CRM for plumbers: software for emergency calls, price books and follow-up

Who this page is for

• You run a plumbing company with 1 to 25 people doing service, drain, water heater or repipe work.
• Emergency calls come in at night and on weekends, and they get booked from your cell phone.
• Estimates live in your head, a notes app or a carbon-copy pad, and follow-up rarely happens.
• You want to offer financing on water heaters and repipes, but only mention it when the customer hesitates.
• You’re comparing Housecall Pro, Jobber, ServiceTitan or Thryv.

The problem, in a plumber’s words

It’s Saturday at 6:15 am and a homeowner has water coming through the kitchen ceiling. She calls you, gets voicemail, and calls the next plumber on Google. You were under a house on another job.

On Monday you quote a water heater replacement from the driveway. You give one price for a like-for-like tank and never show the tankless option or the upgraded warranty tank. She says she’ll think about it, and you never follow up.

The invoice for Friday’s drain job is still in your truck. These are the three leaks plumbing software is supposed to close: missed emergency calls, single-option estimates and late invoices.

What plumbing work asks of your software

Emergency calls and dispatch

Emergency work is where plumbing differs most from scheduled trades. The software has to capture the call, find the nearest free tech and tell the customer when to expect them.

• Housecall Pro’s plumbing page describes routing the nearest tech to emergency repairs such as burst pipes and drain backups.
• Jobber’s plumbing page says you can reassign and reschedule jobs when an emergency comes in, with automatic schedule-change notices and “on my way” texts.
• Jobber sells an AI Receptionist add-on at $29 per month, according to its pricing page. Its plumbing page says Receptionist answers calls and texts and gathers job details.
• ServiceTitan lists call booking and dispatching in all three of its packages.

Set up an after-hours rate as its own line item, so the tech doesn’t have to remember the surcharge at 2 am.

Flat-rate price books

A flat-rate price book gives every tech the same price for the same task, including labor, parts and margin. Customers see one number instead of an hourly estimate.

• Housecall Pro includes a price book on every plan and adds flat-rate pricing on Essentials.
• ServiceTitan lists a pricebook in every package.
• FieldEdge includes a pricebook on its entry Select plan.
• Workiz lists flat rate on its top Ultimate plan.
• Jobber’s plumbing page talks about reusable quote templates and optional line items, but doesn’t mention a price book [VERIFICAR].
• Thryv’s estimate templates let you drag in products and services, but its pages don’t describe a flat-rate price book.

Good, better, best options on water heaters and repipes

Replacement jobs are where options pay off. A water heater estimate can show a like-for-like tank, an upgraded tank and a tankless unit. A repipe can show a partial repipe, a whole-house repipe and add-ons such as new shutoff valves.

• Housecall Pro’s plumbing page describes tiered proposals for water heaters and repipes. Its pricing page lists the sales proposal tool on Max [VERIFICAR].
• Jobber describes good, better, best quotes with optional add-ons such as water heater upgrades and drain cleanings.
• ServiceTitan describes multi-option estimates built from templates.

Test this on a phone during the trial, at a real kitchen table.

Permits and inspections

Your local building department decides which jobs need a permit and when the inspection happens. The software’s job is to make sure nothing gets lost between rough-in and final.

None of the plumbing pages I reviewed from Housecall Pro, Jobber or ServiceTitan mention permits. Plan to track it yourself with custom fields or a checklist on the job:

• Permit number and date pulled
• Inspection type and date
• Status (scheduled, passed, failed, re-inspection)
• A photo or PDF of the signed permit card

Hold the final invoice, or the last payment, until the inspection status says passed.

Maintenance plans

Plumbing maintenance plans are smaller than HVAC agreements, but they keep customers coming back. Typical plan items include water heater flushes, drain maintenance and backflow testing where your water utility requires it.

• Housecall Pro describes membership plans that can be added to estimates and billed on schedule. Its pricing page puts recurring service plans on Max.
• Thryv’s plumbing page describes seasonal promotions (sump pump checks, winter prep, backflow testing) and water heater flush reminders.
• Jobber’s plumbing page describes email campaigns with maintenance reminders, but not a membership plan feature.

If plans are a big part of your revenue, read the HVAC software page, where agreements are the main event.

Review requests

The best moment to ask for a review is right after the leak is fixed. Housecall Pro and Jobber both say they send review requests automatically after each job, and review management is a core part of Thryv’s marketing plans.

Financing offers

Financing changes how a customer hears a replacement price. Show the monthly payment on the estimate, not after the customer flinches.

• Jobber and Housecall Pro both connect to Wisetack.
• Housecall Pro’s financing page says customers can finance jobs from $500 to $65,000, with terms up to 120 months, subject to credit approval.
• The same page says the business pays a flat 3.9% fee on the financed amount.

Plumbing software compared

Prices are from each provider’s pricing page, as of October 2026. Thryv is a provider I work with. I don’t work with Housecall Pro, Jobber, ServiceTitan, FieldEdge or Workiz.

Option	Best for	Price book and flat rate	Options on estimates	Financing	Published pricing
Housecall Pro	Residential service and replacement shops	Price book on all plans; flat rate from Essentials	Tiered proposals for water heaters and repipes	Wisetack, on all plans	Basic $59, Essentials $149 (5 users), Max $299 (8 users) per month billed annually
Jobber	Solo plumbers and small service crews	Quote templates and optional line items	Good, better, best quotes	Wisetack integration	Core $29 to Plus $399+ per month billed annually
ServiceTitan	Shops with dispatchers and call takers	Pricebook in every package	Multi-option estimates	Listed as a feature	Not published; per technician
FieldEdge	Established service shops	Pricebook from Select	Multi-option quotes from Premier	Not stated on pricing page	Not published
Workiz	Small shops that want phone and AI add-ons	Flat rate on Ultimate	Sales proposals on Ultimate	Not stated on pricing page	Not published; 7-day trial
Thryv	Plumbers who need more calls and reviews	Product and service templates	Not described	Not described	Starter $99, Signature $399 per month

What it costs a plumbing shop

The base price matters less than which tier includes the plumbing features you need. These are the published tiers where the plumbing features start.

• Flat-rate pricing: Housecall Pro Essentials, $149 per month billed annually for 5 users ($189 month to month).
• Service plans and the proposal tool: Housecall Pro Max, $299 per month billed annually for 8 users ($329 month to month). Each extra user is $35 per month.
• Two-way texting and job costing: Jobber Grow, from $149 per month billed annually for 1 user or $229 for 5 users.
• After-hours call answering: Jobber Receptionist, $29 per month as an add-on, included in Jobber Plus.

Then add card fees and the 3.9% Wisetack fee on financed jobs. The contractor CRM guide has the full five-user price table and payment rates.

My recommendation by company size

Solo plumber

Pick the tool that lets you quote, book and get paid from your phone. Jobber Core ($29 per month billed annually) is the lowest published price. Housecall Pro Basic ($59) includes a price book and financing from day one, which helps if you do water heaters.

If the phone doesn’t ring enough, fix that first. My Thryv review covers its listings, reviews and website tools.

2 to 5 trucks

You need everyone quoting the same price. Housecall Pro Essentials adds flat-rate pricing, GPS tracking and QuickBooks Online sync. Jobber Connect adds QuickBooks Online sync and automatic payment collection, and Grow adds two-way texting and job costing.

6 to 15 trucks with an office

Now dispatch and memberships matter. Compare Housecall Pro Max (service plans, proposals, route optimization), Workiz Ultimate and FieldEdge Premier. Get a ServiceTitan quote as well, so you know the gap.

16 or more trucks

With dispatchers, call takers and a replacement sales process, ServiceTitan and FieldEdge are the main candidates. Ask both for a written quote that lists every add-on and the onboarding cost.

How implementation works for a plumbing company

1. Build the price book first. Start with the 20 to 40 tasks you do most, priced flat. Add the rest later.
2. Load replacement templates. Create three-option templates for water heaters and repipes, with financing shown on each option.
3. Set emergency rules. Decide who gets after-hours calls, the after-hours rate, and the text the customer receives.
4. Add permit fields. Create the permit and inspection fields or checklist before the first permitted job.
5. Train on real jobs. Each tech closes at least two real jobs in the app before you retire paper.
6. Turn on reviews and reminders last. Once the data is clean, switch on review requests and maintenance reminders.

A shop with 2 to 5 trucks can plan for three to five weeks, mostly spent on the price book.

Questions to ask any plumbing software vendor:

• Can a tech build a three-option estimate offline, in a basement with no signal?
• Can I add an after-hours surcharge automatically by time of day?
• Where do I record permit numbers and inspection results, and can I hold an invoice until the inspection passes?
• Does financing show as a monthly payment on each option of the estimate?
• Can I report revenue by lead source, so I know which ads bring water heater jobs?

Common mistakes plumbers make with software

• Building a 500-item price book before going live. Start with your top tasks and grow the book from real jobs.
• Leaving after-hours calls to voicemail. A caller with water on the floor may not wait for a callback. Route those calls to a person or an answering tool.
• Showing one option on a replacement. A single price turns the decision into yes or no. Three options turn it into which one.
• Offering financing only when the customer balks. By then the price already feels too high.
• Not tracking permit status. Final inspections slip, and so does the last payment.
• Asking for reviews days later. The customer was happiest when the water was back on.

When you’re ready to compare options for your shop, send me your truck count and current tools for a plumbing software shortlist.