Jobber is operations software. Scheduling, dispatch, GPS tracking, invoicing, payments — it manages the full job lifecycle for field service businesses. Their quote feature exists, but it produces price sheets, not proposals. On a competitive bid, that difference matters.
BidMaker writes a full proposal: introduction, scope of work, timeline, line-item pricing. The AI drafts it from your job description — you review and send. Free to start. Most Jobber users who try BidMaker keep both: Jobber for operations, BidMaker for bids that need to make an impression.
Six attributes of your business that should drive the choice. Use this matrix before reading the feature table — most teams know the answer once they see the signals.
| Your situation | Switch to BidMaker if… | Stay on Jobber if… |
|---|---|---|
| What kind of bids you're actually losing | You're losing competitive or commercial bids where the other contractor showed up with a polished proposal — Jobber's line-item quote can't compete on presentation | You're winning the bids you should be winning — close-rate is fine, presentation isn't the bottleneck |
| How much of Jobber you actually use | You signed up for Jobber for the quoting and never built out scheduling, dispatch, GPS, or invoicing — you're paying $49/mo for one feature | Scheduling, dispatch, invoicing, payments, and customer comms all live in Jobber and your day genuinely runs through it |
| Team and operational shape | Solo operator or 1–2 office people — no field crew to dispatch, no GPS tracking needed, recurring jobs are rare | Field crew of 2+ techs that needs daily routing, dispatch, GPS, and recurring service scheduling — Jobber's operational backbone is doing real work |
| Where your bid mix sits | 10–40% of bids are higher-stakes commercial or larger residential work where presentation could swing the outcome — those are the ones BidMaker is for | 95%+ of bids are everyday recurring service or commodity work where line-item quotes close at the same rate as polished proposals |
| Your tolerance for a manual hand-off | You're fine creating the matching Jobber job manually after a BidMaker proposal is accepted — 2–3 min of admin per won bid is acceptable | You need accept → scheduled job → invoice to be one click — a manual hand-off breaks how your ops team works |
| What pushed you to look in the first place | You watched a competitor's proposal land your bid, you hit Jobber's quoting cap on the plan you're on, or you want AI to draft from a job description — BidMaker addresses all three | You want Jobber's quote feature to look better — you're better off investing 30 min in customizing Jobber's quote template than switching tools |
BidMaker
Free (3 proposals/mo), Pro $29/mo, Business $59/mo
Jobber
Starts at $49/mo (Core)
| Feature | BidMaker | Jobber |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan Jobber's Core plan starts at $49/mo; no free tier | ||
| AI proposal generation Jobber quotes are line-item forms — no AI writing, no narrative content | ||
| Quotes / estimates Jobber has built-in quoting; BidMaker produces more polished proposal documents | ||
| Shareable proposal link Both let clients view and accept online | ||
| E-signatures Jobber includes client approval on all plans | Business ($59/mo) | |
| PDF export | ||
| Custom branding | Pro ($29/mo)+ | |
| Scheduling and dispatch This is Jobber's core feature — calendar, job assignments, team routing | ||
| GPS tracking for field teams | ||
| Invoicing and payment collection Jobber collects payment via card or bank transfer | ||
| Client portal (Hub) Jobber's Client Hub gives clients their own dashboard to view jobs and invoices | ||
| Mobile app for field techs |
Choose BidMaker if...
Choose Jobber if...
Per-seat pricing changes the math fast. Three buyer scenarios — solo, small team, larger team — with annual cost for each tool and our take on which one actually wins.
Add BidMaker as a supplement (most common — keep Jobber for ops)
BidMaker
$0/yr Free (occasional polish) or $348/yr Pro (unlimited polished proposals + 20 AI gens/mo)
Jobber
$588/yr Jobber Core continues for scheduling/dispatch/invoicing
Verdict: Run both — Jobber for the operational backbone, BidMaker for the 10–40% of bids where presentation could change the outcome. The supplement pays for itself with one or two won competitive bids per year
Switch fully (rare — solo operator who only used Jobber for quoting)
BidMaker
$348/yr (Pro)
Jobber
$588/yr (Core, 1 user) — paying $240/yr extra for a feature you're not using
Verdict: BidMaker — Jobber Core's quoting alone isn't worth the gap; pay for Jobber when scheduling/dispatch/invoicing become real needs again
Stay on Jobber only (line-item quotes are working)
BidMaker
$0 — bookmark for the bid mix shifting toward presentation-driven work
Jobber
$588–$3,228/yr (Core through Grow) — already earning its cost on operations
Verdict: Jobber alone — if your bids close at the rate you need on line-item quotes and your ops live in Jobber, adding BidMaker is solving a problem you don't have
Six steps. Total time: 30–60 minutes for a solo operator with 3–8 templates and an active subscription. Test before you cancel.
1. Decide whether you're switching or supplementing
Most Jobber users don't switch — they add BidMaker for the bids where presentation matters and keep Jobber for ops. If you have a field crew, scheduling needs, or recurring service, you're almost certainly supplementing. If you're a solo operator using Jobber only for quoting, a full switch is on the table. Pick the path before you start.
Time: 10 min
2. Identify which bids actually need BidMaker
Pull your last 20 bids from Jobber. Mark the ones that were competitive (you knew you were up against another contractor), commercial, or larger residential. Those are the BidMaker candidates. Everyday recurring service quotes can stay in Jobber — adding a 5–10 min polish step to those isn't worth it.
Time: 15 min
3. Create a BidMaker free account
Free plan: 3 proposals/month, 1 AI generation/month, no credit card. Start here even if you expect to upgrade — the free tier covers a real test before you commit to Pro.
Time: 2 min
4. Generate your first BidMaker proposal for an upcoming high-stakes bid
Pick a real upcoming competitive or commercial bid from your Jobber pipeline. Describe the job in 2–3 sentences, let the AI draft the full proposal — intro, scope, timeline, line-item pricing. Edit and send. This is the test that decides whether the supplement (or switch) pays for itself.
Time: 5–10 min for the first one
5. Set up your manual hand-off when a BidMaker proposal is accepted
BidMaker has no Jobber integration — when a client accepts a BidMaker proposal, you'll need to create the matching job in Jobber yourself (job, schedule, invoice triggers). Budget 2–3 min of extra admin per won bid. Document the hand-off as a checklist so it doesn't get skipped on the bids you actually win.
Time: 10 min to write the checklist
6. Pick your monthly tier and cancel Jobber if (and only if) you're fully switching
Free covers 3 polished proposals/month. Pro ($29/mo) covers unlimited polished proposals + 20 AI gens. Business ($59/mo) adds e-signature audit trails for formal contracts. If you're supplementing, leave Jobber alone. If you're fully switching (rare — solo operator with no ops needs), cancel Jobber after you've sent 1–2 BidMaker proposals successfully; on annual billing, set a calendar reminder for 7 days before renewal.
Time: 2 min
Five honest reasons to stay on Jobber. We'd rather lose you to a clear-eyed "no" than churn you in 60 days because we oversold the fit.
Your bids close fine on Jobber's line-item quotes — presentation isn't the bottleneck and your close rate is where it needs to be
Most of your work is recurring service (lawn care routes, cleaning routes, maintenance contracts) where clients pick on price and reliability, not on proposal polish
You send 30+ quotes/month and adding a 5–10 min polish step per quote isn't sustainable — the math only works if you reserve BidMaker for the 10–40% of bids where presentation actually swings the outcome
You need accept → scheduled job → invoice to be automatic — BidMaker has no Jobber integration, so a manual hand-off would break how your ops run
What you actually want is a better-looking Jobber quote — invest 30 minutes customizing Jobber's quote template (logo, fonts, intro paragraph, footer) before adding a second tool to your stack
3 proposals/month. AI generation included. Takes about 5 minutes to get a proposal out.
Try BidMaker freeTechnically yes, but the output looks different. Jobber quotes are structured line-item forms — great for giving a client a price breakdown, not great for making a strong first impression on a competitive bid. BidMaker generates a full proposal with an introduction, scope description, and professional formatting. If winning the job means standing out, the difference shows.
No. Jobber has automation features (auto-send reminders, follow-ups), but their quotes are manually filled forms. BidMaker's AI writes the full proposal narrative from your job description — you describe the job, it writes a professional document.
Depends on how competitive your market is. If you're winning most of the jobs you quote, Jobber's built-in quoting is probably fine. If you're losing bids to competitors and suspect presentation is part of the problem, BidMaker's proposals look meaningfully better. Free plan — try it on your next 3 bids and see.
Jobber Core is $49/month for one user. BidMaker Pro is $29/month, and BidMaker has a free tier for 3 proposals/month. Jobber is worth the extra cost if you need the scheduling and operations features. If you just need better proposals, you don't.
Want a side-by-side breakdown of features and pricing? See the full BidMaker vs Jobber comparison