Still running the week on WhatsApp and a spreadsheet? We checked five scheduling apps on their own websites and compared what matters to a small South African field team: how you are billed, how the price grows, which phones your crew can use and whether you can try it free.
Most small field teams start the same way: a WhatsApp group, a shared calendar or a spreadsheet on the office PC. It works until you add a second crew and someone asks where the before photos went.
We checked five options on their own websites in September 2026 and compared what matters to a South African team leader: how you're billed, how the price grows, which phones your crew can use and whether you can try it free.
What to look for in a field team scheduling app
- Rand pricing. Is the price shown and billed in rand, or in US dollars?
- How the price grows. Some apps charge per user, some per band of field agents, some by jobs per month. That matters once you add office staff or casual workers.
- Your crew's phones. Check what the app offers on Android versus iPhone.
- Proof of work. Photos, notes and files should sit on the booking, not in a group chat.
- Scheduling only, or quoting and invoicing too? Decide what you actually need.
The 5 apps
Action Plan
Action Plan is a scheduling tool based in Brackenfell, Cape Town, billed in rand through PayFast. Bookings sit on a shared drag-and-drop calendar where you can see conflicts straight away, with recurring jobs and Month, Week, Day and List views. Agents take before and after photos, and comments, status changes and files stay with the job. You pay only for field agents, as schedulers and viewers are free, starting at R150 a month for one or two agents.
Best for: small South African crews who mainly need one shared calendar for bookings and field agents, and who already handle quotes and invoices elsewhere.
ServiceM8
ServiceM8 has a South African pricing page in rand and charges by jobs per month rather than per user, with a free plan for one user and 30 jobs a month. It covers scheduling with push notifications, a dispatch map, staff GPS, quoting and invoicing, and sync with Xero, QuickBooks Online and MYOB. It's optimised for Apple devices and now offers full-featured apps on both iOS and Android.
Best for: trade teams on iPhones who want scheduling, dispatch, quoting and invoicing in one app.
Tradify
Tradify shows South African pricing in rand, charged per user per month. You get drag-and-drop scheduling, dispatch, staff locations and Google Calendar sync, plus quoting, invoicing and Xero or QuickBooks sync. It runs in the browser and on iPhone, iPad and Android with no contract.
Best for: trade businesses that want scheduling, quoting and invoicing on any phone and are happy to pay per user.
Jobber
Jobber lists all prices in US dollars and doesn't mention South Africa on the pages we checked. It's a full all-in-one platform with a drag-and-drop calendar, GPS tracking, visit reminders, iOS and Android apps, quoting, invoicing and accounting sync. Some features, such as online card payments and two-way texting, are only offered in the US, Canada and the UK.
Best for: teams happy to pay in dollars for an all-in-one tool, knowing some features aren't offered here.
Exequtech
Exequtech is built in South Africa, based in Pretoria North, and bills local customers in rand per user per month. It handles scheduling and dispatch with offline-first digital job cards, including photos and signatures, linked to quotes, invoices and stock. The technician app is on Android; there's no iOS app yet.
Best for: South African teams on Android who need offline job cards tied to quotes, invoices and stock.
Side-by-side comparison
| App | Billed in rand? | How the price scales | From | Free trial | Mobile apps | Quoting and invoicing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Action Plan | Yes, via PayFast | Field agents; schedulers and viewers free | R150/month (1 to 2 agents) | 14 days, up to 2 agents, no card | Not stated | Not stated |
| ServiceM8 | Yes | Jobs per month; paid plans unlimited users | Free plan (1 user, 30 jobs); Starter R295/month | 14 days, no card | iOS and Android | Yes |
| Tradify | Yes | Per user per month | R480 per user/month | 14 days, no card | iPhone, iPad, Android | Yes |
| Jobber | No, US dollars | By plan; extra users $29/month each | $49/month, or $29/month billed annually (1 user) | 14 days (Grow plan), no card | iOS and Android | Yes |
| Exequtech | Yes | Per user per month | R555 per user/month | By arrangement | Android; no iOS app yet | Yes |
Prices and features checked on vendor websites on 29 September 2026. Prices change, so check each pricing page before you decide.
How to choose
If your main headache is the schedule itself, meaning who's where, double bookings and proof the job was done, and you already invoice elsewhere, start with a focused scheduling tool billed in rand. If you need quoting and invoicing in the same app, ServiceM8, Tradify, Jobber or Exequtech may suit you better.
To try Action Plan, start the 14-day free trial with up to two agents and no credit card, or see the rand price bands on the pricing page. The documentation shows how bookings, teams and recurring jobs work, and you can get in touch with any questions.
Related reads: How to stop double bookings, From WhatsApp chaos to one shared calendar and Custom fields for field crews.