Workiz built its platform around the trades where the phone never stops: locksmiths, appliance repair, garage doors, junk removal, towing. Jobs come in by call, get dispatched fast, and close the same day. The built-in phone system with call recording and lead attribution is the standout feature and genuinely useful for those businesses. Mako covers the same job management ground and adds financial intelligence plus a platform that stretches beyond field work.
Workiz: Published tiers, priced per user, with annual billing advertised as saving several hundred dollars a year over monthly. We were not able to load Workiz's pricing page reliably to verify current figures, so we are not quoting numbers we have not seen. Ask for the per-user rate at your crew size and what the phone system costs, since that is often where the real number sits.
Mako: Pulse is free. Basic at $139/month — the complete platform with three team members. Team at $249/month — fifteen team members, advanced reporting, QuickBooks sync. Enterprise at $999/month — unlimited members across three locations. Roughly 20% off annually, no contract.
The structural difference is the same one that runs through this whole category: per-user pricing means your bill tracks your hiring, while Mako bundles seats into the tier. Model both at the crew size you expect in a year.
This is the real differentiator. Calls route through the platform, recordings attach to the job, and you can see which marketing source produced which booking. For a business where every job starts with a ringing phone, that attribution loop is worth real money and almost nobody else in this bracket has it natively.
Workiz is tuned for jobs that come in and go out the same day rather than being scheduled a week ahead. Dispatch is fast, the board is legible, and reassigning a technician mid-day is a two-second operation.
Locksmiths, appliance repair, garage doors, towing — Workiz knows these businesses and the product reflects it.
Workiz reports revenue, jobs, and technician activity. Mako calculates margin per job after labour and materials, cash flow, and unit economics per service type — the difference between knowing you were busy and knowing you were profitable.
Workiz gives you a phone system; Mako gives you something that answers it. The AI receptionist handles inbound calls and SMS, books work, and captures caller details when nobody can pick up. For a small crew where the owner is on a job, that is a different kind of solution to the same problem.
Per-user pricing on a growing crew compounds. Mako's Basic covers three, Team covers fifteen, nothing charged per head in between.
Shops, memberships, recurring service plans, retail inventory — Mako runs them on the same platform. Workiz assumes the dispatched job is the business.
Pick Workiz 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 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."
