Almost every small service business starts with something free: a shared calendar, a spreadsheet, or the free tier of a real product. That is sensible, and the useful question is not whether to start there but which limit you will hit first, because the limit decides how much rework the eventual move costs you.
The second user is usually the first wall
Free tiers are generally built for one person. The moment a second person needs to see the same day, either you pay or you go back to sending screenshots, and sending screenshots is how two versions of the day appear. That is the exact failure a board exists to prevent, so hitting this limit is a signal rather than an inconvenience.
History is the second wall and it is quieter
Thirty days of history feels generous until somebody asks what you did at an address in March. The value of a job record grows with age, which means the limit that seems harmless at signup is the one that hurts eighteen months later, when moving the history is no longer possible.
Export is the wall that decides your exit
Ask what a full export contains before you commit anything real to a product. If the answer is vague, treat that as the answer. Every week of use adds records you would have to re enter by hand, and that switching cost is what turns a free tier into an expensive one.
What the free tier is actually costing you
On the worked example this site publishes, the 6% of 655 calls a month that never happen at all is 39.3 jobs and $11,200 of invoicing. If the free product cannot send a reminder, that is what free is costing, and it is considerably more than the paid tier of anything on the market.
Questions people ask about small business scheduling app
Is a free tier a fair way to start?
Yes, for one person and for a month or two. Treat it as a trial of the shape rather than as a destination.
What should we look at first when comparing?
The export and the user limit, in that order. Features are easy to compare and easy to live without; those two are not.
What does Dispatchzo include?
One price, $69 a month, whole team, with export from the account page at any time and history that stays readable after you cancel.