Fieldsmith vs ServiceM8 for Small Service Crews (2026): An Honest Comparison

By Fieldsmith · Published October 26, 2026 · Updated November 3, 2026

ServiceM8 charges by how many jobs you run, not how many people you have: Free is $0 a month for 1 user and 30 jobs, Starter is $29 for unlimited users and 50 jobs, and Premium is $149 for 500 jobs, with 20 cents per job over the cap. Fieldsmith charges by team size with no job limit: Solo is $49 a month, Crew is $99 for up to 10 people. A slow solo shop can pay less on ServiceM8; a busy crew usually pays less on Fieldsmith.

Key takeaways

ServiceM8 prices by job volume, not headcount: Free $0/month (1 user, 30 jobs), Starter $29 (50 jobs), Growing $79 (150 jobs), Premium $149 (500 jobs), Premium Plus $349 (1,500+ jobs), every plan with unlimited users, plus 20 cents per job over the cap. Fieldsmith prices by team size with no job limit: Solo $49/month, Crew $99 for up to 10 people, Fleet $199 for 10 to 25.
A 10 person crew running about 80 jobs a month fits ServiceM8's Growing plan at $79/month, cheaper than Fieldsmith's $99 Crew plan. The same crew running 300 jobs a month needs ServiceM8's $149 Premium plan, more than Fieldsmith's flat $99.
ServiceM8 has live staff location tracking on its Dispatch Map and syncs with QuickBooks Online and Xero on every plan. Fieldsmith has neither yet.
Fieldsmith's card fee is 3.2% + 30 cents; ServiceM8's help centre lists 3.05% + 30 cents for a US domestic card (its own marketing page says 3.10% + 30 cents instead), a rate it says is current as of September 2024.
Pick ServiceM8 if your job count is low and you want more people without a per-seat jump. Pick Fieldsmith if your crew runs a lot of jobs, since there's no volume cap to hit.

Side by side

Everything in this table comes from each company's own public pages, checked in October 2026. Prices are USD on monthly billing unless noted.

Fieldsmith vs ServiceM8 for a small service crew, October 2026
	Fieldsmith	ServiceM8
Plan for a one person shop	Solo: $49/month ($39/month billed annually), no job limit	Free: $0/month for up to 30 jobs; Starter: $29/month for up to 50 jobs. Both allow unlimited users
Plan for a 10 person crew	Crew: $99/month ($79/month billed annually), up to 10 people, no job limit	Unlimited users on every paid plan; the right one depends on job volume, not headcount: Growing is $79/month for 150 jobs, Premium is $149/month for 500 jobs
What changes between plans	Team size only. Every feature is in every plan	Job allowance, plus feature gates: progress invoicing from Starter up; Bundles, Proposals, and custom forms from Growing up; job costing and Knowledge from Premium up
Job volume limit	None, on any plan	30 to 500 jobs a month depending on plan (1,500+ on Premium Plus), then 20 cents for each job over the cap
Paid add-ons	None	ServiceM8 Phone from $19/month, plus other add-ons from ServiceM8 and third party Developer Partners
Quotes with e-signature and deposits	Yes, on every plan (Solo caps at 50 open at once)	Called Bundles and Proposals; available from the Growing plan ($79/month) up
Two way texting with customers	No	Yes, two way SMS, free to turn on, on every plan
Live crew location tracking	No	Yes, on the Dispatch Map, while a staff member is clocked on in the iOS app
QuickBooks or Xero sync	No	Yes, both: clients, items, invoices, and payments sync automatically
Automated review requests	Asked on the paid invoice page, with a link to Google; never sent by text	Yes, a Customer Feedback add-on asks for a Google or Facebook review after the invoice is paid
Card payments	3.2% + 30 cents	3.05% + 30 cents on a US domestic card per its help centre (its own marketing page instead lists 3.10% + 30 cents); 4.60% + 30 cents on an international card
Bank transfer payments	1%, capped at $20	We did not find a published ServiceM8 Pay fee for US bank transfers
Venmo / Zelle / Cash App / PayPal on the invoice	Yes, with a scan to pay QR code	We did not find these on its payment pages; it takes cards plus Apple Pay and Google Pay online
Phone apps	iPhone	iPhone and Android
Lock screen next stop	Live card plus Next Job, Today, and Money Owed widgets	We did not find a lock screen or widget feature on its mobile app pages
Official AI assistant connector	Yes, for Claude and Grok	Yes, for Claude and ChatGPT
Free trial	Invite only; request access at fieldsmith.work/demo	14 days with full features, no card required; drops to the Free plan afterward if you don't subscribe

Two ways to price the same job

Fieldsmith charges for the size of your team and nothing else. Solo is $49 a month ($39 billed annually) for one person, Crew is $99 a month for up to 10, and Fleet is $199 a month for 10 to 25. However many jobs you run in a month, the price doesn't move.

ServiceM8 does the opposite: every paid plan allows unlimited users, but the plan you need depends on how many jobs you run. Starter is $29 a month for up to 50 jobs, Growing is $79 a month for up to 150, Premium is $149 a month for up to 500, and Premium Plus is $349 a month for 1,500 or more, with a 20 cent charge for every job past the cap.

Run the numbers on a 10 person crew and the winner changes with job volume. A crew doing about 80 jobs a month fits ServiceM8's Growing plan at $79 a month, which is cheaper than Fieldsmith's $99 Crew plan. The same crew doing 300 jobs a month needs ServiceM8's $149 Premium plan, which costs more than Fieldsmith's flat $99, because Fieldsmith never charges more as job volume climbs.

The same math favors ServiceM8 for a slow solo shop. A one person business running under 50 jobs a month pays $0 to $29 a month on ServiceM8's Free or Starter plans, against Fieldsmith's $49 a month Solo plan. Once that shop passes 50 jobs a month, it needs ServiceM8's $79 Growing plan, more than Fieldsmith charges.

Where ServiceM8 pulls ahead

ServiceM8's two way SMS lets a crew text a customer from the job card and get a reply back, free to turn on and included on every plan. Fieldsmith does not have a two way texting inbox.

From any paid plan, ServiceM8 shows where clocked on staff are in real time on its Dispatch Map, with a green line tracking a technician's drive to a job. Live crew location tracking is on Fieldsmith's roadmap but not built yet.

ServiceM8 also syncs clients, items, invoices, and payments with QuickBooks Online or Xero, on any plan. Fieldsmith doesn't sync with either; invoices and payments made in Fieldsmith have to be moved across by hand or by a bookkeeper.

ServiceM8 ships both an iPhone and an Android app. Fieldsmith has an iPhone app and otherwise works in any phone's web browser.

Higher ServiceM8 tiers add job costing, a knowledge base, and the ability to build custom forms, none of which Fieldsmith has a direct equivalent to.

Getting paid: where the fees differ

On a $300 job paid by card, ServiceM8's help centre rate of 3.05% + 30 cents comes to $9.45, a little under Fieldsmith's 3.2% + 30 cents at $9.90. ServiceM8's own marketing page instead lists 3.10% + 30 cents, which would put the same job at $9.60. Either way, ServiceM8's help centre says the US figure is current as of September 2024, so it's worth confirming before relying on it.

For bank transfers, Fieldsmith charges 1%, capped at $20, so a $4,000 install paid from a bank account costs $20. We did not find a published ServiceM8 Pay fee for US bank transfers; its general guide to taking payments says bank transfers typically carry low fees, but that isn't a fee schedule.

Fieldsmith also prints Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, and Zelle handles on the invoice with a code the customer can scan, none of which carry a Fieldsmith fee. We did not find Venmo, Zelle, or Cash App on ServiceM8's payment pages; it takes cards through ServiceM8 Pay, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay on an online invoice.

No sales calls, no add-on shopping

Every note sent from Fieldsmith's feedback button goes straight to the team that builds the product, and requests from early customers have shipped in days. Setup is guided by that same team, with no upsell calls, because there is nothing to upsell: every feature is already in the plan you picked.

ServiceM8 sells a longer list of named add-ons on top of its plans, such as ServiceM8 Phone starting at $19 a month, plus a marketplace of third party Developer Partner add-ons. Its own plan comparison also moves features like Bundles and Proposals, custom forms, job costing, and a knowledge base up to higher tiers.

Which one to pick

Pick ServiceM8 if you run a low or moderate number of jobs a month and want more people on the account without a per seat jump, or if you need two way texting, live crew location tracking, QuickBooks or Xero sync, or an Android app today.
Pick Fieldsmith if your crew runs a lot of jobs in a month, since there's no job-volume cap to hit, or if you want one flat price by team size, work from an iPhone, take a lot of Venmo or Zelle, or bill large jobs by bank transfer.

Frequently asked questions

Is Fieldsmith cheaper than ServiceM8?

It depends on how many jobs you run, not how many people you have. ServiceM8 charges by job volume with unlimited users on every paid plan, from $29 a month for 50 jobs up to $349 a month for 1,500 or more. A 10 person crew running about 80 jobs a month pays less on ServiceM8's $79 Growing plan than on Fieldsmith's $99 Crew plan; the same crew running 300 jobs a month pays more on ServiceM8's $149 Premium plan than on Fieldsmith's flat $99, because Fieldsmith never charges more as job volume grows.

Does ServiceM8 track where my crew is?

Yes. ServiceM8 shows clocked on staff on a live Dispatch Map in its iOS app, with a line tracking a technician's drive to a job. Fieldsmith does not have live crew location tracking.

Does Fieldsmith sync with QuickBooks or Xero?

No. Fieldsmith doesn't sync with either, so invoices and payments have to be moved across by hand or by a bookkeeper. ServiceM8 syncs clients, items, invoices, and payments with both QuickBooks Online and Xero on any plan.

Does ServiceM8 have a Claude connector?

Yes, documented on its own help centre, alongside a ChatGPT connector. Fieldsmith also has an official connector, for Claude and Grok.

How do I get started with Fieldsmith?

Request access at fieldsmith.work/demo. Setup is guided by the team that builds Fieldsmith, with no upsell calls.

Sources

Request access to Fieldsmith or read more articles.