Housecall Pro service plans: which tier includes them, what they cost, and what still needs a spreadsheet (2026)

Published August 31, 2026 · Updated September 24, 2026 · Prices and help-center quotes verified September 24, 2026

• I checked every price and feature gate on this page against Housecall Pro's pricing page, industry pages and help center on September 24, 2026. Every limit is quoted from HCP's docs or from HCP users, with links.
• This page assumes you're staying on Housecall Pro and running Deepsel beside it. Sources are at the bottom.

Housecall Pro's Recurring Service Plans (HCP also calls them service agreements, maintenance plans and Membership plans) sits on the Max tier of the standard plans, $299 a month billed annually or $329 monthly.¹ On HCP's HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical Packages the same feature starts one tier lower, at Essentials, $229 a month for one user or $299 for five.² The module auto-charges a card on file and lists the visits you owe. That's the good part. The office still books every visit, completed plan visits invoice at $0.00, and once a plan is active the billing frequency, the saved card and the customer profile all lock.

HCP is a good FSM, I'm writing this for shops running maintenance agreements inside it or deciding whether to. Below: which tier includes the module and what that costs, what it does step by step, the limits HCP documents and the ones users found, the workarounds shops on Max settled on, and the cheaper route for a shop on Basic or Essentials that only wants the plans.

Which Housecall Pro plan includes service plans?

On the standard plans, Max and only Max. HCP's pricing page lists "Recurring Service Plans — Secure a stable income through recurring maintenance agreements" under Max, in the "Everything in Essentials, plus" column, next to the sales proposal tool, route optimization and open API access.¹ Basic and Essentials don't have it. The table below is from that page on September 24, 2026, processing rates and add-ons are on the Housecall Pro pricing page.

So on the standard plans the module costs you $150 a month over Essentials on annual billing, $1,800 a year for one feature if you don't care about Max's proposal tool or API. There's a second door most pricing guides miss. HCP sells industry Packages for HVAC, plumbing and electrical, priced separately from the standard plans: Basic $79 a month for one user; Essentials $229 for one user or $299 for five, then $100 per extra user; Max $349 for one user or $649 for eight, then $75 each. On the packages, "Membership plans — Sell recurring service agreements right on the estimate or job" is an Essentials feature, and HCP's help center lists Membership Plans among the "tools that are normally paid add-ons" bundled at Essentials and above. Its how-to link goes to the same Service Plans articles.² A solo HVAC or plumbing shop that wants the built-in module gets Package Essentials at $229, $70 a month under standard Max. For a five-user shop the two land at the same $299, and standard Max gives you three more seats and the API. Third-party pricing guides still quoting "$49 Basic, $129 Essentials, custom Max" are a pricing generation behind.

What the module does, start to finish

Set up. A plan template carries a name, description, an optional discount, up to 12 included visits a year, a duration (a set term, or "continues until customer cancels"), a payment frequency (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually), the price and any add-ons.⁸ Sell. You attach it from the customer profile, an estimate ("Add Service Agreement Proposal") or a job, then either send it for the customer to accept with a card or accept it on their behalf. The customer needs an address on file, a plan belongs to one address, and you can mark the first visit complete or link it to an existing invoice at sale time.⁸ Bill. HCP charges the saved card on schedule and emails a receipt each time. An HCP rep put it this way, answering a frustrated user on Reddit: "Service plans should (ideally) be set up like a streaming subscription paid for by credit card so you dont have to think about collecting payment each time."¹² That part works. Visit. Each included visit lands in an Unscheduled Visits list on the Service Plans dashboard, and the help center is plain about whose job it is: "This list will act as your reminder to schedule actual appointment times for upcoming and overdue Service Plan visits."⁴ HCP can send "automatic scheduling reminders so your customers will reach out to you to schedule their next maintenance."⁷ Either way, your office makes the appointment. Renew. A plan that continues until cancelled just keeps charging. A set-term plan needs a renewal, reminder emails go out 1 to 60 days before expiry and a draft renewal appears in Pending Renewal, but the customer "will need to confirm the details of their plan and enter payment information," or the office presses Renew.⁵ Report. Plan counts and recurring versus collected revenue, by month, plan name and salesperson. Nothing ties money collected to visits delivered.⁹

The $0-invoice problem, in shops' own words

The most documented limit is what happens when you complete a plan visit. The payment lives on the service plan record, the visit closes as a job whose invoice reads $0.00, and the two never link up. An HVAC company running commercial plans, February 6, 2026:¹²

"HCP accepted the payments… and when I completed the visit on my end an invoice shows $0.00. If the call is scheduled from the service plan, shouldn't it show that amount on the invoice and reflect the payment? This is insane? I have been on the phone for 45 minutes and no one can help me."

The next day, after support couldn't fix it, the same owner posted the workaround the thread settled on: "I'm pretty disappointed you can't link a plan to an invoice after completion of service. It's ridiculous. I settled for a 0.00 invoice that just references service plan on the invoice notes." A second shop hit it from the field side ("A tech sold a service plan, entered payment info, then nothing, no official invoice listing the service… I figured I was just clueless about the software but I didn't see any solution") and worried about the books: "For accounting purposes I sync with quickbooks, so who knows if it will even sync over and be accounted for." A third summed it up: "they're great for scheduling, but the billing reconciliation is surprisingly clunky. A lot of guys in the trade end up stuck with those $0 invoices and have to manually add notes or sync everything twice."¹²

Here's the mechanism, from HCP's own docs: attaching a plan visit to a job creates "a line item with the visit and plan name" on that job at no charge, and once saved the visit "is not removable from the job page."⁷ The money sits in the plan's payments table and pushes to QuickBooks Online as a separate "RSA" invoice and payment, and only when the charge was collected through HCP.¹⁰ You can link a past invoice to a visit, you can't pull the plan payment onto the visit's invoice. HCP does the billing. It doesn't do the reconciliation, a ledger that ties money collected to visits delivered, and that's the piece shops end up rebuilding in a spreadsheet next to the module they're paying for.

What locks once a plan is active, and what stays manual

Four limits, straight from HCP's own Service Plans FAQs (updated July 17, 2026) and related articles:³

• Billing frequency freezes. "Once a Service plan has been accepted and is active in a customer's profile, the billing frequency cannot be changed." Moving a member from annual to monthly means cancelling the plan and creating a new one.
• The card can be swapped, never removed. "Once a credit card has been added to the service plan, the card will be saved on file and automatically charged for each service plan payment. At this time, the credit card cannot be removed from the service plan." So no moving a member to cash or check mid-plan.
• Profile merges are off for good. "If a customer has ever had a Service Plan attached to their profile (active, expired, cancelled, deleted, etc.), their profile cannot be merged with another after that." Deleting the plan doesn't undo it.
• Accepted plans don't follow template edits. Changing a template applies "only to new plans added to customers in the future," and an active plan can't be deleted, only cancelled.⁸

Then there's the stuff the help center leaves to your office. You can't invoice an upcoming payment ahead of time ("Invoices cannot be sent to customers proactively for them to pay online or be notified of an upcoming payment").³ A failed card triggers an email to the customer with a portal link and an email to you, no retry schedule is documented, and the missed amount waits until someone updates the card.⁶ Visits are counted per plan, which means per address, you can attach a piece of equipment (make, model, serial) to a plan but a two-system home is still one plan with one visit count.⁹ The dashboard flags plans "Expiring Soon" at 30 days and lists overdue visits, but nothing joins the two, so a prepaid visit about to expire undelivered has no alert and the member never hears about it.⁴ None of these is a dealbreaker by itself. Together they reward getting everything right the first time, and a growing customer list never works that way.

Six workarounds inside Housecall Pro

If you're on Max or a Package and running plans today, these keep the module out of trouble. All six work with what HCP ships right now.

1. Card only, full amount on the plan, "continues until cancelled." Take plans by card on file, never "cash, check or other," and put the full plan price on the plan rather than on visit invoices. HCP recommends this itself, it's the only setup where billing runs without your office.³ If you want renewals to charge themselves, pick "continues until customer cancels" at setup, set-term plans need the customer to re-accept.⁵
2. Settle billing frequency before you hit send. Frequency locks at acceptance. If a customer is torn between monthly and annual, decide before the plan goes out, changing it later means cancel-and-recreate and the plan's history doesn't come along.
3. Merge duplicates before you sell the plan. Search existing profiles for every new member and merge first. Once a plan attaches, that profile can never be merged again, even if you delete the plan.³
4. Standardize the $0 invoice note, and reconcile monthly. Give every plan visit's $0.00 invoice the same note (plan name, payment date, visit number), then once a month check the plan's payments table and the RSA invoices in QuickBooks against visits delivered.¹⁰ It's what the thread settled on and it keeps your books explainable at tax time.
5. Work the Unscheduled Visits list weekly, plus an end-of-term check. The list only reminds you,⁴ someone still has to work it on a schedule. Each month, filter plans in Expiring Soon and cross-check them against open visits. Undelivered visits are where renewals go to die.
6. One plan per address, so name visits per unit. For multi-system homes, attach each unit as a property profile item and put the unit in the visit line item or a plan add-on, so the tech and the invoice both show which system got serviced.⁹

If 4 through 6 sound like the spreadsheet you were trying to retire, they are. The full sheet, visits-at-risk filter built in, is free here, and I compare the tracking methods in how to track HVAC maintenance agreements. Shops on Basic or standard Essentials without the module run the same program on plain recurring jobs, which schedule the visit but bill nothing and count nothing.

Better membership management than Max, without leaving Essentials

Here's the option HCP's pricing page doesn't show (it's my product, so take this with a grain of salt). Deepsel is HVAC maintenance agreement software that runs beside Housecall Pro on any tier, Basic through Max, and owns the pieces the module leaves manual:

• A real ledger. Every agreement tracks plan, tier, covered equipment by model and serial, and visits owed versus delivered per unit. When a member calls, whoever picks up sees status, discount and visit history on one screen. No $0 invoices, plan billing and its receipts live on the agreement record and reconcile against delivered visits on their own.
• Renewals that un-fail themselves. Card-on-file auto-renewal with retries, a card-updater check and a message to the member when a charge fails. You can change billing frequency and cards any time, and members are never locked to a profile.
• Visits that book themselves. Each season, every member with a visit owed gets a reminder email (a text, on Pro) carrying your own Housecall Pro online-booking link, wrapped in their member context. The booking lands on your HCP schedule the way your other online bookings do.¹¹ We're planning native job write-back through HCP's partner program.
• Expiry protection. You and the member both get warned before a prepaid visit expires. It's the check from workaround #5, run for you daily.

The math, on annual billing: Essentials at $149 plus Deepsel Starter at $79 is $228 a month, against $299 for standard Max or Package Essentials with five users. And the $228 stack gets you the ledger, dunning and expiry protection the module doesn't have at any tier. Deepsel is flat-priced with unlimited users (Starter $79/mo, Pro $159/mo, details on the pricing page).

If you're already on Max for the proposal tool or the API, Deepsel still slots in the same way: the module keeps billing, Deepsel keeps the ledger and the reminders. The two other routes are switching FSMs. Jobber is cheaper but has no membership object at all, so agreements there are recurring jobs plus tags (Jobber vs Housecall Pro for maintenance plans). ServiceTitan's membership module works, at $250–500 per technician per month, and contractors running it say not to jump "until you've got at least four vans on the road with 300 to 500 maintenance agreements."¹³ Below that size, it's Max versus your current tier plus an agreement layer.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need Housecall Pro Max for service plans?

On the standard Housecall Pro plans, yes. As of September 24, 2026, Recurring Service Plans is listed only under Max ($299 a month billed annually, $329 monthly). There's a second route though: Housecall Pro's HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical Packages include the same feature (labelled Membership plans there) from their Essentials tier, $229 a month for one user or $299 for five. If you're on standard Basic or Essentials you upgrade, switch to a package, keep agreements in a spreadsheet, or run an agreement layer like Deepsel beside Housecall Pro.

How much do Housecall Pro service plans cost?

There's no separate price for the module, you pay for the tier that includes it. On the standard plans that's Max, $299 a month billed annually or $329 monthly, $150 a month more than Essentials. On the HVAC or Plumbing Package it's Essentials, $229 a month for one user or $299 for five, plus $100 a month per extra user. Card processing on every plan charge starts at 2.59%.

Why does my Housecall Pro service plan visit invoice show $0.00?

Because Housecall Pro keeps the plan payment on the service plan record, separate from the visit. Attach a plan visit to a job and HCP adds a line item with the visit and plan name at no charge, so the job invoices at $0.00 with no link back to the payment the customer already made. You can link a past invoice to a visit, you can't pull the plan payment onto the visit's invoice. The workaround shops settled on is a $0.00 invoice with a standard note referencing the plan, plus a monthly reconciliation against the plan's payments table.

Can I run memberships on Housecall Pro Essentials?

Two ways. Housecall Pro's HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical Packages include Membership plans at their Essentials tier ($229 a month for one user, $299 for five). Or stay on standard Essentials ($149 a month billed annually) and run an agreement layer beside it. Deepsel keeps the member ledger, charges renewals on a card on file, chases failed payments and sends seasonal booking reminders that carry your own Housecall Pro online-booking link, so visits land on your HCP schedule the way they do now. Essentials plus Deepsel Starter at $79 is $228 a month, against $299 for Max.

What is the difference between a service plan and a maintenance plan in Housecall Pro?

Nothing. Housecall Pro's help center describes the feature as recurring service plans "otherwise known as Maintenance Plans, Planned Maintenance Programs, Care Clubs and Membership Plans," and the industry packages call the same feature Membership plans. ServiceTitan calls them memberships, Jobber has no equivalent object. Whatever the name, it's a prepaid agreement with a set number of visits a year, and I use the terms interchangeably on this page.

Does Housecall Pro auto-renew service plans?

Depends on the duration you picked. A plan set to continue until the customer cancels charges the card on file at every billing date, "much like online streaming services" in HCP's words. A plan with a set start and end date doesn't renew itself. HCP can email renewal reminders 1 to 60 days before expiry and creates a draft renewal in Pending Renewal status, but the customer has to confirm the details and enter payment information, or your office presses Renew and takes payment. Plans that lapse and get reactivated leave the missed charges on hold until you collect or cancel them all at once.

Does Deepsel replace Housecall Pro?

No. Housecall Pro stays your system for customers, scheduling, dispatch and invoicing. Deepsel only owns the maintenance agreement: the plan, the equipment covered, visits owed versus delivered, renewal billing and the seasonal reminders. Bookings land on your HCP schedule through your own online-booking link, and we're planning a native integration through HCP's partner program.

Sources

1. Housecall Pro pricing page — Basic $59/mo annual ($79 monthly, 1 user); Essentials $149/mo annual ($189 monthly, 5 users); Max $299/mo annual ($329 monthly, 8 users, "$35/mo per additional user"); "Recurring Service Plans", "Sales proposal tool", "Route optimization" and "Open API access" listed under Max as "Everything in Essentials, plus"; card processing "as low as 2.59%". housecallpro.com/pricing, retrieved September 24, 2026.
2. Housecall Pro HVAC industry page (HVAC Package) — Basic $79/mo (1 user); Essentials $229/mo (1 user) or $299/mo (5 users, "$100/mo per additional user") with "Membership plans — Sell recurring service agreements right on the estimate or job"; Max $349/mo (1 user) or $649/mo (8 users, "$75/mo per additional user"); page FAQ dated July 2026 gives $399 for single-user Max. housecallpro.com/industries/hvac-software; same tiers on the plumbing page. Help center, "HVAC Package Overview" and "Plumbing Package Overview" — "Membership Plans" ticked for Essentials and MAX, listed under "tools that are normally paid add-ons"; "How to sell a membership plan" links to the Service Plans article. help.housecallpro.com, all retrieved September 24, 2026.
3. Housecall Pro help center, "Service Plans FAQs," updated July 17, 2026 — billing frequency, card removal and profile-merge quotes as given; "much like online streaming services"; cash/check/other collection note; "Invoices cannot be sent to customers proactively…"; pending payments after a lapse. help.housecallpro.com, retrieved September 24, 2026.
4. Housecall Pro help center, "Service Plans Dashboard Overview," updated August 11, 2026 — the "reminder to schedule actual appointment times" quote; statuses including "Expiring Soon: The plan will expire in 30 days"; Due for Billing. help.housecallpro.com, retrieved September 24, 2026.
5. Housecall Pro help center, "Service Plan Renewals," updated July 21, 2026 — RENEW button; reminder emails at 1, 3, 7, 14, 30 or 60 days; "Your customer will need to confirm the details of their plan and enter payment information"; only set-duration plans renew, plans set to continue until cancelled stay active. help.housecallpro.com, retrieved September 24, 2026.
6. Housecall Pro help center, "Billing and Payments for Service Plans," updated January 21, 2026 — failed-payment email to the customer with a portal link, email notification to the Pro, red banner on the profile; card updated by Pro or customer; "Updating the card on file does not change the billing date." help.housecallpro.com, retrieved September 24, 2026.
7. Housecall Pro help center, "Schedule Service Plan Visits," updated August 11, 2026 — "enable your automatic scheduling reminders so your customers will reach out to you to schedule their next maintenance"; "A line item with the visit and plan name will be created"; "Once a visit has been selected and attached to a saved job, it is not removable from the job page." help.housecallpro.com, retrieved September 24, 2026.
8. Housecall Pro help center, "Create Service Plan Templates" (updated July 21, 2026: up to 12 visits a year; monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual; set duration or continues until cancelled), "How to Sell A Service Plan" (customer must have an address; plans "assigned to individual addresses"; sell from profile, estimate or job) and "Edit or Delete a Service Plan" (updated July 8, 2026: template changes "will only apply to new plans added to customers in the future"). help.housecallpro.com, retrieved September 24, 2026.
9. Housecall Pro help center, "Service Plan Reporting," updated July 21, 2026 (plans, recurring revenue and collected revenue by period, plan name and employee), and "Attaching a Property Profile Item to a Service Plan," updated January 21, 2026 (make, model and serial can be associated with a plan). help.housecallpro.com, retrieved September 24, 2026.
10. Housecall Pro help center, "QuickBooks Online: Managing Payments," updated August 7, 2026 — service plan payments push as an invoice and payment with the "RSA" prefix, only when collected through HCP. help.housecallpro.com, retrieved September 24, 2026.
11. Housecall Pro help center, "Online Booking Overview," updated July 31, 2026 — the shareable link "hosted on the HCP website's address"; with auto-scheduling, "the Jobs and Estimates booked online will be placed directly in your employees' schedules." Online booking is listed on Basic. help.housecallpro.com, retrieved September 24, 2026.
12. r/HouseCallPro, "Service Plan headaches," February 6–13, 2026, re-read September 24, 2026 — original post (the 45-minutes-on-the-phone quote), the owner's "settled for a 0.00 invoice" comment (Feb 7), a second shop's tech-sold-a-plan comment and QuickBooks-sync comment (Feb 7), a third user's "billing reconciliation is surprisingly clunky" comment (Feb 7), and the HCP rep's "streaming subscription" reply (Feb 13). reddit.com.
13. r/hvacadvice, "How do you manage your maintenance agreements," March 27, 2026 (contractor running ~2,500 members on ServiceTitan: "at least four vans on the road with 300 to 500 maintenance agreements"). reddit.com; r/smallbusiness, "ServiceTitan quote for a small plumbing shop," July 14, 2026 — "$250-500 per technician per month." reddit.com. Both retrieved August 2026.