This compares our own product with Jobber, so weigh it with that in mind. We'll start with the most important honest point: if you're a one- or two-person shop, Jobber is cheaper than TradesWork, and for many trades it's the easier tool. Jobber facts here come from its own pricing page, feature pages, help center and terms, checked October 15, 2026.
The two products aim at different businesses. Jobber is a general home service tool, strongest in lawn, cleaning and handyman work, and used by a lot of small trade crews. Jobber says it's trusted by 400,000 service pros (Client Hub). TradesWork is built for HVAC, plumbing and electrical shops of about 3 to 50 techs that make their money on memberships and replacements.
Where Jobber is stronger
Price for small shops. Jobber Core is $29 a month on annual prepaid ($49 with no commitment) for one user. Connect covers up to five users for $149 a month on annual prepaid (pricing). A solo tech on TradesWork Essentials pays $79 a month billed annually, and two techs pay $158. If you're one or two people, Jobber wins on price, and it isn't close.
At list price, Jobber stays cheaper for most crews under 15 users. Say a shop has 5 techs and 3 office staff: Jobber Grow for 10 users is $299 a month on annual prepaid, while TradesWork Pro for 5 techs is 5 × $99 = $495. The gap narrows only once Jobber add-ons, the Plus plan, or more than 15 users come into play.
Ease of learning. Request, quote, job and invoice all work the same way in Jobber, and most crews pick it up in a day.
Customer portal. Jobber's Client Hub, on every plan, lets customers request work, approve quotes, see upcoming and past appointments, and pay invoices, deposits and tips. Jobber also promotes referrals through it. It's one of the best portals in this market.
Quotes with upsells. From Grow, quotes can carry images and reviews, and optional line items the customer ticks themselves.
Recurring residential work. If your business is recurring residential service like lawn care or cleaning, Jobber is the more natural fit. TradesWork doesn't do route-day scheduling for lawn, pest or pool, so if that's your business, Jobber is the better pick.
Track record and AI. Jobber has a long track record. Its AI features include a custom report builder, suggested automations, Rewrite for client messages, and hands-free Voice for 100+ tasks in the app; the AI Receptionist is $29 a month below Plus (Jobber AI).
Where TradesWork is stronger
Who you pay for. Jobber prices by user band (1, 5, 10, 15), every login counts, extra users are $29 a month, and 16+ users means contacting sales. TradesWork charges per technician, and office staff, helpers, apprentices and view-only users are free with no cap. A shop with a dispatcher, two CSRs and a bookkeeper never pays for their seats.
Memberships. Jobber's plan features don't list maintenance memberships. TradesWork includes them from Pro: dues charge themselves, failed cards are retried with an update link, visits come due on schedule, and member discounts apply on estimates automatically. For HVAC and plumbing shops, that's how the shoulder season gets paid for.
Selling. TradesWork builds good, better and best options from your price book on the tech's phone, shows a monthly payment figure under each, and flags old units and repeat repairs as replacement opportunities. Customers sign on the screen or later from a text.
Trade records. Equipment history per unit, data-plate scanning that works out equipment age from the serial number, a refrigerant log tied to each tech's EPA 608 number, leak repair deadlines and warranty claim tracking. Jobber's plan features don't list these.
No-signal tech app. TradesWork Field keeps saving estimates, notes, photos, forms and time with no signal and catches up later, on iPhone and Android, in English and Spanish, with built-in HVAC calculators.
Phones and AI included. Missed-call text back, caller pop-ups with history and balance, plain-English questions of your numbers and alerts are part of TradesWork, with no add-on fee. The AI receptionist, in early access, comes with the AI plan rather than as an add-on.
Contracts and billing
Jobber gives you three ways to pay: no commitment (cancel any time, ends at the end of the billing period), a 1-year commitment billed monthly (billing continues through the term if you cancel), or annual prepaid (cheapest, non-refundable). Its terms say subscriptions continue until terminated and that annual subscriptions must be cancelled at least 30 days before the renewal date.
TradesWork is month-to-month, or annual billing that never auto-renews at a higher price. Both have a 14-day trial with no card.
Questions to ask in each trial
Both have a 14-day trial with no card. Use it with real techs on real jobs.
Ask Jobber:
- How would we run maintenance memberships with dues, visit tracking and member pricing?
- Where do we record equipment, refrigerant and warranty details for each unit?
- How many users will we have in a year, office included, and what happens past 15?
- What can a tech create or change with no signal?
Ask TradesWork:
- How will our Jobber recurring jobs and clients come across, and what do we set up by hand?
- What does our crew size cost on Essentials versus Pro, and what do we lose on Essentials?
- How does the AI receptionist handle our after-hours calls?
- What's missing for our trade today? (For lawn, pest or pool routes, the honest answer is route-day scheduling.)
A 12-month view
List prices only tell part of the story. Add up 12 months of subscription, add-ons you'd actually buy, card processing at your volume, and setup time. For a one- or two-person shop, Jobber will come out ahead. For a 6 to 15 tech mechanical shop with a growing office and a membership program, run the numbers both ways before you decide. Include what a membership program earns you: if most of your shoulder-season revenue comes from maintenance visits and the replacements they lead to, the tool that runs memberships well is usually the cheaper one over a year, whatever the sticker says.
Switching from Jobber to TradesWork
TradesWork has a file-based importer for Jobber. You export from Jobber and drop the files in. Jobber's help center shows admins how to export clients as CSV, with up to about 1,500 rows per file and larger lists split across files (export clients). The importer brings over clients, properties as service locations, job history, invoices with balances, and products and services as your price book.
What doesn't move: Jobber has no memberships or equipment records to export, so recurring jobs come across as job history and you set up memberships fresh. Quotes stay in Jobber for now. The Jobber file layouts are still being validated against real exports, so keep your original files. Stored cards don't transfer; customers with cards on file re-enter them through a secure link.
If you're on a Jobber commitment plan, time the switch to your term end. Our guide to cancelling Jobber covers the steps and what happens to your data.
Which should you choose?
Jobber if you're a one- or two-person shop, work in lawn, cleaning or handyman services, or want the simplest tool and the best customer portal at the lowest price.
TradesWork if you're a 3 to 50 tech HVAC, plumbing or electrical shop that sells memberships and replacements, needs equipment and refrigerant records, has a growing office, and wants a tech app that works with no signal.
Trial both with real techs, and score them on your own priorities with the field service software scorecard.
