Housecall Pro answering add-ons: alternatives and pricing
The short answer
Housecall Pro’s software starts at $79 a month billed monthly, or $59 billed yearly, but it lists no price for either answering add-on: software, or HCP Assist live agents. Whichever you pick, Housecall Pro stays. Outside it, PATLive and Moneypenny offer people, Goodcall and Rosie offer software you set up, and CoveDesk is software our team sets up and runs.
Housecall Pro is job software with two answering add-ons, one run by software and one by live agents. You keep Housecall Pro whichever way your calls get picked up, so this page weighs those add-ons against outside services. It can’t give their prices, because Housecall Pro doesn’t list them.
Updated November 3, 2026. CoveDesk is one of the services on this page; other companies’ prices and features are from their own websites, linked below.
Housecall Pro alternatives, by what you need
- PATLive: Live receptionists with published minute prices, and Housecall Pro named among its native connections, so you can see the cost before a sales call. From $49/month: no minutes included, as published.
- Abby Connect: People, software or both from one allowance, with Housecall Pro on its list of native connections at no added charge. From $164/month: 50 Abby Minutes, as published.
- CoveDesk (that’s us): if you want calls picked up, missed callers texted, and your Google profile and website looked after, all set up and run for you. Not live receptionists. Front Desk is $249/mo with 250 minutes. Free 14-day pilot.
- Moneypenny: Sells people, software and a mix, and its home-services page names Housecall Pro. It says connections can be native, through Zapier or by direct link, so ask which. From $165/month: 50 minutes with a person answering, as published.
- Rosie: Software you set up yourself, with a help article on Housecall Pro among its connections. Ask whether it writes jobs or only notes. From $49/month: 250 minutes, as published.
- Goodcall: Software billed by unique customers, so repeat callers count once. It doesn’t name Housecall Pro, though it reaches other tools through Zapier. From $79/month: 100 unique customers, as published.
- Upfirst: Software billed per call that picks up forwarded calls, all or just missed or after hours. Its HVAC page says it can sync with Housecall Pro through Zapier. From $24.95/month: 30 calls, as published.
Housecall Pro pricing
| Plan | Price | Includes | Extra use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $79/month | 1 user, online booking, invoices, payments, scheduling, quotes | Not listed |
| Essentials | $189/month | 5 users | Not listed |
| Max | $329/month | 8 users, proposal tool, onboarding specialist | $35/month per extra user |
| Software answering add-on | Not public | Call answering by software, 24/7 | Not listed |
| HCP Assist (live agents) | Not public | Live agents on weekday, weekend or 24/7 coverage, sold in minute plans | Not listed |
The three plans shown are billed monthly. Billed yearly they’re $59, $149 and $299 a month. Neither answering add-on has a price on the pricing or feature pages we read. Its help article points to a self-serve sign-up or a sales demo for the software one. That’s why this page has no cost table. Voice, its phone system, is a separate add-on from $45 or $65 a month plus overages.
Housecall Pro vs CoveDesk
| What to compare | Housecall Pro | CoveDesk |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers | Your choice of add-on: software 24/7, or HCP Assist live agents on the coverage you pick. Source: Housecall Pro, who answers (opens in a new tab) | A trained voice assistant, set up and run by our team, in your business’s name, day or night. Not live receptionists. Callers hear a short notice at the start of the call. |
| Published price | Software plans from $79 a month billed monthly. Neither answering add-on has a listed price. Source: Housecall Pro, published price (opens in a new tab) | Front Desk: $249/mo with 250 minutes. Text-Back alone: $99/mo. |
| How use is counted | HCP Assist: starts on connect, rounds up to the next 30 seconds, plus 30 seconds of after-call work. Spam under 15 seconds isn’t billed. The software add-on’s billing isn’t stated. Source: Housecall Pro, how use is counted (opens in a new tab) | By the minute. Seconds are added up over the month and rounded once, not per call. Extra minutes $0.35 each. Alerts at 80% and 100% of your minutes. |
| Setup fee | None listed for plans or answering add-ons. Source: Housecall Pro, setup fee (opens in a new tab) | None. |
| Contract | No long-term contract required for the software. Terms for the answering add-ons aren’t stated. Source: Housecall Pro, contract (opens in a new tab) | Front Desk is month to month. See pricing for other plans. |
| Free trial | 14 days on Max with no card. The HCP Assist page also mentions a 14-day trial. Source: Housecall Pro, free trial (opens in a new tab) | Free 14-day pilot. We set it up, it’s live within 48 hours, and you can start with just your after-hours calls. |
| Money-back guarantee | Not stated on the pages we read. Source: Housecall Pro, money-back guarantee (opens in a new tab) | 30-day money-back guarantee. If it isn’t working for you, tell us within 30 days of your first plan payment and we’ll end the plan and refund your first month’s plan fee. |
| Who sets it up | Software add-on: you forward calls and set it up in the app. HCP Assist: agents tailor scripts to your services. Source: Housecall Pro, who sets it up (opens in a new tab) | Our team sets it up, writes your script and runs it. |
| Urgent calls | The software add-on can forward to a number you choose in company hours, hand off to an HCP Assist agent, and text you after hours and for emergencies. Source: Housecall Pro, urgent calls (opens in a new tab) | Urgent calls are put straight through to you. No on-call rotation yet. |
| Booking | HCP Assist agents book onto your calendar. The software add-on’s help article describes booking but also lists it as coming soon, so confirm. Source: Housecall Pro, booking (opens in a new tab) | Takes the details and sends them to you to call back. No calendar booking yet. |
| Job software and CRMs | Both add-ons sync to your Housecall Pro account, since they’re part of it. Source: Housecall Pro, job software and crms (opens in a new tab) | None yet. Details arrive by text and in your CoveDesk account. |
| Spanish | Listed as coming for the software add-on. The HCP Assist page doesn’t mention Spanish. Source: Housecall Pro, spanish (opens in a new tab) | Not yet. |
| Text back after a missed call | Its Voice phone system, a separate paid product, can text existing customers after a missed call. Replying to texts on the software add-on is marked as coming soon. Source: Housecall Pro, text back after a missed call (opens in a new tab) | Yes, included in Front Desk or on its own with Text-Back. |
| Review requests | Review requests after each job or payment, in every plan. Source: Housecall Pro, review requests (opens in a new tab) | Done for you with Google Business Profile Management, $149/mo. |
| Google profile care | Replying to Google reviews is covered. Managing the profile isn’t described. Source: Housecall Pro, google profile care (opens in a new tab) | Done for you, $149/mo, or included in Front Office. |
| Website | Built for you as an add-on: $99 or $149 a month, plus $99 setup. Source: Housecall Pro, website (opens in a new tab) | Built and looked after for you, or included in Front Office. See pricing. |
Stay with Housecall Pro if
- You want real people and your own calendar. HCP Assist agents take the call and book onto your Housecall Pro calendar. CoveDesk has no live receptionists and doesn’t book.
- You want one company for both kinds of answering. The software add-on can hand a call to an HCP Assist agent. CoveDesk puts urgent calls through to the owner and nowhere else.
- You want the job to appear without typing. Both add-ons sync to your account, and when the software can’t book it tells you by text and in your inbox. Nothing reaches Housecall Pro from CoveDesk today.
- Coverage should follow your week. HCP Assist can run weekdays, weekends or around the clock, whichever you pick, with scripts tailored to your services.
How many minutes does HCP Assist bill for a call?
Its site won’t tell you what a minute costs, but its terms do tell you how a call turns into minutes: billing starts on connect, rounds up to the next 30-second mark, then adds 30 seconds for after-call work. So you can work out what to ask for.
- A 40-second wrong number. Rounds up to 1:00, plus 0:30: 1.5 billed minutes.
- A 2:10 call. Rounds up to 2:30, plus 0:30: 3 billed minutes.
- 40 calls a month at 2:30 each. 100 minutes of talking, 120 billed.
- 100 calls. 250 minutes of talking, 300 billed.
- 200 calls. 500 minutes of talking, 600 billed.
At that average, the bill runs at least 20% above talk time. When you ask for a quote, ask for the price of 120, 300 or 600 minutes, not the minutes you think you talk. These rules are written for HCP Assist. We didn’t find how the software add-on is billed, and the rules for Voice, its phone system, are different, so don’t assume they carry over.
Can you use CoveDesk with Housecall Pro?
You can run them together, and you’d keep Housecall Pro for scheduling, invoices and reviews. Calls forward to CoveDesk and each caller’s details reach you by text. The two aren’t connected yet, though, so nothing appears in Housecall Pro on its own. A customer record or job exists there only once someone on your side enters it. If that typing is the part you’re trying to avoid, an add-on that writes to your calendar is the better fit.
Why owners look past Housecall Pro
- You can’t price it from its site. Base plans are public, but neither answering add-on shows a price. You can’t compare them with anything until you’ve started signing up or talked to sales.
- Some parts are still coming. Its help article marks replying to texts and Spanish as coming soon, and describes booking both as a feature and as coming soon.
- Booking by a person needs the second add-on. The same article says HCP Assist agents only book appointments with a separate HCP Assist subscription. Ask what you’d buy to get a job on the calendar.
- HCP Assist bills past the talking. After-call work is charged on every connected call, and only short spam calls come off.
Where CoveDesk is different
- The price is on the page. CoveDesk’s prices are published, so you can compare before talking to anybody.
- It’s not tied to your job software. It works by call forwarding, so it doesn’t matter which software you run, or if you change it later.
- Missed-call texts are in the plan. They come with Front Desk, while text replies are still marked as coming on Housecall Pro’s software add-on.
- What you give up. A voice assistant answers, not a person, with a short notice at the start of the call. No booking, no Spanish, and you’d type details into Housecall Pro yourself.
Switching from Housecall Pro
- How to cancel. Its terms say to email cancellations@housecallpro.com. It may verify the request, and accounts are disabled within 14 days. For the software answering add-on, its help article points to a request from the billing tab or support. Source: Housecall Pro’s terms (opens in a new tab)
- Renewal and refunds. Subscriptions renew for another full period unless you cancel first, and fees aren’t prorated or refunded unless the terms say so. Credits it has issued are lost when the account closes. Source: Housecall Pro’s terms (opens in a new tab)
- Your number. You forward calls from your own number, so it stays with your carrier unless you port it in. If you do port it in, moving it back out is your job. Its terms say your Housecall Pro notification number may not be transferable and is held for 90 days after you cancel. Source: Housecall Pro’s terms (opens in a new tab)
- Pausing. To stop the software add-on for a while, turn off forwarding with your phone carrier. It’s the simplest way to test another service on the same calls. Source: Housecall Pro’s terms (opens in a new tab)
Before you cancel anything, forward your calls to the new service and make three test calls of your own: a new customer, an urgent problem and a wrong number.
How we checked this
We make CoveDesk, so we’re not neutral, and this page isn’t a review. Everything about Housecall Pro comes from its own website, read on November 3, 2026, with the pages linked below. We haven’t bought its service, and we don’t quote ratings or anyone’s opinion as fact. Where we couldn’t find a fact, we say so instead of guessing, and “not mentioned” means not on the pages we read, which isn’t a search of its whole site.
Common questions
Does Housecall Pro have a phone answering assistant?
How much does HCP Assist cost?
What is the pricing for Housecall Pro?
What is better, Jobber or Housecall Pro?
Can I keep my number if I leave Housecall Pro?
How do I cancel Housecall Pro?
Is CoveDesk a live receptionist service?
Sources
What this page says about Housecall Pro comes from these pages of its website, read on November 3, 2026:
- https://www.housecallpro.com/pricing/ (opens in a new tab) (plans and prices, setup fee, contract, free trial, money-back guarantee)
- https://www.housecallpro.com/hcp-assist/ (opens in a new tab) (who answers, job software and crms)
- https://www.housecallpro.com/terms-of-service/ (opens in a new tab) (how use is counted, switching)
- https://help.housecallpro.com/en/articles/9740104-csr-ai-overview (opens in a new tab) (who sets it up, urgent calls, booking, spanish, switching)
- https://help.housecallpro.com/en/articles/6750234-voice-settings-overview (opens in a new tab) (text back after a missed call)
- https://www.housecallpro.com/features/reviews/ (opens in a new tab) (review requests, google profile care)
- https://www.housecallpro.com/lp/websites/ (opens in a new tab) (website)
- CoveDesk: our pricing page
Prices and features change; check Housecall Pro’s website before you buy. Company names are the trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify their services; none of them is affiliated with or endorses CoveDesk. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we’ll fix it.
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