Comparison
Exa vs Jobber
Field-service software that runs the job from quote to payment, compared with a sales CRM that wins the job in the first place.
Last reviewed · Sources
The short answer
Jobber is field-service management software — quotes with deposits, scheduling, dispatch and route optimization, job costing, invoicing and online payments with Jobber Payments, plus a client hub. If you need to run jobs and get paid in the field, choose Jobber. Exa is a sales CRM for winning the work — fast replies by text, WhatsApp and AI phone calls, pipelines, follow-up automations, and quotes and invoices synced to QuickBooks Online — but it has no dispatch, routing, job costing or card payments.
Who it's for
Who each tool is best for
Exa is best for
- Contractors and service businesses focused on winning more estimates and jobs
- Teams with long sales cycles that need structured follow-up and pipelines
- Businesses whose customers use WhatsApp as well as SMS
- Teams that want an AI assistant for pipeline questions and follow-up
Jobber is best for
- Home service businesses that schedule, dispatch and route crews every day
- Owners who want to take card, ACH and Tap to Pay payments in the field
- Teams that track job costs and profitability
- Businesses that want a client hub for approvals, requests and payments
Feature by feature
Exa and Jobber compared
What each product offers today, based on Jobber's public product pages and help docs. Features can depend on plan, edition or add-ons — check with each vendor for your case.
| Feature | Exa | Jobber |
|---|---|---|
| Quotes & invoices | YesPrice book, tax rates, PDF quotes customers accept with a typed-name e-signature, one-click invoices | YesQuotes clients approve with a signature, deposits, invoices and batch invoicing |
| Online card payments | Not offeredNo pay-now button; record payments manually or sync them from QuickBooks Online | YesJobber Payments — card, ACH (US) and Tap to Pay |
| Accounting integration | YesQuickBooks Online: customers, invoices and payments sync; QuickBooks payments sync back; no Desktop or Xero | YesQuickBooks Online sync (one-way, select plans) and Xero sync |
| Job scheduling, dispatch & routing | PartialAppointments and tasks; no dispatch board, route optimization or job costing | YesScheduling with map view, route optimization and job costing |
| AI assistant that acts with confirmation | YesAnswers questions with charts and record links; every change waits for your confirmation | PartialJobber AI answers business questions and helps with tasks such as sending invoices |
| AI voice receptionist & outbound AI calls | YesVia your Vapi account: answers, qualifies, books; transcripts and summaries saved | Add-onReceptionist answers calls and texts and books work; add-on except on the top plan |
| Unified inbox (email, SMS, WhatsApp, calls) | YesOne thread per contact across email, SMS, WhatsApp and Vapi calls | PartialClient communication history; two-way texting in a message center |
| Two-way SMS | YesFrom your own Twilio numbers | Varies by planTwo-way texting on Grow and up (US, Canada, UK) |
| Visual Kanban pipeline | YesMultiple pipelines, stage probabilities, rotting alerts | Add-onSales Pipeline board from requests and quotes; add-on except on the top plan |
| Workflow automations | Yes25 triggers incl. quote and invoice events; actions incl. messages, tasks, waits, webhooks, AI calls | YesQuote and invoice follow-ups plus a custom automation builder |
| Lead capture forms | YesEmbeddable forms with UTM/click-ID attribution and consent fields | YesRequest forms and online booking |
| Built-in messaging compliance (consent, STOP, quiet hours) | YesPer-channel consent, STOP/START/HELP, quiet hours — enforced server-side on every send | PartialNumber registration (10DLC); STOP and START handled automatically |
| Native iOS & Android apps | YesNative iPhone and Android apps | YesNative iOS and Android apps for the field |
| Reporting & forecasting | YesKPI dashboard, monthly revenue forecast, funnel, rep and lead-source reports | Yes20+ built-in reports |
| API & webhooks | YesREST API, scoped API keys, HMAC-signed webhooks with retries | YesGraphQL API and HMAC-signed webhooks |
| Multiple workspaces, roles & audit log | YesFive roles, record visibility, audit log with old/new values | PartialPreset and custom user permissions; Jobber Central for multiple locations |
| Bulk email marketing campaigns | Not offered1:1 and automated messages only; no campaign builder | Add-onEmail campaigns in the Marketing Suite |
| Review & reputation management | Not offeredNot offered | Add-onReviews and referrals in the Marketing Suite |
| App marketplace | Not offeredFocused native integrations plus API and webhooks | YesApp Marketplace |
Pricing: plans and prices change and differ by region, so we don't quote them here. SeeExa pricing andJobber's pricing page.
Key differences
How Exa and Jobber differ
Running jobs vs. winning them
Jobber is built to run a field-service business: quotes with deposits, scheduling with a map view, dispatch, route optimization, job costing, invoicing and payments by card, ACH or Tap to Pay, with a client hub where customers approve quotes and pay. Exa is built for the part before the job: answering every lead fast, following up on estimates and moving deals through a pipeline until they’re won. It doesn’t dispatch crews, optimize routes, track job costs or process payments.
Quotes, invoices and accounting
Both send quotes and invoices. Jobber’s quotes can collect a deposit when the client approves, and Jobber Payments handles card and bank payments; its QuickBooks Online sync goes one way, from Jobber to QuickBooks, and it also syncs with Xero. Exa has a price book with tax rates, quotes with line items, discounts and tax that customers accept with a typed-name e-signature or decline, accepted quotes that convert to invoices in one click (and can mark the deal won), and invoices with due dates and overdue tracking. Payments are recorded manually — or recorded in QuickBooks Online and synced back to update the invoice. Exa doesn’t support QuickBooks Desktop or Xero.
AI reception and follow-up
Jobber’s Receptionist answers calls and texts, books work and texts back hang-ups, and Jobber AI answers questions about your business. Exa’s AI receptionist runs on Vapi, answers and qualifies inbound callers, books appointments into your availability and can place outbound AI calls to people with call consent. Its assistant answers pipeline questions with charts and proposes follow-up tasks, messages and automations for you to confirm.
Channels and compliance
Jobber includes two-way texting on Grow and up, with number registration and automatic STOP/START handling. Exa adds WhatsApp through the Business Cloud API alongside SMS, email and AI calls in one inbox, and enforces per-channel consent, STOP/START/HELP and quiet hours on the server for every send.
Making the call
Which one should you choose?
When to choose Jobber
- You schedule and dispatch crews every day and want route optimization and a map view — Exa has no dispatch board or route planning.
- You want customers to pay online or by card in the field, including deposits on quotes — Exa doesn't process payments.
- You track job costs, labor and profitability per job — Exa has no job costing.
- You want a client hub where customers approve quotes, request work and pay invoices.
- You use Xero — Exa syncs with QuickBooks Online only.
When to choose Exa
- Your bottleneck is winning work — answering leads fast and following up on estimates until they close.
- You want an AI receptionist (via Vapi) that answers, qualifies and books, plus outbound AI calls to people with call consent.
- Your customers text and use WhatsApp, and you want both in one inbox with email and calls.
- You want pipelines, lead scoring, duplicate detection and automations designed around sales.
- You want quotes customers accept with a typed-name e-signature, one-click invoices and QuickBooks Online sync (payments recorded in QuickBooks update the invoice) — and you take payments outside the CRM.
Migration
Switching from Jobber to Exa
Jobber exports clients and reports to CSV. Import clients into Exa as contacts or leads, add your products, services and tax rates to the price book, and connect QuickBooks Online. Many service businesses keep Jobber for scheduling and payments and use Exa for sales — the lead API and signed webhooks can connect the two.
- 1
Export your data from Jobber
Export the people and companies you want to keep from Jobber to CSV files. Keep the column headers — Exa uses them to suggest a mapping.
- 2
Import with column mapping and duplicate handling
Upload a CSV as leads or contacts, preview the rows and check the suggested mapping (custom fields included — create them first). Choose whether rows that match an existing record are skipped, update it, or are created anyway. Progress, counts and row errors are shown as the import runs.
- 3
Rebuild your pipeline and price book
Create pipelines with your own stages, probabilities and rotting rules, then recreate open deals by hand or through the REST API — CSV import covers leads and contacts, not deals. If you send quotes, add your products, services and tax rates to the price book, and connect QuickBooks Online if you use it.
- 4
Reconnect your lead sources
Embed Exa forms on your website, and send leads from other systems to the server-to-server lead API with a scoped API key — a lead with a matching email or phone is updated instead of duplicated. Signed webhooks push CRM events to your own tools.
- 5
Connect channels and invite your team
Connect Twilio for SMS, the WhatsApp Business Cloud API, Postmark or SMTP for email, Vapi for AI calls, Google Calendar and QuickBooks Online, then invite teammates as owner, admin, manager, rep or viewer. Exa only texts people with SMS consent (or who texted you first), so plan how you will record consent for imported contacts.
Questions about moving over? Our team is happy to help.
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FAQ
Exa vs Jobber: common questions
Quick answers for teams weighing Exa against Jobber.
Still have questions?
Start a free trial and see Exa with your own leads and pipeline, or email our team.
Is Exa a Jobber alternative?
Only for the sales side. Exa has quotes and invoices, but it doesn't do scheduling and dispatch, route optimization, job costing or card payments, which are central to Jobber. If you run crews in the field, Jobber is the better fit.
Can Exa and Jobber work together?
They can share data through Exa's REST API, lead API and signed webhooks, built by you or a developer. There is no ready-made Exa–Jobber integration.
Can customers pay invoices online in Exa?
No. Exa invoices have a PDF and a hosted customer link, and you record full or partial payments manually. If you use QuickBooks Online, payments recorded there sync back and update the invoice balance.
Do both have an AI receptionist?
Yes. Jobber's Receptionist answers calls and texts and books work, and is an add-on on most plans. Exa uses Vapi voice agents — connect your Vapi account to answer inbound calls, qualify callers and book appointments, and to place outbound AI calls.
Which QuickBooks versions are supported?
Exa syncs with QuickBooks Online — customers, invoices and payments are pushed to QuickBooks, and payments recorded in QuickBooks sync back. QuickBooks Desktop and Xero aren't supported.
Sources
Jobber details were checked against Jobber's own website and help documentation. Last reviewed . Spotted something out of date?Let us know and we'll correct it.
- Jobber — Pricing and plans
- Jobber Help — Quote approvals
- Jobber Help — Quote deposits and Jobber Payments
- Jobber Help — Invoice basics
- Jobber Help — Card payments in the field
- Jobber Help — QuickBooks integration FAQs
- Jobber Help — Xero integration
- Jobber — Schedule and dispatch
- Jobber Help — Route optimization
- Jobber Help — One-off jobs report (job costing)
- Jobber — Client hub
- Jobber Help — Jobber AI (Copilot)
- Jobber — AI Receptionist
- Jobber Help — Two-way text messaging
- Jobber Help — Register your number
- Jobber Help — Sales pipeline
- Jobber Help — Custom automation builder
- Jobber Help — Online booking
- Jobber Help — Reports basics
- Jobber Developer — Webhooks
- Jobber Help — User permissions
- Jobber — Marketing tools
Product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Comparison based on publicly available information as of October 2026. Exa is not affiliated with or endorsed by Jobber.
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