Jobber alternatives, honestly
We read the pricing pages of 9 field service and contractor software products, and only 2 of them show the plan price, the seat rules and the card fees on one page. Jobber is one of those 2. That surprised us. Most of the other sites will not tell you the cost until you book a call, so here is what each one does say, from its own pricing page.
What Jobber charges
Jobber prints every number on one page.
Jobber's pricing page lists the Core plan at $49 a month billed monthly, with 1 user included and $29 a month for each added user. The same page shows an annual promo for new customers at $21 a month for the first 12 months, then $29 a month. The page says the promo has an end date, so check it before you count on it.
Jobber's page also lists Connect at $139 to $399 a month, Grow at $199 to $499 and Plus at $499 to $699 by user tier. Jobber Payments charges 2.9% plus 30 cents per card payment, 1% for ACH bank payments and 2.7% plus 30 cents for Tap to Pay, per Jobber's pricing page.
Jobber's help center also has an article titled How Your Processing Limits for Jobber Payments Are Set and Reviewed. We did not open it, so we can only say the title claims Jobber sets limits on what an account can collect. Ask about it before you move your billing.
Who prints a price
Five of the nine pages we read make you ask.
Housecall Pro's pricing page lists Basic at $79 a month for 1 user, Essentials at $189 for 5 users and Max at $329 for 8 users on monthly billing. The same page drops those to $59, $149 and $299 on annual billing, and it notes that prices leave out sales tax. Housecall Pro lists $35 a month per added user on Max only, and prints no added user price for Basic or Essentials. Its card fees start at 2.59% and bank payments carry a 1% fee, per Housecall Pro's page, and start at is their phrase, not a flat rate.
Service Fusion's pricing page lists Starter at $245 a month billed monthly or $208 billed annually, Plus at $382 or $325, and Pro at $627 or $533. All three plans include unlimited users and run month to month, per the same page. Service Fusion does not print card fees.
Kickserv's pricing page lists Start at $60 a month for 5 users, Run at $119 for 10 users and Scale at $199 for 20 users, with 20% off on annual billing. Kickserv also takes 5% off the subscription if you run $1,000 a month on Start, $2,000 on Run or $3,000 on Scale through its card processing, per the same page, but it prints no card fees and no added user price.
Contractor Foreman's pricing page lists Basic at $49 a month for 1 user, Standard at $105 for 3, Plus at $166 for 8, Pro at $221 for 15 and Unlimited at $332. The annual totals on that page are 12 times each monthly figure, so read those as billed annually. Contractor Foreman offers a 30 day free trial and a 100 day refund guarantee on the annual fee if you meet its stated minimums, per the same page. Payments run through Stripe and the page shows no rate.
Then come the quote only vendors. Workiz shows a Request pricing button on all 3 tiers and its FAQ says annual plans save $400 or more, without saying what they cost, per Workiz's pricing page. FieldPulse says pricing is seat based and needs a custom quote, per FieldPulse's pricing page. JobNimbus caps seats at 3 on Essentials, 10 on Pro, 19 on Premium and 20 or more on Enterprise, with a 14 day free trial, but prints no price, per JobNimbus's pricing page. ServiceTitan and Buildertrend do not publish pricing on their sites either.
The table
Eight products from our reading, entry tier only.
| Product | Entry plan, monthly billing | Users included | Extra user | Card rate | ACH rate | Prices public? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jobber Core | $49 | 1 | $29 | 2.9% plus 30 cents | 1% | Yes |
| Housecall Pro Basic | $79 | 1 | $35 on Max plan only | From 2.59% | 1% | Yes |
| Service Fusion Starter | $245 | Unlimited | None | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Contractor Foreman Basic | $49 billed annually | 1 | Not published | Not published, runs on Stripe | Not published | Yes |
| Kickserv Start | $60 | 5 | Not published | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Workiz | Quote only | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published | No |
| FieldPulse | Quote only | Seat based | Not published | Not published | Not published | No |
| JobNimbus | Quote only | Caps of 3, 10 and 19 by plan | Not published | Not published | Not published | No |
Every figure in this table comes from that vendor's own pricing page as we read it, and vendors change prices without notice.
Where the math flips
By our math, unlimited users only wins past 7 seats.
Service Fusion looks pricey at $245 a month next to Jobber Core at $49, per both pricing pages. But Jobber Core adds $29 for each user, so a crew of 7 on Core costs $49 plus 6 times $29, which is $223 a month by our math from Jobber's page. Add one more person and Jobber passes Service Fusion, while a crew of 20 on Service Fusion still pays $245, per its page.
On the small end, Jobber's annual promo at $21 a month for 12 months beats Housecall Pro Basic at $59 a month annual and Kickserv Start at $60 a month monthly, per each vendor's pricing page. Kickserv includes 5 users at that price, though, and Jobber Core includes 1. So a 3 person shop pays $60 at Kickserv or $49 plus $58 at Jobber, which is $107 a month, by our math from both pages. Count your people first, then compare.
The card fee is the hidden line
The swipe fee can outrun the plan fee.
Say you collect $20,000 a month by card in 40 payments of $500. At Jobber's 2.9% plus 30 cents, per Jobber's pricing page, that is about $592 in fees by our math, which is more than any Jobber plan below Plus. Jobber lists 1% for ACH and Housecall Pro lists 1% for bank payments, per their pages, so that same $20,000 by bank costs $200 by our math. Ask every vendor for a rate sheet in writing before you sign, since 6 of the 9 pages we read print no rate at all.
What we got wrong
I expected to find cheaper, clearer options, and I mostly did not.
I started this piece thinking Jobber alternatives would be more open about price. The opposite is true for most of them. Of the 9 products I checked, only Jobber and Housecall Pro put the plan price, the seat rules and the card fee on one page, and Housecall Pro prints a starting rate, not a flat one. Workiz, FieldPulse, JobNimbus, ServiceTitan and Buildertrend all send you to a sales call first.
I also lumped in tools that do not do the same job. Contractor Foreman and Buildertrend are construction project management tools, while Jobber, Housecall Pro, Workiz, Service Fusion and Kickserv are field service and dispatch tools. Comparing the two groups on price alone is partly apples to oranges.
What stays human
No pricing page tells you what the software fails at.
Nothing in this piece measures what any of these products does badly in the field. Whether the app drops a job on a weak signal, whether your techs will use it, whether the invoice looks right to your customer, none of that is on a pricing page. That part stays with you and a free trial.
Where we come in
Everything above is free, and the software is sold after.
VuseDesk's Contractor plan is $39.99 a month, the General Contractor plan is $99.99 a month. VuseDesk records payments and never processes or moves money, so there is no card rate to ask about. If you want off Jobber, try the software and we will move your data over for free.
Or call (252) 666-7217 and ask the 1 question this article did not answer. Email [email protected] if you would rather write it down.