Imagine this: you own a small plumbing business. You initially started solo, but last year you hired a few more plumbers to handle the growing number of jobs coming in.
Your business is growing and managing job orders, assigning technicians, and tracking invoices manually are making you disorganized and overwhelmed. You feel like you need field service management software but you aren’t able to make a decision.
Your concern—field service management software costs a lot! What if it causes more problems than it fixes?
But we’ve got some good news. There are several free field service management software solutions that can cover your basic needs without pinching your wallet. These free options also allow you to assess the utility of the software before you decide to invest in a paid product.
To assist your software search, we’ve listed the three best options. These tools have been featured in the 2021 Capterra Shortlist for Field Service Management Software, which ranks software solutions based on multiple parameters including ratings, popularity, and functionality. (See full selection methodology here).
See all free field service management software
This article looks at three highly-rated free field service management software options. See the full list of free field service management software solutions in Capterra’s software directory.
Trial/Free Version
- Free Trial
- Free Version
Device compatibility
Free plan: Lets you manage up to 10 jobs per month.
Paid plans: Basic plan starts at $29 per user, per month while the Professional plan starts at $49 per user, per month. Paid plans support an unlimited number of jobs.
Fergus is a cloud-based field service management software for small service businesses, typically employing up to 50 employees. The software offers job management, payment management, field notes tracking, reporting, estimating, and GPS tracking capabilities.
Fergus’s free version includes timesheets, calendar management, and GPS tracking, which allow you to assign jobs to technicians, track their real-time location, and view the job status of each field technician. It also allows you to estimate job costs, create invoices, and schedule recurring jobs.
Fergus offers customer support via knowledge base, phone, and email.
Creating price quotes in Fergus (Source)
Trial/Free Version
- Free Trial
- Free Version
Device compatibility
Free plan: Supports up to two users.
Paid plan: The Starter plan is priced at $79 per month and supports up to five users. Onboarding training is available at an additional cost of $49.
Kickserv is a cloud-based field service management solution that offers job management, resource scheduling, estimation, payment management, client management, and accounting functionalities.
Kickserv’s free version includes job estimating, which lets field workers estimate total service costs by factoring in parameters such as the type of service rendered and the components used. The software also lets them create invoices based on these estimates. Text and email reminders included in the free version ensure that your field teams are aware of each service request well in advance.
Kickserv’s customer support options include phone, knowledge base, and chat.
Scheduling in Kickserv (Source)
Trial/Free Version
- Free Trial
- Free Version
Device compatibility
Free plan: Supports up to three users and includes time sheets, location tracking, and messenger.
Paid plan: The Starter plan is priced at $24.99. It supports up to seven users and includes additional features such as scheduling, job tracking, task tracking, and overtime calculations.
SINC is a field service management solution that offers job scheduling, field notes, task management, reporting, payroll calculation, job costing, and quoting functionalities.
SINC’s free version includes time sheets that allow you to track the time each service technician spends on the assigned jobs. It also includes location tracking that allows you to view the real-time location of your staff when they are out on a job. With the help of the built-in messenger, you can communicate and share job updates with them in real time.
SINC’s customer support options include chat, email, and knowledge base.
Employee tracking in SINC (Source)
How to choose the right field service management software for your business
The following approach will help you find the right software for your field service company:
Shortlist software based on the number of free users available in the free plan.
Go through the features mentioned in Capterra’s buyers guide for field service software and identify the features important to your business requirements. Select products that offer the most of these features.
Set a yearly budget for the field service software. Select only the products for which the cost to upgrade falls under the designated budget.
If you want to evaluate more products, visit Capterra’s field service software catalog. Here, you’ll be able to filter products based on functionality, pricing options, mode of deployment, and the number of users.
Common questions to ask while selecting a free field service solution
Purchasing a field service management solution is not an easy process. You’ll face a number of doubts, which you’ll need to address in order to make a confident purchase decision.
In this section, we’ve summed up some key questions you can ask software providers when selecting free field service management solution:
Does your product integrate with other software solutions I use? By automating data transfer between software systems in real time, integrations help you eliminate the manual effort needed in data transfer.
Can you connect me with a current software user from my industry? By listening to feedback from an existing user from your industry, you’ll have a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the particular field service management software.
How frequently do you release new updates? Frequent updates ensure that the software provider is putting in efforts toward continuous improvement of the software solution.