For excavation contractors
Excavation software that's actually free
One good rain shuts a dig site for three days, the GC's slipped schedule lands on yours, and the machines cost money whether they're moving dirt or parked. The software, at least, should cost nothing.
Free forever. No monthly plan, no seat fees, no trial clock.
Sound familiar?
The parts of the job that have nothing to do with the work.
Rain owns the schedule
You can't compact mud and you can't hold grade in soup. A Tuesday storm idles the excavator into Friday, and every job behind it slides — while the equipment note doesn't slide anywhere.
Bids by the hour, the load, and the gut
Machine hours, operator time, trucking, disposal, a rock clause just in case — you can figure it standing in the cut, but getting it onto paper a GC will sign takes another night at the kitchen table.
Idle iron, slow checks
The machine payment clears on the first of the month, every month. The invoices you're owed clear whenever somebody in an office gets around to them.
What changes with MakeHay
Quote, schedule, get paid, come back.
Schedule around the weather, not despite it
Excavation runs on dry ground: trenches flood, mud won't compact, and frozen ground fights the bucket. MakeHay pulls the forecast for every job site's address, so you see the shutdown coming days out — resequence the week, move the machines to the site that stays workable, and call the GC before they call you.
- Rain warnings per site, days ahead of the wash-out
- The week's weather against every open job, on one calendar
- Shift machine time to the ground that stays dry
Quote it before you leave the site
Price it the way you build it — machine hours, operator time, trucking, and disposal as line items, with a clean total the GC or homeowner approves in one tap. No retyping the bid after dark.
Get paid without chasing
Invoices go out the day the grade's approved, with card and ACH pay links and automatic reminders behind them. The machine payments don't wait on the mail — your receivables shouldn't either.
Keep every customer for the re-do
The GC who liked your grade has the next site, and the septic dig leads to the driveway cut. MakeHay keeps every customer, site, and invoice in one place, so the repeat work finds you before the bid ever goes public.
The honest math
Compare the bill, not the brochure.
MakeHay
$0/mo
Free is the plan — not a trial of one
- Every feature, every user, from day one
- No per-seat pricing, no feature gates
- No credit card to sign up, nothing to cancel
The usual field-service subscription
$29–399/mo
+ card fees on top
- Per-seat pricing that climbs as your crew grows
- The features you actually need gated to higher tiers
- An annual bill whether it rained all month or not
FAQ
Excavation questions, answered straight.
Is it really free?
Yes. Unlimited customers, sites, quotes, scheduling, and invoices — free forever, not a trial. No monthly plan, no seat fees, and no credit card to start.
What's the catch?
No catch. The software costs us almost nothing per contractor to run, so it's free. Optional paid add-ons come later only for features with real per-use costs, like texting and AI — the core stays free. Online card and ACH payments carry processing costs, as they would with any provider.
Can it warn me before rain shuts a site down?
Yes. Every scheduled job carries the National Weather Service forecast for its own address, flagged on the calendar — so a wet stretch shows up days early and you can resequence machines and crews before the site's underwater.
Can I take my data with me if I leave?
It's yours. Ask and we'll export everything — customers, sites, quotes, invoices, payment history — and we delete what's left as laid out in our privacy policy.
Do I need a credit card to sign up?
No. Sign up with an email and send your first excavation quote the same day. No trial period, no tier ladder.
See every trade we build for on the industries page, or browse the full feature list.
Move dirt, not money. The software's free.
Machine-hour quoting, per-site rain warnings, and online payments for excavation contractors — free forever.