MaintainIQ alternative
A MaintainIQ alternative for the records behind the maintenance
MaintainIQ schedules the cleaning, the equipment maintenance and the food safety checks across your locations. It does not hold the records those jobs produce — the contractor's hood cleaning certificate, the suppression tag, the alarm test — or the people who will ask for them. EvidLY holds those: fire and food, every vendor's paperwork, and what your insurance policy requires, sealed with the date each one was produced.
What MaintainIQ does well
MaintainIQ is a maintenance and operations app for multi-unit restaurant groups. It is good at keeping recurring work on schedule.
- Daily cleaning and opening/closing checklists across locations
- Recurring equipment maintenance and work orders
- Food safety procedures with electronic temperature logs
- Notifications and reminders assigned to staff and managers
- Corrective actions when a check fails
- Location-by-location dashboards for the group
If the problem is keeping the work on schedule, it is a fair choice. The problem EvidLY solves is what you hand over when someone asks for proof the work was done.
Where it stops
None of the following comes with MaintainIQ. All of it is asked for.
- The record, not the task. A maintenance app can show the hood cleaning was scheduled and marked done. The fire marshal and the adjuster ask for the contractor's certificate — dated, with the next-due date — and that is a document, not a checkbox.
- The fire half. Hood cleaning, suppression, sprinkler, alarm, extinguishers — each with the date it is due and the rule that requires it, and each produced by an outside contractor whose paperwork has to be collected.
- Vendor paperwork. Each vendor's general liability certificate, workers' compensation certificate, license, business license and W-9. Five records per vendor, expiring on the vendor's calendar, not yours.
- The policy. The protective safeguards endorsement in your insurance policy names the systems you promised to keep in service. A maintenance schedule does not read it.
What EvidLY does instead
EvidLY alerts you before that happens.
You usually find out something slipped after it's already cost you. EvidLY sees it coming — while it's still small and easier to manage.
The records, side by side
| What the kitchen is asked for | MaintainIQ | EvidLY |
|---|---|---|
| Fire safety records with due dates | Task you schedule | Held, dated, sealed |
| Food safety records with the rule behind each | Logs and checklists | Held, dated, sealed |
| Vendor records — GL and workers' comp certificates, license, business license, W-9 per vendor | Not described | Collected from each vendor, expiry flagged |
| Insurance policy conditions read against the records on file | No | Policy Lens |
| Sealed, tamper-evident record with a SHA-256 recorded at release | No | Yes |
| Who is asking, and what each one wants | No | Five askers, mapped to each record |
| Checklists and sensor integrations | Yes | Yes — and the results land as records on file |
| Pricing | Per location, plus a setup fee | Published per kitchen |
"Not described" means the item does not appear in MaintainIQ's published product description as of September 2026. Check with them for anything current.
Who will ask, and what they want
Fire Marshal
On inspection, by schedule. Wants the hood cleaning certificate and the suppression tag first.
Health Inspector
On inspection day. Wants the permit, the manager certificate, the handler cards and the temperature logs.
Insurance Company
At underwriting, at renewal, after a loss. Wants proof the protective safeguards were kept in service.
Property Manager
Day to day and every renewal. Wants the certificates the lease names and the maintenance it covenants.
Compliance Officer
Across every kitchen at once. Wants one place that answers for all of them.
Nobody asks for a record on a good day.
Leaving MaintainIQ
If you use MaintainIQ to prove the work was done, EvidLY replaces that use with the record itself. The fire records with their due dates, the food records with the rule behind each, every vendor's paperwork, and the read of your policy — held, dated and sealed, so the answer to 'show me' is a document, not a task history.
Fire first, then food
MaintainIQ starts with the maintenance schedule. EvidLY starts on the fire side, because the fire records are the ones with the shortest intervals, the strictest askers and the largest consequences — and they are produced by contractors, not by your staff, so nothing on a task list holds them.
Fire safety records · Food safety records · Policy Lens · What your county asks for · EvidLY for franchisees · EvidLY for franchisors
Questions people ask before switching
Is EvidLY an alternative to MaintainIQ?
For the records, yes. MaintainIQ schedules and checks off cleaning, maintenance and food safety work. EvidLY holds the kitchen's fire safety and food safety records, when each one is due and the rule that requires it, each vendor's insurance and license records, and a read of your insurance policy's conditions. If you use MaintainIQ to prove the work was done, EvidLY replaces that use. If you use it to run the work, EvidLY sits beside it.
Does MaintainIQ hold the hood cleaning certificate?
MaintainIQ can schedule the hood cleaning and mark it complete. The certificate the contractor issues — with the service date and the next-due date — is the record the fire marshal and the insurance company ask for, and it is outside what MaintainIQ describes. EvidLY holds it, dated and sealed.
What does EvidLY cost compared with MaintainIQ?
MaintainIQ publishes per-location pricing — $79 a month or $799 a year — with a setup fee on top. EvidLY publishes its pricing per kitchen, with a pilot for two to nine kitchens and Enterprise from ten. The full price list is on the pricing page, and the Risk Assessment costs nothing.
Can I run MaintainIQ and EvidLY together?
Yes. MaintainIQ keeps the work on schedule. EvidLY holds the records that come out of it — the ones the fire marshal, the health inspector, the insurance company, the property manager and the compliance officer ask for — sealed with the date they were produced.
Start with the Risk Assessment. It costs nothing.
Ten questions. Two readiness numbers — Fire Safety and Food Safety — and a plan for every record, whether or not you ever talk to us.