Flitch vs Spruce: Which Software Is Right for Your Lumberyard?
If you're evaluating software for your lumberyard or building material dealership, Spruce and Flitch are two very different bets — one on a proven incumbent, one on a platform built for where the industry is going. Here's a straightforward look at both.
What Spruce Is
Spruce is a LBM platform owned by ECI Solutions that has been in the industry for over 35 years. It covers point of sale, inventory, purchasing, accounting, analytics, and ecommerce in one system.
What Flitch Is
Flitch is a modern LBM platform built from scratch for lumber and building material dealers. It covers the same core areas — point of sale, inventory, purchasing, AR, delivery, reporting, and customer notifications — but was designed with a focus on ease of use, automation, and the workflows that cost dealers the most time today.
Where Dealers Notice a Difference
The most consistent feedback from dealers who have switched from Spruce to Flitch comes down to three areas:
Ease of use. Spruce is a deep system, and that depth comes with complexity. Training new counter staff takes time, and mistakes by newer employees are common on legacy interfaces. Flitch was built to be intuitive from day one. As one Flitch customer who made the switch from Spruce put it: "I was always timid in Spruce. Flitch was easy to learn and I work more efficiently."
Accounts receivable and collections. Statement day is a recurring pain point for many Spruce users. Flitch automates the entire process — statements go out on schedule, customers receive a secure link to view and pay online, and past-due reminders go out automatically. One Flitch billing customer said: "I'd like to start off by saying this is the best statement day I've ever had. I love the automated statements."
Ongoing support. ECI is a large software company managing multiple products across industries. Flitch is focused exclusively on LBM dealers, and that focus shows in how they support customers through implementation and beyond. One Flitch general manager noted: "Thank you for spending extra time on site with us. Everything's much more efficient with Flitch."
The Honest Take
Spruce is not a bad platform. It's industry-specific, it has been refined over decades, and it works for a lot of dealers. But is outdated in many ways.
But if you're finding that training new staff is painful, that collections take up too much of your accounting team's time, or that your customers expect a more modern experience than your current software supports — those are signs worth paying attention to.
The best way to know if Flitch is the right fit for your operation is to see it running in 10 minutes.
