Jobber vs Joist — thecreatools

Comparison

US-based small home-service business owner (1–10 employees) running recurring, service-call work (lawn care, cleaning, HVAC/plumbing maintenance, pest control). Persona: Owner/operator or operations manager who needs a mobile-first system, fast onboarding, professional estimates/invoicing, client self-service (Client Hub), and simple scheduling/route planning without heavy project-phase billing or complex inventory management.

Who wins with Joist:

US-based solo contractors and very small crews (electricians, plumbers, handymen, painters, HVAC, carpenters, landscapers) who need fast on-site estimates, simple invoicing, onboarded payment acceptance and occasional financing offers — owner-operators and 1–5 person teams that prioritize mobile ease-of-use over enterprise workflows.

Feature	Jobber	Joist
💰 Pricing	Jobber lists four paid tiers — Core $29 / month, Connect $99 / month, Grow $149 / month, Plus $529 / month — and offers a 14-day free trial; pricing on the page is shown as annual prepaid options.	Three paid plans listed monthly (Basics $10 / month, Pro $16 / month, Elite $32 / month); annual billing options and a 14-day free trial are noted.
✅ Pros	Intuitive, mobile-first app that field teams actually use Reliable offline mode for field work (cache job details, complete forms, take photos while offline) Integrated quote → approve → convert to job → invoice workflow (reduces data re-entry) Scheduling, dispatch, and route optimization (map view, drag-and-drop calendar) Client Hub (customer self-portal) with online booking and payment links	No data
⚠️ Cons	Per-user pricing becomes expensive as teams scale (users billed per-seat can make costs steep for 10+ techs) QuickBooks / accounting sync reliability issues (occasional dropped transactions, manual reconciliation required) No native change order support and limited multi-invoice / multi-phase invoicing under a single job	No major cons logged
API	✅ Included	❌ Not available
Community Size	350000	1000000
Crew Management	✅ Included Crew / Team Management	❌ Not available
Custom Branding	✅ Included	✅ Included
Debt Chasing Auto	✅ Included	✅ Included
Dispatch Board	✅ Included	❌ Not available
Equipment Tracking	❌ Not available	❌ Not available
Estimates Mobile	✅ Included Mobile Estimates / Quotes	✅ Included
Estimates Quotes	✅ Included	✅ Included
Expense Tracking	✅ Included	✅ Included
Free Plan	❌ Not available	✅ Included
GPS Tracking Realtime	✅ Included Real-time GPS Tracking of Field Workers	❌ Not available
Integrations Accounting	✅ Included Accounting Integrations	✅ Included
Inventory Tracking	❌ Not available	❌ Not available
Invoicing Onsite	✅ Included On-site Invoicing	✅ Included
Keyboard Shortcuts	❌ Not available	❌ Not available
Learning Curve	Easy	Easy
Lifetime Deal	❌ Not available	❌ Not available
Make Integration	❌ Not available	❌ Not available
Mobile First Design	✅ Included Mobile-first Design	✅ Included
Nonprofit Discount	❌ Not available	❌ Not available
Offline Mode	✅ Included	❌ Not available
Partial Payments	✅ Included	✅ Included
Parts Ordering	❌ Not available	❌ Not available
Payment Link	✅ Included	✅ Included
Payment Mobile	✅ Included Mobile Payments (accept credit cards in field)	✅ Included
Phone Support	✅ Included	❌ Not available
Photo Proof	✅ Included	✅ Included
Pricing Transparent	✅ Included Public Pricing Visible	✅ Included
Quickbooks	✅ Included	✅ Included
Quickbooks	✅ Included	✅ Included
Reports Financial	✅ Included	✅ Included
Route Optimization	✅ Included	❌ Not available
Signature Capture	✅ Included	✅ Included
Student Discount	❌ Not available	❌ Not available
Support Hours	Business hours with responsive live chat and phone support; weekend responses reported; premium support available on higher tier	Mon–Fri email 9am–5pm EST; live chat Mon–Fri 9am–8pm EST; AI chat assistant on weekends / leave message for team
Support Languages	English, Spanish	English
Tax Calculation Auto	✅ Included	✅ Included
Time Clock GPS	✅ Included GPS-based Time Clock / Location Timers	❌ Not available
Xero	✅ Included	❌ Not available
Zapier Integration	✅ Included	❌ Not available
Accounting	— No data	✅ Included
Approval Workflow	— No data	✅ Included
Bank Reconciliation	✅ Included	— No data
Booking Limits	✅ Included	— No data
Buffer Time	✅ Included	— No data
CRM	— No data	❌ Not available
Calendar Sync	✅ Included	— No data
Cancellation Policy Custom	✅ Included	— No data
Change Order Tracking	— No data	✅ Included
Client Portal	✅ Included	— No data
Convert To Invoice	— No data	✅ Included
Credit Notes	✅ Included	— No data
Customer Portal	✅ Included Customer Self-Service Portal	— No data
Dark Mode	❌ Not available	— No data
Digital Signature	— No data	✅ Included
Embed Widget	✅ Included	— No data
Financing Options	— No data	✅ Included
Founded Year	2011	— No data
Intake Forms	✅ Included	— No data
Integrations	50	— No data
Item Library	— No data	✅ Included
Job Forms Custom	✅ Included On-site Job Forms & Checklists	— No data
Jpk VAT	— No data	❌ Not available
Ksef	— No data	❌ Not available
Labor Material Split	— No data	✅ Included
Late Fee Auto	✅ Included	— No data
Markup Auto	— No data	✅ Included
Migration Help	✅ Included	— No data
Mobile App Native	✅ Included Native Mobile App (iOS / Android)	— No data
Mobile Quoting	— No data	✅ Included
Multi Currency	❌ Not available	— No data
No Show Protection	✅ Included	— No data
Ocr Scanning	— No data	❌ Not available
Onboarding	✅ Included	— No data
Payment Collection	✅ Included	— No data
Photo Attachments	— No data	✅ Included
Recurring Bookings	✅ Included	— No data
Recurring Invoices	✅ Included	— No data
Recurring Service	✅ Included	— No data
Reviews Capterra Rating	4.5	— No data
Reviews G2 Rating	4.6	— No data
SMS Quote Delivery	— No data	✅ Included
SMS Reminders	✅ Included	— No data
Scheduling Calendar	✅ Included Scheduling / Team Calendar	— No data
Setup Time Estimate	Minutes to a few hours for basic setup; dedicated onboarding specialist available on higher tiers	— No data
Team Scheduling	✅ Included	— No data
Templates Quote	— No data	✅ Included
Time Tracking Billable	✅ Included	— No data
Trial Days	14	— No data

⚡ Quick Verdict