Workiz for Small Service Businesses: Free Plan vs Paying for Everything
The free plan gets you in the door. But the jump to $225/month for real features is steep. Let's compare options.
TL;DR
Workiz's free plan only works for 2 users with limited features — it's a demo. The moment you need real scheduling, automations, or more than 2 people, you're jumping to $225/month. That's $76/month more than Opsler, which gives you every feature, 5 users included, and things Workiz doesn't offer at any price (offline mode, GBB estimates, review gating).
Is the Workiz Free Plan Actually Useful for a Small Business?
Let's be honest. "Free" is the most powerful word in marketing. And Workiz knows it. Their Lite plan costs $0 and gets a lot of attention for that reason. But what do you actually get for free?
Two users. That's it for headcount. If you're literally just you and one other person, it might work for a month or two. But the moment you hire your third team member — whether that's a tech, a dispatcher, or your spouse handling invoices — you've outgrown the free plan.
And the feature set on Lite? Stripped down. You get basic job scheduling, basic invoicing, and... not much else. Advanced scheduling? Standard plan. Automations? Standard plan. Decent reporting? Standard plan. It's the kind of free plan that exists to get you hooked on the interface, not to actually run a business.
So you upgrade. And now you're at $225/month. That was a big jump, wasn't it? From $0 to $225 with nothing in between. For a small plumbing shop doing $15,000-$30,000 per month in revenue, that $225 is real money. That's $2,700/year for software that still doesn't have offline mode or tiered estimates.
The Math Problem for Small Teams
Here's where it gets frustrating. Say you run a 7-person operation — you, a dispatcher, and 5 technicians. Workiz Standard starts at $225/month with per-member pricing on top. You could easily be at $300/month or more. That's $3,600/year.
Opsler for the same team? $149/month covers 5 users. Add 2 more at $29 each, and you're at $207/month. That's $2,484/year — a savings of $1,116. And you're getting features Workiz literally can't match.
But let's not just talk about price. Because when you're a small business, it's not just about what's cheapest. It's about what actually helps you grow. Can your techs work in basements without losing access to job details? Can they present tiered estimates that boost your average ticket by 30-50%? Does every invoice get reviewed before it goes out? Can customers track their tech without calling your office?
On Workiz Standard, the answer to all of those is no. On Opsler, the answer to all of them is yes.
What Does a Small Business Actually Need from FSM Software?
A plan that doesn't punish you for growing
Workiz forces a choice: stay on a crippled free plan or jump to $225/month. Opsler is $149/month from day one with 5 users and every feature. When you hire tech #6, it's $29 more — not a whole new pricing tier.
Revenue tools that pay for themselves
Good/Better/Best estimates typically boost average tickets 30-50%. If your average job is $350 and GBB bumps it to $475, you only need one upgraded estimate per month to more than cover Opsler's entire subscription. Workiz doesn't have this feature.
An offline app your techs will actually use
Small teams can't afford to lose billable hours when a tech walks into a dead zone. Opsler's offline-first app means your 5-person team runs just as smoothly in a basement as in an open field. Workiz has no offline mode at all.
A free website you don't have to build
Every Opsler account includes a branded business website with online booking and a QR code. Most small businesses either don't have a website or paid $500-$2,000 for one. Workiz doesn't offer this. Opsler gives it to you on day one.
Invoice approval that prevents revenue leaks
Small businesses feel $0 invoices and missed charges harder than big companies. Opsler's invoice approval workflow means every invoice gets a second set of eyes before the customer sees it. One caught mistake per month pays for the software.
Bottom line: for a small service business with 5-15 people, Opsler costs less than Workiz Standard, includes more features, and doesn't make you choose between "free but useless" and "expensive but incomplete." There's just one plan, and it's got everything.
Frequently Asked Questions
Barely. The Lite plan caps you at 2 users and removes most of the features you'd rely on daily — advanced scheduling, automations, detailed reporting, and more. If you're a solo operator testing the waters, it's fine. If you have even one dispatcher and two techs, you've already outgrown it.
You'd need the Standard plan at $225/month minimum, plus per-member pricing for your team. Depending on how Workiz structures the per-member costs, a 5-person team could be looking at $250-$300/month. Opsler includes 5 users in the $149/month plan — that's it, no per-member surcharges.
The jump from Lite to Standard unlocks most of Workiz's core functionality — proper scheduling, automations, integrations, better reporting, and more users. But even Standard doesn't include offline mode, Good/Better/Best estimates, invoice approval workflow, a customer portal, review gating, or a free business website. Those features simply don't exist in Workiz at any tier.
Absolutely. Opsler's $149/month plan includes 5 users, so a 3-person shop (owner, dispatcher, one tech) gets every feature at the same price. And because the industry presets pre-configure your services and terminology, there's very little setup work. You're not paying for features you don't need yet — you're just ready when you grow.
Opsler scales straightforwardly: $29/month per additional user beyond the included 5. A 10-person team costs $294/month. A 15-person team costs $439/month. No tier upgrades, no enterprise sales calls, no contract renegotiations. The feature set stays exactly the same whether you have 3 users or 30.
Yes. The free Lite plan is severely limited, and the gap between Lite and Standard ($225/month) is enormous. There's no middle option — you either run with almost nothing or jump to the full-price plan. And even then, several features that Opsler includes (offline mode, GBB estimates, review gating) don't exist on Workiz at any price.
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Deep-dive comparisons and guides for Workiz vs Opsler.
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