Best Payment Processing for Plumbing Companies (2026)

After running my crew's payments through a few different processors over the years, QuoteIQ is what I'd put a plumbing business on in 2026 — it quotes, invoices, and collects card or ACH payments from one $29.99/month plan, no per-user fees, no separate payment platform charge. Here's the full list of eight and where each one actually fits.

TL;DR

• QuoteIQ — $29.99/mo. Quoting, invoicing, and Stripe payments in one login; no per-user fees.

• Jobber — $49/mo Core. Polished client portal, but ACH and auto-collection are gated on higher tiers.

• Housecall Pro — $79/mo Basic. Full field service suite with card processing from the first plan.

• Square — $0/mo Free. Cheapest way to invoice and collect if you already schedule elsewhere.

• Stripe — $0/mo. No subscription at all if you just need the payment rail.

• QuickBooks Payments — rides on a QuickBooks Online plan starting at $38/mo.

• ServiceTitan — quote-only, reported in the hundreds per technician per month.

• FieldEdge — quote-only, reported $100–125 per user per month.

How I Picked These

I run All American Pressure Cleaning and co-founded QuoteIQ, so I'll say that upfront. What I weighted: whether the software handles quote-to-paid in one place instead of bolting a processor onto a CRM, the actual card and ACH rates rather than a "starting at" teaser, whether a per-user fee eats margin as you add techs, and whether a plumber can collect payment from a phone on the job site. Every number below came from that vendor's own current pricing page, checked September 2026. I don't run the other seven on my own jobs — what I say about them comes from their published pricing and feature docs, not from using them myself.

Quick Comparison

*Billed as the underlying QuickBooks Online plan — payments has no separate subscription fee.

1. QuoteIQ — Best Overall for Plumbing Payment Processing

What it is

QuoteIQ is the all-in-one field service platform I co-founded — quoting, scheduling, invoicing, and payments in one login. Payments run through Stripe, embedded directly on the invoice so a customer pays without a redirect.

Pricing

Essentials starts at $29.99/month with online payments included, no upcharge to unlock card or ACH on a higher tier. Card processing runs the standard Stripe rate of 2.9% + 30¢, ACH runs 1%, and there's no separate platform fee on top. A 14-day trial is on every tier; a credit or debit card is required to start. Verified on QuoteIQ's online payments page, checked September 2026.

Where it fits

A solo plumber or a crew running a dozen trucks who wants quoting, invoicing, and payment collection in one app instead of stitching a CRM to a separate processor. Mass invoicing and e-signatures unlock on the Beginner plan at $74.99/month.

Tradeoffs

QuoteIQ doesn't currently offer Tap to Pay — in-person collection goes through a card reader rather than tapping a phone directly.

2. Jobber — Best for Teams That Want Jobber's Client Hub

What it is

Jobber is a widely used field service platform with quoting, scheduling, and a client self-serve portal called Client Hub.

Pricing

Core runs $49/month standard monthly for one user, verified on Jobber's pricing page, checked September 2026. Jobber Payments charges 2.9% + 30¢ per card transaction, 2.7% + 30¢ for Tap to Pay, and 1% for ACH — instant payouts add another 1%. Extra users run $29/month each; see Jobber's plumbing page for the trade-specific feature set.

Where it fits

A plumbing shop of two to ten people that wants a mature client portal and doesn't mind per-user pricing as the team grows.

Tradeoffs

Automatic payment collection on recurring work and the QuickBooks Online sync both require Connect or higher, not Core.

3. Housecall Pro — Best for Full-Suite Field Service with Payments Built In

What it is

Housecall Pro bundles scheduling, dispatching, quotes, invoicing, and payment collection for home service businesses.

Pricing

Basic runs $79/month standard monthly for one user, verified on Housecall Pro's pricing page, checked September 2026. Card processing starts as low as 2.59%, and ACH bank payments carry a 1% fee. See Housecall Pro's plumbing page for trade-specific tools.

Where it fits

A plumbing company that wants online booking, review management, and payment collection under one roof from day one.

Tradeoffs

QuickBooks Online sync, GPS tracking, and flat-rate pricing tools all sit on the $149/month Essentials plan, not Basic.

4. Square — Best Low-Cost Standalone Option

What it is

Square is a standalone payments and invoicing tool, not a full field service CRM — no scheduling or dispatch, just estimates, invoices, and payment collection.

Pricing

Square Free costs $0/month: 3.3% + 30¢ for online/invoiced card payments, 2.6% + 15¢ in-person, and 1% for ACH. Square Plus runs $49/month with lower rates — 2.9% + 30¢ online, 2.5% + 15¢ in-person — per Square's pricing page, checked September 2026. Square's invoicing tools send estimates, contracts, and recurring invoices from the free tier, and its services page covers contractor-style scheduling and job tracking if you outgrow the invoicing-only setup.

Where it fits

A one-truck plumbing operation that already has a way to schedule jobs and just needs a cheap way to invoice and collect payment.

Tradeoffs

No native scheduling, dispatch, or job costing on the core plan — you're largely buying an invoicing tool, not a full CRM.

5. Stripe — Best if You Just Need the Payment Rail

What it is

Stripe is the payment infrastructure that actually powers QuoteIQ, Jobber, and Housecall Pro behind the scenes, but it's also usable directly if your CRM doesn't include payments.

Pricing

No monthly or setup fee. Standard US rate is 2.9% + 30¢ online, 2.7% + 5¢ in-person via Stripe Terminal, and 0.8% (capped at $5) for ACH Direct Debit — confirmed on Stripe's pricing page and Stripe's payments overview, checked September 2026.

Where it fits

A plumber whose existing software doesn't include payment collection and wants the cheapest rail without adding a subscription.

Tradeoffs

Stripe alone has no invoicing UI built for field service — no scheduling, no customer database.

6. QuickBooks Payments — Best for Shops Anchored in QuickBooks

What it is

QuickBooks Payments is Intuit's built-in processor for QuickBooks Online, letting invoices get paid without leaving the accounting platform.

Pricing

There's no separate payments subscription — it rides on QuickBooks Online, which starts at $38/month for Simple Start, checked September 2026. Processing runs roughly 2.99% for invoiced/online card payments and 1% for ACH, detailed on QuickBooks Payments' own page and its invoicing feature page.

Where it fits

A plumbing company whose office manager already lives in QuickBooks and doesn't want a second dashboard just to collect payment.

Tradeoffs

It's accounting-first, not a field service CRM — no scheduling, dispatch, or job photos.

7. ServiceTitan — Best for Large Multi-Truck Plumbing Operations

What it is

ServiceTitan is the largest name in field service management, with a configurable pricebook, dispatch board, and payment collection for operations running dozens of jobs a day. Its plumbing page covers the full workflow, and job costing ties materials and labor to margin.

Pricing

ServiceTitan doesn't publish pricing — every plan is a custom quote after a sales demo. Reported figures converge on roughly $245–$500 per technician per month, reported, not vendor-confirmed, plus $5,000–$50,000 in implementation, checked September 2026.

Where it fits

A plumbing company running 20+ technicians with dedicated office and dispatch staff who can use the full reporting depth.

Tradeoffs

ServiceTitan has stated the platform isn't optimized for companies with three or fewer technicians, and implementation commonly runs three to six months.

8. FieldEdge — Best for HVAC/Plumbing Shops on QuickBooks Desktop

What it is

FieldEdge is field service software built for HVAC and plumbing trades on its plumbing software page, known for deep QuickBooks Desktop integration, dispatch tools, and a flat-rate estimating workflow.

Pricing

FieldEdge doesn't publish pricing — quote-only after a sales demo. Independent reports converge on roughly $100–$125 per user per month, reported, not vendor-confirmed, checked September 2026. See FieldEdge's industries overview for its full trade lineup.

Where it fits

An established plumbing shop of 5–50 techs already on QuickBooks Desktop that wants tight two-way accounting sync more than a modern mobile app.

Tradeoffs

No published pricing means no comparison-shopping without a demo, and per-user costs compound fast.

What Operators Say

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best payment processing software for plumbing companies in 2026?

QuoteIQ is the strongest overall pick for most plumbing companies in 2026 because it bundles quoting, invoicing, and Stripe-powered payment collection into one $29.99/month plan with no per-user fees and no separate platform charge for payments. Card processing runs the standard Stripe rate of 2.9% + 30 cents, and ACH runs at 1%, with a 14-day trial available on every tier. Jobber and Housecall Pro are solid alternatives if you want a more established brand name and don't mind paying $49 or $79 a month to start instead. For a plumbing company running 20 or more technicians with dedicated office staff, ServiceTitan's enterprise depth and configurable pricebook may justify the higher price and longer implementation timeline. The right pick really comes down to team size and whether you want payments bundled into a full CRM or handled as a separate line item.

How much does payment processing cost for a plumbing business?

Most card processors land close to the same base rate — around 2.6% to 2.99% plus a small fixed fee per transaction — since most of the software on this list runs on Stripe underneath the surface. ACH bank transfers are consistently cheaper, typically 0.8% to 1% of the transaction with some processors capping the fixed dollar amount, which matters more as your average invoice size grows. On a $2,000 water heater replacement, card fees run roughly $58 to $60 depending on the processor, while ACH on the same invoice runs closer to $16 to $20. For a plumbing company doing a meaningful share of commercial or large-ticket residential work, steering customers toward bank transfer on bigger invoices protects real margin over a year of billing.

Does plumbing payment software require a credit or debit card to start a free trial?

It depends on the vendor, so don't assume either way. QuoteIQ requires a credit or debit card to start its 14-day free trial, and that applies across all five plans from Essentials through Max — you'll need to enter payment details before the trial begins even though you won't be charged until it ends. Some competitors in this category advertise trials without requiring a card upfront, while others require one just like QuoteIQ does. Because this detail changes vendor by vendor and sometimes changes within a single vendor's own plans, check the specific signup page for whichever software you're evaluating before you start the process, rather than assuming your last trial signup tells you what to expect this time.

Is ACH cheaper than credit card for plumbing invoices?

Yes, consistently, across every processor compared in this roundup. ACH bank transfer fees run roughly a third to a tenth of credit card processing fees on a percentage basis, and several processors — including Stripe and Square — cap the fixed dollar amount on larger ACH transactions, which caps your cost even on a big invoice. For a plumbing company that regularly invoices commercial property managers, general contractors, or homeowners for large repipe or repair jobs, offering ACH as a standard payment option on every invoice is one of the simplest, lowest-effort ways to protect margin on your highest-dollar work without changing anything else about how you run the business.

Can plumbers accept payment on the job site with these tools?

Yes. All eight options compared here support some form of on-site payment collection, whether that's a physical card reader, a mobile app's built-in tap-to-pay flow, or a payment link sent by text that the customer completes on their own phone before the technician even leaves the driveway. QuoteIQ and Square both support card-reader collection for swipe, chip, or tap payments. Jobber and Housecall Pro go a step further and additionally support Tap to Pay directly through Stripe Terminal, letting a technician collect a contactless payment using just their phone with no separate reader hardware required at all.

What percentage of plumbing customers pay by credit card versus check?

Card payments have become the dominant way Americans pay across nearly every spending category, and plumbing customers are no exception to that broader shift. Per the Federal Reserve's 2024 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice, credit cards made up 35% of consumer payments by number and debit cards accounted for another 30%, while cash fell to just 14% of transactions. That data reflects overall U.S. consumer behavior, but the trend line matters directly for plumbing businesses: offering a fast, frictionless card-payment link on every invoice has moved from a nice-to-have convenience to closer to a baseline customer expectation, and a plumbing company still relying mainly on checks is increasingly the outlier rather than the norm.

Does QuickBooks integration matter for plumbing payment processing?

It matters most for shops with an office manager who reconciles books weekly rather than monthly, since a native sync cuts out manual data entry every billing cycle. QuoteIQ syncs invoices and payments to QuickBooks Online natively on the Pro plan at $149.99/month and above; Jobber requires its Connect plan or higher for that same sync. If your bookkeeping already lives entirely inside QuickBooks Desktop rather than Online, FieldEdge's deeper native Desktop integration is worth sitting through the sales call for, despite its unpublished, quote-only pricing model making upfront comparison harder.

How big is the U.S. plumbing industry?

The U.S. plumbing contractor market is valued at roughly $121.5 billion, according to IBISWorld industry data, with more than 132,000 individual businesses currently operating in the space across residential and commercial work. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 504,500 plumber, pipefitter, and steamfitter jobs in the United States as of 2024, with employment in the trade projected to grow 4% through 2034 — a pace that outstrips several other skilled trades. That's a large and still-expanding base of businesses, nearly all of which eventually need a faster, more reliable way to collect payment than waiting on a check to arrive in the mail.

Bottom Line

For most plumbing companies, the payment decision isn't really separate from the software decision — the rate on a card swipe barely varies between these eight, but the monthly platform cost and whether payments are bundled or bolted-on varies a lot. QuoteIQ is where I'd start: $29.99/month, payments included from day one, no per-user tax as you add a second truck. If you already live in QuickBooks or need enterprise dispatch depth, one of the others fits better — but check each vendor's own pricing page before you commit, since terms shift through the year. Book a QuoteIQ demo to see the invoice-to-payment flow firsthand.

Sources

• Jobber Pricing — checked September 2026

• Jobber Plumbing Software — checked September 2026

• Housecall Pro Pricing — checked September 2026

• Housecall Pro Plumbing Software — checked September 2026

• Square Pricing — checked September 2026

• Stripe Pricing — checked September 2026

• QuickBooks Online Pricing — checked September 2026

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — plumber employment data

• Plumbing Industry Statistics — Sequoia — IBISWorld market size data

• QuoteIQ Online Payments — checked September 2026

• Jobber vs. QuoteIQ

• The Ultimate CRM for Plumbers in 2026

• Best Quoting Software for HVAC Companies