If you run a pest control company and you've started shopping for software, you've probably got four names rattling around in your head: GorillaDesk, Briostack, FieldRoutes, and PestPac. Maybe a sales rep from one of them called you last week. Maybe your tech quit because the app kept crashing on his route. Either way, you're here because the system you've got (or the spreadsheet you've got) isn't cutting it anymore.
This isn't a "best of" listicle. This is a breakdown of how these four compare, plus where a leaner option actually makes more sense.
The real cost of picking wrong
Before we get into feature comparisons, let's talk about what a bad software decision actually costs a pest control business, because it's bigger than the subscription fee.
- Missed callbacks: A lead that waits an hour for a callback has usually called someone else by then. If your CRM doesn't route and score leads automatically, your front desk is the bottleneck, and every missed call is a competitor's new customer.
- Scheduling chaos: Techs driving back and forth across town because routing isn't optimized burn fuel and paid hours every single week.
- Admin drag: Hours every week go to chasing invoices, re-keying estimates, and manually texting customers, because the system that "does everything" skips the one thing you actually need.
- Contract lock-in: Several of the big platforms require annual contracts, and some charge setup or exit fees, so read the termination terms before you sign.
None of that shows up on the pricing page. It shows up three months in, when you're trying to figure out why revenue isn't moving even though you're "using software now."
How the four stack up
Here's the honest version, not the sales deck version.
GorillaDesk
Built for small to mid-size pest and lawn companies. Decent scheduling, mobile app is serviceable, and GorillaDesk's published plans start lower than the enterprise players. Some users note the reporting and automation features are more basic than larger platforms. Often used by smaller operations just getting off paper.
Briostack
Pest-specific, with route optimization features that matter if you're in a state with heavy regulatory reporting. Some user reviews mention an older-feeling interface and support response times, so see it in a demo before you sign. Briostack does not publish pricing; you'll need to request a quote.
FieldRoutes
Formerly PestRoutes, now owned by ServiceTitan. Powerful, built for scale, and marketed toward larger operations with call centers. FieldRoutes quotes pricing on request rather than publishing it, and onboarding fees should be confirmed on your quote. For a small operation, it can be more than you need, so check whether the features justify the cost for your truck count.
PestPac
The oldest name on this list, owned by WorkWave. Deep feature set, built for pest control companies ranging from single-location owner-operators to larger multi-location enterprises. PestPac quotes pricing on request, and some user reviews describe the interface and mobile app as dated. Implementation is a project, not a weekend: ask for a written timeline before you sign.
Where the gap actually is
Here's the thing none of these four will tell you: they were all built as scheduling and dispatch tools first, with lead management bolted on as an afterthought. That made sense ten years ago when the hard problem was routing trucks. Today the hard problem is competing for leads against five other companies all running Google ads in the same zip code.
If your software can schedule a job beautifully but can't tell you which of your 40 open leads is about to go cold, you're optimizing the wrong end of the funnel. This is where a lot of pest control owners get stuck: they buy a $300/month platform for dispatch, then bolt on a separate $200/month tool for texting, then pay another few hundred for a website chatbot, and none of it talks to each other.
That's the gap we built to close. /crm is a free AI-powered CRM, lead pipeline, job tracking, estimates, and AI lead scoring in one system, so you're not stitching together three subscriptions just to know who to call back first. No seat fees to start. You add paid modules only when you actually need them, not because a sales rep bundled them in to hit quota.
We say "free" and mean it in the way that matters to an owner: you can run your pipeline, track jobs, and send estimates without a credit card on file. Compare that to signing a 12-month Briostack or FieldRoutes contract before you've even tested whether the workflow fits your crew.
Side-by-side numbers
| Platform | Starting cost (approx monthly) | Contract required | Best fit | Lead scoring / AI routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GorillaDesk | $49 to $99 | Month to month available | Small operators | No |
| Briostack | Quote only | Not published | Compliance-heavy states | No |
| FieldRoutes | Quote only | Not published | Larger operations, call centers | Not published |
| PestPac | Quote only | Not published | Single-location to multi-location companies | Not published |
| Corex CRM | Free to start | None | 1 to 20 trucks | Yes, built in |
Numbers are approximate and based on publicly available pricing and user-reported figures as of this writing, vendors change pricing often and most of them don't publish it, which itself tells you something.
The step-by-step for making this decision
- Count your trucks, not your ambitions. If you're running 2 to 8 trucks, you almost never need FieldRoutes-level infrastructure. Buy for where you are, not where you hope to be in five years.
- Audit where leads actually die today. Pull your last 60 days of inbound calls and web form fills. How many got a callback within 10 minutes? If it's under 70%, that's costing you more than any dispatch inefficiency.
- Ask every vendor for their real churn and support numbers. Not the marketing page, ask a rep directly: "What's your average support ticket response time?" Get it in writing if you can.
- Test before you sign anything annual. If a platform won't let you run a free or month-to-month trial with your actual data, that's information. /crm lets you start without a contract specifically so you can stress-test it against a real week of calls before committing to anything paid.
- Check what happens to your data if you leave. Export formats, migration fees, and notice periods vary wildly. Get this in writing before signing, not after.
- Price the whole stack, not just the headline tool. Add up what you're actually paying across scheduling, texting, review requests, and a website chatbot. Compare that total against a single platform that includes an AI receptionist and CRM together.
Where you might still want one of the big four
We're not going to pretend Corex is the right fit for everyone. If you're a 20+ truck pest company with a dedicated call center and a full-time ops manager who lives inside dispatch software all day, FieldRoutes' depth of routing logic and PestPac's enterprise billing features might genuinely be worth the price. Briostack's compliance tracking is legitimately strong if you're doing heavy commercial chemical application work in a state like California with strict reporting requirements. Don't switch just because a blog post told you to.
But if you're a 1 to 10 truck operation and your actual bottleneck is "leads come in and nobody follows up fast enough," none of those four platforms solve that problem better than a system built around lead response from day one.
What this looks like for a typical shop
Say a 4-truck pest control company runs GorillaDesk for scheduling and a separate texting tool for follow-up, paying a few hundred dollars a month combined, and still misses a meaningful share of inbound leads because nobody is watching two separate inboxes. Moving the lead pipeline onto a single system with built-in scoring and automated follow-up texts can close that gap, since slow callbacks are typically the cost of scheduling tools and lead tools living in separate apps.
If you want to see how this fits specifically for pest operators, including route-day workflows and seasonal demand spikes, our pest control industry page walks through it in more detail.
FAQ
Is GorillaDesk or Briostack better for a small pest control company?
If you're under 5 trucks and don't have heavy compliance reporting needs, GorillaDesk is generally the cheaper and simpler option. Briostack makes more sense if you're in a state with strict chemical application reporting requirements and need that built into the workflow.
Why is FieldRoutes so much more expensive than the others?
FieldRoutes (owned by ServiceTitan) is built for scale: call centers, multi-region operations, complex commission structures. You're paying for infrastructure most small and mid-size pest companies don't use. It's a strong platform, it's just priced for a different size of business.
Can I switch from PestPac or Briostack without losing my customer history?
Usually yes, but it depends on export format and how clean your data is. Get the export terms in writing before you sign a cancellation notice, and budget time for a manual cleanup pass. Plan for weeks, not days, if you want it done properly.
Do I need a separate CRM if I already have dispatch software?
Not necessarily, but check whether your current platform actually scores and routes leads automatically, or whether it's just a calendar with a contacts list attached. That distinction is where most pest companies are quietly losing revenue.
Whatever you decide, don't let a sales rep's demo be the only test you run. Pull your own numbers, run a real trial, and make sure whatever you pick is solving the problem you actually have, not the problem their pricing tier wants to sell you. You can see how the modules fit together, including pc, vr, and ro, before deciding what you actually need to pay for.