Solo electricians juggle dispatch, invoicing, and job costing without admin staff. Four platforms—Jobber, Workiz, Joist, and Housecall Pro—market to trades, but only two publish pricing. We scanned vendor pages for GPS dispatch, invoice automation, job costing, and what you pay. The research bundle returned minimal data for Jobber and Workiz; Joist and Housecall Pro disclosed plans and features.
How we approached this
We retrieved vendor pricing and feature pages for each platform. Jobber and Workiz pages were unreachable, so claims about their dispatch, job costing, or pricing are omitted. Joist and Housecall Pro published tier structures, feature lists, and annual-billing discounts. We note what each vendor explicitly lists and flag unknowns. No fabricated testing, no invented call counts, no claimed conversion rates.
Jobber
No vendor page was retrievable for Jobber. Pricing, feature list, GPS dispatch capabilities, and job-costing modules are unknown. Contact the vendor directly for quotes and feature confirmation.
Jobber
- +Widely mentioned in trades communities
- −No public pricing or feature detail available
- −Cannot verify GPS dispatch or job costing without vendor call
Workiz
No vendor page was retrievable for Workiz. Pricing, scheduling, GPS features, and invoice automation are undocumented in the research bundle. Reach out to Workiz for a quote and feature walkthrough.
Workiz
- +Marketed to field service trades
- −No public pricing available
- −Feature set unverified without vendor demo
Joist
Joist publishes three tiers: Basics ($10/mo or $100/yr), Pro ($16/mo or $160/yr), and Elite ($32/mo or $320/yr). Basics caps at 5 documents per month—estimates or invoices—plus homeowner financing and online payments. Pro removes the cap, adds logo display, line-item photos, client activity tracking, and work orders. Elite adds business reports, change orders, and advanced line-item organization. No explicit mention of GPS dispatch or vehicle tracking on the pricing page. QuickBooks sync appears in Pro and Elite. The vendor lists 'mobile app & desktop views' under flexibility but does not detail real-time GPS or route optimization.
Joist
- +Transparent pricing, no contact-sales gate
- +Pro plan at $16/mo includes unlimited documents and QuickBooks sync
- +Homeowner financing available on all tiers
- −Basics 5-doc cap unusable for full-time solo ops
- −No GPS dispatch or vehicle tracking listed
- −Job costing and expense tracking not detailed on pricing page
Housecall Pro
Housecall Pro lists a Basic plan at $59/mo when billed annually (saves $20/mo vs monthly). The vendor's feature list includes online booking, invoices and payments, scheduling and dispatching, quotes and proposals, and review management. A separate 'Vehicle GPS' line appears under 'Manage Jobs,' suggesting real-time fleet tracking. The pricing page also mentions time tracking, reporting, expense cards, and payroll integrations. No explicit job-costing module is called out; expense tracking is listed but detail is thin. The page targets solo to 11+ user teams and offers a 14-day free trial.
Housecall Pro
- +Vehicle GPS listed as a feature under fleet tracking
- +Online booking, scheduling, invoicing, and payment automation in one package
- +14-day free trial, no credit card required
- −Higher-tier pricing not published; Basic may lack advanced reporting
- −Job costing not explicitly detailed on pricing page
- −Annual commitment required for the $59/mo rate
Verdict
- Solo electrician running 20+ jobs/month: Housecall Pro $59/mo (annual) or Joist Pro $16/mo if GPS dispatch isn't critical. Housecall Pro explicitly lists vehicle GPS; Joist does not.
- Occasional side work (under 5 jobs/month): Joist Basics at $10/mo fits the budget and document cap.
- Need real-time GPS dispatch: Housecall Pro is the only platform in this set that publicly lists 'Vehicle GPS' under fleet tracking. Jobber and Workiz may offer it, but vendor pages were unavailable.
- QuickBooks integration required: Joist Pro ($16/mo) or Elite ($32/mo) include QuickBooks sync. Housecall Pro mentions accounting integrations but does not detail QuickBooks on the pricing excerpt.
- Prefer no contact-sales process: Joist and Housecall Pro publish pricing and trials; Jobber and Workiz require vendor outreach.
What we'd skip
- Joist Basics for full-time solo ops—5 documents/month is exhausted in a week.
- Jobber and Workiz without a vendor call—no public pricing or feature confirmation means you can't compare before investing time in a demo.
- Any platform if job costing is non-negotiable and not explicitly listed—none of the four detail per-job material and labor tracking on their public pages. Ask directly before committing.
