At a glance (prices checked July 2026)
| Software | Best for | Entry price | Free trial | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jobber | Solo / one truck | $29/mo (annual), 1 user | Yes | QuickBooks sync gated to a $139+/mo tier |
| Housecall Pro | Solo / one truck | $59/mo (annual), 1 user | Yes | QuickBooks sync gated to a $149+/mo tier |
| Workiz | Growing, 3–25 techs | Free Lite (20 jobs/mo); paid from ~$49/mo | Yes + free tier | Real cost creeps to $150–400/mo with users & add-ons |
| Service Fusion | 8+ users, flat-rate | $208/mo (annual), unlimited users | No | No free trial; overkill and overpriced for 1–3 people |
| ServiceTitan | Enterprise, 50+ techs | Quote only (high) | No | Built for big shops; far too much for a new contractor |
Prices pulled from each vendor's own pricing page and current independent trackers, July 2026. Software pricing and tiers change constantly and most run promotions — confirm the current number on the vendor's site before you buy. Nobody paid to appear here, and these are plain links, not affiliate links. If that ever changes, we will say so right on this page.
If you are searching for "contractor dispatching software" or the "best field service software for plumbers," the honest first thing to know is that you are choosing between about five real options, and most of them are wrong for a shop your size. The right pick depends almost entirely on how many people you have. Here is the straight comparison, priced from each company's own page, with the catch on each one spelled out.
Not operating yet? Software comes later. Build your free Contractor Lane roadmap and get legally set up first — the scheduling app can wait until manual scheduling actually costs you time.
First, the honest question: do you even need this yet?
A phone, a paper invoice book, and a calendar carry a lot of contractors through their first year. Field service management (FSM) software earns its monthly fee when manual scheduling, chasing invoices, and dispatching start eating real hours — usually once you are running steady work or have a second person in the field. If you are a brand-new solo operator, it is fine to wait. When you are ready, this is the field.
Jobber — the cheapest honest door for a solo shop
Jobber is the one most one-truck operators land on. Its Core plan is $29/mo on annual billing for one user, with scheduling, dispatch, quoting, invoicing, and payments. Clean, well-supported, easy to learn. The catch is the same one every low entry tier has: QuickBooks sync is not included and lives on a much pricier tier (Connect, $139/mo and up). For a solo shop that just needs to schedule and get paid, Jobber is usually the value pick.
Housecall Pro — more at the entry tier, a bit pricier
Housecall Pro Basic runs $59/mo on annual billing for one user and packs slightly more into the entry tier than Jobber — review management and a price book stand out. Same QuickBooks catch (gated to Essentials, about $149/mo). Jobber versus Housecall Pro is the real decision most solo contractors are actually making, so we broke it down head to head: Jobber vs Housecall Pro for a new contractor.
Workiz — when you are growing past a couple of trucks
Workiz aims at growing shops, roughly 3 to 25 techs, and it is genuinely easier to set up than the enterprise tools. It has a free Lite tier capped at 20 jobs a month, which is a real way to try it, and paid plans start around $49/mo. The honest catch is that the sticker price is not the real price: once you add users (about $40–45 each per month), payment processing, and integrations, most shops land in the $150–400/mo range. Good fit when you have a crew and dispatching is a daily job, not a nice-to-have.
Service Fusion — flat-rate, only worth it with a real crew
Service Fusion uses a flat-rate model: unlimited users at every tier, starting at $208/mo (annual) for Starter and climbing to $533/mo for Pro. That flat pricing is a genuine advantage — but only once you have eight or more users to spread it across. For a one-to-three person shop it is both overkill and overpriced, and there is no free trial, so you commit after a sales demo. Keep it in mind for later; skip it now.
ServiceTitan — enterprise, and not for you yet
ServiceTitan is the platform big home-service companies run on, built for shops with 50-plus techs. It is quote-only with no public pricing and no free trial, which tells you the tier of investment. It is a powerful system and completely the wrong tool for a new or small contractor — you would pay enterprise money for capacity you cannot use. File it under "maybe in ten years."
Which one fits a new Washington contractor
Solo or one truck: Jobber or Housecall Pro. Start with Jobber if price is the deciding factor, Housecall Pro if the extra entry-tier features matter; the head-to-head settles it. Growing, a crew of a few: Workiz, with eyes open about the real all-in cost. Eight-plus users: Service Fusion's flat rate starts to make sense. Enterprise: ServiceTitan — a good problem to have someday. And whichever you pick, keeping the books clean underneath it is its own decision: see QuickBooks vs FreshBooks for a one-truck shop.
Where Contractor Lane comes in
Contractor Lane is the front door for starting a contracting business in Washington. Software is a step that comes after you are legally set up and actually running work — it is worth money only when it is saving you more time than it costs. The free roadmap builder puts the whole setup in order, from UBI and L&I registration through the point where a scheduling app is the obvious next upgrade, so you spend on software when it earns its keep, not before.
Ready to get set up first?
Build your free Contractor Lane roadmap and get the foundation right, so the day you add scheduling software you are adding it to a real, registered business.
General educational information for people running or starting a contracting business. Software prices and plans change often. Contractor Lane is not affiliated with any of these vendors.