Our Methodology

How we score, source, and update FSM software comparisons.

Scoring (0–100)

Each provider receives a score out of 100 for a specific trade vertical and company size. Scores are computed using an AI model (Claude) that receives structured data about:

Pricing (subscription + payment processing fees at the relevant team size)
Feature coverage against the vertical's must-have requirements
Contract terms and implementation cost
Platform ratings from G2 and Capterra
Support quality and reliability — sustained complaint patterns on review platforms (e.g. slow support responses, app instability) are scored as real costs, not footnotes

The model is instructed to be specific to the vertical and size, to cite exact pricing numbers, and to flag missing critical features as cons — even when we have an affiliate relationship with that vendor.

Elite

90–100

Strong

80–89

Solid

70–79

Fair

60–69

Limited

0–59

TCO Calculator

The Total Cost of Ownership calculator factors in:

Subscription cost — The right plan for your technician count, monthly or annual billing
Payment processing fees — Calculated from your monthly revenue, average job size, and card payment percentage
Implementation fee — One-time cost amortized over Year 1 and Year 3

We use the midpoint for any variable pricing (e.g., ServiceTitan's $245–$500/tech range uses $350/tech). Outputs are estimates — actual costs depend on your negotiated rates.

Data Sourcing

PublicTaken directly from the vendor's pricing page. Most accurate.

ReportedAggregated from user reviews on G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius. Used when vendors don't publish pricing publicly.

EstimateCalculated from partial data. Labeled clearly and updated as better data becomes available.

Update Frequency

A GitHub Actions pipeline runs every Monday. It scrapes public pricing pages, diffs the results against the database, and flags any affected comparisons for recomputation. If Jobber raises their Grow plan price, every comparison featuring Jobber on that plan gets re-scored automatically. The "last verified" date on each page reflects the most recent successful check.

Affiliate Disclosure

Some links on this site are affiliate links — including some of the products we compare (see our full disclosure). Our scoring process is conducted before checking affiliate status — we assess features and pricing first, then report the result. Providers that pay us nothing (Workiz, FieldPulse, FieldEdge, mHelpDesk) are scored identically to those with programs, and a provider paying a referral fee does not protect it from documented cons: our highest-paying partner carries an explicit support-quality warning on every page it appears on.