Guides
Which plumbing contractor software deserves the subscription for a small operation
A working comparison of ServiceTitan, Jobber, Housecall Pro, FieldEdge and Workiz, judged on offline use, change orders and how easily you can leave.
What to take away
- Five plumbing contractor software systems carry most small plumbing shops: ServiceTitan, Jobber, Housecall Pro, FieldEdge and Workiz. Each fits a different size of operation.
- Price is quoted per user, per month, and most vendors do not publish a full list. Jobber and Housecall Pro publish entry plans; ServiceTitan and FieldEdge quote privately. Get a written quote before a demo, not after.
- Offline field capture and change orders are the two features that decide whether technicians enter data at all. Test both in a basement and on a three-visit job.
- Ask what happens to your records if you stop paying, and get the answer in writing during the trial. Export format and photo access are the common gaps.
- Run one trial at a time, on real jobs, with the technician who complains most doing the scoring.
ServiceTitan, Jobber, Housecall Pro, FieldEdge and Workiz compared
Five systems cover most small plumbing shops. None is ranked here. Fit depends on technician count, your mix of service and contract work, and whether you have an office administrator. Prices below are typical ranges as of 2026 or published entry plans; confirm every number in a written quote.
Five Plumbing Software Systems
ServiceTitan
- Best for
- 10+ techs
- Entry price
- $300-500/user
- Offline
- Test sync
- Change orders
- Formal workflow
- Exit
- Export available
Jobber
- Best for
- 1-5 techs
- Entry price
- $29/month
- Offline
- Stores jobs
- Change orders
- Not stated
- Exit
- Not stated
Housecall Pro
- Best for
- Small shops
- Entry price
- $79/month
- Offline
- Not stated
- Change orders
- Not stated
- Exit
- Not stated
FieldEdge
- Best for
- Mid-size
- Entry price
- $150-300/user
- Offline
- Not stated
- Change orders
- Not stated
- Exit
- Not stated
ServiceTitan is the heaviest of the group. It runs dispatch, marketing, price book, payroll and reporting in one database, and it is built for firms with a full-time office. Expect a long setup and an annual contract.
ServiceTitan does not publish list prices; small shops typically see quotes from $300 to $500 per user per month plus implementation. It suits a shop past roughly ten technicians that can dedicate someone to the implementation.
Offline use: the mobile app is built for field teams, but test sync in a crawl space. Change orders: formal workflow in the job record. Exit: export is available; confirm whether job photos are included.
Jobber covers quoting, scheduling, invoicing and payments, and it is the easiest of the five to start on.
Jobber publishes an entry plan around $29 per month for one user; higher tiers add users and features. It suits owner-operators and firms up to about five technicians. The trade-off is depth: job costing and inventory are thinner than the larger systems.
Offline use: the mobile app stores job details for later sync. Change orders: handled as a revised quote or an add-on invoice, not a dedicated change order. Exit: CSV export covers core records; photos often sit outside it.
Housecall Pro sits close to Jobber on scope, with a stronger consumer-facing booking and review flow.
Housecall Pro publishes a basic plan around $79 per month for one user; higher tiers add marketing and multiple users. It suits residential service work where the phone rings constantly. Commercial contract work is a weaker fit.
Offline use: the mobile app handles core job details offline. Change orders: estimate approval flow, not a separate change order. Exit: export customers, jobs and invoices; check attachments.
FieldEdge is built around the service call and the technician's tablet, and it has a long history in the trades.
FieldEdge does not publish list prices; small shops typically see quotes from $150 to $300 per user per month plus setup, on an annual contract. It suits HVAC and plumbing firms that live on maintenance agreements. Reporting is less flexible than ServiceTitan's.
Offline use: the mobile app is designed for field use. Change orders: supported in the job record. Exit: ask for data export terms in writing.
Workiz handles dispatch, invoicing and payment collection with a focus on smaller field teams.
Workiz publishes tiers typically from $65 to $195 per user per month, depending on features. It suits a two-to-eight technician shop that wants scheduling and payment in one place. Custom reporting is limited.
Offline use: the mobile app has an offline mode for job details. Change orders: estimate and invoice add-ons. Exit: export is available; confirm payment history.
Best fit
- ServiceTitan
- 10+ technicians, full-time office
- Jobber
- Owner-operators, up to about 5 technicians
- Housecall Pro
- Residential service with high call volume
- FieldEdge
- HVAC and plumbing firms with maintenance agreements
- Workiz
- Two-to-eight technician shop
Typical cost
- ServiceTitan
- $300 to $500 per user per month plus implementation
- Jobber
- Entry plan around $29 per month for one user
- Housecall Pro
- Basic plan around $79 per month for one user
- FieldEdge
- $150 to $300 per user per month plus setup
- Workiz
- Tiers typically $65 to $195 per user per month
Offline field capture
- ServiceTitan
- Mobile app for field teams; test basement sync
- Jobber
- Mobile app stores job details for later sync
- Housecall Pro
- Core job details offline
- FieldEdge
- Mobile app for field use
- Workiz
- Offline mode for job details
Change orders
- ServiceTitan
- Formal workflow in job record
- Jobber
- Revised quote or add-on invoice
- Housecall Pro
- Estimate approval flow
- FieldEdge
- Supported in job record
- Workiz
- Estimate and invoice add-ons
Exit and export
- ServiceTitan
- Export available; confirm photos
- Jobber
- CSV export of core records; check photos
- Housecall Pro
- Export customers, jobs, invoices; check attachments
- FieldEdge
- Ask for terms in writing
- Workiz
- Export available; confirm payment history
For a one-to-five-technician shop, Jobber is the default pick, and Housecall Pro is the alternative when the phone rings constantly and booking and reviews matter more than job costing. ServiceTitan and FieldEdge fit larger shops. Workiz fits a two-to-eight technician team that wants dispatch and payments together.
What each one costs, and how to compare quotes
Typical Software and Processing Costs
- $29/monthJobber entry plan
- $79/monthHousecall Pro basic plan
- $65-$195/user/monthWorkiz tiers
- 2.6%-3.5% + 10-30¢Payment processing
ServiceTitan and FieldEdge quote privately. Payment processing usually adds 2.6% to 3.5% plus 10 to 30 cents per transaction. These are typical ranges as of 2026. Your quote depends on user count, card volume, add-ons and contract length.
Contract terms matter as much as the headline rate. Jobber, Housecall Pro and Workiz sell monthly plans that you can stop at the end of a billing cycle. ServiceTitan and FieldEdge typically run on a twelve-month term. The notice window before renewal varies by vendor and by contract length, so get the exact number in your written quote.
Compare quotes on a like-for-like basis using your own numbers:
Compare Quotes Like-for-Like
- Monthly software cost = users x quoted rate per user
- Payment processing cost = monthly card volume x processor percentage
- True monthly cost = software + processing + add-on modules
- Cost per completed job = true monthly cost / jobs completed last month
Ask each vendor for the same three figures: the per-user rate, the processing percentage, and the notice period on the contract. A cheaper per-user rate with a two-year lock-in is not cheaper.
The tests that decide it
Score each system on your own jobs during a trial. Keep the sheet and revisit it in a year.
Trial Tests That Decide It
- Field capturecomplete job with photos in under two minutes
- No signalworks offline and syncs without losing anything
- Multi-visit jobsone job with three visits and a change order
- Change ordersstop, document, quote, approve, resume
- Quote to invoicesee where invoice differs from quote
- Exportget your own data out in full, usable format
- Exitrecords if you stop paying, format, photos included
- Partial paymentsdeposit, progress, final against one job
- Field capture.Can a technician record a complete job, with photos, in under two minutes, on a phone, with dirty hands? If not, the data gets typed in at night from memory.
- No signal.Take it into a basement and a crawl space. Does it work offline and sync without losing anything? In plumbing this is routine, not an edge case.
- Multi-visit jobs.Create one job needing three visits and a change order. Does the system show the whole history in one place, or split it into three jobs?
- Change orders.Does it support stop, document, quote, approve, resume, with the approval recorded? Where this is a workaround, change orders end up verbal.
- Quote to invoice.Can you see where an invoice differs from its quote, and why? That variance is a quality measure, and a system that hides it costs you the measure.
- Export.Get your own data out, in full, in a usable format, without asking anyone. Do this during the trial rather than trusting the answer.
- Exit.Ask what happens to your records if you stop paying: how long you have, what format you get, and whether photographs are included. Get it in writing.
- Partial payments.Record a deposit, a progress payment and a final payment against one job. Trade work rarely settles in a single transaction.
- Permissions.Can a technician see today's jobs without seeing the whole customer database and the financials? Separate accounts and limited access are the basis of the practices in the National Institute of Standards and Technology's small business quick-start guides.
- Security.Does it support multi-factor authentication, per-person accounts, and prompt removal of access when someone leaves? The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's guidance for small and medium businesses sets out what to expect of any system holding customer addresses, home interiors and payment details.
- Support.Contact support on a Saturday during the trial, with a real question. What comes back, and how fast, is what you are buying.
- Records.Can it produce, on demand, the documents for a tax question, an insurance claim or a licensing query? The Internal Revenue Service standard for records that clearly show income and expenses is the baseline.
Scoring without fooling yourself
Weight the tests before you run them, not after. Otherwise the system you already liked wins on whichever criteria it happened to pass.
Weight Tests Before You Run Them
Do field capture and no-signal carry more weight than everything else combined?
Weight them heavily; a system technicians will not use produces no data
Re-weight before the trial, not after
Two weightings hold up for most small plumbing firms. Field capture and no-signal carry more weight than everything else combined, because a system technicians will not use produces no data at all.
Treat export and exit as pass or fail rather than scored. A system holding your records hostage is disqualified regardless of how good the rest of it is.
What to buy first, and what to wait on
Job records, quoting and invoicing, payments and bookkeeping cover nearly every small plumbing firm. Scheduling and dispatch becomes necessary at the second technician. Inventory becomes necessary when supply house trips turn into a pattern rather than an exception. Training records become necessary at the first employee, which connects to the sign-off structure in the hiring and training guide.
What to Buy First, What to Wait On
- StartJob records, quoting and invoicing, payments and bookkeeping
- Second technicianScheduling and dispatch
- Supply house trips become a patternInventory
- First employeeTraining records
Anything beyond that should wait for a specific question you cannot currently answer. The full function map and the numbers worth tracking are in the software and KPI guide.
Process and record-keeping checks before you buy
Do we have a process to automate?
Does the system match what we are obliged to keep?
Running the trial without disruption
Running the Trial Without Disruption
- Two weeks, one system, real jobs
- One person responsible for collecting what went wrong
- Do not run two trials at once
- Do not change your process during the trial
- Ask the technicians directly at the end
Give the trial two to four weeks on real jobs, long enough to cover a repeat customer and a change order. Do not change your process during the trial, since you are testing fit rather than aspiration. Ask the technicians directly at the end, because they will tell you things a feature comparison never will.
If you are still building the business, sequence this alongside everything else rather than treating it as an early priority; the ordering is set out in the phased startup plan.
Common questions
Which plumbing software is best for a small operation?
Jobber and Housecall Pro are the usual starting points for one to five technicians, because setup is short and the monthly cost is lower. ServiceTitan and FieldEdge earn their price once you have an office administrator and enough job volume to use the reporting. The honest answer is the one that passes field capture and no-signal in your hands.
Is an all-in-one system better than several tools?
Usually, for a small firm, because every connection between systems is a place data goes missing. The exception is where the all-in-one does one important thing badly, such as offline capture or change orders. In that case, keep the specialist tool and connect it deliberately.
How much should I expect to pay?
Jobber and Housecall Pro publish entry plans around $29 and $79 per month for one user. Workiz tiers typically run $65 to $195 per user per month. ServiceTitan and FieldEdge do not publish rates; small shops typically see $300 to $500 and $150 to $300 per user per month, plus setup.
Ask for the per-user rate, the payment processing percentage and the notice period, then run your own monthly volume through the arithmetic above. The cost of switching later usually matters more than the difference in per-user rate.
What if my team resists it?
Usually field capture is too slow, or nobody explained what the data is for. Both are fixable, and both are worth investigating before concluding the team is the problem. Put the loudest objector on the scoring sheet for the trial.
