Tool Directory / Home Services
AI tools for home services, in the order a job actually flows.
Most directories organize tools by software category. Owners don't think in software categories — they think: the phone rings, then what? So this page follows the job: answer → qualify → book → estimate → invoice → review. Every tool below is listed with its published price, checked and dated. Hands-on tests are running now; verdicts land in the newsletter first and update these pages the same day.
Step 1–3: Answer, qualify, book — the AI receptionist
This is where the money leaks and where the category is hottest. A missed call in home services isn't a missed newsletter open — it's the job going to whoever picked up. Three kinds of answer exist, and they are not interchangeable: standalone services (work with whatever you run), trades-built platforms (book straight into ServiceTitan/Jobber/Housecall Pro), and platform-native add-ons (inside the software you already pay for). The billing model matters as much as the sticker price — per-minute, per-call, per-caller, and flat plans punish and reward completely different call patterns.
Built for the trades
Sameday
Trades-built AI answering with pro scheduling into ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, and Jobber. Published pricing — rare at this end of the market.
from $449/mo
Launch 500 min · Scale $789/mo 1,000 min · checked Oct 2026
Avoca AI
The enterprise front office: AI CSR, outbound campaigns, call coaching, certified ServiceTitan app. Aimed at larger, multi-location operators.
Price not published
Quote-only — and the page says so, in those words · checked Oct 2026
Rosie
The budget trades pick: learns your business from your website, answers in English and Spanish, texts booking links on the entry tier, books live on Scale.
from $49/mo
250 min · Scale $149 · Growth $299 · checked Oct 2026
Standalone services (any trade, any software)
Goodcall
Unlimited minutes, billed per unique caller. Repeat-customer shops love the model; storm weeks test it.
from $79/mo
Per agent · 100 unique callers · checked Oct 2026
NextPhone
Flat rate, unlimited calls. Growth tier writes every call into Jobber natively — client, request, summary.
from $199/mo
Flat · Growth $299 · checked Oct 2026
Smith.ai AI Receptionist
The established name: AI per-call plans plus a live-receptionist tier when a human should take the call.
Free – $150+/mo
Free 25 calls · Pro from $150 · live from $300 · checked Oct 2026
Upfirst
The cheapest credible door in: per-call billing, spam not billed, every feature on every plan.
from $24.95/mo
30 calls · 14-day free trial · checked Oct 2026
Dialzara
Budget minute bundles with a custom voice. The $29 headline is real; the allowance is two short calls a day.
from $29/mo
60 min · overage $0.48/min · checked Oct 2026
My AI Front Desk (Frontdesk)
Voice + chat + SMS + forms on one credit pool, with its own CRM. Voice starts at the $99 tier.
from $20/mo
Business-in-a-Box $99/mo, 200 voice min · checked Oct 2026
RingCentral AI Receptionist
The phone-system answer: sensible if your lines already run on RingCentral; the per-minute meter is the product.
from $49/mo
100 min · $0.50/min after · checked Oct 2026
Already inside your field-service software
Jobber AI Receptionist
Jobber's own add-on: answers calls and texts, books into the schedule you already run. Third-party sites disagree on its price ($29 vs $99) — our page shows the receipts.
$29/mo add-on
30 conversations · $0.79 each after · included on Plus · checked Oct 2026
Housecall Pro CSR AI
Housecall Pro's AI rep books straight onto your dispatch board. Its price is not published — third-party estimates run $200–$500+/mo, and our page labels them as estimates, not prices.
Price not published
Quoted with your plan · checked Oct 2026
The benchmark: a human
Ruby Receptionists
Live US-based receptionists, billed by the minute. Every AI price above is implicitly compared to this one — so we list it, priced and dated, next to them.
from $250/mo
50 minutes · 200 min $720 · checked Oct 2026
Step 4: Estimate
Hover
For roofers and exterior remodelers: photos become a measured 3D model, and the model becomes a priced, signable estimate on site. Integrates with AccuLynx, JobNimbus, ServiceTitan, and Xactimate.
from $999/yr
Subscription + per-job reports · checked Oct 2026
HVAC / plumbing / electrical estimating
For the in-home trades, the estimate step mostly lives inside your field-service software's pricebook today — which is why the checklist tells you not to buy it twice. Dedicated AI estimating tools for these trades are in the research queue.
Step 5: Invoice — and Step 6: Review
Invoicing and payments are already solved inside Jobber, Housecall Pro, and ServiceTitan; no honest directory sells you a second one. The step owners actually skip is the last one:
NiceJob
Review requests that fire automatically when a job closes in Jobber or Housecall Pro — the invoice is the trigger. Pro adds referrals, win-backs, and AI-drafted replies.
from $75/mo
Pro $125/mo · flat per location · checked Oct 2026
The stack, on one page
Which of these do you buy first, second, and never? The free checklist lays out the order, the total monthly cost at three shop sizes, and the skip list.
The test queue is public
Every tool on this page gets the same treatment: real test calls, a real task, the result published — including "not worth it" when that's the answer. Verdicts go to newsletter subscribers first. If you sell one of these tools: submissions and demo accounts are free, the queue is ordered by reader demand, and the verdict is not for sale.