← Back to Bead BoardWeldTrace vs Bead Board
Which one does your shop actually need?
These two aren't the same kind of software. WeldTrace is built for shops that weld to code. Bead Board is built for shops that do custom fab. If you landed on both of us, you're trying to figure out which kind of shop you run. Here's how to tell.
Side by side
WeldTrace plan names and feature scope sourced from weldtrace.com/plans at time of writing. They do not publish dollar pricing publicly.
Buy WeldTrace if any of this sounds like you
If you do code welding, WeldTrace is the right tool and Bead Board isn't trying to replace it. Here's how to tell if that's you:
- You weld to AWS D1.1 structural, ASME IX pressure vessels, API 1104 pipeline, or any ISO 15614 spec.
- Your customers require WPS / PQR documentation with every job.
- You've got certified welders whose continuity you have to track, or you're about to.
- You deal with inspectors, NDE reports, PWHT, pressure tests, or turnover packs.
- You need weld maps so you can prove, two years later, which welder ran which joint.
- You're chasing AISC, ASME, or ISO 3834 certification, or you already have it and you're tired of Excel.
If half or more of that list sounds like your shop, go buy WeldTrace at weldtrace.com. Bead Board isn't what you need. A job tracker can't do WPS paperwork and trying to force it ends badly.
Buy Bead Board if this sounds like you
Most small welding shops aren't code shops. They do custom fab. Here's how to tell if that's you:
- You make stairs, handrails, gates, trailers, brackets, awnings, and one-off repairs. Custom work, not certified production runs.
- Your customers have never once asked you for a WPS.
- You're 1 to 10 people. The owner welds. There's no QA department.
- You lose more sleep over "what did I charge Henderson last year" than over welder continuity records.
- You track jobs on a whiteboard or a spreadsheet today and you're ready to put it somewhere real.
- You want to be set up by the end of the afternoon, not the end of the quarter.
That's who Bead Board is for. $99 flat for the whole shop. Job board, quote builder, photos, clock-in, customer history. No welder continuity records, no weld maps. We left that stuff out because the shops we built this for don't do it.
What if you do both?
A lot of shops do. Ask yourself which half hurts more to get wrong. If it's the code work, buy WeldTrace. A bad weld map on a pressure vessel costs a lot more than putting your custom jobs through the extra paperwork.
If most of your work is custom fab and the code jobs are the odd one out, Bead Board runs the day to day and you keep your WPS paperwork wherever it lives now. Come back when the code work grows.
Also worth reading: welding spreadsheet • QuickBooks for the shop floor • Jobber (field services) • the whiteboard.