Buying guide
One app for the business, or a few that work together?
One app can take a booking through to a paid invoice. Separate tools give you more choice and can start out cheaper. The trade-off is how much work it takes to keep them in step. Here is a comparison for a solo business and a growing crew.
What comes together in one app
Jobber and Housecall Pro combine scheduling, quotes, invoicing, payments, and customer records under one login. A connected job record can make it easier for several people to follow the same booking.
The useful comparison includes both the subscription bill and the time spent moving details between apps.
What the all-in-one costs
Jobber's cheapest tier, Core, runs $49/month with no annual commitment, for one user, and covers online booking, quotes, invoicing, online payments, and a basic website. Add a fifth person and the plan to look at is Connect, which runs $139/month month-to-month and includes five users plus QuickBooks Online sync and automated payment reminders. That's a real jump from the single-user price, but it bundles the seats instead of billing them one at a time.
Housecall Pro's Basic plan costs $79/month paid monthly (or $59/month on annual billing) for one user, and covers booking, invoicing and payments, scheduling and dispatching, quotes, and review management. Its Essentials tier, at $189/month paid monthly ($149/month annual), includes five users and adds route features, checklist automations, and employee GPS tracking.
Both vendors charge card-processing fees in addition to the subscription. Housecall Pro lists rates starting at 2.59%; the applicable rate depends on the payment method and plan.
What it costs to build it yourself
The point-tool version of the same coverage is a business phone line, an invoicing tool, and a way to take a card.
- Quo (formerly OpenPhone), Starter: $19 per user per month billed monthly ($15/user/month billed annually). That buys a dedicated business number, unlimited US/Canada calling and texting, and voicemail transcripts.
- Wave Starter: free for invoicing, with card processing billed separately at 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction (3.4% + $0.60 for Amex).
- Square Free plan: also $0/month, with in-person card processing at 2.6% + 15¢ and online or invoice-based charges at 3.3% + 30¢.
The three separate tools cost $19/month for one person before processing fees. That covers a business phone, invoices, and payments. It does not include the shared scheduling and dispatch features in the bundled plans.
| Approach | Solo (1 person) | 5-person crew | What the price includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobber (all-in-one) | $49/mo (Core, month-to-month) | $139/mo (Connect, 5 users) | Scheduling, quotes, invoicing, online payments, customer records |
| Housecall Pro (all-in-one) | $79/mo (Basic, month-to-month) | $189/mo (Essentials, 5 users) | Booking, dispatch, invoicing, payments, reviews, QuickBooks sync |
| Quo + Wave + Square (point tools) | $19/mo (Quo $19 + Wave $0 + Square $0) | $95/mo (Quo x5 + Wave $0 + Square $0) | Business phone, invoicing, payment processing (no scheduling, dispatch, or shared customer database) |
What the price tag doesn't show you
A booking that starts in one app may need to be entered into another. Payments may also need to be matched to invoices. The amount of manual work depends on the integrations you use.
With separate tools, check how information moves between them and who handles an integration problem. If you need to match payments to invoices by hand, include that time in the comparison. An all-in-one can simplify the handoff, provided its workflow suits your jobs.
Also try exporting customer records and job history before relying on any system. Switching is easier when you know which details can be moved and in what format. With several tools, that may mean combining more than one export.
Spend most of the trial in the screens you will use every day. If the calendar is awkward for your dispatcher, a long feature list will not make that daily task easier.
How it fits the way you work
For a solo business, the $19/month combination can be a reasonable starting point if separate phone, invoice, and payment tools cover the work. An all-in-one may still be worth $49 to $79/month if its booking and job records save enough admin time. The annual cost guide puts the subscriptions and processing fees together.
For two or three people, try the handoffs. Can someone else find the latest customer message, see the booking, and tell whether the deposit has arrived? If that requires several calls or duplicate entries, a connected system may be worth the extra subscription. If the current arrangement works smoothly, there is less reason to change.
With four or five people, bundled user allowances become worth comparing. Quo alone is $76 to $95/month at the monthly rates above. Price an all-in-one for the same people, then try a shared job from booking through payment. Our scheduling and customer records guides look at those parts of the workflow.