TradeStack vs. the others.
Most software is overpriced for what it actually does. You should pay a fair price for the everyday tools, and pay more only when something delivers real value. So we made the whole core platform free, and we only charge for the few things that genuinely cost us money to run. Here's the honest side-by-side.
Priced like an oil change, not a membership.
How software should be priced
Pay for the oil change, not the membership.
You don't pay Jiffy Lube a monthly fee for the right to someday get an oil change. You pay when you get the oil change. Software should work the same way. The everyday tools you need just to operate are a commodity, so we give them away. The growth tools that actually bring in more work are the only thing you pay for, and only when you use them. Slow month, smaller bill. Dead month, nothing.
What you get for $0
The whole core platform. No card, no strings.
These are the tools you need just to run the business. They're commodities, so we don't charge for them. Free means free.
- Schedule and manage jobs
- Dispatch work to the right tech
- Capture and organize job photos
- Build and maintain your product catalog
- Manage your employees and crews
- Send and collect invoices with Stripe
- A basic single-page website to get your name out there
- Extensive reporting on the whole operation
| TradeStackFree to run | Housecall ProFrom $79/mo (Basic, 1 user) | JobberFrom $39/mo (Core, 1 user) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to run the software | $0, forever | From $79/user·mo ($59 billed annually) | From $39/mo, 1 user ($28 billed annually) |
| Team seats | Unlimited, included | Basic is 1 user; extra users +$35/mo on MAX | Core is 1 user; extra users +$29/mo over your plan |
| Free to run, or trial only? | Free forever, no card | 14-day trial, then a monthly bill | 14-day trial, then a monthly bill |
| Scheduling, invoicing, card payments | Included, free | Included on a paid plan | Included on a paid plan |
| A real marketing website | $1,997 one-time, you own it, no hosting bill | Add-on / higher tier, billed monthly | Add-on / limited, billed monthly |
| Marketing on autopilot | 77¢/job, AI posts to your site, Google & social | Paid marketing add-ons | Paid add-ons / limited |
| Local “get-found” signals | Geotagged photos & job check-ins auto-feed Google & AI | Photo capture, but not tied to your marketing | Photo capture, but not tied to your marketing |
| Higher tiers to unlock features? | No, the whole back office is free | Yes: Essentials $189, MAX $329/mo | Yes: Connect $119, Grow $199, Plus $599/mo |
| Pricing model | Free to run, pay only to grow | Monthly per-seat + add-ons | Monthly tiers + per-user fees |
Comparison across 3 columns.
Watch the add-ons stack up.
With Housecall Pro and Jobber, that headline price is just the door charge. A website, marketing, and every extra seat are paid add-ons or a pricier tier, each billed monthly. Stack the pieces you actually need and a $39 or $79 sticker turns into $300 to $500+ a month fast. TradeStack has nothing to stack: the back office is free, and the only extras are a one-time $1,997 website and 77¢ a job to grow.
Housecall Pro and Jobber pricing and features shown here are from their public pricing pages as of July 2026 and may have changed since, so check their sites for current details. We aim to compare fairly; if we've gotten something wrong, tell us and we'll fix it.
Why we cost less
You're paying for their building, not your oil change.
A dealership doesn't charge more because their mechanics are better at changing your oil. You're paying for the building, the brand, and the layers of staff. Enterprise software is no different. The reason Housecall Pro costs what it costs isn't that the product is magic, it's that you're funding a big company: sales floors, management, hundreds of engineers, all billed back to you every month.
TradeStack is built the opposite way. We're a small team of senior engineers with AI doing the heavy lifting, so there's no overhead to pass on. Same quality work, none of the markup. That efficiency is the entire reason we can hand you the core platform for free and charge pennies when you grow.
AI lets a lean team do what used to take a whole department. Our own size is the proof, and we pass that savings straight through to you.
No mystery pricing
Here's exactly what you're paying for.
Most software won't tell you why it costs what it costs. We will. Here is where every penny of the 77¢-a-job growth fee goes.
| What it is | Cost | Who we pay |
|---|---|---|
| The core platform (scheduling, jobs, invoicing, catalog, team, your page) | $0 | Nobody. It is a commodity, so we do not charge for it. |
| AI that turns a finished job into marketing | 13–17¢ | The AI provider |
| Sending a text to your customer | ~5¢ | The phone carrier |
| Keeping the lights on | The rest | Us, a small team |
| Total, per job you grow | 77¢ | Only the months you use it |
That's the whole price list. No seats, no tiers, no surprise line items. These figures are approximate, and we'll keep them honest as our costs change.
Real people, not just robots
It is a lot of AI. You are still not on your own.
Free and cheap usually means you are on your own when something breaks. Not here. Yes, we lean on AI hard, that is how a small team can give the software away and keep growth down to pennies a job. But AI is the power tool, not the whole crew.
Real engineers build TradeStack, check what the AI ships, and fix it when it is wrong. And when you need a hand, you are talking to actual people who want your shop to win, not a chatbot maze. You are paying for software that works and people who stand behind it.
It's not just cheaper
It's built to get you found.
Beating the monthly bill is only half of it. TradeStack turns the work you already do, geotagged job photos and location check-ins, into local ranking signals that feed your website, Google, and AI search automatically. On the other platforms those photos just sit in the job record. On TradeStack they help customers find you.
See how TradeStack gets you found on AI search →Go deeper
Prefer a straight head-to-head?
We broke each one down on its own page, pricing, seats, add-ons, and where TradeStack wins.
Stop paying a monthly bill just to work.
Run your whole business free. Add a website for a one-time $1,997. Grow for 77¢ a job. That's the whole price list.
Start free