There is a long feature list on every product in this category and about four items on it matter. Everything else is preference, and preference is a fine reason to choose between two products that both do the four. This page is about the four, and about what the free tiers usually take away, which is rarely the feature you expected.
The job, with a customer and an address on it
A job that is a line of text on a day cannot be looked up by customer, cannot show that this is the third visit for the same fault, and cannot tell the technician where to park. The customer and the address belong to the job rather than sitting in a note beside it, and that single structural choice is what separates a scheduler from a shared calendar.
The assignment, visible to everyone
One name against each job, changeable in one action, visible to the office and to the person going. A board full of jobs with nobody against them is a wish list, and the moment two people believe they are covering the same call the schedule has already failed in the way that costs a customer.
The status, so nobody rings the van
Booked, on the way, on site, done, needs a return visit. Five states cover almost every service business, and they are the difference between a dispatcher who can answer a customer immediately and one who has to interrupt a technician to find out. This is the feature people underestimate before they have it.
What free tiers usually remove
Rarely the scheduling. Usually the second user, the export, the branding on documents, or the history beyond thirty days. Each of those is fine until the day it is not, and the export is the one worth checking hardest: a board you cannot get your records out of has a switching cost that grows every week you use it.
Questions people ask about scheduling software for field service
Is a free field service scheduler enough to start?
Often yes, for one person. The limits usually bite at the second user or the first time you want the last six months of history.
How long should setting up take?
An afternoon for customers and technicians, then next week goes on the board. A six week implementation for a small business is somebody selling a project.
What does Dispatchzo charge?
The three worksheets are free forever. Pro is $69 a month for the whole team, with export included rather than gated.