What per-tech pricing adds up to
At published October 2026 prices, Jobber charges $29 a month per additional user and Housecall Pro MAX charges $35. ServiceTitan publishes no pricing; contractors report $245 to $500 per technician per month, with onboarding fees reported from $5,000 to $50,000. At the middle of that reported range, an 8-tech Houston shop pays about $2,400 a month — $28,800 a year, $86,400 over three years — and tech #9 raises the bill the day they start.
The hidden half is behavioral: owners share logins, keep part-timers out of the system, or delay adding the new hire — meaning the software no longer reflects who’s actually working. You’re paying per seat and still running part of the operation on texts.
The owned alternative
A custom field service system covers the day you already run: jobs in, scheduling and dispatch, the tech’s view on their phone, photos and sign-offs from the site, invoicing out, and a customer page with your name on it. Built around your workflow — your job types, your statuses, your words — for a one-time price: from $5,000 for the base, larger builds quoted from your current software bill (usually around half of one year of it). Unlimited logins, because the system is yours; hosting runs on your own accounts at a utility-bill amount.
For what a build includes step by step, see what we build for field service companies and how the four-step process works.
When per-tech platforms are still the right call
A solo operator or two-person shop on an entry tier, working the way the app expects: keep it. The per-tech math turns against you as the crew grows — by 5–8 techs on reported mid-range pricing, three years of rent has passed the cost of owning the system outright.