Field service software: what it actually costs you in year one
Every "pricing comparison" quotes the headline monthly number. That number is wrong for almost everyone, for three reasons: extra seats, the promotional price that steps up after 12 months, and card processing fees — which for most shops are larger than the software bill. This adds all three.
Buyer Edition: the 2026 Cost Teardown — $19
The calculator gives you your number. The teardown gives you the whole decision: year-one and year-two totals for Jobber, Housecall Pro and ZenMaid at every crew size, the per-seat trap that makes most online comparisons wrong by $1,000+, the processing-fee math that dwarfs the subscription above $250k volume, a tier-by-tier table of what each vendor withholds, and a 5-point negotiation script that forces reps to put seat counts and renewal pricing in writing before you sign.
Instant access — the access link is on your Stripe checkout and receipt, no waiting, no email signup. Every figure sourced to the vendor’s own pricing page with the retrieval date stated.
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Your cost, all in
| Plan | Software yr 1 | Processing / yr | Total year 1 | Total year 2 |
|---|
What the calculator assumes
- Jobber — Core, Connect and Grow each include one user; Plus includes five. Every additional login is +$29/mo. This is the single biggest mistake people make: a 4-tech shop on Connect is not $80/mo, it is $167/mo. Annual-billing prices are 12-month promotional rates that step up in year two (Core $24→$29, Connect $80→$99, Grow $120→$149, Plus $320→$399). Add-on seats are held at $29 in the year-two figure.
- Housecall Pro — Basic $59, Essentials $149, MAX $299 per month on annual billing ($79 / $189 / $329 month-to-month). Housecall Pro does not publish seat counts or per-seat add-on pricing on its pricing page, so seats are not added here — confirm your seat count in the quote before you sign. No promotional step-up is published, so year two is shown equal to year one.
- Processing — both vendors advertise card processing "from 2.59%". Per-transaction fixed fees and ACH/instant-payout charges are excluded, so the processing figure is a floor. Past roughly $25k/mo of volume, ask for a negotiated rate — both vendors have discretion they don't advertise.
- Prices retrieved from getjobber.com/pricing and housecallpro.com/pricing on 11 August 2026. Vendors change pricing; verify before you buy.
Read the full teardowns
Jobber vs Housecall Pro → Jobber pricing teardown → Housecall Pro pricing teardown →
Vendor sites: Jobber pricing · Housecall Pro pricing. Calculator runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored.