The free, open-source Housecall Pro alternative.
Crewtavo covers the work you do in Housecall Pro, from online booking and estimates to dispatch, field work, invoicing and a client portal, and it runs in your own Railway account. Every feature is included for any size of business, with no plans to move up through and no per-user fees.
Crewtavo vs. Housecall Pro. Both take a home service job from booking to paid invoice. The difference is what each plan unlocks, who owns it, and how you pay.
| Topic | Crewtavo | Housecall Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price of the software | Free for any size of business | Monthly subscription in three plans, less when billed yearly |
| Adding a team member | No extra cost | Each plan includes a set number of users; more users cost more |
| Features | Every feature, for everyone | Higher plans unlock more, such as QuickBooks sync, checklists and route optimization |
| Card payments | Your own Stripe account; Crewtavo adds no fee | Housecall Pro’s payment processing, with a fee on each payment |
| Who hosts it | You, in your own Railway account | Housecall Pro |
| Where your data lives | A Postgres database in your Railway account | Housecall Pro’s servers |
| Source code | Open source (AGPL-3.0), on GitHub | Closed |
| Changing how it works | Change anything, or hire any developer to | The settings and integrations Housecall Pro offers |
| Getting started | One click to deploy on Railway | Sign up for a free trial |
| Support | Docs, and bug reports on GitHub | Included with your subscription |
Housecall Pro’s plans and prices change over time; see Housecall Pro’s pricing page for current details. Comparison checked October 2026.
Everything you do in Housecall Pro, in Crewtavo.
The jobs your office and techs do every day map over directly, so nobody has to relearn how the business runs.
Included, no add-ons. Tools many service businesses pay for separately come built in.
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Satellite map measuring
Measure areas and lengths on the map and feed them straight into quote formulas.
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SOP knowledge base
Procedures with revision history and required reading, so new hires learn your way of doing the job.
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Equipment maintenance
Service schedules by date, hours or miles, repair history with receipts, and alerts when something is due.
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Team chat
Channels for everyone, each crew and the office, with photos, built in at no extra cost.
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Claude and ChatGPT
Connect an AI assistant that only does what each person’s role allows, with every call logged.
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Custom roles
Rename the starter roles or build your own, enforced by the database rather than just hidden buttons.
Is Crewtavo right for you? An honest take.
Crewtavo is a great fit if
- You want every feature without moving up a plan
- Your team is growing and per-user pricing keeps adding up
- You want to own your data and your software
- You’d rather pay for hosting than for seats
Housecall Pro may suit you better if
- You want consumer financing offered on your estimates
- Your techs want a native app from the App Store
- You want onboarding and vendor support included in a monthly price
Switching from Housecall Pro in five steps.
Most of the work is setting up your price list. Your clients come over in a CSV file.
- 1 Set up Crewtavo and pick your trade Click Deploy on Railway and create a free Railway account. Crewtavo sets itself up and opens; choose your trade so starter services, formulas and checklists load.
- 2 Bring over your clients Export your customers from Housecall Pro, save the file as CSV if it comes as an Excel file, then import it on the Clients screen in Crewtavo.
- 3 Set your prices Adjust the starter price list to match what you charge, and add any services that are missing.
- 4 Invite your team Send invitations and give each person a role: general manager, operations manager, foreman, employee or your own.
- 5 Switch over Book new work in Crewtavo while you finish open jobs in Housecall Pro. Keep your old invoices and reports on file.
Housecall Pro alternative FAQ.
Is Crewtavo really a free alternative to Housecall Pro?
Yes. Crewtavo is free for any size of business, with every feature included. There’s no subscription and no per-user fee. It runs in your own Railway account, and you pay Railway directly: its Hobby plan is $5 a month and includes $5 of usage, and a new instance at rest uses about $3.60 of that.
Can I import my data from Housecall Pro?
You can import your customer list from a CSV file. Export it from Housecall Pro, and if it comes as an Excel file, open it in Excel or Google Sheets and save it as CSV. Crewtavo matches the columns it recognizes, and you match the rest. Jobs, estimates and invoice history don’t transfer automatically, so most businesses finish open work in Housecall Pro, keep old invoices on file, and start new work in Crewtavo.
Does Crewtavo work with QuickBooks?
Yes. Crewtavo sends invoices and payments to QuickBooks Online, and it also connects to Zoho Books.
Is there a mobile app for my crew?
Crews use My day in their phone’s browser and can add it to the home screen like an app. It shows the day’s visits with gate codes, checklists, photos, timers, and on my way, start and complete buttons.
How hard is it to set up?
Easy, with no servers to manage. Click Deploy on Railway, create a free Railway account and approve the setup. Crewtavo creates the app, a Postgres database, sign-ins and file storage in your account, then opens when it’s ready, usually within a few minutes.
Who fixes things if something breaks?
Crewtavo is developed in the open on GitHub, where you can report problems and see fixes as they land. Because you host it, you choose when to update.
Is Crewtavo affiliated with Housecall Pro?
No. Crewtavo is an independent open-source project. Housecall Pro is a trademark of its owner, used here only to describe the comparison.
Keep the workflow. Skip the plan upgrades.
Free for any size of business, with every feature. Deploy it to your own Railway account, bring over your customers, and own the software your business runs on.