ServiceM8 vs Jobber: which suits an Australian business?

At a glance

Pricing: jobs or people

The two products count different things. ServiceM8 counts jobs: Starter covers 50 a month for A$29, Growing 150 for A$79, Premium 500 for A$149 and Premium Plus 1,500 or more for A$349, with no limit on users on any paid plan. Jobber counts people: Core is for one user, and the larger plans include more users, with extra users at US$29 a month each.

So a big team doing a modest number of jobs usually pays less on ServiceM8. A one-person business doing a lot of jobs may find the two closer. Jobber’s website prices are in US dollars on annual prepaid billing, and month-to-month prices are higher, so convert and ask about GST before comparing. In the Australian App Store, Jobber’s iPhone app lists in-app subscriptions in Australian dollars, which is worth asking about too.

Texting and payments in Australia

This is where the two differ most for an Australian business. ServiceM8 includes an SMS allowance on paid plans, from 100 to more than 3,000 a month, then charges 10c a message, and customers can reply through a mobile web page. Jobber’s help centre says two-way text messaging is available in the US, UK and Canada, on select plans.

On payments, ServiceM8 has card payments built in, with fees that fall on higher plans, and Tap to Pay on iPhone for paying on the spot. Jobber’s own Jobber Payments is available in the UK, US and Canada. Australian Jobber accounts can connect Stripe, Square, PayPal Express or Authorize.net instead, on select plans.

Accounting

ServiceM8 connects to Xero worldwide, MYOB Business in Australia and New Zealand, and QuickBooks Online. Jobber connects to Xero on its Connect and Grow plans and to QuickBooks Online from Connect. Its Xero sync runs one way, from Jobber into Xero, and is built and maintained by Xero. We did not find an MYOB integration on Jobber’s pages. If your bookkeeper uses MYOB, that alone may decide it.

Apps, booking and the customer side

Jobber has iPhone and Android apps and includes online booking and its client hub from the Core plan. ServiceM8’s iPhone app is long established and includes clients viewing quotes and paying invoices online; its rebuilt Android app was announced as a beta in August 2026, and its online booking pages come through the Services add-on. If your crew is on Android phones today, Jobber is the safer pick on apps alone.

Where each one is stronger

• ServiceM8: Australian company and pricing, GST included; no per-user charge; SMS included; payments and Tap to Pay that work here; MYOB; a free plan for solo operators.
• Jobber: a larger global user base (it says more than 400,000 service pros); iPhone and Android apps; online booking and client hub from the entry plan; an AI Receptionist on its Plus plan or as an add-on; integrations including QuickBooks Online, Xero, Zapier and Gusto.

Which to choose

• Choose ServiceM8 if you are an Australian trade business on iPhones, want texting and payments that work here, or use MYOB.
• Choose Jobber if your team needs Android today, you operate in more than one country, or you want its client hub and booking on the entry plan and are comfortable with US dollar pricing.
• If neither fits, see Jobber alternatives and ServiceM8 alternatives.

And Karya Falak

We make Karya Falak, an Australian alternative to both. It prices per business rather than per job or per user: A$49 a month on Starter for up to 10 office people, plus A$9 for each field member, GST included. Customer emails and web form enquiries arrive in a shared inbox and become cards on a board, with WhatsApp and SMS in the same inbox. It sends invoices to Xero or QuickBooks, brings back payments recorded there, and keeps data in Sydney. It is newer, and has no MYOB link and no built-in AI. See Karya Falak vs Jobber and Karya Falak vs ServiceM8.