Obat review 2026: pricing by plan, limits, alternatives

My take on Obat in 2026: the actual pricing grid by legal status, what the construction software really covers, its limits, and the alternatives.

TL;DR

Obat is the quote and invoicing software that pushes job site tracking furthest for a micro-business in construction, with a library of roughly 30,000 line items at regionalized pricing and a grid segmented by legal status. Expect $28 USD per month for a sole trader without VAT on annual commitment, $44 USD for a VAT-registered tradesperson, and up to $123 USD for the Booster offer. The product holds up on the job, and free human support makes a real difference. Two things stopped me during analysis: four paid options displayed with zero public pricing, and data hosting documentation nowhere to be found.

What is Obat used for exactly?

Obat is used to price a construction quote, convert it to an invoice, and track the progress and profitability of each job site.

The publisher is French, OBAT SAS, based in Nantes and launched in 2019. The tool runs on browser with iOS and Android mobile apps, which matters when pricing happens on-site and review happens in the evening.

The core component is the line item library. Roughly 30,000 line items spread across 18 trades, with regionalized pricing. The distinction sounds trivial—it's not: the price per square meter for drywall installation in the Paris region versus rural Creuse has nothing to do with each other, and a tool serving you a national average makes you price wrong both ways. You start from a pre-filled base, adjust it, record your own prices, and your twentieth quote takes three times less time than the first.

The second component, the one that justifies the price gap versus a simple invoicing tool, is job site tracking. Progress, photos, scheduling, hours spent, and above all profitability per project. You see mid-way that a job priced at 12% margin is sliding to 4%, while negotiable line items remain. That's where a trade-specific tool earns its subscription.

Third component, team management: roles, hour tracking, payroll prep. Useful starting at two or three crew members; pointless if you work solo.

Then comes the standard document chain—quote, deposit invoice, progress invoice, final invoice—using construction terminology: work situations, multiple VAT rates on the same document, notes tied to renovation subsidies. A generalist tool like Henrri or Abby knows nothing about any of this, and you'll pay for it in manual workarounds.

How much does Obat cost in 2026?

Obat costs 25 to 109 € HT per month depending on your legal status and tier chosen, with three segments and three levels each.

It's an unusual grid, and rather honest in principle: instead of billing per user, the publisher segments by company profile. A sole trader doesn't pay the price of a 10-person micro-business.

The amounts in parentheses are monthly without commitment; the others are annual commitment. The gap is around 20%—roughly two months free per year. The full grid is public on the publisher's pricing page, and prices are displayed ex-VAT, avoiding sticker shock on first billing.

Trial is listed at 14 days. What isn't stated anywhere is whether you need to provide a credit card to start. Annoying detail.

The real blind spot in this grid is elsewhere: four paid options are listed with zero public pricing. Marketing and reputation, team access, voice quotes, pro account. You cannot calculate your real budget before talking to sales. Out of hundreds of pricing cards I've reviewed for the directory, this is the signal that best predicts a final bill higher than you had in mind.

What Obat does better than competitors

Obat wins on three fronts: the depth of trade expertise in the library, per-job profitability tracking, and unlimited free human support.

On the library, the gap versus a generalist invoicing tool is clear. You don't start from a blank page; you start from line items already broken down into materials and labor. A tradesperson pricing eight quotes per week recovers hours.

On profitability tracking, Obat sits in a category where few competitors at this price play. Comparing budget to actual per project is what separates a tradesperson who knows why they're making money from one who hopes they are.

Support, finally. Free, unlimited, training included, reachable by phone and chat 5–6 days a week depending on the plan. It's the point that comes up most often in positive feedback, and it makes sense for the target: someone who takes off their hard hat at 7 p.m. and has zero desire to open a ticket and wait 48 hours.

One last advantage: electronic invoicing is included in all plans at no extra charge. In this market, many publishers made it a paid add-on. I come back to this below because the subject deserves careful reading.

Obat's limits you need to know before signing

Three limits genuinely bothered me: missing GDPR documentation, no offline mode, and options without displayed pricing.

Start with the most serious. When I analyzed the entry for the directory in July 2026, the site's privacy policy page returned an error, and legal notices named a retail company as the hosting provider. On this last point, it's very likely a copy-paste never corrected rather than technical reality. That doesn't make it a proven non-compliance, but for a publisher this size storing customer data, quotes, and payroll, it's abnormal. Ask them in writing for exact server location before signing, and keep the answer.

Second limit: offline mode. Obat doesn't offer it. Basement, renovation house without connectivity, rural dead zone: the app abandons you when you need it most. If that's your everyday reality, look at Tolteck instead, which is exactly its strength, even if you lose profitability tracking.

Third limit, already mentioned: the four options with no tariff. Add that Obat doesn't replace accounting: your bookkeeper stays in the loop, and you'll probably want a Pennylane or Tiime alongside. The Pennylane connector exists; it's about the only one documented outside electronic invoicing.

Finally, the integration ecosystem is thin. No documented Zapier, no public API put front and center. If your organization relies on automation, plan for manual entry at connection points.

Obat and electronic invoicing: read carefully before deciding

Obat includes electronic invoicing in all plans but is not an Approved Platform in its own right: it relies on a registered partner, Iopole.

The distinction isn't legal for pleasure. Since September 1, 2026, all VAT-registered businesses must be able to receive electronic invoices. The obligation to issue follows September 1, 2027 for SMBs, micro-businesses, and mid-market companies, after large enterprises and mid-market firms. The official timeline is detailed on the dedicated impots.gouv.fr page.

In this system, only DGFiP-Approved Platforms can transmit your invoices. A software publisher can either be approved itself or go through an approved platform partner. Obat chose the second route, via Iopole, registered late 2025. Technically, it works; Factur-X and Peppol formats are covered, and many publishers do the same.

What I fault is the marketing language, which blurs the line between digitization operator and approved platform. A tradesperson reading quickly thinks Obat is approved. It isn't. In practice, the consequence is limited if the partnership holds, but it exists: your compliance depends on a third party you didn't choose. Ask sales, and note the answer.

Against that, a Sellsy is an approved platform in its own name. A point for it if this criterion weighs in your decision.

Obat or a generalist invoicing tool?

Take Obat if you track multiple job sites in parallel; a generalist if you invoice simple services without a notion of progress.

The dividing line is there, nowhere else. An Axonaut covers quote, invoice, CRM, and a bit of accounting for any-sector SMBs at close pricing. It will never know work situations or line item decomposition. A Henrri is free on core invoicing, unbeatable on budget, and stops there. An Indy or Freebe are excellent for a sole trader wanting invoicing and tax returns in one place, but they don't speak construction.

The broad comparison of market solutions is in the complete invoicing software guide, and if your priority right now is cutting software costs, free accounting tools are worth exploring before you pay anything.

How to test Obat without wasting time

Spend two hours of trial on one goal: replay a finished job site, quote to final invoice, with your real numbers.

It's the method that gives a reliable answer, and it works for any software of this type. Here's the framework I apply.

1. Pick a job site you invoiced six months ago, whose real margin you know.
2. Price it in the tool starting from the library, no custom line items at first. Note the time spent and the gap between the tool's price and your usual price.
3. Enter your own prices on the five line items you use most, then re-price. If the second pricing isn't noticeably faster, the library won't serve you.
4. Create the deposit invoice, an intermediate progress invoice, and the final invoice. Check VAT mentions and PDF appearance with your logo.
5. Open the profitability tracker and compare the tool's result to the margin you calculated by hand. If the gap is large, understand why before deciding.
6. Send three questions to support via three different channels, and time it.

Three questions to ask sales before signing: the price of the four paid options, server location, and what happens to your data if you cancel. Written answers beat phone promises.

Key takeaways

• Obat costs 25 € HT per month for a sole trader on annual commitment and 39 € HT for a VAT-registered tradesperson, up to 109 € HT for the most complete plan.
• Its real advantage over generalist invoicing tools rests on two things: a library of roughly 30,000 line items at regionalized pricing, and profitability tracking per job site.
• Four paid options are displayed with zero public pricing. Impossible to calculate an exact budget without talking to sales.
• Electronic invoicing is included, but Obat is not an Approved Platform itself: it goes through Iopole.
• No offline mode. On poorly covered job sites, that's a deal-breaker.