Dispatch is the ten minutes that decides whether your day makes money. Send the wrong tech to the wrong side of town and you eat the drive time, the customer waits, and the job that should have been profitable turns into a favor. Field service dispatch software exists to stop that: one board that shows who’s where, what’s open, and which crew can actually make the 2 p.m. window.
This guide compares the five dispatch-capable platforms we’d actually put in front of a contractor in 2026, with verified pricing and honest fits. If your bigger problem is booking work in the first place, start with our scheduling software guide — dispatch assumes the jobs are already on the calendar.
What dispatch software actually does
- The board: a drag-and-drop view of every tech’s day, so reassigning a job is a mouse move, not six phone calls.
- Routing: automatic route building that accounts for drive time between stops, not just job order.
- Team notifications: techs get new assignments, reschedules, and cancellations on their phone in real time.
- Location visibility: GPS or fleet-tracking integrations that show where crews actually are when the emergency call comes in.
Every tool below does the basics. The differences are price structure, how many users you get, and how much of the dispatching the software will do for you.
Pricing at a glance
Every price in this table was re-verified against the vendor’s public pricing page on July 27, 2026, and all figures are month-to-month billing so the tiers are comparable. Annual billing is cheaper on most of these tools — see each vendor’s page for current annual rates.
| Tool | Entry plan | Mid tier | Top tier | Users included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jobber | $49/mo (Core) | $139/mo (Connect) | $199/mo (Grow) | 1 user at these prices; the Plus tier adds 5–15 users from $499/mo |
| Housecall Pro | $79/mo (Basic) | $189/mo (Essentials) | $329/mo (MAX) | 1 / up to 5 / up to 8 (+$35 per extra user on MAX). Most-trades pricing path; HVAC, plumbing and electrical Teams plans are Essentials $299/mo and Max $649/mo (checked October 15, 2026) |
| ServiceTitan | Quote-only — priced per technician | Per technician | ||
| Service Fusion | Starter: quoted on a demo | Plus: quoted on a demo | Pro: quoted on a demo | Not published; quoted on a demo |
| FieldCamp | Quote only (Pro) | Quote only (Growth) | Quote only (Scale) | Set in quote — no per-seat list price (checked Sept 29, 2026) |
Vendor prices change without notice. For the current verified figures on every vendor we track — read from each vendor’s own pricing page and dated — see the contractor software pricing tracker.
Jobber — best first dispatch board for small crews
Jobber handles dispatch through a drag-and-drop calendar with day, week, month, and map views. Its Find a Time feature suggests openings based on team availability and drive time, routing can auto-generate each crew’s most efficient day (or week) in one pass, and real-time notifications push reschedules straight to the tech’s phone. Live GPS vehicle tracking is available through Jobber’s fleet-management partners rather than built in. Plans run $49–$199/mo at the 1-user price point — team pricing scales with crew size on their pricing page selector.
Housecall Pro — dispatch plus GPS at a mid-market price
Housecall Pro includes scheduling and dispatching on every plan, including the $79/mo Basic tier — assign techs to the right job and time from day one. Employee GPS tracking (via the tech’s phone, no hardware) arrives on the $189/mo Essentials plan, which also covers up to 5 users. MAX ($329/mo, up to 8 users, then $35 per extra user) adds advanced reporting and escalated support. HVAC, plumbing and electrical shops see a different list on Housecall Pro’s pricing page: Essentials $299/mo with 5 users and Max $649/mo with 8 users on Teams plans ($229 and $349 for one user), with no annual rates shown (checked October 15, 2026). If you want dispatch + tech location in one app without a fleet-hardware conversation, this is the shortest path.
ServiceTitan — the commercial-grade dispatch board, priced by quote
ServiceTitan builds its reputation on exactly this workflow: a drag-and-drop dispatch board for fleet and tech management, included in all three of its packages (Starter, Essentials, The Works) alongside call booking and call recording. The catch is pricing: per-technician, quote-only — there is no public price page, so budget for a demo call. It’s the standard answer for larger residential and commercial shops; it’s overkill for a two-truck operation.
Service Fusion — quoted on a demo; ask how seats are counted
Service Fusion publishes no prices on its pricing page as of October 15, 2026; Starter, Plus and Pro are quoted on a demo. If headcount is your cost problem, ask in the demo how seats are counted and run that quote first.
FieldCamp — the AI dispatcher bet
FieldCamp is the newest tool here and the most opinionated: its AI Dispatcher aims to run assignment and routing from a plain-language instruction, with calendar and route optimization included on every plan. It publishes no prices as of September 29, 2026: its four tiers (Pro, Growth, Scale, Enterprise) are quoted after a sales call, and the vendor’s own FAQ says it does not charge a per-seat list price. Two things to know before you try it: AI features bill on actual usage on top of the subscription (new accounts get a $10 credit), and it’s a young product — expect faster iteration and rougher edges than the incumbents.
How to choose by crew size
- 1–3 techs: Jobber Core or Connect, or Housecall Pro Basic. You need the board and notifications, not fleet telemetry.
- 4–10 techs with office staff: Housecall Pro Essentials (GPS included, 5 users) or Service Fusion Starter if you’re already past 5 users.
- 10+ techs or mixed commercial work: get the ServiceTitan quote and run it against Service Fusion’s flat unlimited-user pricing — the answer depends entirely on your headcount.
- Automation-first shops: FieldCamp, with eyes open about usage-billed AI.
One honest skip: if you run solo and rarely juggle same-day changes, you don’t need dispatch software at all — a scheduling app and our time-tracking guide cover you.
Field service dispatch software: quick answers
What’s the difference between scheduling and dispatch software?
Scheduling gets a job onto the calendar; dispatch gets the right person to it, and re-gets them there when the day blows up. Most field service platforms bundle both — the tools above are the ones whose dispatch side is genuinely usable.
What does dispatch software cost in 2026?
From this comparison: $49–$199/mo (Jobber, 1-user pricing), $79–$329/mo (Housecall Pro), and quote-only pricing at Service Fusion, FieldCamp and ServiceTitan. Where a vendor publishes both, annual billing cuts 15–25%.
Do I need GPS tracking for dispatch?
Not to start. The board and phone notifications solve most of the pain. GPS earns its keep once you’re fielding enough same-day emergency calls that knowing the closest truck matters — that’s typically 4+ crews.
Sources
- Jobber pricing and scheduling feature pages — getjobber.com/pricing, getjobber.com/features/scheduling (verified July 27, 2026)
- Jobber Receptionist pricing and conversation allowance — help.getjobber.com (verified July 27, 2026)
- Housecall Pro pricing page — housecallpro.com/pricing (verified July 27, 2026)
- ServiceTitan pricing page — servicetitan.com/pricing (verified July 27, 2026)
- Service Fusion pricing page — servicefusion.com/pricing (checked October 15, 2026; no prices published)
- FieldCamp pricing page, including AI usage billing and new-account credit — fieldcamp.ai/pricing (verified July 27, 2026)
Related: Best Software for Mechanical Contractors (2026) — commercial-first platforms vs. value plays, with published pricing where it exists. · Work Order Software for Contractors (2026)
Augmented Trades participates in affiliate programs and may earn commissions from some links in this article at no cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure. Vendors do not influence our rankings.
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Michael is the founder of Augmented Trades, an independent site that compares AI and software tools for trade contractors on published pricing, contracts, and real feature limits. Tools are recommended on fit for your shop — affiliate partnerships never decide coverage.