Every HVAC owner hits the same wall eventually. You outgrow the whiteboard and the group text, you sign up for software, and six months later you're paying for seats you don't need or missing features you do. The "which software should I use" question isn't really a feature question. It's a headcount question. What works for a 5-tech shop running one truck per foreman is not what works for a 20-tech outfit with dispatchers and a service manager. So let's run the numbers at three stages: 5 techs, 12 techs, 20 techs, and see where Jobber actually costs you money and where it doesn't.
The real cost problem: software that prices by the head
Jobber's pricing is built on a per-user model wrapped in tiers. The published plans run Core at $39/month, Connect at $119/month, Grow at $199/month, Connect Team at $169/month, Grow Team at $349/month, and Plus at $599/month. Each team tier comes with a bundled number of users: Connect Team includes 5 users, Grow Team includes 10, and Plus includes 15. Need more seats than your tier covers? Additional users run $29/user per month on top of whatever plan you're on (source).
That structure sounds fine until you actually plot a growing crew against it. A 5-tech shop fits neatly into Connect Team. A 12-tech shop blows past Grow Team's 10 included seats and needs 2 extra users at $29 each. A 20-tech shop doesn't fit any published tier at all. Plus tops out at 15 included users, and Jobber's own tiers don't list a public number past that, meaning a 20-tech shop is likely headed into a custom sales quote rather than a self-serve checkout. That's the part a lot of owners don't find out until they're already mid-onboarding.
On top of the subscription, if you run cards through Jobber Payments you're also looking at 2.9% + 30 cents per card transaction and 1% on ACH payments. That's not a knock on Jobber specifically, most field service platforms charge something similar for payment processing, but it's a real line item that adds up fast on a shop doing six figures a month in service calls.
What this actually costs at each headcount
Here's the side-by-side, using Jobber's published team-tier pricing against what a seat-based model costs as the crew grows. Corex doesn't charge per seat, so the comparison is less about matching tiers and more about what you're not paying for.
| Crew size | Jobber plan that fits | Jobber monthly cost | Corex approach |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 techs | Connect Team (5 users included) | $169/month base, no overage | Free CRM core, no per-seat charge |
| 12 techs | Grow Team (10 included) + 2 extra users | $349/month + $58/month (2 x $29) = $407/month | Free CRM core, no per-seat charge |
| 20 techs | Plus (15 included) + 5 extra users, or custom quote | $599/month + $145/month (5 x $29) = $744/month, likely higher once you're past the published tier | Free CRM core, no per-seat charge |
A few honest caveats here. Jobber's published numbers have moved around across different aggregator sites this year, anywhere from $29 to $49 on Core and $299 to $399 on Grow Team depending on which source and which billing cycle you're looking at, which usually means either a pricing update or regional/promo variation. Annual billing also changes the math: Jobber's own annual rates run noticeably lower than the monthly numbers above, so if you're comparing seriously, pull a live quote from Jobber before you sign anything. Corex's free CRM core means there's no seat math to do in the first place, which is the actual point: at 20 techs you're not negotiating extra-user fees, you're just running the business.
Where Jobber genuinely wins
Credit where it's due. Jobber has been in this space a long time and it shows in the maturity of the product. The Plus plan bundles a Marketing Suite, an AI Receptionist feature, a dedicated onboarding specialist, and premium support, which for a shop that wants one vendor to own everything from quoting to marketing automation, that's a real value proposition if the price fits your crew size. QuickBooks Online sync kicks in from the Connect plan up, and Zapier integration is available too, so if your shop already has a stack of spreadsheets and apps wired together, Jobber plugs into that world reasonably well. If you're a 5-tech shop that wants a single all-in-one platform and doesn't mind the monthly line item, Connect Team at $169/month with QuickBooks sync and job forms baked in is a legitimate, un-dramatic choice. It works. It's been tested by a lot of shops over a lot of years.
Where it stops making sense is the growth curve. The per-seat add-on charge is where a lot of owners feel the pinch, because it's not a one-time decision, it's a recurring tax on every new hire. Add a tech in February, add $29/month forever. Add three more by summer, there's another $87/month forever. None of that shows up in the "starting at $39/month" headline.
Where Corex changes the math
Corex's model skips the per-user toll entirely on its CRM core. For a shop scaling from 5 to 20 techs, that's the whole ballgame: you're not recalculating your software bill every time you hire. The mechanic behind this is straightforward. Instead of gating features and seats behind escalating tiers, the core CRM, scheduling, and client communication tools stay flat, and the business pays for the modules that actually move revenue: things like lead capture, estimate follow-up, and pipeline modules that plug into the CRM as needed rather than forcing a tier jump just to add a body to the roster.
For HVAC specifically, that matters because the industry's hiring pattern is lumpy. You don't add techs one at a time on a steady schedule, you add two in spring before the AC rush, maybe lose one in the fall, add three more next summer when a competitor folds and their customers call you. A pricing model that punishes every hire with a recurring fee fights against how HVAC businesses actually grow. One that doesn't, lets you scale the crew without re-litigating the software budget every quarter.
Step-by-step: how to actually decide for your shop
- Count your current techs and your likely headcount in 12 months, not just today. Software decisions made for today's crew size are usually wrong by next summer.
- Price out Jobber's team tier that covers your current headcount, then add the per-seat overage for your projected headcount. Don't just look at the sticker price on the tier.
- Check what you actually use. If you need job costing, two-way SMS, and quote follow-ups, that's Grow Team or higher on Jobber, not Core or Connect.
- Ask what happens at 16+ users. If Jobber's answer is "talk to sales," get that quote in writing before you commit to anything below it, because the jump from Plus to custom pricing is where a lot of the sticker-shock stories come from.
- Compare that total against a flat-core model like Corex's CRM, factoring in whether you need the AI receptionist, lead follow-up, or pipeline-tracking modules Jobber bundles into its top tier.
- Run a trial. Jobber offers a 14-day free trial with no card required, which is plenty of time to load real jobs and see if the workflow fits your dispatch style.
The honest verdict by headcount
At 5 techs: it's close. Jobber's Connect Team at $169/month is a reasonable, proven package if you want one vendor and don't mind the monthly number. Corex's flat-core approach saves you the subscription outright, which matters more for a shop still finding its footing than for one with cash flow to spare.
At 12 techs: Jobber starts costing real money, $407/month and climbing, and you're paying that $29/seat tax on every future hire. This is the size where the per-user model starts to bite, and it's worth seriously pricing out alternatives before you sign an annual contract.
At 20 techs: Jobber likely pushes you into custom pricing territory past the published Plus tier, which means you lose the transparency of a listed price altogether. A flat-core model avoids that cliff entirely. This is also the point where a lot of HVAC owners start evaluating whether to bolt on an AI receptionist for after-hours calls instead of paying for it as part of a bundled top-tier plan they may not fully use.
If you want the fuller rundown on how Corex stacks up against Jobber feature-by-feature, not just on price, that's covered in more depth on the Jobber alternatives page, and the full pricing breakdown is worth a read before you commit either way.
FAQ
Does Jobber charge more as I add technicians?
Yes. Past the number of users included in your tier, Jobber charges $29 per additional user per month on Core, Connect, and Grow individual plans, and that same rate applies as the "Additional Users" charge on the Connect Team, Grow Team, and Plus team plans. It's a recurring charge, not a one-time add-on fee.
Is there a Jobber plan built for a 20-tech shop?
Not a clearly published one. Jobber's highest listed tier, Plus, includes 15 users at $599/month before overage fees. A 20-tech crew would need 5 extra seats at $29 each on top of that, or may need to go through Jobber's sales team for custom pricing, since nothing past 15 users is clearly published on third-party pricing breakdowns.
Does Corex charge per technician the way Jobber does?
No. Corex's CRM core is free with no per-seat pricing, so adding technicians doesn't change your software bill. You pay for additional modules like lead capture or pipeline tools if you want them, not for headcount.
What about payment processing fees, do those matter in this comparison?
They can add up. If you process cards through Jobber Payments, the fee is 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction, plus 1% on ACH payments. That's separate from the subscription and worth factoring in if you're running high transaction volume, regardless of which platform you choose.
Should I just build my own stack with QuickBooks and Zapier instead of either one?
You can, and some shops do. Jobber's Connect plan and above sync with QuickBooks Online and support Zapier integration, so it's not an either/or. The real question is whether you want one platform to own scheduling, invoicing, and communication, which is what both Jobber and HVAC-focused platforms are built to do, versus stitching together separate tools yourself.