Field service management for home service and trades businesses
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 |
Jobber is a field service operations platform. It handles scheduling, dispatch, GPS tracking, invoicing, payment collection, and yes, quotes too. If you run a team and need to know where your techs are at 2pm on a Tuesday, Jobber solves that problem. BidMaker solves a different problem: getting a professional, AI-written proposal in front of a client fast. Most Jobber users still send basic line-item quotes. That's where BidMaker does better.
Six attributes of your business that should drive the choice. Use this matrix before reading the full feature table — most teams know the answer once they see the signals.
| Your situation | BidMaker fits if… | Jobber fits if… |
|---|---|---|
| Primary problem | Winning more bids — proposal quality is your bottleneck | Managing the work after you win — scheduling, dispatch, invoicing, GPS |
| Team structure | Solo or 1–2 people, mostly office or hybrid work | Field crew of 2+ techs that needs to be routed, tracked, and dispatched daily |
| Quote vs proposal | Need a polished proposal document with intro, scope, and narrative | Need a fast line-item quote that becomes a job once accepted |
| What you do after acceptance | Invoice manually or via existing tool (QuickBooks, Stripe) | Want acceptance to flow straight into a scheduled job + auto-invoice |
| Volume | 5–40 proposals/month, mostly larger or competitive bids | 10+ jobs/week with recurring service, dispatch coordination, and ongoing client communication |
| Budget posture | $0 free or $29/mo if proposals are the only gap | $49/mo Core or $129+/mo Connect when ops + quoting + invoicing all live in one tool |
Choose BidMaker if...
Choose Jobber if...
Per-seat pricing changes the math fast. Three buyer scenarios and what each tool costs for a full year.
Solo operator (proposals only, no ops needs)
BidMaker
$348/yr (Pro)
Jobber
$588/yr (Core, 1 user)
Verdict: BidMaker — Jobber Core's quoting feature alone isn't worth $240/yr extra; pay for Jobber when you need scheduling/dispatch/invoicing too
Field team (1–3 techs, scheduling matters, occasional competitive bids)
BidMaker
$348/yr Pro (proposals only) + Jobber Core $1,548/yr (Connect tier with team) = $1,896/yr if both
Jobber
$1,548/yr (Connect, ~3 users)
Verdict: Jobber alone for daily ops + line-item quotes; add BidMaker only on jobs where proposal presentation could swing the bid (commercial accounts, large contracts)
Established field service business (5+ techs, dispatch + invoicing + payments + occasional standout bids)
BidMaker
$708/yr Business (supplemental for big bids)
Jobber
$3,228/yr (Grow, full ops platform)
Verdict: Jobber for the operational backbone; BidMaker as a $59/mo supplement for the 5–10% of bids where presentation actually changes the outcome
Most BidMaker + Jobber users don't migrate — they run both, because the tools solve different problems. Jobber stays as the operational system (scheduling, dispatch, invoicing, payments, customer notifications), and BidMaker takes over for proposals on jobs where presentation matters: commercial contracts, larger residential projects, competitive bids against contractors with polished documents. There's no integration between them, so the workflow is: send the BidMaker proposal, and once accepted, create the corresponding job manually in Jobber. Estimate 2–3 minutes of extra admin per won bid. The few users who do leave Jobber entirely are usually solo operators whose ops needs shrank — fewer techs, simpler scheduling — and who realized they were paying $49+/mo for features they stopped using.
Four scenarios where BidMaker is genuinely the wrong tool. If any of these describe you, Jobber (or another option) will serve you better.
You manage a field crew that needs daily scheduling, dispatch, and GPS tracking — Jobber's core operational features have no BidMaker equivalent
You want acceptance to automatically create a scheduled job and trigger invoicing — BidMaker is proposals only, no operational hand-off
You process card payments in the field via your operations app and want quote → job → invoice → payment in one system
Your client communication (appointment reminders, on-the-way alerts, review requests) lives in your ops tool and you want it to stay there
Technically 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.
Already leaning away from Jobber? See why teams switch from Jobber to BidMaker →
Figuring out what to charge? These guides cover typical rates and what drives costs up or down.