Guide · Free tools

Free field service software that actually runs your shop

Most "free" field service software is really a 14-day trial that ends with a bill. This guide explains what a real free plan should include, where the trials draw the line, and why a low flat plan like Claver — $19/mo, no per-seat fees — often beats them in practice.

Plans from $19/mo · Flat, no per-seat fees · Export your data to CSV anytime

Trial vs free plan — what's the difference?

The word "free" hides two very different deals. Knowing which one you're signing up for saves you a surprise bill two weeks in.

A free trial

  • Full access, but only for a set window (often 14 days)
  • Converts to a paid plan automatically when time's up
  • Usually needs a card on file to start
  • Great for evaluating — not for running a shop long-term

A real free plan

  • Permanent — run your business on it indefinitely
  • Enough features to quote, schedule, invoice & get paid
  • No card required to start
  • Upgrade only when you choose to, never on a timer

What "usable" requires

  • Unlimited (or generous) customers & jobs
  • Quotes / estimates and invoicing
  • Online card payments
  • A customer portal or online booking
  • A mobile app for the field

What Claver's Starter plan includes

Claver's Starter plan is $19/mo flat — no per-seat fees, no annual lock-in. It's built to run a real solo or owner-operator business end to end. On Starter you get:

  • Unlimited jobs and customers — no caps that force an upgrade as you grow
  • Quotes / estimates your customers can review and approve
  • Invoicing with professional, branded invoices
  • Stripe card payments so you get paid online, not chasing checks
  • A customer portal where clients see their quotes, invoices, and history
  • Online booking via an embeddable widget on your site
  • Arrival windows so customers know when to expect you
  • Financing options to offer on larger jobs
  • A mobile PWA — install it on any phone and work from the field, no app-store download required

That's a full quote-to-cash loop for $19/mo flat. For a solo operator, it can genuinely be the only plan you ever need.

Why most competitors only offer trials

It's worth being straight about the landscape: a permanently free plan is the exception, not the norm. The major field-service tools generally offer a free trial and then bill monthly:

None of that makes those tools bad — a trial is a perfectly reasonable way to evaluate software. It just means that if your goal is to run on free indefinitely, your options narrow quickly. (Pricing verified June 2026; confirm at each vendor's page, since plans change.)

When you'd upgrade — and when you wouldn't

Start on Starter at $19/mo, and move up only when you outgrow the basics:

  • Crew ($39/mo, 5 users): dispatch, SMS reminders, GPS — the tools you need once you've got help in the field.
  • Business ($59/mo, 20 users): the built-in phone system, 24/7 AI receptionist, and the full team toolkit.

The difference from a trial: there's no countdown and no surprise bill — Starter is a flat $19/mo, and your data exports to CSV whenever you want, so there's no lock-in either way. If you're weighing total cost across tools, see the pricing guide; to compare full feature sets, see the best-for-small-business roundup.

Free field service software — FAQ

Is there genuinely free field service software?
Genuinely free, run-your-whole-business field service software is rare — most tools (Jobber, Housecall Pro, Workiz, BookingKoala) offer a 14-day free trial, then bill monthly, and ServiceTitan is enterprise quote-only. The most affordable way to actually run a shop is a low flat plan: Claver starts at $19/mo (Starter, 2 users) with no per-seat fees, covering unlimited jobs and customers, quotes, invoices, Stripe payments, a customer portal, online booking, and a mobile app.
What's the difference between a free trial and a free plan?
A free trial gives you full access for a limited time (often 14 days), after which you must pay to keep using the tool. A free plan is permanent — you can run your business on it indefinitely at no cost, and only pay if you choose to upgrade for extra features.
What should a real free field service plan include?
Enough to run a shop end to end: unlimited jobs and customers, quotes or estimates, invoicing, online card payments, a customer portal or online booking, and a mobile app for the field. If a free plan caps your customers or blocks payments, it's a demo, not a usable tool.
When should I move up a tier?
Move up when you need to dispatch work across a team, send SMS reminders, track crews with GPS, or use the built-in phone system and AI receptionist. On Claver, texting and AI start on Crew ($39/mo) and the phone system and AI receptionist are on Business ($59/mo); Starter stays $19/mo flat.

Start at $19/mo — flat, no countdown

Claver Starter is $19/mo flat: unlimited jobs and customers, quotes, invoices, Stripe payments, a customer portal, online booking, and a mobile app. Move up only if and when you want to.

Your current software owns your customer list. We don't want to.

Your data exports as CSV the day you leave — your full customer list, every job, every invoice. Your payments go directly through your own Stripe, never ours. Claver starts at $19/mo flat, no contract, no per-seat fees.

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Starter · $19/mo
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