The number on the pricing page is not the number on your card statement. Most field service software prices per seat, then gates the parts you actually need behind a higher tier or a paid add-on. Add a technician, add a line item. That is why a tool that looks like $49/month can bill $600 in a month you hire two people. If you are shopping for field service software with no per user fee, the honest way to compare is to model a real crew over a real year — not the headline monthly.
The headline price is not the bill
Three things move the real total, and none of them show up in the big number on the landing page:
- Per-seat pricing — the plan is priced per user or per technician, so every hire raises the bill. A six-person crew on a $49/user plan is $294/month before a single feature.
- Tier gating — quoting is on the cheap plan, but the marketing tools, the second office user, or QuickBooks sync only exist on the plan that costs three times as much.
- Add-ons and onboarding — a paid marketing package, a paid phone/voice add-on, or a one-time onboarding fee that runs into four figures before you send your first invoice.
Read the pricing page like a bill
When a vendor lists a per-user price, multiply it by your headcount first, then check which of the features you came for are on that tier. The gap between "starts at" and "what my crew costs" is where the surprise lives.
Modeling a 6-person crew across four tools
Take a common shape: one owner, one office admin, and four field techs — six people who all need to be in the system. The office needs quoting, scheduling, invoicing, and the books. The techs need to see their jobs and mark them done. Here is how the four tools bill that crew, using each vendor's published, self-serve pricing model (rates change, so treat these as the structure, not a quote — always confirm on the vendor's current page):
- ServiceTitan — no public self-serve price. It is quote-based, enterprise-tier software that starts with a sales call and typically lands well above the others for a six-person shop, often with a paid onboarding/implementation fee on top.
- Jobber — priced per user above its lowest tier. The entry plan caps users; the plans that fit a six-person crew add a monthly per-user charge for each seat beyond the base, so your total climbs with every tech.
- Housecall Pro — priced per additional user on most plans, with several features (advanced reporting, marketing tools) reserved for higher tiers or sold as paid add-ons.
- Mortar — three flat plans. Solo $39, Core $99, Suite $179 per month — total, for the whole company, with no per-seat charge. Six users or one, the price is the same.
The mechanism that matters: on the three rivals, the line "6 users" changes the bill. On Mortar it does not. Every plan includes the whole quote-to-cash core — contacts, quotes with e-sign, invoicing, and payments — and its seats are included in the flat price (1 on Solo, 5 on Core, 15 on Suite) instead of billed per technician.
Line items that inflate the total: seats, add-ons, onboarding
The per-tech fee is the obvious one, but three quieter line items usually do more damage over a year:
- 1.Extra seats. Two seasonal hires in spring can add $30–$50/user/month each on a per-seat tool — money you pay every month they are on the roster, then keep paying if you forget to remove them.
- 2.Feature gating. The marketing tools, recurring billing, or the reporting you actually wanted are often one tier up. You do not pay for the feature; you pay to move the whole account to the plan that has it.
- 3.Onboarding and implementation. Enterprise-tier tools frequently charge a one-time setup fee. Self-serve tools do not — you sign up and import your data yourself. That one line can swing the first-year total by thousands.
What Mortar does not charge for
No per-seat fee, no paid onboarding, and no upgrade required to get the basics — every plan includes the full quote-to-cash core. What changes between Solo, Core, and Suite is breadth (the marketing module, recurring billing, the embeddable website form, white-label documents), not whether you can run your day.
The 12-month total, side by side
Multiply the monthly out to a year and the shape of the bill becomes clear. For the six-person crew above:
- Mortar Suite — $179/month flat, all six users, marketing and recurring billing included. That is $2,148 for the year, no matter how many techs you add.
- A per-seat rival at ~$49/user — six users is roughly $294/month, or about $3,528 a year, before any add-on or higher-tier jump.
- A per-seat rival with a marketing add-on and a mid-tier plan — the same crew commonly clears $4,000–$6,000 a year once the add-ons and the tier bump are in.
- An enterprise tool with implementation — quote-based, but a six-person shop is frequently looking at a five-figure first year once onboarding is added.
The point is not that Mortar is always the cheapest sticker price — a bare entry plan on another tool can look lower for one or two users. The point is the slope. A flat plan is a horizontal line on the chart; a per-seat plan tilts up with every hire. The bigger your crew grows, the wider that gap gets. For the full buyer's-eye view of what these tools should do for the money, start with what a field service CRM should actually do, and if Jobber is on your shortlist, the Mortar vs Jobber comparison walks the per-seat math directly.
Where processing fees fit (and whose fee it is)
Every tool that takes card payments passes along a processing fee — that is not unique to anyone, and any comparison that hides it is not being straight with you. What differs is whose account the money runs through. Some platforms route payments through their own merchant account, which means they hold the funds briefly and own the payment relationship.
Mortar runs invoicing and payments on your own Stripe account. The customer pays by card or bank draft (ACH), the funds land in your Stripe, and Mortar never touches the money. Stripe's standard processing fee applies — it is Stripe's fee, not ours — and because it is your Stripe, you keep the account, the payout schedule, and the customer relationship.
Field service software with no per user fee: the clean line on the chart
Mortar is three flat prices: Solo at $39, Core at $99, and Suite at $179 per month — the whole company, every user, quote-to-cash included on all three. Per-person permissions mean a field tech sees their jobs and nothing else — no margins, no finances, no settings — so putting the whole crew in the system costs you nothing and exposes nothing you did not intend.
That is the case for field service software with no per user fee: the bill you can predict a year out, because it does not move when you hire. See the three plans and what each includes on the pricing page.
Is there field service software with no per user fee?
Yes. Mortar charges three flat monthly prices — Solo $39, Core $99, Suite $179 — for the whole company, with no per-seat or per-technician charge. Adding a field tech does not change the bill. ServiceTitan, Jobber, and Housecall Pro generally price per user above their entry tier, so their total rises with headcount.
What is the cheapest field service management software for a small crew?
For one or two users, a bare entry plan on almost any tool can look inexpensive. The gap opens as you add people: a per-seat tool climbs with every hire, while a flat plan holds. Compare the 12-month total for your actual headcount, not the "starts at" price, and check which features are gated to a higher tier.
Does Mortar charge a payment processing fee?
No. Payments run on your own Stripe account, so Stripe's standard processing fee applies — that is Stripe's fee, not Mortar's. The funds land in your Stripe and Mortar never touches the money. You keep the payout schedule and the customer relationship.
Are there onboarding or setup fees?
Not with Mortar — it is self-serve, so you sign up and import your contacts and price book yourself. Enterprise-tier tools like ServiceTitan often add a one-time implementation fee, which can swing the first-year total by thousands, so it belongs in any honest cost comparison.
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