
| Empty prices | What happens when no price is named and no old price is found? | The field stays empty. Nothing is guessed. |
| Mandatory details | Is a check for missing details run before the PDF? | The PDF export is blocked while legally required details are missing. |
| Data protection | Do the contents of the job leave the device? | Quotes, customer data and price history sit locally on the iPhone; dictation and line-item recognition run on the device. |
| Follow-up | Is there a limit on following up? | The app reminds you on the 3rd, 4th and 5th working day with ready-made text; then it stops. |
| Availability | Is the app already on the App Store? | Available in the UK, the US and Switzerland; Germany and Austria are being unlocked. |
Mandatory details with a Plancraft alternative
A trade quote should not just be easy to read. It has to contain the required details so it can be sent properly.
According to the source material, every quote carries the full company name with legal form, address, tax number or VAT ID, quote number, date, validity period, a description of the service with quantity, unit and price per line item, and net, VAT and total shown separately.
For trades requiring registration under Annex A of the German Crafts Code (Handwerksordnung), the responsible Chamber of Crafts is added. Small businesses under § 19 UStG (the German VAT exemption) show no VAT and use the statutory note instead.
Handschlag checks these details before the PDF export. If something is missing, the app blocks the export and shows a specific error message.
Data protection with a Plancraft alternative
Data protection is not a side issue with quoting software. Quotes contain customer data, addresses, services, prices and with them business information.
With Handschlag, quotes, customer data and price history sit in a local database on the iPhone. Speech recognition and line-item recognition run on the device. There is no account, no sign-up and no provider server for the contents of the job.
There are explicitly named exceptions. Address search and “use location” ask Apple’s map service. Purchases go through Apple. Email, WhatsApp and PDF sending only happen once the user triggers them.
A Plancraft alternative and follow-up
A quote is not done just because it was sent. Many businesses lose track here when replies are not documented or are chased too late.
Handschlag reminds you on the 3rd, 4th and 5th working day after sending. For that, the app supplies ready-made texts for email or WhatsApp. After at most three reminders it stops.
When comparing with other solutions, the reminder is not the only thing that matters. Check also whether the tone stays matter-of-fact and whether the business can tell when a quote is still open and when it is not.
Checklist for choosing a Plancraft alternative
- Does the app fit your trade and the way you work on site?
- Can services, quantities, units and prices be captured clearly?
- Does a price field stay empty when no price was named and no old price was found?
- Does the app show which earlier quote a carried-over price came from?
- Does the app check the required details before the PDF export?
- Are net, VAT and total shown separately, where VAT is to be shown?
- Is there a suitable rule for small businesses under § 19 UStG?
- Do customer data, quotes and price history live locally or on an external system?
- Is it clearly defined when data leaves the device?
- Is there limited, matter-of-fact follow-up after sending?
- Is the app’s current availability settled for your business?
- Are the technical requirements met in your business?
Limits of this comparison
This article does not assess Plancraft in detail, because the source material available contains no verified facts about Plancraft. It therefore makes no statements about Plancraft’s features, prices, contracts or data protection.
For Handschlag, the source material names clear limits. The app is available in the UK, the US and Switzerland, with Germany and Austria being unlocked. The requirement is iOS 26 on an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence; without the on-device model the app carries on with rule-based recognition.
That makes Handschlag most interesting for businesses that work with an iPhone and want to prepare their quotes straight out of the conversation on site.
Faster with Handschlag
With Handschlag you describe the job right on site, into your iPhone. Services, quantities and prices become quote line items; missing prices are only taken from your own history, otherwise the field stays empty. Before the PDF export the app checks the required details.
Sources
- Handschlag, facts and notes about the app: https://handschlag.dev/llms.txt
- Handschlag guide, quoting apps for tradespeople compared: https://handschlag.dev/en/guide/quoting-apps-compared-2026