- Price the common jobs once and use the list every time; two techs quoting different prices for the same water heater costs more than either price.
- The core of plumbing estimating is on Koira's Grow plan, $249 a month plus usage, with no per-person fee.
- Card rates for Kickserv, ServiceM8 and Housecall Pro are from each company's own pages, next to Koira's.
How a plumbing shop estimates
Most plumbing estimates are priced on the spot: a water heater, a toilet, a leak under a sink. The customer wants the number before you start, and the shop that prices the same job the same way every time keeps their trust.
Bigger work, a repipe or a sewer line, is where options earn their keep: repair the section, replace the run, or replace with an upgrade.
What goes on a plumbing estimate
- Water heater replacement, tank or tankless
- Toilet repair or replacement
- Faucet and fixture install
- Drain clearing by access point
- Sewer camera inspection
- Spot repair or full line replacement
- Repipe by fixture count
- Shutoff valve and supply line swap
What estimating software should do for plumbers
- Prices from your own list, never made up
- Options side by side on one estimate
- Signature and deposit on the same page
- Follow-ups that stop when they sign
- Instant price on your site, which matters for plumbers
- Paid on the spot, which matters for plumbers
How Koira does it
In Koira, every line on a plumbing estimate comes from your own price list, from water heater replacement, tank or tankless to shutoff valve and supply line swap. An estimate carries up to three options, the customer signs with a finger and pays your deposit on the same page, all on Office, the free plan. Koira can also draft the estimate from a few photos of the job, and never writes a number that is not in your records.
On Grow, $249 a month plus usage at cost, every open estimate is nudged on day two and day four, then the nudges stop. You see who opened it.
For plumbers in particular
- Price book. Koira prices from your own list. Anything you have not priced comes to you once as a question, and it never invents a number.
Side by side
The features that matter for plumbing estimating, where each first appears on each company's public pricing page, then the people, usage, card and add-on rows every company gets.
| What you need | Koira | Kickserv | ServiceM8 | Housecall Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimates | Office (free) | Not listed | Every plan | Basic |
| Options on one estimate | Office, up to three | Not listed | Every plan (proposals) | Max (sales proposal tool) |
| E-signatures | Office (free) | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Deposits at signing | Office, at signing | Not listed | Every plan | Not listed |
| Price book | Office (your price list) | Not listed | Not listed | Basic (price book), Essentials (flat-rate pricing) |
| Automatic estimate follow-ups | Grow, on day two and day four, then it stops | Not listed | Not listed | Pipeline, listed as a separate product |
| Instant price on your site | Office (free) | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Paid on the spot | Office, QR code at the door, 2.9% + 30¢ (Stripe) plus 0.5% to 2% (Koira) a payment | Every plan, 2.9% with Tap to Pay | Not listed | Tap to Pay, listed as a separate product |
| People, usage and card fees | ||||
| Extra people | No per-person fee; one or fifteen people, the same price | Move up a plan | No per-user fee on paid plans | $35 a month each on Max; on Basic and Essentials, move up a plan |
| Usage or credits | None on Office, at cost on Grow, included on Front Office | None on the pricing page | New jobs a month: 30, 50, 150, 500, or 1,500 and up (20¢ per added job on Premium Plus) | None on the pricing page |
| Card payments | 2.9% + 30¢ (Stripe) plus 2%, 1% or 0.5% by plan (Koira) | 2.9% with Tap to Pay, 3.9% when the card is not present (Stripe) | Not published on its pricing or payments page | From 2.59% a card payment, 1% bank payments |
| Add-ons | None; postcards are a flat price per card | QuickBooks Desktop $50 a month; 5% off the plan when you process enough payments | ServiceM8 Phone from $19 a month | CSR AI, Pipeline, Campaigns, Voice, Websites and Tap to Pay, sold separately, no price listed |
From Kickserv pricing and ServiceM8 pricing, checked October 9, 2026; Housecall Pro pricing, checked October 8, 2026. ServiceM8's prices fill in by script, so we read the page in a real browser. Part of Housecall Pro's pricing page fills in by script and it was running first-month offers when we checked. The plan prices below are the regular ones its plan cards show. A cell names the lowest plan that lists the feature; "Not listed" means we did not see it, so ask. Prices change often, so check the page before you buy.
What each one costs
Every plan in the same columns: price, people, usage, card rates and add-ons.
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly | People included | Usage or credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koira | ||||
| Office | $0, free | Monthly, no contract | One or fifteen, the same price | None charged on Office |
| Grow | $249 a month | Monthly, no contract | One or fifteen, the same price | Texts, call minutes and emails at cost, nothing added |
| Front Office | $499 a month, flat | Monthly, no contract | One or fifteen, the same price | Included in the $499 |
| Kickserv | ||||
| Start | $60 a month | 20% off with a yearly subscription | 5 users | None on the pricing page |
| Run | $119 a month | 20% off with a yearly subscription | 10 users | None on the pricing page |
| Scale | $199 a month | 20% off with a yearly subscription | 20 users | None on the pricing page |
| ServiceM8 | ||||
| Free | $0 | No yearly price published | 1 user | 30 new jobs a month |
| Starter | $29 a month | No yearly price published | Unlimited users | 50 new jobs a month |
| Growing | $79 a month | No yearly price published | Unlimited users | 150 new jobs a month |
| Premium | $149 a month | No yearly price published | Unlimited users | 500 new jobs a month |
| Premium Plus | $349 a month | No yearly price published | Unlimited users | 1,500 jobs a month, then 20¢ a job |
| Housecall Pro | ||||
| Basic | $79 a month | $59 a month billed yearly | 1 user | None on the pricing page |
| Essentials | $189 a month | $149 a month billed yearly | 5 users | None on the pricing page |
| Max | $329 a month | $299 a month billed yearly | 8 users | None on the pricing page |
What comes on top: people, card payments and add-ons
| Company | Each extra person | Card payments | Add-ons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Koira | No per-person fee on any plan | 2.9% + 30¢ (Stripe) plus 2% on Office, 1% on Grow, 0.5% on Front Office (Koira); on Office that share replaces a monthly fee | None; postcards are a flat price per card |
| Kickserv | Move up a plan | 2.9% with Tap to Pay, 3.9% when the card is not present (Stripe) | QuickBooks Desktop $50 a month; 5% off the plan when you process enough payments |
| ServiceM8 | No per-user fee on paid plans | Not published on its pricing or payments page | ServiceM8 Phone from $19 a month |
| Housecall Pro | $35 a month each on Max; on Basic and Essentials, move up a plan | From 2.59% a card payment, 1% bank payments | CSR AI, Pipeline, Campaigns, Voice, Websites and Tap to Pay, sold separately, no price listed |
From Kickserv pricing and ServiceM8 pricing, checked October 9, 2026; Housecall Pro pricing, checked October 8, 2026. ServiceM8's prices fill in by script, so we read the page in a real browser. Part of Housecall Pro's pricing page fills in by script and it was running first-month offers when we checked. The plan prices below are the regular ones its plan cards show. A cell names the lowest plan that lists the feature; "Not listed" means we did not see it, so ask. Prices change often, so check the page before you buy.
Card rates as each company publishes them (also Kickserv payments, ServiceM8 payments), checked October 9, 2026. Koira's is Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ for a US card plus Koira's share, which pays for Office in place of a monthly fee.
Sources, each checked October 9, 2026: Kickserv pricing, Kickserv payments, ServiceM8 pricing, ServiceM8 payments, Housecall Pro pricing (checked October 8, 2026), Housecall Pro industries (checked October 8, 2026), Stripe pricing, and Koira pricing. We read each page's own text; we did not use summaries or third-party price lists.