Kickserv vs Jobber (2026): the two cheapest ways to run a 1-3 truck shop, and what neither does

Published September 7, 2026 · Every price on this page verified on kickserv.com and getjobber.com on September 7, 2026

• Deepsel is our product. It appears in one labeled section near the end and is not the answer to the Kickserv-vs-Jobber question.
• Every price was checked on the vendor's own pricing page on September 7, 2026. Help-center and terms-of-service details were checked on September 2 and are dated where cited.
• Every claim about what breaks links to the thread, review, app-store listing or help article it came from. Owner evidence on this exact pair is thin, and I say where.

Kickserv vs Jobber comes down to how many people log in. Kickserv's Start plan is $60 a month for 5 users. Jobber's Core is $29 for one user, and its 5-user Connect band is $149. Jobber buys a better mobile app, online booking that schedules itself and 100 integrations. Neither has a maintenance-agreement object, so pick on price per seat and app quality, then run the agreement book beside whichever you choose.

These two get compared because they're what a shop shops for once QuickBooks and a shared Google calendar stop working. Kickserv is the older one: in business since 2006, the first field service platform with a two-way QuickBooks sync by its own account, and part of EverCommerce since August 2023.^{1, 2} Jobber is the bigger one: more than 100,000 businesses and 400,000 service pros, with an app marketplace that passed 100 integrations in May 2026.³

Owner evidence on this exact pair is thin, and I'd rather say so than pad it. The one Reddit thread titled "Kickserv v Jobber" is from 2016, and it got a single generic reply seven years later.⁴ What exists is a dozen shops naming one or the other while shopping. Those quotes are below, with dates.

Comparison table: Kickserv vs Jobber on the 13 things a 1-4 truck shop asks about

Kickserv is cheaper per seat and includes QuickBooks Online on its $60 plan. Jobber is cheaper for one person, charges 2.9% instead of 3.9% on emailed invoices, and wins on app ratings, booking and integrations. Both have a free trial and no contract on monthly billing. Neither has a membership or service-agreement feature.

Kickserv vs Jobber pricing: what a 2-truck and a 3-truck shop pay

For 3 to 5 logins, Kickserv Start is $60 a month against Jobber Connect at $149, a $1,068 gap per year on annual billing. For one person, Jobber Core at $29 beats Kickserv's $60. Card processing can reverse the team result: Kickserv charges 3.9% on invoices paid online, Jobber 2.9%.

Take a 2-truck shop: the owner, one tech and someone in the office, so 3 users. On Kickserv that's Start, $60 a month on annual billing or $75 month to month, $720 a year.^{5, 6} On Jobber, Core is one user only, so the shop is on Connect. One user plus two extra seats at $29 comes to $157, so the 5-user band at $149 is the buy: $1,788 a year, or $2,388 month to month.^{7, 8}

A 3-truck shop (three techs plus the office, 4 users) lands in the same two places. Kickserv stays at $60 until user 6 pushes you to Run at $119; Jobber's band holds to five, then it's $29 a seat. Here's the year for a shop that collects $300,000 by card on about 1,200 invoices:

Read the two totals. If your customers pay the emailed invoice by card, Jobber costs less all-in by about $1,900 a year, subscription gap and all. If your techs tap cards in the driveway, Kickserv wins by about $470. The processing line is the bigger decision, and neither pricing page puts it on the plan card. (Bank payments run 1% at both.) Every fee behind those numbers is itemized on the Kickserv pricing and Jobber pricing pages.

The mobile app is where they split

Jobber's app is rated 4.8 on the App Store from 20,787 ratings and 4.4 on Google Play from 6,716.¹⁴ Kickserv's is 3.8 from 61 ratings on iOS and 2.9 on Google Play, where recent one-star reviews describe slow loads and freezes on clock-in.¹³ If your techs live in the app all day, that gap matters more than $89 a month.

The Play reviews are specific. December 24, 2025: the app "freezes with a white screen every time I try to clock in or out, and I have to force kill it repeatedly."²³ December 4, 2025: "every screen takes forever to load."²³ And a shop on Kickserv since 2016, September 27, 2025: "only still use it because we get such a good deal on it. Kick serv app has been consistently made worse with every single update."²³ Kickserv shipped version 3.24.3 on March 13, 2026, after all three, so read them as complaints about the previous build.¹³ The five-star side exists too, July 7, 2025: "the perfect software and app for our small business. Good price and does everything we need plus more."²³

The other split is desk versus phone. Kickserv's help center documents its app around the day's schedule, photos and clocking in, and doesn't describe building a recurring series from it.²⁴ Jobber's app does most office tasks and ships in Spanish for team members.⁷

QuickBooks: Kickserv's oldest strength, Jobber's plan-gated one

Kickserv includes two-way QuickBooks Online sync on its $60 Start plan and adds QuickBooks Desktop for $50 a month on Run and up.⁵ Jobber syncs with QuickBooks Online and Xero on select plans, which in practice means Connect at $99 and up, and it doesn't sync with QuickBooks Desktop at all.^{7, 15}

Kickserv built its reputation here: the category's first two-way QuickBooks integration by its own account, an Intuit Gold Developer award, and a sync that moves customers, invoices, payments and items both ways.² An HVAC family business that switched to Kickserv rated it over a year. May 2025: it "syncs to QuickBooks alright but the experience could be better on that end."²⁵ April 2026, same owner: "it syncs well with our QuickBooks."²⁶ Jobber's sync is fine once you have it. The catch is the gate: a solo operator on Core keys invoices into QuickBooks by hand or pays $70 more a month for Connect, and at that point Kickserv Start is $39 cheaper. If the books are why you're buying software, price that gate first.

Booking, API and integrations: Jobber's hundred against Kickserv's seven

Jobber has online booking that schedules the job itself on every plan, a Zapier app from Connect, a free API on any plan and a marketplace that passed 100 apps in May 2026.^{3, 12, 18} Kickserv has a Customer Center request form the office confirms, seven listed integrations, no Zapier app, and an XML API whose tokens are Premium-only.^{11, 16, 17}

The booking difference is the one an HVAC office feels in April. Jobber's booking form, with a job booking question turned on, "automatically converts the request and schedules a one-off job on your calendar."¹² Kickserv's Customer Center lets a client "request service online, reschedule an appointment, pay an invoice," and the request lands as a contact-form submission for someone to turn into a job.¹¹ Both work. One costs a phone call per visit.

The integration difference matters if you plan to bolt anything on. Kickserv lists seven integrations (QuickBooks Online and Desktop, Stripe, Customer Lobby, Podium, Mailchimp, Google) and an XML API whose tokens "are only available on our Premium plan," a tier with no price on the pricing page.^{16, 17} Zapier has no Kickserv app; the URL where one would live returns a 404.¹⁷ Jobber's developer program is free, GraphQL, and open on every plan, which is why third-party tools (ours included) connect to it first.¹⁸

What owners say about Kickserv and Jobber

Pulled live on September 7, 2026. Comments from vendors and founders are left out; these are shops.

• Family HVAC business, 3 trucks, switched to Kickserv, May 2025: "All the other software companies wanted extra per month for basic features, I don't have hundreds of dollars to spend per month for a CRM platform."²⁵ A year on, May 2026: "only software I've found (that we use now) is Kickserv. We have 3-trucks."²⁶
• Same r/ProHVACR thread, on Jobber, May 2025: "Jobber can work as well but it doesn't have maintenance contracts or equipment tracking. Both integrate to QBO."²⁵ Another owner two days later: "I use Jobber. I have used Service Titan also. Jobber is cheaper, Service Titan is better in my opinion."²⁵
• Locksmith, 3-man shop, who trialed both, October 2024: "kickserve would have won my award for worst design. Housecall and jobber seemed more like marketing schemes. They had better software, but it was a constant barrage of calls and emails."²⁷ (That trial was about five years earlier; the app reviews above suggest the gap hasn't closed.)
• Electrical contractor on Kickserv, March 2026: "We have workforce and kickserv. I hate them both but they work. You still need quickbooks or something as well."²⁸ Another electrician, July 2026, advising a one-man shop: "Kickserv and FieldPulse are pretty honest on pricing."²⁸
• Pool tech going solo after a Jobber shop, July 2026: Jobber is "designed for larger business with more workers (Yes, I know the Lite option exists but still)," so he's looking at "Tofu or Kickserv which look like they're designed for solo businesses."²⁹

Two patterns hold. Kickserv gets picked on price and kept for the QuickBooks sync, with the app as the standing complaint. Jobber gets picked for polish and grumbled about for sales calls and seat math. Nobody in these threads chose either one for maintenance agreements, because neither has them.

Which should a 1-3 truck shop choose?

Decision rules, in order:

• Working solo, quotes and invoices only? Jobber Core at $29. Kickserv's cheapest listed plan is $60; its $19 Flex plan lives on a blog post, not the pricing page.³⁰
• 2-5 logins and the monthly bill is the thing? Kickserv Start. $60 against Jobber's $149 for the same seats is $1,068 a year.
• Customers pay emailed invoices by card? Jobber. Its 2.9% online rate against Kickserv's 3.9% is worth about $3,000 a year on $300,000 of card volume. If techs tap cards on site, this rule flips back to Kickserv.
• Techs live in the app? Jobber, on the ratings: 4.8 and 4.4 against 3.8 and 2.9.
• QuickBooks Desktop, or QuickBooks Online on the cheapest plan? Kickserv. Jobber's sync starts at Connect and never reaches Desktop.
• Want booking that schedules itself, Zapier or a free API? Jobber: booking and the API are on every plan from Core at $29; Zapier needs Connect at $99. Kickserv's API needs its unpriced Premium tier.

For the wider field (Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, FieldEdge, Service Fusion, Workiz), the pick-by-shop-size roundup is best HVAC maintenance agreement software, and the closest pair to this one is Jobber vs Housecall Pro for maintenance plans.

Either way: what neither does about maintenance agreements

Kickserv has no service agreement, membership or maintenance plan object on any tier; its recurring jobs repeat a visit and invoice each one separately, with no card charged on a renewal date and no count of visits owed against visits delivered.²¹ The Repeat this job setup, the edits you can make to a live series and the per-visit invoicing are in Kickserv recurring jobs, explained. Jobber has no membership object either (the feature request has sat open in its community for years); its recurring jobs can auto-charge a saved card on Connect and up, but nothing holds the plan price, the renewal or the visits owed.²² So on both, the office runs a spreadsheet for who's due, renewal dates slip through the cracks in breakdown season, and when a card fails nobody really has a system.

This is the part I have a product in, so weigh it accordingly. Deepsel is an agreement ledger that runs beside the FSM you keep. It holds each agreement's plan, tier, covered equipment, card on file and visits owed vs delivered per unit. It charges renewals on the card with retries and a failed-payment flag, emails every member who's due a booking reminder each spring and fall (texts on Pro), and warns you before a paid visit expires unused. Starter is $79 a month, Pro $159 (coming soon), unlimited users. With Jobber, Starter works from an import and the reminder emails carry your Jobber booking link; Pro syncs through that free API and writes booked visits back as Jobber jobs. With Kickserv there's no integration today: you import a Kickserv export, members book from the reminder, and the office keys the visit into Kickserv as a normal job. Kickserv Start plus Deepsel Starter is $139 a month; Jobber Connect plus Deepsel is $228. Plans are on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Is Kickserv or Jobber better for a small HVAC shop?

For 2-5 people who care most about the monthly bill, Kickserv: Start is $60 a month for 5 users against Jobber Connect at $149 for the same seats. For a shop whose techs live in the app, or that wants online booking, Zapier and a free API, Jobber: its apps are rated 4.8 on iOS and 4.4 on Android against Kickserv's 3.8 and 2.9. Neither tracks maintenance agreements, so that side of an HVAC business runs on a spreadsheet or a companion tool either way.

Is Kickserv cheaper than Jobber?

For a team, yes on the subscription: $60 a month buys 5 Kickserv users on annual billing, and the same 5 seats on Jobber Connect are $149. For one person, no: Jobber Core is $29 and Kickserv's cheapest listed plan is $60. Card processing can flip the team result. Kickserv charges 3.9% + 30 cents on invoices paid online, Jobber 2.9% + 30 cents, which is about $3,000 a year on $300,000 of card payments.

Does Kickserv have maintenance agreements or service plans?

No. As of September 2026 there is no service agreement, membership or maintenance plan object on any Kickserv tier. Kickserv has recurring jobs, which repeat a scheduled job on an interval and invoice each visit separately, and Automated Scheduling Reminders on Run and above. Nothing bills a card on a renewal date or counts visits owed against visits delivered. Jobber has no membership object either.

Does Kickserv sync with QuickBooks? Does Jobber?

Both do, on different terms. Kickserv includes two-way QuickBooks Online sync on its $60 Start plan and adds QuickBooks Desktop for $50 a month on Run and above. Jobber syncs with QuickBooks Online and Xero on select plans, which in practice means Connect at $99 a month and up, and it does not sync with QuickBooks Desktop.

Can I switch from Kickserv to Jobber, or from Jobber to Kickserv?

Your customer list moves either way: Kickserv exports data from its Account and Billing tab, and Jobber imports and exports clients as CSV. What does not move is the live stuff. Recurring job series get rebuilt by hand, saved cards do not transfer between processors, and open invoices should be collected before you cut over. Trial the new tool month to month on five real jobs before cancelling the old one; both let monthly plans cancel any time.

Does Kickserv have a free plan?

Not on its pricing page. Kickserv's blog describes a Flex plan at $19 a month, waived in any month you process $2,500 or more in online payments through Kickserv, but the September 2026 pricing page lists only Start, Run and Scale, each with a 30-day free trial and no card required. Jobber has no free plan; its trial is 14 days on Grow, also with no card.

Sources

1. Kickserv blog, "Answering Your Questions About Kickserv," March 16, 2017: "We have been doing business since 2006"; "affordable and effective for companies with only one operator and for businesses with more than 50 employees." kickserv.com/blog, retrieved September 7, 2026. Homepros, "EverCommerce acquires Kickserv, expands its field service portfolio": acquired by EverCommerce in August 2023. homepros.news, retrieved September 7, 2026.
2. Kickserv, "QuickBooks Online integration" page: "Kickserv was the first field service management platform to offer a two-way integration with QuickBooks - nearly 15 years ago" (the page's own punctuation, with an exclamation point); "Gold Developer award from Intuit"; syncs contacts, invoices, sales receipts, payments and items; "sync your entire account with one button click, or sync invoices one at a time or in batches." kickserv.com/integrations/quickbooks-online, retrieved September 7, 2026.
3. PR Newswire, "Jobber Reaches 100 App Integrations," May 26, 2026: App Marketplace surpassed 100 integrations; more than 100,000 businesses and 400,000 service professionals. prnewswire.com, retrieved September 7, 2026.
4. r/smallbusiness, "Kickserv v Jobber," September 29, 2016 (a 5-truck service business asking for feedback); one reply, November 10, 2023. reddit.com, pulled September 7, 2026.
5. Kickserv pricing page: Start $60/mo, 5 users; Run $119/mo, 10 users; Scale $199/mo, 20 users; "Save 20% with annual subscription"; each plan "free for 30 days"; Start includes automated email and text reminders and "Accounting integration (QuickBooks Online)"; Run adds dispatch mapping, GPS check-ins, custom data fields, custom reports and "QuickBooks Desktop $50/m"; Scale adds custom templates and reviews; Kickback 5% discount at $1,000/$2,000/$3,000 in monthly online payments. kickserv.com/pricing, retrieved September 7, 2026.
6. Kickserv pricing FAQ and signup page: month-to-month rates $75/$149/$249; "Who is considered a user on my account? Anyone that you add to your Kickserv account as an employee, to view or work on customers or jobs"; no per-seat add-on listed; card rates 2.9% + $0.30 (Tap to Pay), 3.9% + $0.30 (card-not-present), ACH 1% + $0.30; "Sign up for free, no credit card required." kickserv.com/pricing and app.kickserv.com, retrieved September 2, 2026. Premium tier referenced without a price on Kickserv's Stripe page, kickserv.com/stripe, retrieved September 2, 2026.
7. Jobber pricing page: Core $29/mo annual, $39 with a 1-year commitment, $49 no commitment (1 user); Connect $99/$119/$139 for 1 user, $149/$169/$199 for 5, $229/$259/$299 for 10, $299/$339/$399 for 15; Grow $149/$169/$199 for 1 user up to $399/$429/$499 for 15; "Save up to 25% with annual billing"; card processing 2.9% + 30¢ online and 2.7% + 30¢ on the card reader shown for every plan; "Sync with QuickBooks Online and Xero"; online booking "will automatically schedule the job based on your preferences"; "Unlimited live chat, phone, and email support"; faster response times listed as a Plus benefit; "For 14 days you get full access to all of Jobber's features on the Grow plan - no credit card required"; Spanish-language mobile app for team members; Zapier integration link. getjobber.com/pricing, retrieved September 7, 2026.
8. Jobber pricing page, plan-card footnotes and FAQ: "A user is anyone who accesses your account at the office or in the field to view or manage the team's schedule. Add users for $29/mo each"; Plus from $399/mo annual with "Contact Sales"; ACH 1%; annual prepay non-refundable mid-term; the 1-year monthly commitment bills all 12 months. getjobber.com/pricing, retrieved September 2, 2026 (the September 7 text fetch rendered the plan grid but not the card footnotes; itemized on this site's Jobber pricing page).
9. Kickserv Terms of Service, sections 5 and 6: initial term of one month or one year, auto-renews; "annual Terms cannot be converted to month-to-month Terms prior to renewal thereof"; fees non-refundable. Pricing FAQ: monthly plans cancel any time with access to the renewal date. help.kickserv.com, retrieved September 2, 2026.
10. Kickserv help center, "Planner": Schedule tabs Today, Overdue, Upcoming, Completed; Calendar drag and drop, day, week and month views. help.kickserv.com, retrieved September 2, 2026.
11. Kickserv help center, "The Customer Center": "You can book a new job by selecting the Contact Form button." help.kickserv.com, retrieved September 2, 2026. Kickserv HVAC industry page: clients "log into the Customer Center where they can request service online, reschedule an appointment, pay an invoice, and leave notes." kickserv.com/industries/hvac-mechanical, retrieved September 7, 2026.
12. Jobber help center, "Online Booking": "Online booking is available on select plans"; a job booking question "automatically converts the request and schedules a one-off job on your calendar." help.getjobber.com; "The Core Plan": Requests & Online Booking listed as a Core feature. help.getjobber.com; "The Connect Plan": Requests & Online booking also listed. help.getjobber.com, retrieved September 7, 2026.
13. Apple App Store, "Kickserv Field Service" (id 598686777): average rating 3.8 from 61 ratings, current version released March 13, 2026, via the iTunes Search API; Google Play, "Kickserv" (com.kickserv.kickserv, the app Kickserv's homepage links to): 2.9 from 171 ratings, 10,000+ installs, version 3.24.3 updated March 13, 2026. apps.apple.com and play.google.com, retrieved September 7, 2026.
14. Apple App Store, "Jobber Field Service Software" by Octopusapp Inc (id 1014146758): 4.8 from 20,787 ratings, current version released September 2, 2026; Google Play, "Jobber: Field Service Software" (com.getjobber.jobber): 4.4 from 6,716 ratings, 1,000,000+ installs. apps.apple.com and play.google.com, retrieved September 7, 2026.
15. Jobber help center, "QuickBooks Integration FAQs": "The sync with QuickBooks Online is available on select plans." help.getjobber.com, retrieved September 7, 2026; "The Connect Plan" lists QuickBooks Online sync among Connect features, help.getjobber.com, retrieved September 2, 2026.
16. Kickserv integrations page: QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Stripe, Customer Lobby, Podium, Mailchimp, Google (Gmail contacts and iCal feed); "Kickserv has an open API so you can build your own integrations"; no Zapier listed. kickserv.com/integrations, retrieved September 7, 2026.
17. Kickserv help center, "Developer API," updated August 17, 2023: "The Kickserv API is implemented via XML over HTTP in a RESTful manner"; Basic Authentication with an employee API token; "API tokens are only available on our Premium plan." help.kickserv.com, retrieved September 7, 2026. Zapier, zapier.com/apps/kickserv/integrations: HTTP 404, retrieved September 7, 2026.
18. Jobber Developer Center: free developer program, GraphQL API, no plan gate or partner fees. developer.getjobber.com, retrieved September 2, 2026. Jobber, "Zapier integration." getjobber.com/integrations/zapier, retrieved September 7, 2026.
19. G2, Kickserv features page: "Kickserv · 4.5/5 · (180)." g2.com; Capterra, Kickserv reviews: "4.4 (387)"; Kickserv product page: "email/help desk, FAQ/forum, a knowledge base, phone support, and chat." capterra.com. Figures as displayed in search results on September 7, 2026; both sites block direct fetches.
20. G2, Jobber compare page: "Jobber · (475) 4.6 out of 5." g2.com; Capterra, "Jobber Pricing: A Comprehensive Guide," rates Jobber "4.4 stars out of 5." capterra.com. Figures as displayed in search results on September 7, 2026.
21. Kickserv help center, "Jobs," Recurring Jobs section: "Repeat this job," frequency, "by date or day of week, and when you'd like the repeating Jobs to end." help.kickserv.com, retrieved September 2, 2026. A site-scoped search of help.kickserv.com for "service agreement OR membership OR contract" on September 2, 2026 returned only the Terms of Service and data-processing pages. Kickserv changelog, "Automated Scheduling Reminders," February 24, 2025: reminders 1, 3 or 12 months after the last service, "available for Standard, Business, and Premium plan users." changelog.kickserv.com, retrieved September 2, 2026.
22. Jobber Community, "Maintenance contract feature" request thread. community.getjobber.com; Jobber help center, "Automatic Payments": "available to Jobber Payments users on select plans"; "only available for recurring jobs." help.getjobber.com, retrieved September 2, 2026.
23. Google Play reviews of Kickserv (com.kickserv.kickserv), pulled September 7, 2026: Snell, 1 star, December 24, 2025 ("freezes with a white screen every time I try to clock in or out, and I have to force kill it repeatedly"); Richard Lovold, 1 star, December 4, 2025 ("every screen takes forever to load"); Michael Johnston, 1 star, September 27, 2025 ("We've been using Kickserv since 2016 and only still use it because we get such a good deal on it. Kick serv app has been consistently made worse with every single update"); Saf Sep, 5 stars, July 7, 2025 ("This was the perfect software and app for our small business. Good price and does everything we need plus more. customer service has been fantastic"). play.google.com.
24. Capterra, Kickserv reviews: Sophia H., Sales, Marketing & Scheduling, Construction, December 2, 2021: "It works great for basic scheduling, but you can't schedule reminders, for instance, other than through a computer." capterra.com, retrieved September 2, 2026. Kickserv help center, "A How-to Guide for Technicians" and "The Mobile Calendar" (neither describes creating a recurring series in the app). help.kickserv.com/article/65 and article/93, retrieved September 2, 2026.
25. r/ProHVACR, "Residential HVAC Software?", May 2025: family HVAC business that switched to Kickserv, May 8, 2025 ("Kickserv syncs to QuickBooks alright but the experience could be better on that end"; "I don't have hundreds of dollars to spend per month for a CRM platform"); "Jobber can work as well but it doesn't have maintenance contracts or equipment tracking," May 8, 2025; "Jobber is cheaper, Service Titan is better in my opinion," May 10, 2025. Pulled September 7, 2026.
26. Same owner: r/HVAC, April 15, 2026, "I use Kickserv, it syncs well with our QuickBooks"; r/ProHVACR, May 12, 2026, "only software I've found (that we use now) is Kickserv. We have 3-trucks". Both original posts have since been removed by moderators; the comments are live. Pulled September 7, 2026.
27. r/Locksmith, "Need help finding the best FSM software," October 15, 2024, a 3-person shop that trialed Kickserv, Housecall Pro, Jobber and Workiz: reddit.com, pulled September 7, 2026.
28. r/electricians, March 10, 2026 (original post since deleted; comment live): "We have workforce and kickserv. I hate them both but they work"; r/electricians, "software recommendation," July 6, 2026: "Kickserv and FieldPulse are pretty honest on pricing". Pulled September 7, 2026.
29. r/Plumbing, April 29, 2025, shop with "3 techs and 1 dispatcher": reddit.com; r/PoolPros, "Starting my business soon, need help deciding my FSM," July 24, 2026: reddit.com; r/Contractor, October 29, 2025, three days into a Kickserv trial: reddit.com. Pulled September 7, 2026.
30. Kickserv blog, "Best Free Field Service Management": "Flex Plan at $19/month," fee waived at $2,500 a month in online payments. kickserv.com/blog; Kickserv help center, "Kickserv Kickback," updated July 29, 2026. help.kickserv.com, retrieved September 2, 2026. Not listed on the pricing page as of September 7, 2026.