A solo operator counting jobs, a crew of 3 and a crew of 10 are three different buying decisions, and published prices split along the same lines. ServiceM8 is free for 1 user and 30 jobs a month, then from $29. Shifton Field Service (our own product) is free for up to 2 employees, then $5 per employee a month. Tradify starts at $47 per user a month and is built around quotes. Prices checked on 9 November 2026.
The same crew of 3 pays $15 a month on one of these tools and $239 on another, because they charge in different units: ServiceM8 by jobs, Tradify by the person, Housecall Pro by a plan with a few users included, JobTread by a flat base plus each extra person, and Workiz by quote only. This guide to job management software for tradesmen, whether searched as a tradie job management app, scheduling software or a job management system, is sorted by that unit and by where each plan stops. The cost section prices crews of 3 and 10 in full.
Our Top Picks
Seven job management tools made the list, and the three below cover a solo operator, a small crew and a project builder.
Shifton Field Service
Best for small crews that run service calls as assigned jobs, with the checklist and the client's signature kept on the job. Free for up to 2 employees, then $5 per employee a month; each paid module is another $5 per employee a month.
ServiceM8
Best free start for a solo operator: a free plan with 1 user and 30 jobs a month, and unlimited users from $29 a month when jobs are counted instead of people.
JobTread
Best for builders and renovators who run projects instead of call-outs: one plan with every feature, $199 a month plus $20 for each extra internal user on monthly billing.
Why trust us?
Shifton Field Service is our own product, and it is first. Keep that in mind: it has no supplier price list, no job costing and no staged invoicing, and the sections below say where that matters.
The other six follow by published entry price, with the vendor that prints no price last. Every figure was read off the vendor's own pages on 9 November 2026, and where a vendor shows no price, none is guessed. Jobber and simPRO are not reviewed because their home pages could not be checked the same way.
What Job Management Software for Tradesmen Has to Handle
What sets a trade job apart from other field work is the materials. What was fitted has to reach the invoice at the price paid, so the first thing to check is whether a tool loads a price list, as Tradify does and Fergus does with its price books, or only records what was fitted. The test for everything else is whether a job can be opened on the phone at the curb and closed with the bill built from what was done.
Two supporting needs follow from that. A record made on site, with photos, a signature and a checklist or test sheet filled in on the phone, is what digital job forms are for. And the bill has to come off the finished job; the payment side is compared in our review of invoicing software for contractors.
The 7 Best Job Management Software for Tradesmen
Shifton Field Service first, then the other six by what they charge to start.
Shifton Field Service
Every call-out and booked visit in Shifton Field Service is a task: a client, an address, a deadline, a status and a checklist, handed to one person or to a crew. The address sets the service area, and dispatch offers only the technicians who work that area. Statuses start as TO DO, Check In and Check Out, and a company can add stages such as travel, an approval step or a return visit.
The checklist is a digital form filled in on the phone, with text, numbers, drop-downs, a camera photo and a client signature. Editing a form changes new tasks only, so finished jobs keep the version they were done with. The client record holds several addresses and every earlier job at them. Forms and reports, plus the iOS and Android app, belong to the free Tasks module, and the Inventory module moves tools and materials by confirmed transfer, with materials used on a visit reaching the invoice.
- Free for up to 2 employees with no time limit while no module is on; above that, Tasks is $5 per employee a month, and annual billing takes 20% off
- Four paid modules at $5 per employee a month each: Work location control (GPS), Inventory, Invoicing and the Customer Portal; trials run up to 55 days, and any module also starts the $5 Tasks charge for every employee
- Invoicing builds invoices, quotes, receipts, job orders and completion certificates from finished jobs, and QuickBooks Online syncs clients both ways
There is no supplier price list, no estimate calculator (quotes are documents inside Invoicing), no job costing and no staged invoicing, and its feature pages describe no online card payment. In the app a technician times a task, but creating tasks needs the Task Requester role and adding clients stays with the office. GPS sits in its own module.
Best for: small crews that run service calls and repeat visits and need the checklist and the signature to leave the job finished. A trade that prices from imported price lists or bills in stages will miss what Tradify and Fergus carry.
Close the job with the proof attached
Shifton Field Service keeps the checklist, photos and signature on the job record. Free for up to 2 employees.
ServiceM8
Jobs, not people, are what ServiceM8 counts. Five tiers step up by monthly job allowance: 30 jobs on Free at $0, then 50 on Starter at $29, 150 on Growing at $79, 500 on Premium at $149 and 1500 or more on Premium Plus at $349, with unlimited users on every paid tier. Only monthly prices are printed. Past a limit, new jobs still work for another 7 days, and Premium Plus adds 20 cents for each job beyond its allowance.
The home page covers digital job cards and scheduling, on-site quoting and invoicing, mobile payments with Tap to Pay on iPhone, QuickBooks or Xero sync, and iOS and Android apps. Ready-made forms from its Form Store can be bought on every plan, Free included, while building your own forms starts at Growing, which also brings Proposals and Asset Management; Premium adds job costing and markup billing. Recurring jobs and deposits are on Free, progress invoices start at Starter, and support is self-serve on Free and email and chat around the clock on paid plans. Texts cost 10 cents on Free and nothing on paid plans, and the trial is 14 days with no card.
A crew that books many short visits moves up a tier before it adds anyone. Best for: a solo operator booking up to 30 jobs a month on the free plan, or a small crew that stays under 150 jobs on Growing.
Fergus
Essentials starts at $31 a month and Professional at $44, and Professional is where checklists, forms and job phases begin. Both prices carry "from": the pricing page does not say how the figure grows with the number of people, so no total is calculated for Fergus here. Billing is monthly with no lock-in contract, a free one-hour onboarding session comes with it, and the trial is 14 days with no card. A custom plan covers teams above 10.
The product is built around the trade job: quoting and estimating, price books, job cards, GPS tracking and timesheets, with materials, recurring jobs, purchase orders and a mobile app that the home page says works on Android and iOS. Xero and QuickBooks sync is listed, and MYOB. Supplier integrations are manual on Essentials and automatic on Professional. Extra charges sit outside the headline: certificates are $30 for 1 to 9 staff and $80 for 10 or more, 100 texts cost $15, card payments 2.95% plus $0.30, contractor users $2.50 a day, and timesheet users start at $26 a month. Phone support joins at Professional; Essentials has email and chat.
Best for: trade firms that want price books and job cards from one vendor and will pay for Professional to get forms.
Tradify
Fourteen days, every feature, no card: Tradify opens with a trial that is not tiered. After it come three per-seat prices, $47, $51 and $61, with a Custom tier on request, and the page does not say whether they are annual or monthly. No free plan is listed.
Tradify is built around the quote. Its home page describes importing price lists, tracking time and materials, branded quote templates with automated follow-ups, card payments through Stripe and sync to Xero and QuickBooks, and the page markup lists Android and iOS apps. Training is free and one-to-one, and phone support is included.
- Lite ($47) covers job management and scheduling with Google Calendar sync, quotes and invoices with markups, card payments and accounting sync
- Pro ($51) adds job photos and files, recurring jobs and job templates, timesheets, appointment reminders, online quote acceptance and progress invoicing
- Plus ($61) adds purchase orders and kit bundles, service reminders, bulk invoicing and reporting
Each hire adds a seat, so a crew of 6 pays $282 a month on Lite or $306 on Pro, and photos and timesheets wait at Pro. Best for: people who start from a price list and carry it through to the invoice.
Housecall Pro
How many people does the plan include? For Housecall Pro that answer sets the price. On the general view of its pricing page, Basic is $59 a month on annual billing for 1 user, Essentials $149 for 5 users and Max $299 for 8 users, with $35 a month for each extra Max user; monthly billing is $79, $189 and $329. The page prices by trade, though, and for electrical, plumbing and HVAC it prints higher figures, so pick the trade before trusting these numbers. Promotional first-month prices are not the regular rate.
On the general view, Basic carries online booking, scheduling with dispatch, estimates with invoicing, payments with consumer financing, a price book and job costing. Routes, checklist automations, photo reports, employee GPS tracking and QuickBooks Online sync start at Essentials; recurring service plans, route optimization and open API access start at Max. Support is live by phone and chat on every plan. The trial is 14 days with no card, and the FAQ says it gives access to Max.
Because the price depends on the trade chosen, no sum is given for Housecall Pro below. Best for: home service firms that want routing and QuickBooks Online sync on a published plan and are ready to read the price for their own trade.
JobTread
JobTread is a project tool first: estimating, project management, job finances, a customer portal and QuickBooks Online in one plan with all features included. On monthly billing it is $199 a month with 1 internal user included, plus $20 for each internal user from the second to the tenth, then $15, then $10, then $5 on later steps; annual billing saves 20 percent. Subcontractors and vendors, like portal customers, are free users. There is no free trial, because every client is assigned a Customer Success Manager, and a 30-day money-back guarantee covers the monthly plan.
- Job costing and budgeting are listed on the home page, along with change orders and customer invoicing
- No tiers: every feature is on the one plan, and the audience is builders and remodelers, with plumbers and electricians named as a fit among specialty contractors
A crew that mostly runs short service visits pays for project tools it will not use. Best for: builders and renovators whose work is projects with budgets, change orders and customer approvals.
Workiz
No price is printed for Workiz: each of its three plans, from Standard up to Ultimate, carries a "Request pricing" button. Its FAQ says annual rates are discounted compared with monthly billing and offers a 7-day free trial with no card; whether the price is per user or flat is not stated.
Standard lists scheduling with jobs and estimates, invoices, online payments, service areas, client management, subcontractor management and QuickBooks integration. Pro adds performance pay and custom reports. Ultimate is where service plans, sales proposals, inventory management, flat-rate pricing, checklists and an open API sit, so a checklist-led crew should ask what Ultimate costs before comparing. The phone line, answering service and marketing tools are sold separately, and the home page lists HVAC, plumbing, electrical, locksmith, appliance repair and garage door among the trades.
Best for: service firms that need checklists, flat-rate pricing and service plans and are fine requesting a price first.
What Does Job Management Software Cost for 3 and 10 Tradesmen?
Prices checked on 9 November 2026, all published figures, monthly unless noted.
- Headcount: every person is a paid user, the owner included.
- Plan: the entry plan, unless a feature forces the next one.
- Job count: ServiceM8 is priced at 100 jobs a month for the crew of 3 and 300 for the crew of 10.
Shifton Field Service with Tasks only costs $15 for 3 people and $50 for 10, at $5 per employee. With Invoicing and Inventory added it costs $45 and $150, at $5 plus $5 plus $5 per employee, and annual billing takes 20% off, which brings those to $36 and $120. ServiceM8 costs $79 (Growing, up to 150 jobs) and $149 (Premium, up to 500 jobs), flat per tier. Tradify Lite costs $141 and $470 at $47 per user, and Pro $153 and $510 at $51. JobTread costs $239 for 3 ($199 plus 2 users at $20) and $379 for 10 ($199 plus 9 users at $20). Fergus, Workiz and Housecall Pro get no sum: the first two publish no total that scales with people or no price at all, and the third prices by trade.
Per-person pricing flips early. Tradify Lite passes ServiceM8 Growing's flat $79 at the second user (2 x $47 = $94) and ServiceM8 Premium's $149 at the fourth (4 x $47 = $188), so at ten people Tradify Lite costs more than three times ServiceM8 Premium. It also passes JobTread at the seventh person, $329 against $319. From cheapest, a crew of 3 runs Shifton Field Service on Tasks alone, ServiceM8, Tradify Lite, JobTread; a crew of 10 runs Shifton Field Service on Tasks alone, ServiceM8, JobTread, Tradify Lite.
Flat bases behave the other way: JobTread rises only $140 between 3 and 10 people, the 7 extra users at $20. The rows differ in scope, since Tradify Lite has no job photos, ServiceM8 prices jobs and not people, Shifton Field Service Tasks has no invoicing, and JobTread is a project tool.
How to Choose Job Management Software for a Trade Business
Three questions decide it. What does the plan count, what size will the crew reach in a year, and is the work call-outs or projects?
A solo operator with fewer than 30 jobs a month has a free plan at ServiceM8, and Shifton Field Service is free for 2 employees with forms and the mobile app. Shifton's free plan holds two people with no job cap; ServiceM8's holds one person and 30 jobs.
For a crew of 3 to 5 running service calls, a flat or per-module price costs least: from $15 a month at Shifton Field Service and $79 at ServiceM8 Growing. A per-seat plan such as Tradify stays competitive only while the crew is small, and the entry tier is rarely where forms and photos live. A crew heading for 6 to 10 should price the step, not the entry. ServiceM8 moves up a tier as jobs grow, Tradify adds a seat with every hire, and Housecall Pro's step depends on the trade chosen, so read that page for your own trade before planning around it. Shops that mainly need a dispatch board can weigh these tools in our service dispatch software roundup.
On accounting, QuickBooks is named by every vendor on the list. Xero is named by Tradify and ServiceM8 and by Fergus, and MYOB by Fergus and, as a certified add-on, by ServiceM8. Shifton Field Service names QuickBooks Online with two-way client sync.
Builders and renovators running projects with budgets and approvals are the audience of JobTread; the others on this list are built around the service call. Firms that mix repair and renovation work can see how Shifton Field Service handles remodeling and repair crews, and electrical firms have a trade-specific comparison in our guide to software for electrical contractors.
Compare
Prices checked on 9 November 2026 on each vendor's pricing page. Annual billing is shown where the vendor prints both. "Not published": no price is printed. "Not stated": the page is silent on it.
| Tool | Free plan or trial | Paid from, and billing | Forms and photos start at | Accounting sync | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shifton Field Service | Free plan, up to 2 employees; modules trial up to 55 days | $5 per employee a month for Tasks above 2, plus $5 per module; 20% less billed annually | Forms with photo and signature in the free Tasks module | QuickBooks Online, Zapier, API | Small crews running service calls with on-site checklists |
| ServiceM8 | Free plan, 1 user and 30 jobs a month; 14-day trial | $29 a month for 50 jobs; monthly prices printed | Ready-made forms on every plan; own forms from Growing ($79) | QuickBooks, Xero; MYOB certified add-on | Solo operators and small crews counted by jobs |
| Fergus | None listed; 14-day trial | From $31 a month, monthly billing, no lock-in | Checklists and forms on Professional (from $44) | Xero, QuickBooks, MYOB | Trade firms wanting price books and job cards |
| Tradify | None listed; 14-day trial with all features | $47 per user a month (Lite); billing period not stated | Job photos and files from Pro ($51 per user) | Xero, QuickBooks | Quoting from imported price lists |
| Housecall Pro | None listed; 14-day trial | $59 a month annual, $79 monthly, 1 user (general view; higher for some trades) | Checklist automations and photo reports from Essentials ($149 annual, general view) | QuickBooks Online from Essentials | Home service firms wanting routing and QuickBooks sync |
| JobTread | No free trial; 30-day money-back guarantee on monthly | $199 a month plus $20 per extra user, monthly | Every feature on the one plan | QuickBooks Online | Builders and renovators running projects |
| Workiz | 7-day trial | Not published | Checklists on Ultimate, price not published | QuickBooks | Service firms needing checklists and service plans |
FAQ
What is the best job management app for tradies?
Pick by what the technician has to do in the app. Forms with photo and signature are free in Shifton Field Service, our own product, which is on the App Store and Google Play. Taking card payment on site is on ServiceM8 and Fergus, and Tradify takes card payments online through Stripe. The limits of each app are in its section above.
What is the best job management software for tradesmen?
For a crew of 3, the lowest published total is Shifton Field Service on Tasks alone at $15 a month, though it has no price list or job costing. ServiceM8 is a flat $79 for up to 150 jobs and Tradify Lite is $141. At 10 people Tradify Lite reaches $470, while ServiceM8 Premium stays at $149. JobTread is the one for project work.
What is the best CRM for tradies?
Of the tools checked here, none is sold as a CRM first, and the vendors describe customer records differently. Shifton Field Service keeps one client record with several addresses and every earlier job at them. Tradify lists an inquiry form, an email inbox and communication history from Pro, and Fergus lists Enquiry Management. JobTread has a customer portal where clients sign and pay online.
What is the best app for tradesmen?
Read as the app for taking payment on site, ServiceM8 lists mobile payments and Tap to Pay on iPhone, and Fergus lists Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android when Fergus Pay is enabled. Tradify takes card payments online through Stripe. The feature pages of Shifton Field Service describe no online card payment, so it suits crews that bill from a finished job instead.
What is the best job management software for builders?
If most of your jobs carry a budget and change orders, JobTread is the one on this list built for that work. If they are visits with a form to fill in, the other six are built around the service call, and Shifton Field Service suits repair and remodeling crews on that model.
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