Plumbing work arrives as an emergency more often than any other trade. A water heater lets go on a Sunday. A drain backs up the night before a family party. A pipe freezes in January and splits. The customer calls the first plumber they find, and if nobody picks up, they call the second one.
That is why plumbing CRM software matters more for what it does in the first five minutes than for the reports it makes at the end of the month. This page walks through what a small plumbing shop should expect from a CRM, what scheduling and dispatch should look like with one to five vans, and how Koira and the usual names line up.
- For a plumber, the first reply decides most jobs. Check how each tool handles a call you cannot answer.
- Scheduling should fit an urgent leak into a day that is already full, without phone tag.
- Flat-rate prices from your own list make estimates fast and keep the office out of it.
- Getting paid at the door saves a night of invoices and a week of chasing checks.
The first call is the whole job
Think about the last emergency call you missed. You were probably under a house or holding a torch. By the time you called back, the customer had someone on the way. A plumber CRM that only stores that customer's name after the fact did not help you.
What helps is software that answers for you, or texts the caller back right away, finds out what is wrong and offers a time. Ask every vendor the same question: if my phone rings at 7 pm while I am on a job, what exactly happens, and what does the customer see?
The second thing to ask is what happens with the information. A good plumber CRM keeps the address, the photos the customer sent, the fixture or heater they described and every past visit together, so you do not walk in blind.
What plumbing CRM software should hold
Strip away the sales language and a plumbing CRM is your customer list with memory. For each customer it should know:
- The address, phone and how they like to be reached
- What is at the house: the water heater, the softener, the sump, the age of the pipes if you know it
- Every visit, estimate, invoice and payment
- What is still open: an estimate they have not signed, an invoice not paid, a callback
The best test is a repeat customer. When they call about a second problem, can you see what you did last time, what you charged and what you recommended they fix next? If you have to scroll through texts to find out, the CRM is not doing its part.
Scheduling and dispatch with a few vans
Plumbing dispatch software is often sold with a big drag and drop board meant for a dispatcher at a desk. With one to five vans, you need something simpler that reacts faster.
- A day plan for each van, in the order that makes sense to drive
- New bookings slotted in where the drive works, not just wherever there is a gap
- Customers who can pick a time by text without a phone call
- A reminder the day before and an on-my-way text, so nobody waits at home all morning
- Taps that still save in a basement with no signal
Emergencies break every schedule. The useful question is how quickly the software lets you see what moves when a burst pipe comes in at 10 am, and whether the customers who get pushed hear about it.
A checklist before you sign up
Print this, tick what you need this year, and ask each company to show it to you on a real job.
- Every call answered, and missed calls texted back within a minute or two
- Spanish handled if your customers write in Spanish
- Booking by text and from your website, into your real day
- Prices from your own flat-rate list, so a drain clearing is the same price every time
- Estimates with options, such as repair the heater or replace it
- Signature and deposit on the same page for the bigger jobs
- Pay over time for a water heater or a repipe
- An invoice that sends itself when you finish
- Card or phone wallet payment at the door, with no card reader
- A review ask after every paid job
- Hours and stops for each tech, if you have techs
- A clean handoff to your books
How Koira handles a plumber's day
Koira was built for small trade shops. The idea is that the office work happens on its own and you only hear about the things that need a plumber's judgment.
The call you cannot take. On Grow, Koira answers on a Koira number. If you cannot pick up, it texts the caller back in about a minute, asks what is wrong and offers three open times from your day. It answers in English or Spanish, and you read the conversation in English. It never invents a price. See the AI receptionist.
Booking without phone tag. The customer replies with a time and the visit lands on Today, in driving order. They can also tap Book online on your Koira site. Booking by text is on Grow. The site and the day plan are on every plan. See booking by text.
Prices from your list. Koira quotes what you charge, from your own price list, and never makes a number up. Anything you have not priced comes to you as one question. A Get a price button on your site can answer common jobs from that list, day or night. See instant quotes.
Repair or replace. An estimate can carry up to three options. Patch the leak, replace the section, or repipe the bathroom. The customer picks one, signs on their phone and pays the deposit on the same page. Snap photos of the job and Koira drafts the estimate. See estimates and signing.
Quiet estimates. Koira nudges each open estimate on day two and day four, then stops. You can see who opened it. See bid follow-ups.
Paid before you leave. Tap done and the invoice is built from the signed estimate and sent. At the door, the customer scans a QR code on your phone and pays by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Pay over time through Affirm or Klarna is on the same pay page. See pay at the door and financing.
Next time. Every text carries one link to the customer's own page, where they see the visit, sign, pay and book again. An hour after they pay, Koira asks for a Google review with your link. See customer portal and reviews.
Techs and hours. On Front Office, each tech clocks in and out of jobs on their phone and sees their own stops. You see every lane and every hour. There is no per-person fee on any plan. See crew.
Comparing plumber CRM options
The rows below are the features that come up most for a small plumbing shop. Each cell shows the lowest plan where the company's public pricing page lists that feature. It is a starting point for your questions, not a full feature list.
| What you need | Koira | Jobber | Housecall Pro | QuoteIQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win the job | ||||
| Calls answered and missed calls texted back | Grow | Plus, or a $29 add-on | Listed as a separate product | Essentials (AI call team) |
| Customers book online | Office (free) | Core | Basic | Elite (InstaSchedule) |
| Estimates | Office (free) | Core | Basic | Essentials |
| Flat-rate prices from your list | Office (free) | – | Essentials | – |
| Instant prices on your website | Office (free) | – | – | Elite (InstaQuote) |
| Customer financing | On the pay page | – | Listed as a separate product | Essentials |
| Get paid | ||||
| Invoices and online payments | Office (free) | Core | Basic | Essentials |
| QuickBooks | Grow (coming) | Connect | Essentials | Pro |
| Bring them back | ||||
| Review asks | Office (free) | – | Basic | – |
| Email and text campaigns | Grow | Plus, or a $99 add-on | – | Elite |
| Run the day | ||||
| Scheduling and dispatch | Office (free) | Core | Basic | Essentials |
| Stops sorted by the drive | Office (free) | – | Essentials (routes) | Elite |
| Extra people | No per-person fee | Priced by team size | 5 on Essentials, 8 on Max, then $35 each | $25 a month each |
Each cell names the lowest plan whose card on the company's public pricing page lists that feature, checked October 8, 2026. A dash means we did not see it on the plan cards. The company may sell it as an add-on or on a higher tier, so ask them.
ServiceTitan does not list features against prices on its pricing page. It sells three packages, Starter, Essentials and The Works, priced per technician when you ask. It is built for larger plumbing companies with a dispatch team.
Published prices
These are the prices on each company's own page. Pay attention to the people column if you plan to add an apprentice or a second van.
| Plan | Price a month | People | What the plan card lists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Koira | |||
| Office | Free | No per-person fee | Site, estimates with signing, invoices, card payments, day plan |
| Grow | $249 plus usage at cost | No per-person fee | Adds the receptionist and text-back on a Koira number, Turbo, campaigns |
| Front Office | $499 flat, usage included | No per-person fee | Adds maintenance plans, crew routes and hours, commercial outreach |
| Jobber | |||
| Core | $49 monthly, or $29 billed yearly | 1 user | Online booking, quotes, invoices, a website |
| Connect | $139 monthly, or $99 billed yearly, for 1 user. $199, or $149 yearly, for 5 | 1, 5, 10 or 15 users, priced by team size | Adds quote and invoice follow-ups, QuickBooks Online sync |
| Plus | $499 monthly, or $399 billed yearly, for 5 users | 5, 10 or 15 users | Adds crew scheduling, Marketing Suite, AI-powered Receptionist |
| Housecall Pro | |||
| Basic | $79 monthly, or $59 billed yearly | 1 user | Online booking, scheduling, quotes, invoices, review tools |
| Essentials | $189 monthly, or $149 billed yearly | 5 users | Adds routes, flat-rate pricing, QuickBooks Online sync |
| Max | $329 monthly, or $299 billed yearly | 8 users, extra users $35 each | Adds recurring service plans and route optimization |
| QuoteIQ | |||
| Essentials | $29.99 monthly, or $299.99 a year | 1 user, extra users $25 each | Estimates, invoices, scheduling, online payments, AI call team |
| Beginner | $99.99 monthly, or $999.99 a year | 2 users, extra users $25 each | Adds MapMeasure Pro and e-signatures |
| Pro | $199.99 monthly, or $1,999.99 a year | 4 users, extra users $25 each | Adds email and text automation, QuickBooks |
| Elite | $299.99 monthly, or $2,999.99 a year | 10 users, extra users $25 each | Adds InstaQuote, route optimization, campaigns |
| ServiceTitan | |||
| Starter, Essentials, The Works | Not published, priced on request | Priced per technician | Dispatching, scheduling, call booking, invoicing, estimates |
Prices from each company's public pricing page, checked October 8, 2026: Jobber, Housecall Pro, QuoteIQ, ServiceTitan and Koira. Prices are per month in US dollars and change often, so check the page before you buy.
Picking the right one for your shop
Look back at the last busy month and ask where the money leaked.
- If you missed emergency calls, put call answering and text-back first, and compare what each one costs.
- If customers waited too long for a price, look at flat-rate prices from your list and instant prices on your site.
- If you spend evenings on invoices or chasing payment, look at invoices on done and pay at the door.
- If you are hiring, compare the cost of each extra person over a year, not a month.
Then run one real week of calls and jobs through the option you like. Koira has a free plan to start on, and several of the others offer a free trial.
