Contractor Foreman vs. Jobber

If we are working with an architect on a highly complex, custom-built home that requires 50 versions of a floor plan. The Limitation: While Contractor Foreman handles documents well, it isn't a dedicated "Blueprinting" or CAD-markup tool like Procore or specialized architectural software. If the job is more "design" than "construction," the tool's document versioning can feel a bit basic. The Scenario: A crew leader identifies $1,200 in structural repairs needed before the new siding can go up. The Contractor Foreman Solution: Instead of "calling the office" and waiting, the lead creates a Change Order on their tablet, attaches a photo of the rot, and has the homeowner sign it on the spot. The project doesn't stop, and the billing is updated automatically.

The cost of Jobber is not suitable for a startup - even our company size is hard pressed to squeeze in other areas of business to afford the cost. Zenmaid or other maid-forward services may be better suited since Jobber seems to focus it's offerings on one-off as opposed to recurring services like ours. For business who do in-person estimates like ours, the streamlined estimate feature which causes increased conversion rates makes it worth the cost - as we anecdotally gain more business this way. However, if we switch to an online booking / instant booking model as opposed to in-person estimates, we may not require this feature. Zenmaid has a "gamified" residential booking page that was extremely high converting for us - we received sometimes 30+ inquiries per day due to the ease of use - MANY more completed inquiries than we receive now - but they didn't have a quoting and deposit collection tool - so here we are. If we used their instant booking feature we would have stayed due to the scheduling tool, gap finder, prevention of double booking employees, and cleaning service focus, as well as significantly reduced pricing.

• The service is top notch. You would be hard pressed to find other options with this kind of service.
• The ability to have your project flow through the modules makes it a breeze to use.
• Being able to track time as well is a key feature.

Incentivized

• The program and schedule is easy to use, operate, and easy to navigate
• Jobber offers the monthly fee at a very affordable price point
• Jobber makes it easy for my employees to clock in.
• Jobber makes it easy for me to adjust time and tailor each employee's Jobber experience

Incentivized

• Security and sensitive file visibility. Users with no permissions can have access to some hidden files.
• Daily log navigation. Users now need to exit one log entirely to view or check another, resulting in a significant waste of time and reduced efficiency.
• Customization options for reports. No options to set up and automatically send reports by email to specified users.

Incentivized

• For us, sometimes doesn't save the data, just gone, especially terrible if you have a data interruption since it has zero offline capability.
• I think the price is way high now, made the mistake of 'upgrading' and cannot go back.
• In my experience, way too easy to create a duplicate entry of anything, then near impossible to clean up, unless you notice it immediately.
• I found no merge functionality. Same client has two entries? Too bad.
• In my experience, does not work with Xero accounting software, took a long time to figure that out especially since they advertise it and that was why we chose both of them, for the supposed integration. For us, Quickbooks was also a pain.
• In my experience, the app is unusable, must use the web version on a mobile device.
• In my experience, the integrated payment processing cannot accept debit in Canada, only credit cards.

We have compiled so much information on CF it would be counterproductive to move to another software. We have also sold a lot of clients on the client portal feature. It is crucial for our communication between customers. The only reason we wouldn't renew the service is if somewhere offered the exact same service but at a lower cost

Incentivized

I am anxious to replace it but there will be effort to learn and switch.

Overall, Contractor Foreman is a great product, and I’m sure we’ve only scratched the surface of everything it has to offer. It can be a little quirky at times, occasionally displaying a 'Bad Gateway' message, but we haven’t experienced any timeout issues in the past few months. As we continue to use it, I’m confident we’ll uncover even more ways to streamline our workflow

Incentivized

Jobber is an easy-to-use and friendly software designed for efficiency. Its interface is well-organized, ensuring that each section is intuitive and accessible. Users can navigate smoothly through tasks, making project management simpler. Overall, Jobber enhances productivity and streamlines operations, making it a valuable tool for various projects.

Availability was good, FUNCTIONAL availability was more spotty

Incentivized

Many times we had issues that turned out to be errors and bugs. At first, we would be told forcefully that there were no bugs, then we would document them, and we would get an acknowledgement but no apology for essentially either gaslighting us or being ignorant of their system

Incentivized

We have only had one issue the entire time we have had Contractor Foreman and that was that we had the hardest time getting the platform to allow us to log in, but we called our support and within 5 mins we able to log back in

Incentivized

There is hardly an app that covers it all while staying simple and wrapping up the process. From the filing of the request, everything goes smoothly following a natural progression. Reports are insightful, give you an instant overview and easy to understand. In addition, you can easily track any information from those on clients to expense tracking.

Incentivized

The team that does your implementation is amazing. They're skillful, kind, they will take as much time as you need, and they have a sense of urgency

Incentivized

There's just no comparing these two. I'm actually going to suggest we keep CE to my boss, and here's why: Clearestimates is perfect for what I just described. You have a little job that you just BOOM it's done? Put it into Clearestimates. That system does not care at all if you did it "properly." Now Contractor Foreman does so. much. more. than CE. It just does. You can do everything on CF (just not anything haha). Most businesses wouldn't need anything else, but since we're still growing, we do some handyman stuff every now and again that CE is perfect for, and we don't have to go through CF's really picky system to make sure every little tiny thing is correct

Incentivized

Square only allows for scheduling to one person. And my team couldn’t see their schedules. As a cleaning company, I need to let cleaners know what their pay is without them seeing what I’m charging. That’s game changer about Kobber.

We had just 2 users

Incentivized

• Positive return for invoice/change order tracking
• Great price
• Prior to using Contractor Foreman we had to wait until the end to capture all change orders in one summary. Now, with the client portal, we can capture in real time and the client has visibility.
• We have been trying to reduce administration time in tracking field expenses and with Contractor Foreman our field crew can uplaod reciepts and track expenses right from their mobile phones.
• Punchlist - the punch list and To Do features are so robust we have drastically improved getting punchlists and small tasks completed in single trips without the wasted time and travel of multiple trips due to missed/forgotten items.

Incentivized

• It has dramatically helped keep us organized
• It has helped us keep payments taken care of and ensures that we don't miss an invoice
• It is great for our lead process
• I would like to see a lead board or line to help keep track of leads