Is there a free alternative to Jobber?
ServiceM8 has a permanently free plan covering 30 jobs per month for one user — genuinely usable for a part-time solo operator, with the caveat that its field app is iPhone/iPad only. Jobber itself has no free tier, only a 14-day trial.
What does Jobber lack that its alternatives offer?
Four things come up most: offline mode (ServiceTitan, FieldEdge, FieldPulse, ServiceM8, mHelpDesk, and Skimmer have it — Jobber saves notes and forms offline but cannot close a job or take payment without a connection), two-way QuickBooks sync (Housecall Pro, Service Fusion, ServiceTitan, FieldEdge, FieldPulse, and mHelpDesk), inventory management (Service Fusion, ServiceTitan, Workiz, FieldPulse, FieldEdge, mHelpDesk), and a flat-rate price book (Housecall Pro as an add-on, Service Fusion, ServiceTitan, FieldPulse, FieldEdge).
Will I lose my data if I switch away from Jobber?
No — you can export clients, jobs, and invoices to CSV, and every major alternative imports customer lists. Budget an afternoon to rebuild recurring schedules and service agreements manually, since those rarely migrate cleanly between platforms.