Jobber is the default answer for small contractors, and it deserves that position. The quote → schedule → invoice → get-paid flow is clean, the mobile app works properly in a van with one bar of signal, and the client experience — quote approvals, appointment reminders, online payment — is better than most of the category. If you run a landscaping crew, a plumbing outfit, or a cleaning company, Jobber is a serious tool. Mako covers the same field service ground and adds financial intelligence plus the ability to run appointment-based and membership-based work on the same platform.
Jobber: Publishes tiered plans — the ladder runs from a solo-operator tier up through plans that add quoting automation, more users, and advanced reporting. Jobber's pricing page blocks automated access, so we are not quoting figures we could not verify ourselves. Check the current rate for the tier and user count you need directly on their site, and ask specifically what an additional user costs, because that is the line that moves as you hire.
Mako: Pulse is free. Basic at $139/month is the complete operational platform — CRM, job scheduling, estimates, invoicing, payments, customer portal, and email and SMS automation — with three team members. Team at $249/month adds up to fifteen team members, shared workflows, advanced reporting, and QuickBooks sync. Enterprise at $999/month is unlimited team members across three locations. Roughly 20% off annually, no contract.
The structural point worth checking: whichever you pick, model it at the crew size you expect in a year. Most field-service platforms price per user; Mako bundles seats into the tier, so your fourth and tenth hire cost nothing extra until you cross fifteen.
Jobber has spent a decade refining exactly one journey: a customer requests work, you quote it, they approve it, you schedule it, you complete it, you invoice it, they pay. Every step is tight, and the client-facing side is genuinely polished — approvals and payment links that customers actually use rather than ignore.
The crew app is built for people wearing gloves. Job details, notes, photos, time tracking, and on-site invoicing all work without a desk. This is table stakes in the category and Jobber does it better than most.
Jobber is field service and nothing else. Everything in the product assumes a job at an address with a crew attending. If that describes your entire business, that focus is a feature.
Jobber reports revenue, jobs completed, and outstanding invoices. It does not natively surface job-level profitability after labour and materials, cash-flow forecasting, or unit economics per service type. Mako calculates margin per job using the pay rate that was active when the work happened — so the question "which of my services actually makes money" has a number rather than a hunch.
If you run field work alongside anything else — a shop, recurring maintenance contracts, memberships, or retail — Mako handles both on one platform. Jobber is built around the job. Businesses that also sell packages or memberships end up with a second system.
Per-user pricing is standard in field service, and it means your software bill tracks your hiring. Mako's Basic covers three, Team covers fifteen, and nothing is charged per head in between.
For contractors with maintenance contracts or service plans, automated retry sequences, dunning, and card-update requests matter as much as they do for a gym. Mako treats failed payments as recoverable revenue rather than a manual chase.
Pick Jobber if:
Pick Mako if:
Your contracting business is a business. Not a hobby, not a side project, not a calendar with a cash register. It deserves software that treats it accordingly. If your platform cannot tell you whether you are financially healthy, it is not doing its job. And in 2026, you have better options.
See Mako in action — no sales call required
Mako is built for independent contractors and service-business owners who would rather spend their time on jobs than on demo calls. Open the live demo, poke around, and see exactly how estimates, scheduling, invoicing, and financial intelligence come together in one place.
Try the demo: https://app.makocrm.so/demo
Self-serve. Instant access. No forms, no calendars, no "talk to sales."
