Guide
Hiring your first helper should change your week, not triple your software bill. Here is why the jump happens, in the platforms' own numbers.
Business is good. You hire a helper — a cousin, a friend of a client, someone solid. You open your scheduling software to put them on Thursday's jobs, and find there is nowhere to put them. Your plan holds one user. Not one user plus a fee: one user, and the button to add a person is a plan change.
| Working solo | First helper starts | |
|---|---|---|
| Jobber | $29–49/mo (Core) | $128/mo yearly billing — Connect is mandatory, plus $29 for seat two |
| Housecall Pro | $59–79/mo (Basic) | $149–189/mo — Essentials is the first plan that takes them, a $110 step on monthly billing |
| DayBoard | $36/mo | $36/mo — person two through five are already in the price |
Per-user pricing is not a scam; it is how suites fund features bigger crews use — dispatch, GPS, price books, office roles. The problem is only the fit: a two-person crew pays suite-shaped money for board-shaped work. When your crew is six or ten with an office, revisit the suites with clear eyes. At two to five, the flat tools exist because this moment exists.
If you are about to hire and your current tool will jump, switch before the helper starts, not during their first week. Client lists import in an afternoon (the switch guide), and your helper's first day should be about the work, not about software.
Because the entry plans of the big platforms hold exactly one user. Jobber Core cannot add a second person at any price — you must change plans. Housecall Pro Basic is the same shape. The raise isn't for the helper's seat; it's a plan change plus a seat.
$128 a month on yearly billing (Connect $99 + $29 for the second user), $168 monthly-billed — up from $29–49 solo. DayBoard is built for exactly this jump: $36 whether the crew is one person or five.
Beyond software: payroll itself, workers' comp, and usually a payroll service. The software bill is the smallest of the three — which is exactly why it shouldn't triple without anyone asking you.
For your whole crew — up to 5 people. No tiers, no per-person charges, no job cap. Or $349 a year and be done with it.