One licensed owner doing service calls and small installs, no employees yet. The field service app and the books added up on published list prices, and the card-fee line that is bigger than both.
Jobber Core $29 and QuickBooks Online Simple Start $38 come to $67 a month, $804 a year, on annual billing. Collect $8,000 a month by card in 16 invoices of $500 through Jobber and the fees alone are $237, which is 78% of the $304 total. The same $8,000 by bank transfer at 1% costs $80.
| Line | Choice | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field service app | Jobber Core, 1 user | $29 | $348 |
| Books | QuickBooks Online Simple Start | $38 | $456 |
| Total | $67 | $804 | |
| Same stack with Housecall Pro | Housecall Pro Basic $59 + QuickBooks $38 | $97 | $1,164 |
| With QuickBooks sync, Jobber | Jobber Connect, 1 user $99 + QuickBooks $38 | $137 | $1,644 |
| With QuickBooks sync, Housecall Pro | Housecall Pro Essentials $149 + QuickBooks $38 | $187 | $2,244 |
Worthd arithmetic from list prices, before tax, promotions and add-ons. Jobber Core, Housecall Pro Basic and QuickBooks checked Oct 14; Jobber Connect checked Oct 11. QuickBooks showed a 50% off for 3 months promotion on Oct 14 with terms not shown, so it is not counted. More tiers in Jobber pricing and Housecall Pro pricing.
| Plan | Billed annually | 1 year, billed monthly | No commitment | Annual saves per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jobber Core | $29 | $39 | $49 | $240 vs no commitment |
| Housecall Pro Basic | $59 | not listed | $79 billed monthly | $240 vs monthly |
Both gaps are $20 a month. If you are not sure you will still be on the tool in twelve months, the no-commitment price is the cost of keeping the option; Jobber lists no early termination fee. What a missed renewal date costs is on the contract and cancellation terms page.
| How the customer pays | Rate as published | Fee on $8,000 | Stack plus fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobber, card | 2.9% + 30c | $237 (232 + 16 x 0.30 = 4.80) | $304 |
| Housecall Pro, card reader or Tap to Pay | 2.59% | $207 | $304 (with Basic: $97 + $207) |
| Housecall Pro, online invoice | 2.99% | $239 | $336 |
| Housecall Pro, keyed in or card on file | 3.49% | $279 | $376 |
| Either app, bank transfer (ACH) | 1% | $80 | $147 on Jobber Core, $177 on Basic |
Move $2,000 of it, 4 invoices, from card to bank transfer on Jobber and the fee drops from $237 to $198: $39 a month, $470 a year, more than half of the whole $67 stack. The catch is the customer has to agree to pay by bank, and the largest invoice of the month is the easiest one to ask. Rates for Housecall Pro come from its pricing page ("as low as 2.59%") and payments help article; see getting paid by bank transfer and card-fee surcharging by tool.
| If you | What changes | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Want invoices to flow into QuickBooks on their own | Housecall Pro Basic does not list QuickBooks sync; Essentials does. Jobber lists sync from Connect. | $137 (Jobber Connect + QuickBooks) or $187 (Housecall Pro Essentials + QuickBooks) |
| Skip the books for now | Keep only the app and pay your bookkeeper or file by hand | $29 (Core) or $59 (Basic) |
| Hire one helper | The 3-person stack adds a 5-user plan and payroll: about $240 | about $240 |
Simple Start allows one QuickBooks user plus two accountant seats, which fits a solo owner. Hiring detail in what payroll costs for your 2nd to 5th tech.
You invoice mostly commercial or general contractors on net-30 terms, where the card line above hardly applies and the books matter more than the app; you want dispatch and a second person on the schedule inside a month (price the 5-user plans on Jobber pricing instead); or you need payroll for yourself as an employee of your own company.
About $67 a month on annual billing: Jobber Core at $29 and QuickBooks Online Simple Start at $38, which is $804 a year before card fees. Housecall Pro Basic at $59 makes it $97. Prices checked Oct 14, 2026.
The app is the smaller bill. On $8,000 a month collected in 16 invoices of $500, Jobber's card fee is $237, 3.5 times the $67 stack. What the app buys is online booking, quotes and invoices that take payment, so the fee line is where the money is decided.
No. Housecall Pro lists QuickBooks Online sync on Essentials ($149 billed annually), not on Basic ($59). On Basic you enter or import invoices into the books yourself.
$240 a year on both: Jobber Core is $29 billed annually against $49 with no commitment, and Housecall Pro Basic is $59 against $79 billed monthly. That is $20 a month on each.
This stack has no payroll line because it assumes the owner takes draws instead of a paycheck; whether that applies depends on how your business is set up, so confirm with your accountant. The first hire changes it: see what payroll costs for your 2nd to 5th tech.
The 3-person stack comes to about $240 a month: a 5-user field service plan at $149, QuickBooks at $38 and Square Payroll at $53. The step from one person to two is mostly the field service plan and payroll, not the books.
Prices are US list prices. The vendor's checkout or written quote controls: verify before you buy. Totals are Worthd arithmetic from those prices. The $8,000 month, 16 invoices of $500 and the $2,000 bank shift are illustrations, not averages: replace them with your own in the cost calculator. How Worthd checks prices. Report a correction.
