One platform vs Jobber + add-ons.
Both cover the field-service core. Italic entries show the tool you’d typically pair with Jobber for that capability.
Three things you’ll feel in the first week.
These aren’t edge cases — they’re the exact gaps that show up when a field service tool hits the limits of what it was built for.
Real accounting built in — not a QuickBooks add-on.
Jobber handles quoting and invoicing well, but it's not an accounting system. Most Jobber customers pay extra for a QuickBooks subscription to get P&L, balance sheets, and proper expense tracking. PrimeBase ships a full general ledger — so your job revenue, material costs, labor, and vendor bills all live in the same system as your scheduling.
- P&L, balance sheet, and GL — no external accounting tool needed
- Material costs and vendor bills in the same data model as jobs
- AR/AP aging, cash-flow reports, and year-end tax prep built in
- Export to QuickBooks at month-end if your CPA still prefers it
A client portal clients actually return to.
Jobber's client hub lets customers view and pay invoices — which is useful. PrimeBase gives clients a branded login under your own domain: job history, upcoming appointments, signed service agreements, two-way messaging, and invoice payment all in one persistent place. Not just a payment link.
- Branded subdomain (portal.metroair.co) ready on day one
- Upcoming job details, tech name, and appointment time visible to client
- Signed service agreements and past work orders on file — searchable
- Two-way requests — no more clients texting the wrong number
Vendor management and inventory — tracked per job.
Knowing what parts you used on which job — and what you paid for them — is half of running a profitable trades business. PrimeBase tracks parts, supplier bills, and reorder levels in the same system as your jobs and accounting, so your material costs flow automatically into your P&L without manual entry.
- Inventory levels per part, per location — with low-stock alerts
- Supplier bills tied to jobs so material cost hits the right P&L line
- Reorder alerts when stock falls below threshold
- Year-end vendor spend reports — 1099 ready for subcontractors
Jobber is the right call if this describes you.
These are the narrow cases where Jobber’s toolset is the better fit. If all three apply, you may not need PrimeBase yet.
Which one fits your business?
A straightforward fit check. Most trades operators know in under 30 seconds.
- 1Need native GPS technician check-in as a mission-critical, daily-use feature.
- 2Are committed to QuickBooks and want native two-way QuickBooks Online sync.
- 3Are deeply embedded in the residential-trades peer community already using Jobber.
- 4Explicitly want your ops tool and your accounting tool kept separate.