If you are looking at Housecall Pro, you are probably past the notebook and the spreadsheet and want one place for jobs, quotes and payments. Housecall Pro does that well, and lots of trades use it. Koira covers the same ground for a small shop and then takes a different turn: it is built to do the office work for you, not just give you a place to do it. This page sets the two side by side, fairly, for a shop of one to three people. Every Housecall Pro fact here comes from their public pages, checked October 8, 2026.
- Housecall Pro is built to run the job: scheduling, dispatch, estimates, invoices and payments, for teams of 1 to 100 plus, by its own description (checked October 8, 2026).
- Its plans are $79, $189 and $329 a month, split by users, with call answering and websites listed as add-ons without a public price.
- Koira is built to do the office work around the job: answer and text back calls, follow up bids, send invoices on done, ask for reviews and mail the neighbors.
- Koira starts free and has no per-person fee. Housecall Pro has the deeper back office today: payroll, GPS tracking, QuickBooks Online sync and an open API.
- Pick on your bottleneck. If it is running a crew, Housecall Pro fits. If it is missed calls and follow-up, compare what each charges to answer the phone.
Who Housecall Pro is built for
Housecall Pro's homepage says it is "tailored for teams of 1 to 100+" and lists more than a dozen home service trades, from HVAC, plumbing and electrical to cleaning, landscaping, pressure washing, pool service and handyman work. The pricing FAQ describes it as designed for home service businesses like HVAC, plumbing, electrical, cleaning and landscaping. It says it is available in Spanish and has offers for franchises and multi-location businesses.
The feature set leans toward running a team: scheduling and dispatch, routes, employee GPS tracking, commissions, payroll and a price book. That is a real strength once you have a few trucks on the road.
What Housecall Pro costs
From housecallpro.com/pricing, checked October 8, 2026:
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly | Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $79/mo | $59/mo | 1 |
| Essentials | $189/mo | $149/mo | 5 |
| MAX | $329/mo | $299/mo | 8, then $35/mo each |
Card processing fees start at 2.59%, and bank payments carry a 1% fee. There is a 14-day free trial of MAX with no credit card, and no long-term contract. Add-ons, including CSR AI (AI that answers calls and chats), Voice, Websites, Campaigns, Payroll and Pipeline, are listed on the pricing page without a price. For the full breakdown and what a small shop would pay, see our Housecall Pro pricing guide.
What Koira does differently
Koira is built for the owner who is also the tech, the estimator and the bookkeeper. Instead of a better screen for doing office work, it tries to take the office work off your plate. Every action Koira takes is a rule you can see: something happens in your account, or the clock hits a time, and a set message or change goes out. It never invents a price or spends your money.
- It answers the phone. On Grow, Koira answers on your number, and when you cannot pick up it texts the caller back in about a minute with three open times, in English or Spanish. See the AI receptionist.
- It books by text. The customer replies with one of three times that fit your day and your drive, and the job lands on your day plan. Booking by text.
- It follows up bids. Estimates go out with up to three options, good, better and best, with signature and deposit on one page. Koira nudges on day two and day four, then stops. Estimates and signing.
- It bills on done. Tap done and the invoice built from the signed estimate is already sent, with a QR code for paying at the door. Invoices.
- It asks for the review. An hour after the invoice is paid, Koira texts the review ask with your Google link and drafts the reply when the review comes in. Reviews engine.
- It gets you found. Every plan includes a website built from your business, with Book online and Get a price on every page, and a page for every town you work. Contractor website.
- It tells the street. After a job, Koira can print and mail cards to the nearby homes most likely to hire you, at one flat price per card on every plan. Neighbor postcards.
Side by side, by what you need done
| What you need | Housecall Pro | Koira |
|---|---|---|
| Get found | ||
| Website | Add-on, price not listed | Free on a Koira address |
| Online booking | All plans | All plans |
| Review asks | Review management, all plans | All plans |
| Win the job | ||
| Answer calls with AI | CSR AI add-on, price not listed | Grow, $249/mo plus usage |
| Estimates | All plans | All plans, up to 3 options |
| Proposal tool | MAX or add-on | Good, better, best on all plans |
| Get paid | ||
| Invoices and card payments | All plans, from 2.59% | All plans, Stripe plus 2%, 1% or 0.5% |
| Consumer financing | All plans | Affirm or Klarna on the pay page |
| QuickBooks Online | Essentials and MAX | Coming |
| Run the team | ||
| Users | 1, 5 or 8 by plan | No per-person fee |
| GPS tracking, payroll | GPS on Essentials, payroll add-on | Not offered |
| Recurring service plans | MAX | Front Office |
| Open API | MAX | Not offered |
Housecall Pro column from housecallpro.com/pricing and housecallpro.com, checked October 8, 2026. Koira column from Koira's pricing page.
The cost for a small shop, side by side
For a solo owner who only wants the basics, Housecall Pro Basic is $79 a month, or $708 a year billed yearly. Koira's Office plan is free and includes the website, estimates with signing and deposits, invoices, card payments and the day plan. The trade-off on Koira Office is card fees: Stripe's processing (2.9% plus 30¢ for a US card) plus 2% to Koira, which is more per payment than Housecall Pro's starting rate of 2.59%. If you collect a lot by card, that difference is real, and Koira's Grow and Front Office plans cut Koira's share to 1% and 0.5%.
For a shop that wants the phone answered, compare the full price. Koira Grow is $249 a month plus usage at cost (texts, call minutes and emails) and includes the receptionist, text-back, Turbo, your own domain, campaigns and referrals, with no per-person fee. On Housecall Pro, add the CSR AI or Voice price to the plan you need for your user count. Get that number in writing so the comparison is apples to apples.
When Housecall Pro is the better choice
Be honest about what you need. Housecall Pro is likely the better fit if:
- You run several techs and dispatch them. Routes, employee GPS tracking, commissions and route optimization are on its plans today.
- You need payroll and QuickBooks Online now. Housecall Pro lists QuickBooks Online sync on Essentials and MAX and offers Payroll as an add-on. Koira's QuickBooks connection is marked as coming.
- You want an open API to connect other software. That is on MAX.
- You want a big ecosystem. Its homepage says it has more than 200,000 pros using it, and its FAQ lists integrations with QuickBooks, Google and Thumbtack.
- You are a franchise or multi-location business. Its FAQ says it has offers for those.
When Koira is the better choice
- You are one to three people and the phone is the problem. Calls come in while you are on a ladder or under a sink. Koira answers, texts back and books.
- Bids go quiet. Koira follows up every estimate on day two and day four without you thinking about it.
- You do not have a good website. Koira builds one from your business on every plan, including free, and keeps it current with a post each month from your finished jobs.
- You want growth without adding a bill per person. No per-person fee, ever, and month to month.
- You want to see what it brought in. Koira shows the dollars paid on jobs it touched first, next to what Koira cost.
How to try Koira without dropping what you use
You do not have to switch everything on day one. Start with Koira's free Office plan and the free AI report, which checks your listing, reviews and site against shops near you in about a minute. Koira builds your site and price list from your business. If the website and estimates help, move up to Grow when you want the phone answered. There is no contract, so you can move up, move down or leave.
If your trade has its own page, see how it runs: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, cleaning, lawn and landscape or pressure washing.
Questions contractors ask
Is Koira cheaper than Housecall Pro?
For the basics, Koira's Office plan is free, while Housecall Pro Basic is $79 a month or $59 billed yearly (checked October 8, 2026). Koira's card fees on Office are higher per payment, so a shop that collects a lot by card should run both totals for a year.
Does Housecall Pro answer calls with AI?
Housecall Pro lists CSR AI, which it says answers calls and chats and books jobs, as an add-on. No price was shown on its pricing page or feature page when we checked on October 8, 2026.
Does Koira do scheduling and dispatch like Housecall Pro?
Koira puts each booked visit on your day plan in driving order, and on Front Office each crew member gets their own lane with clock in and out. It does not offer GPS tracking, payroll or commissions, which Housecall Pro lists.
Does Koira work with QuickBooks?
Koira's QuickBooks connection is marked as coming on its pricing page. Housecall Pro lists QuickBooks Online sync on its Essentials and MAX plans.
Can I switch from Housecall Pro to Koira?
Yes. Both are month to month by their own pricing pages. You can start on Koira's free plan while you still use Housecall Pro, then move over when you are ready.
Does Koira charge per user?
No. Koira costs the same with one person or fifteen. Housecall Pro includes 1, 5 or 8 users by plan, then $35 a month per extra user on MAX.
Which is better for a solo contractor?
If you mainly want a tidy place to schedule, quote and bill, Housecall Pro Basic does that. If you mainly want calls answered, bids followed up and reviews asked for without doing it yourself, Koira is built for that. See Koira pricing.
