Alternatives to ServiceM8
Recorded reasons for leaving
Options for reason 1
You need offline work to sync by itself when the signal returns
Jobber
16 tasks tested · 27 documented
How we assess evidenceProfile: Commercial-leaning
Because: Recurring maintenance visits were generated from one schedule, with an invoice scheduled after each (T-11), and job costing showed labor, expenses and profit on the job (T-12). The field app synced offline work without help (T-09), and the QuickBooks sync passed once a 0% tax code existed (T-13).
Not for you if: Your payer is often not the owner of the service location: in our trial Jobber billed the client that owns the property, so a property manager's unit needed a workaround that either duplicates the location or demotes the tenant to a contact (T-03). You track individual units by serial number: Jobber had no equipment record in our trial, and history lives on the property, not the unit (T-04). Your customer list already has property managers or landlords: the importer takes one row per property and cannot link the payer, so that structure is rebuilt by hand after import (T-01, T-03).
Profile: Mixed service + projects
Because: On the phone it kept working in airplane mode, and the note, photo and completed visit we added offline reached the office by themselves within about a minute of reconnecting, with nothing lost (T-09). The quote approved online became a job with nothing retyped (T-05), and a quote became a job and an invoice that carried the part the technician added in the field (T-06). A three-visit replacement stayed under one job with a 30/50/20 payment schedule that Jobber computed and invoiced itself (T-08), and job costing worked on that same job (T-12).
Not for you if: You track individual units by serial number: Jobber had no equipment record in our trial, and history lives on the property, not the unit (T-04). Your payer is often not the owner of the service location: in our trial Jobber billed the client that owns the property, so a property manager's unit needed a workaround that either duplicates the location or demotes the tenant to a contact (T-03).
Profile: Small residential shop
Because: On the phone it kept working in airplane mode, and the note, photo and completed visit we added offline reached the office by themselves within about a minute of reconnecting, with nothing lost (T-09). The quote approved online became a job with nothing retyped (T-05), and a quote became a job and an invoice that carried the part the technician added in the field (T-06). Job costing showed labor, materials and profit on the job page without a spreadsheet (T-12), and a twice-a-year maintenance plan generated its four visits and scheduled an invoice after each one (T-11).
Not for you if: You track individual units by serial number: Jobber had no equipment record in our trial, and history lives on the property, not the unit (T-04). You expect the app's search to find a job by its number: in our test it returned the customer and the address, not the job (T-09). You want the displaced customer told automatically when an emergency bumps their slot: the reschedule notice is a manual send (T-07).
Profile: Owner-operator
Because: On the phone it kept working in airplane mode, and the note, photo and completed visit we added offline reached the office by themselves within about a minute of reconnecting, with nothing lost (T-09). The quote approved online became a job with nothing retyped (T-05), and a quote became a job and an invoice that carried the part the technician added in the field (T-06). It recorded the most passes on the tasks that weigh most for a one-truck operation (setup, quoting and invoicing, the field app, payments and total cost), and support's live chat gave a correct but incomplete answer to both of our questions about 15 minutes after we asked (T-15).
Not for you if: You track individual units by serial number: Jobber had no equipment record in our trial, and history lives on the property, not the unit (T-04). You need card payments working on day one: in our trial only cash, check and manual payment records were available, because Jobber Payments was not set up on the account (T-10). You are counting on the lowest plan: the features we tested put a contractor on Grow, $199 a month for one person at the time of our check (T-16).
- From signup to the first job scheduled, including importing the 25 customers from CSV: pass TestedT-01
- Import the 30-item price book from CSV, including options: partial TestedT-02
- Commercial customer with 3 locations and a separate payer (Cedar Lane): partial TestedT-03
- Equipment history: see every visit for one rooftop unit: not-possible TestedT-04
- 3-option quote (AC replacement); the customer approves one option online: pass TestedT-05
- Quote → job → invoice; the tech adds a part in the field: pass TestedT-06
- Schedule 8 jobs across 3 techs; an emergency call bumps one: partial TestedT-07
- Multi-stage replacement over 3 visits: pass TestedT-08
- On a phone: open the job, see equipment history, add photos, notes and a checklist, capture a signature; repeat offline: pass TestedT-09
- Take a payment (test mode) or send a payment link: partial TestedT-10
- Maintenance plan with 2 visits a year and recurring billing: pass TestedT-11
- Job costing for the multi-stage job: pass TestedT-12
- QuickBooks Online sync of an invoice and a payment (sandbox): pass TestedT-13
- Export and leave: customers, jobs, invoices, attachments; check the phone-number port-out policy: partial TestedT-14
- Support: 2 standard questions via chat or email: pass TestedT-15
- Real cost for 1, 3 and 8 techs, including every add-on needed to pass T-01 to T-15: pass TestedT-16
Options for reason 2
You bill multi-visit jobs by percentage with a payment schedule
Jobber
16 tasks tested · 27 documented
How we assess evidenceProfile: Commercial-leaning
Because: Recurring maintenance visits were generated from one schedule, with an invoice scheduled after each (T-11), and job costing showed labor, expenses and profit on the job (T-12). The field app synced offline work without help (T-09), and the QuickBooks sync passed once a 0% tax code existed (T-13).
Not for you if: Your payer is often not the owner of the service location: in our trial Jobber billed the client that owns the property, so a property manager's unit needed a workaround that either duplicates the location or demotes the tenant to a contact (T-03). You track individual units by serial number: Jobber had no equipment record in our trial, and history lives on the property, not the unit (T-04). Your customer list already has property managers or landlords: the importer takes one row per property and cannot link the payer, so that structure is rebuilt by hand after import (T-01, T-03).
Profile: Mixed service + projects
Because: On the phone it kept working in airplane mode, and the note, photo and completed visit we added offline reached the office by themselves within about a minute of reconnecting, with nothing lost (T-09). The quote approved online became a job with nothing retyped (T-05), and a quote became a job and an invoice that carried the part the technician added in the field (T-06). A three-visit replacement stayed under one job with a 30/50/20 payment schedule that Jobber computed and invoiced itself (T-08), and job costing worked on that same job (T-12).
Not for you if: You track individual units by serial number: Jobber had no equipment record in our trial, and history lives on the property, not the unit (T-04). Your payer is often not the owner of the service location: in our trial Jobber billed the client that owns the property, so a property manager's unit needed a workaround that either duplicates the location or demotes the tenant to a contact (T-03).
Profile: Small residential shop
Because: On the phone it kept working in airplane mode, and the note, photo and completed visit we added offline reached the office by themselves within about a minute of reconnecting, with nothing lost (T-09). The quote approved online became a job with nothing retyped (T-05), and a quote became a job and an invoice that carried the part the technician added in the field (T-06). Job costing showed labor, materials and profit on the job page without a spreadsheet (T-12), and a twice-a-year maintenance plan generated its four visits and scheduled an invoice after each one (T-11).
Not for you if: You track individual units by serial number: Jobber had no equipment record in our trial, and history lives on the property, not the unit (T-04). You expect the app's search to find a job by its number: in our test it returned the customer and the address, not the job (T-09). You want the displaced customer told automatically when an emergency bumps their slot: the reschedule notice is a manual send (T-07).
Profile: Owner-operator
Because: On the phone it kept working in airplane mode, and the note, photo and completed visit we added offline reached the office by themselves within about a minute of reconnecting, with nothing lost (T-09). The quote approved online became a job with nothing retyped (T-05), and a quote became a job and an invoice that carried the part the technician added in the field (T-06). It recorded the most passes on the tasks that weigh most for a one-truck operation (setup, quoting and invoicing, the field app, payments and total cost), and support's live chat gave a correct but incomplete answer to both of our questions about 15 minutes after we asked (T-15).
Not for you if: You track individual units by serial number: Jobber had no equipment record in our trial, and history lives on the property, not the unit (T-04). You need card payments working on day one: in our trial only cash, check and manual payment records were available, because Jobber Payments was not set up on the account (T-10). You are counting on the lowest plan: the features we tested put a contractor on Grow, $199 a month for one person at the time of our check (T-16).
- From signup to the first job scheduled, including importing the 25 customers from CSV: pass TestedT-01
- Import the 30-item price book from CSV, including options: partial TestedT-02
- Commercial customer with 3 locations and a separate payer (Cedar Lane): partial TestedT-03
- Equipment history: see every visit for one rooftop unit: not-possible TestedT-04
- 3-option quote (AC replacement); the customer approves one option online: pass TestedT-05
- Quote → job → invoice; the tech adds a part in the field: pass TestedT-06
- Schedule 8 jobs across 3 techs; an emergency call bumps one: partial TestedT-07
- Multi-stage replacement over 3 visits: pass TestedT-08
- On a phone: open the job, see equipment history, add photos, notes and a checklist, capture a signature; repeat offline: pass TestedT-09
- Take a payment (test mode) or send a payment link: partial TestedT-10
- Maintenance plan with 2 visits a year and recurring billing: pass TestedT-11
- Job costing for the multi-stage job: pass TestedT-12
- QuickBooks Online sync of an invoice and a payment (sandbox): pass TestedT-13
- Export and leave: customers, jobs, invoices, attachments; check the phone-number port-out policy: partial TestedT-14
- Support: 2 standard questions via chat or email: pass TestedT-15
- Real cost for 1, 3 and 8 techs, including every add-on needed to pass T-01 to T-15: pass TestedT-16