Field service software for a one-truck WY shop: what it actually costs
Two of the five platforms plumbers, HVAC techs, and auto repair shops get pitched won't tell you a price until you take a sales call. Here's what all five actually charge, and where the "cheap" ones stop being cheap.
A one- or two-truck shop is exactly the size where the per-seat math below starts to bite.
If you run a plumbing, HVAC, or auto repair shop in Wyoming, someone's tried to sell you Jobber or Housecall Pro by now. Both are real products with real customers who are happy with them. This isn't a pitch to rip either one out — it's the math we'd walk you through if you asked whether it's worth it, and a flag on the two platforms that won't even show you a price.
The subscription math
Here's what the five platforms we get asked about most actually charge:
| Platform | Monthly | Model |
|---|---|---|
| Jobber | from $29 | Tiered, scales with user count |
| Housecall Pro | from $59 | Tiered, scales with user count |
| Kickserv | $75–249 ($60–199 billed annually) | Flat tiers bundling 5/10/20 user seats |
| ServiceTitan | $200+, quote-led | Annual contract required, no published price |
| FieldPulse | quote-only | Seat-based; full-access and field-only seats priced differently |
Look at the last two rows again. ServiceTitan and FieldPulse are both aimed at growing shops, and neither one will tell you a real number without a sales call — the $200+ for ServiceTitan is the floor other buyers have reported, not a published rate. That's not automatically a red flag; a platform that scales to a 50-truck operation has more to configure than a flat SaaS price sheet can capture. But it does mean you can't comparison-shop the way you can with Jobber or Housecall Pro, and "no published price" is itself information worth having before you take the call.
The two platforms that do publish a number aren't flat, either. Jobber's $29 and Housecall Pro's $59 are entry-tier, per-user pricing — add a second tech, a dispatcher, or a part-time bookkeeper with system access, and the bill moves. Kickserv sidesteps that by bundling seats into a tier, but the tiers are wide (5, 10, or 20 users): outgrow 5 seats by one hire and you're paying for the 10-seat tier's other four empty slots.
What off-the-shelf field service tools don't do well
Three things come up in almost every conversation we have with a trades owner who's outgrown their scheduling app:
Missed calls that never become a booked job. A call that goes to voicemail during a service run is a lead that goes to whoever calls the customer back first — and most of these platforms assume someone's at a desk to answer, not that the call needs to auto-text a booking link the moment it's missed.
No-shows with nothing held against them. A homeowner who no-shows a diagnostic visit costs you a truck-roll and a technician's morning. Deposit-on-booking and automatic reminder texts exist on most of these platforms, but they're opt-in configuration, not a default — plenty of shops never turn them on and eat the cost.
Paper job tickets and invoice history are the third one. Every platform here will generate a digital invoice; fewer make a customer's full job history — what was done, when, by whom, under what warranty — something a tech can pull up on a phone mid-visit instead of calling the office to ask.
The honest answer: if you're a one-truck operation with simple scheduling needs, Jobber's entry tier is genuinely a good deal — cheaper than anything custom, and you're taking bookings today instead of in six weeks.
Where it shifts is truck count and the three gaps above. A three- or four-truck shop paying $150-250/month in per-seat fees, still losing missed-call leads to voicemail, and still no-showing jobs with nothing held against them is paying real money for a tool that isn't closing its own gaps. At that point a flat-retainer custom portal (System Starter or Custom Portal tier) usually isn't more expensive — it's built to close exactly those three gaps instead of assuming you'll configure your way around them.
The real question to ask
Don't ask "is a custom system cheaper" — ask "what's the actual dollar cost of the missed calls and no-shows I'm not tracking today," then compare that to what you're paying per seat. If the honest answer is "not much, and my crew is small," stay on Jobber or Housecall Pro. If missed calls and no-shows are a real line item, or you're one hire away from a Kickserv tier jump, that's the conversation worth having.
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- Surviving a rodeo weekend: what happens to your ordering page when the town doubles
- Building Praxis-Q: a compliance audit portal, not a website
This is part of the Your Business work we do — see related builds in the portfolio: Mr. Rooter Plumbing, Robinair, and AutoHouse Supply.
Not sure which side of that line you're on?
Tell us your truck count and what you're paying now — we'll size it honestly, including telling you to stay on your current platform if that's the right call.
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