Updated November 3, 2026
Software for a tree service business has to handle things a lawn or cleaning tool was never built for: estimates that depend on a photo of one specific tree, a crane or bucket truck that two crews want on the same day, and a storm that triples the phone calls overnight. Here is what to look for, with prices checked today for a one-office, three-crew company.
Quick answer: Pick tree service software that writes estimates from photos and a property map, schedules equipment as well as crews, handles recurring plant health care programs, takes deposits, invoices from the job, and works on a phone in the bucket. Tree-specific tools such as ArboStar start at $149 a month on annual billing; general field-service tools such as Jobber start at $49 a month for one user (both checked November 3, 2026).
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Tree work is priced one tree at a time. A removal next to a house, over a power line or in a backyard with no truck access can cost three times as much as the same tree in an open front yard, which is why most tree estimates are written on site with photos. The work is also dangerous and equipment-heavy: the BLS counted 70,600 tree trimmers and pruners in 2025, with a median wage of $24.50 an hour (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified September 14, 2026). Your software has to keep a skilled crew and an expensive machine busy on the right job, not just keep a calendar.
Prices from each vendor's public pricing page on November 3, 2026. They change often; check before you buy.
| Tool | Plan that fits 1 office + 3 crew logins | Price a month | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArboStar | Growing (2 office licenses + 3 crew logins) | $249 on annual billing | Built for tree care; free data migration and setup listed; monthly billing costs more |
| ArboStar | Starter (1 office + 1 crew login), plus 2 crew logins at $20 | $189 on annual billing | Cheapest tree-specific option for a small team |
| Jobber | Connect, 5 users | $199 no commitment, $149 billed annually | General field service; used by many tree companies |
| Jobber | Grow, 5 users | $299 no commitment, $229 billed annually | Adds more sales and marketing features |
The real cost is not the subscription. It is the hours the office still spends on the phone and on estimates the software only stores. Here is a worked week with assumptions for illustration:
| Office task | Assumption | Hours a week |
|---|---|---|
| Taking new calls and booking estimate visits | 30 calls × 6 minutes | 3.0 |
| Writing up estimates from site notes | 15 estimates × 20 minutes | 5.0 |
| Following up on unanswered estimates | 15 estimates × 2 follow-ups × 4 minutes | 2.0 |
| Invoicing and chasing payment | 12 jobs × 10 minutes | 2.0 |
| Total office time | 12.0 |
Good software cuts the write-up and invoicing lines. The calls and the follow-ups still need someone, and in a tree company that someone is often the owner in the bucket. Our tree service pricing calculator helps with the estimate side; how to price tree removal jobs covers the pricing method.
If most of your revenue is removals and you run a crane or several bucket trucks, a tree-specific tool with equipment scheduling and map-based estimates will save more than it costs. If you are a one- or two-crew company doing pruning, small removals and stump grinding, a general field-service tool is often enough, and cheaper per user. Either way, test it on a real estimate with three trees, two equipment types and a deposit before you sign an annual plan.
Unmanually is a 24/7 AI Office Manager for tree service companies that you run by voice. It answers and books the calls that come in while you are up a tree, collects the address and photos, sends quotes and invoices and follows up on payments, and it works alongside your scheduling software. See Unmanually for tree service companies.
The one that writes estimates from photos and a property map, schedules equipment as well as crews, handles plant health care programs and invoices from the approved estimate. Tree-specific tools such as ArboStar suit crane and removal-heavy companies; general tools such as Jobber suit smaller crews.
On November 3, 2026, ArboStar listed $149 a month (Starter) and $249 a month (Growing) on annual billing, and Jobber listed Connect for 5 users at $199 a month with no commitment or $149 billed annually.
Tree-specific tools usually can; many general field-service tools schedule people, not machines. Test it by booking two jobs that need the same machine on the same day and see if the tool stops you.
Scheduling software stores calls and jobs, but it does not answer the phone. During storm season that is the gap: calls still need to be answered, triaged and booked while the crew is working.
Home service businesses answer only about half their calls (Invoca, July 2026), and owners spend about 11 to 16 hours/week on admin. Knowing what to do is the easy part; the money leaks out in the calls you can't take, the quotes nobody chases and the invoices that sit unpaid. Unmanually is a 24/7 AI Office Manager for tree service companies that you run by voice from your phone:
Sources: Invoca, July 2026 (52% of home-service calls answered by a person, 60M+ calls); admin hours: Time etc / Censuswide 2023 and Amex SME Barometer 2026.
Unmanually is an AI Office Manager that works 24/7 and that you run by voice from your phone. Leave your mobile number and the AI Office Manager calls you right away, the same way it would call back one of your customers. That call is the demo: it answers, books you a 15-minute time with the founder and follows up.
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