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Housecall Pro vs Birdy

We make Birdy, so we are not neutral. Housecall Pro is a mature, widely used product with published prices, card payments, a phone add-on and a native app, and for many small shops it is the better buy today. Birdy is younger and is built around two things that get harder as a company grows: several people in the office sharing one inbox, and answering new leads fast. Every fact about Housecall Pro below links to a public source, checked November 10, 2026.

By the Birdy team · Facts checked

Side by side

Housecall Pro sells scheduling, dispatch, estimates, invoicing, payments, online booking and review tools to home service businesses on three published plans: Basic, Essentials and Max. Recurring service plans, route optimization and the sales proposal tool are on Max, and Pipeline, Voice, Payroll and CSR AI are listed as add-ons. Its iPhone app is rated 4.7 out of 5 on about 31,700 ratings (Apple App Store, third party). It suits owner-operators and growing shops that want a proven tool they can start on today.

  • Published prices

    Birdy
    Not published. Pricing is set when your account is opened
    Housecall Pro
    Yes. Basic $59, Essentials $149 and Max $299 a month billed annually ($79, $189 and $329 billed monthly)

  • Users included

    Birdy
    Set when your account is opened
    Housecall Pro
    Basic 1, Essentials 5, Max 8, then $35 a month per extra user on Max

  • How you start

    Birdy
    Join the waitlist on the sign-up page. Accounts are opened by hand, a few companies at a time
    Housecall Pro
    14-day free trial of Max, no credit card. No long-term contract

  • Leads and speed to lead

    Birdy
    A leads pipeline with your own stages, quote appointments and email follow-ups. Each lead shows how long it has waited, and Reports shows speed to lead and close rate by rep. A live speed-to-lead timer is coming
    Housecall Pro
    Pipeline is listed as an add-on. A lead response-time report is not described on the pages we checked

  • Office inbox

    Birdy
    One Messages inbox with threads on the customer or lead, Assign, a Mine tab, Mark done, and search by phone or by what was said. Texting is being connected, so texts to customers are not live yet. An unassigned queue, claiming and a collision guard are coming
    Housecall Pro
    An Inbox with Customers and Employees channels. Office staff are added to customer chats as members and get notified; the help article describes members, not an owner per conversation

  • Quotes

    Birdy
    Good, better and best options from a price list with minimums and bundles, signed online by the customer
    Housecall Pro
    Estimates on every plan; the sales proposal tool is on Max

  • Scheduling and routes

    Birdy
    A dispatch board by truck and estimator, a map with road routes and drive times, and booked versus available hours per crew. No automatic route optimization
    Housecall Pro
    Scheduling and dispatch on every plan; routes from Essentials; route optimization on real drive time on Max

  • Recurring service plans

    Birdy
    Service plans with services per visit, rotations and online signing
    Housecall Pro
    On Max

  • Online booking

    Birdy
    Online booking with live time slots, a pick-a-time link, and a customer portal
    Housecall Pro
    Online booking on every plan

  • Field app

    Birdy
    A phone web app the crew adds to the home screen: on my way, checklists, sign-off, notes, chemical log and timesheets (before and after photos are coming). No App Store or Google Play app, and no offline mode
    Housecall Pro
    Native iPhone and Android app. 4.7 out of 5 on about 31,700 App Store ratings (third party)

  • Card payments

    Birdy
    Invoices go out by email and are marked paid by hand when the check or cash comes in. Card payments are coming
    Housecall Pro
    Yes, invoicing and payments on every plan

  • Phone system

    Birdy
    Not offered. Calls stay on your own phone (the crew's Call button opens the phone's dialer)
    Housecall Pro
    Voice is listed as an add-on

  • Review requests

    Birdy
    Your Google review link after the job, by email, the same link for every customer
    Housecall Pro
    Review management on every plan

  • Accounting

    Birdy
    Job costing and margins, commissions, finance reports and a payroll hours CSV. QuickBooks Online sync is coming
    Housecall Pro
    QuickBooks Online sync from Essentials; job costing on every plan; Payroll is an add-on

  • Bringing your data

    Birdy
    Reads Housecall Pro customer, price book, job and estimate exports; any other tool comes in by spreadsheet with a column mapping. Past jobs arrive as history
    Housecall Pro
    Customers, jobs and the price book export as CSV files

  • Track record

    Birdy
    A young product, opening accounts a few companies at a time in November 2026
    Housecall Pro
    Long established, with tens of thousands of App Store ratings

Which to choose

Housecall Pro is the better choice if

  • You want to take card payments on invoices today. Birdy marks invoices paid by hand until card payments are live.
  • You want a phone system from the same company. Housecall Pro lists Voice as an add-on; Birdy does not make or take calls.
  • You want a native app from the App Store and a long track record. Housecall Pro's app has tens of thousands of ratings; Birdy's crew app is a home-screen web app and the product is new.
  • You want to sign up and start the same day on a published price. Housecall Pro has a free trial and published plans; Birdy opens accounts by hand.
  • You need QuickBooks Online sync now.

Birdy is the better choice if

  • Several people in your office answer customers, and you want each conversation assigned to one person, with a Mine tab and Mark done.
  • You want to see how fast each rep gets to a new lead, and close rate by rep, in Reports.
  • You sell good, better and best options and recurring service plans and want both in one account.
  • You are moving off Housecall Pro and want the importer to read its customer, price book, job and estimate exports.

Housecall Pro website

What happens when several people in the office answer customers?

In Housecall Pro, customer texts live in an Inbox with a Customers channel. Its help article says the point of contact, office staff and field techs are added to a customer chat as members, and members get a notification when the customer replies. The article describes members, not one owner per conversation, and we did not find an assign or claim step in it.

That works well when one person runs the office. With three or four people, everyone sees the same reply, and the question becomes who is answering it. Birdy is built around that question: each thread can be assigned to one person, the Mine tab shows what is yours, and Mark done closes it. You can search the inbox by phone number or by what was said.

What is not live yet

Texting in Birdy is being connected, so texts to customers are not going out yet. An unassigned queue, claiming and a guard against two people replying at once are coming. Email follow-ups work today.

Which one shows how fast we answer new leads?

Birdy shows it in two places today: each lead shows how long it has waited, and Reports shows speed to lead by rep, with how many were answered within an hour, next to close rate. A live timer and a stat strip on the leads screen are coming.

Housecall Pro lists Pipeline as an add-on on its pricing page. We did not find a lead response-time report on the pricing or help pages we checked. If speed to lead matters to you, ask Housecall Pro to show you where to see it in a demo.

How much does Housecall Pro cost?

Housecall Pro costs $59, $149 or $299 a month billed annually ($79, $189 or $329 billed monthly), as published on its pricing page. Birdy does not publish prices yet: pricing is set when your account is opened.

Housecall Pro's published plans, from its pricing page on November 10, 2026

Basic

Billed annually
$59 a month
Billed monthly
$79 a month
Users
1
Notable on this plan
Online booking, invoicing and payments, estimates, price book, job costing, review management

Essentials

Billed annually
$149 a month
Billed monthly
$189 a month
Users
5
Notable on this plan
Adds routes, checklists, photo reports, GPS, commissions, QuickBooks Online sync

Max

Billed annually
$299 a month
Billed monthly
$329 a month
Users
8 (+$35 each)
Notable on this plan
Adds recurring service plans, route optimization, the proposal tool, open API

Pipeline, Voice, Payroll, CSR AI and vehicle GPS are listed as add-ons, with no prices on the pricing page. The page also showed first-month promotional prices when we checked.

How do I move from Housecall Pro?

  1. In Housecall Pro, export your customers, your price book, and the jobs and estimates reports as CSV files (its help center shows where each export lives).
  2. In Birdy, open Settings, then Import, and upload each file. The importer recognizes Housecall Pro's columns, and you fix any guess before anything is saved. Duplicates are matched.
  3. Check the review screen: customers with several addresses, past jobs as history, and customers that look recurring but have no plan yet.

Saved cards, photos and text history are not in the exports, so they stay behind. Upcoming visits come in as history, so you schedule them again in Birdy. The full walkthrough is on the switching page.

Sources

Checked November 10, 2026. Other companies' figures are theirs, as published.

  1. Housecall Pro: pricing
  2. Housecall Pro help: messaging within your Housecall Pro Inbox
  3. Housecall Pro: online booking
  4. Housecall Pro help: import and export jobs and customers
  5. Housecall Pro help: import and export price book services and materials
  6. Apple App Store: Housecall Pro (rating, third party)

Questions

How much does Housecall Pro cost?

Housecall Pro publishes three plans: Basic $59, Essentials $149 and Max $299 a month billed annually, or $79, $189 and $329 billed monthly, as of November 10, 2026. Pipeline, Voice, Payroll and CSR AI are add-ons.

Is Birdy cheaper than Housecall Pro?

Birdy does not publish prices yet: pricing is set when your account is opened. Compare it with the Housecall Pro plan that has the features you need.

Can I import my Housecall Pro data into Birdy?

Yes. The importer reads Housecall Pro's customer, price book, job and estimate exports and matches duplicates. Saved cards, photos and text history are not in Housecall Pro's exports, so they do not come across.

Does Birdy take card payments like Housecall Pro?

No, not yet. Card payments are coming. Until then, invoices go out by email and you mark them paid when the money comes in.

Can several office staff share one inbox in Housecall Pro?

Yes, as members of each customer chat: Housecall Pro's help article says office staff are added to customer chats and get notified of replies. It does not describe giving each conversation one owner. Birdy assigns each thread to one person.

Is this comparison independent?

No. We make Birdy and publish this page. Every fact about Housecall Pro links to a public source, checked November 10, 2026. Tell us if something has changed and we will correct it.

Related

Switching is easier than it looks

Export your customers and price list, and we bring them over with you: duplicates checked, every change shown before anything is saved.

Get started How switching works