The best 10 lawn care business apps (free and paid)

“There’s an app for that™,” said one of the world’s biggest tech companies. And lawn care is no exception. If you’re spending more time managing staff than tending lawns then you might have a problem. And while apps can’t do lawn care for you, they can help in many ways, from simplifying scheduling to calculating costs and sharing great reviews. Here’s a list of our top 10 recommended apps for your lawn care business. And, because we know small businesses rely on great people, we’ve started with our own app, Homebase, which specializes in scheduling, time tracking, and team communication, even across multiple locations.So you can spend less time worrying about logistics, and more time actually building your business.

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7 ways apps can help you manage your lawn care business

Here are some great ways that apps can help your business run more efficiently and save hours of time and stress — so you can get on with the lawn care.

1. Schedule staff members — Create easy, fast, and accurate schedules for your lawn care staff with apps like Homebase, so everyone knows where they need to be and when.
2. Simplify time tracking — Easily record working hours, even for remote and distributed teams, to control labor costs and avoid time theft. Homebase and Harvest excel in this.
3. Improve customer communication — Giving clients a good first impression is key, and you should always respond helpfully and promptly from the first inquiry to the final review. Jobber is a great option here.
4. Estimate material costs — Ensuring your lawn care business is profitable means correctly estimating which materials you need. Apps like Area Volume Calculator and Turf Therapy can help calculate space size, and buy the right amount of product.
5. Figure out pricing and profit — Price your services correctly to ensure profit with apps like Profit Margin Calculator. Tweak labor costs, overheads, and expenses for best results.
6. Identify different types of plants and their condition — Even experts can use some help sometimes, and apps like LeafSnap and FieldScout let you use your phone to analyze the health of lawns and plants, so you can figure out the next steps.
7. Share great reviews and drum up word-of-mouth business — Don’t let your lawn care business be the neighborhood’s best-kept secret. Apps like CamCompany let you take and share photos and videos of your work. While NiceJob collects and shares positive reviews for word-of-mouth referrals and online bookings.

The shortlist: The 10 best lawn care business apps

1. Homebase: For scheduling, remote time tracking, and team communication
2. Jobber: For customer communication
3. Harvest: For time tracking and invoicing
4. Profit Margin Calculator: For simple profit calculations
5. Area Volume Calculator: For easy volume calculations
6. LeafSnap: For instant plant identification and care
7. Turf Therapy: For simple fertilizer calculations
8. FieldScout: For soil and plant diagnostics
9. NiceJob: For customer reviews and referrals
10. CompanyCam: For field job tracking via photos and video

Homebase: For scheduling, remote time tracking, and team communication

Homebase's mobile app makes people and job management easier in the field and in the office. Source[/caption] Homebase is an all-in-one app designed for small business owners who manage a team of hourly-based staff. It makes people management much easier, so you can schedule and track your lawn care jobs, pay your team members accurately, and control labor costs. How does it benefit lawn care businesses? Homebase is a one-stop shop for all team management aspects of your small lawn care business. Unlike some, its mobile app offers nearly all of the same functionality as its desktop version, so you can use it even when in the field (or backyard) on a job. The stand-out features include:

• Scheduling app for automated and easy shift creation, so you can schedule staff without clashes, on the go
• Time clock and timesheets for accurate hourly tracking, compliant working hours, less staff burnout, less time theft, and controlled labor costs
• Payroll for quick and easy payments that take timesheets and create accurate wages automatically. There’s no need for a separate tool, and it’s all done on the same platform.
• Hiring and onboarding including pre-written job templates, jobs board posting, job promotion, and applicant tracking.
• Team communication to empower staff to share useful job tips and hand over notes between shifts, for a better community, improved working conditions, and higher productivity — even if staff aren’t working in the same location
• Employee happiness including shout-outs for a job well done, which boosts motivation, and the option for staff to cash out wages early if needed
• HR & compliance with federal, state, and local laws, and the ability to manage HR documentation and sensitive data in one place
• Integrations with leading tools like QuickBooks and Toast, so you can remain productive with your existing business tools

How much is it? Homebase’s app, and scheduling and timesheet tool, are completely free to use. However, if you want to maximize efficiency and get the most out of the entire software, we offer the following price options.

• Basic: Free for one location and up to 20 employees. It includes basic scheduling and time tracking, employee management tools like Messaging, point-of-sale integrations, and access to email support. 
• Essentials: $24.95 per month per location. Everything in Basic, plus payroll integrations, team communication, performance tracking,  advanced time tracking and scheduling, and access to live support.
• Plus: $59.95 per month per location. Everything in Essentials, plus hiring tools, retention and performance tracking, time off controls, and departments and permissions.
• All-in-one: $99.95 per month per location. Everything in Plus, with HR and compliance, new hire onboarding, labor cost controls, and business insights.

Users can also save 20% on their overall cost when they sign up for an annual plan. Available on iOS and Android.

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2. Jobber: For customer communication

Jobber lets you take bookings, send quotes, schedule jobs, automate reminders, and get paid. Source[/caption] Jobber aims to improve customer service and communication, from initial inquiry to final payment. You can send quotes by text and email, follow up easily, and save hours on invoicing. How does it benefit lawn care businesses?Jobber has a wide variety of features across client messaging, invoicing, and communication.

• Mobile app designed to work on the go when in the field
• Online quote requests and jobs bookings for clients
• Automatic lawn care job scheduling to help plan your day and include breaks
• Job reminders and appointment notifications for staff and customers
• Professional quotes sent by text message and emails
• Job tracking to monitor expenses and ongoing notes
• Card reader and online payment system
• Client data storage and full client history
• Automated follow-ups to close jobs or remind clients to pay
• Batch invoicing for fast billing

How much is it? Jobber has four levels of paid plan.

• Lite: $19 per month for one user. Unlimited client messaging, quotes and invoices, and online payments.
• Core: $56 per month for one user. Everything in Lite, plus job scheduling and management, reporting, and online request form.
• Connect: $19 per month for one to five users. Everything in Core, plus automated reminders and payments, custom forms and schedules, and integration with accounting and automation tools.
• Grow: $280 per month for one to 15 users. Everything in Connect, plus quote add-ons, automated quote follow-ups, two-way text message, and lead management.

You can also try it free for 14 days. Available on iOS and Android.

3. Harvest: For time tracking and invoicing

Harvest specializes in time tracking but also has tools for budgeting, invoicing, and reporting. Source[/caption] Launched in NYC in 2006, Harvest was one of the first mobile-friendly time trackers. It still specializes in time tracking (and says it results in 80% less admin), but now it also lets you send invoices, create reports, and monitor budgets. Harvest also has a growing range of integrations and a forever-free plan.How does it benefit lawn care businesses? Harvest’s features are split across three main categories: time tracking, reports, and invoicing.

• Mobile, desktop, and browser time tracking wherever you and your team are
• Tool integration for seamless time clocking and integration
• Automated reminders for staff to help ensure accurate tracking and breaks
• Budget updates and cost monitoring to keep projects on track
• Team capacity monitoring to ensure no-one’s over- or under-worked
• Time analysis to see which projects are impacting costs the most
• Detailed filters to help you make data-driven decisions
• Invoices created accurately with time tracking
• Online payments and simple accounting with integrations like PayPal, Stripe, and QuickBooks

How much is it? There are two options.

• Free: $0. Includes “one seat” (or user), and two projects. All features.
• Pro: $12. Includes unlimited “seats” and unlimited projects. All features.

Harvest also offers a 30-day free trial. Available on iOS and Android.

4. Profit Margin Calculator: For simple profit calculations

Profit Margin Calculator lets you see your net profit margin. Source[/caption] Profit Margin Calculator helps service businesses with hourly staff to calculate their net profit margin. Not strictly an app, but an online tool from communication platform Jobber, it works on phones, tablets, and desktops. How does it benefit lawn care businesses? Profit Margin Calculator lets you enter four different figures and then gives you your profit and markup. This means you can add up costs, labor, and overheads, and see where you’re overspending or not charging enough. Depending on your industry, your net profit margin is likely about 10-20%.The calculator:

• Lets you add labor, material, and overhead costs
• Factors in the service price you charge your clients
• Shows you how much profit you’re earning on completed jobs

How much is it? It’s free. Jobber also offers a free invoice template that you can complete and send to clients, once you’ve worked out your costs and how much profit you want to make.

5. Area Volume Calculator: For easy volume calculations

Area Volume Calculator offers more than 170 preset shapes for easy calculations. Source[/caption] With another clear title, this app works on smartphones and tablets, and helps you calculate the area volume of a 3D shape. This is perfect if your latest lawn care or landscaping job requires you to clear or fill a space. It also calculates by area (2D) or volume (3D), using presets.  And it’s free.How does it benefit lawn care businesses? The tool is easy to use and works like a calculator. You type in your dimensions, and it gives you the result.Features include:

• The ability to enter depth, height, and width dimensions
• 170+ preset shapes like cylinder or cube, plus subshapes like parallelepiped (3D parallelogram)
• Swipe through categories and shapes to select or type to search directly
• Calculation methods for partial measurements, e.g. if you only have the radius measurement
• Material selector that includes 1,500 materials, such as metals, wood, soil, or liquids
• Calculations in metric and inches, from millimeters to miles
• Illustrations of the shapes and clearly labels dimensions to help understanding

How much is it?Free to download and use. Available on iOS and Android.

6. LeafSnap: For instant plant identification and care

LeafSnap uses a database of more than 30,000 plants worldwide to help identify photos. Source[/caption] Leafsnap is an intuitive app that turns your smartphone camera into an analytical lens. Snap a photo of a plant and the app identifies it, and gives you a step-by-step guide on how to take care of it. Plus, LeafSnap is aesthetically pleasing and addresses its users as “plant lovers,” which is a nice touch. How does it benefit lawn care businesses?LeafSnap is a simple but powerful way to identify plants and know what you’re dealing with in a garden. Features include:

• A database of 32,000 types of plants from across the world
• Reminders for your daily plant-care tasks
• Advice on the best way to photograph your plants 
• Step-by-step care guides for each plant

How much is it? There are two ways to use LeafSnap. 

• Pro: Free to download and use. Includes ads and limits on plant identification and care guides. 
• Premium: $5 per month or $26 per year. Removes ads. No limits on plant identification or step-by-step care guides. Access to the full plant database, and advanced identification.

Available on iOS and Android.

7. Turf Therapy: For simple fertilizer calculations

Turf Therapy lets you calculate fertilizer rates and costs with simple calculators and trackers. Source[/caption] Figuring out fertilizer is crucial for a lawn care specialist, since getting it wrong can be expensive and dangerous. This app helps you to calculate the granular and liquid fertilizer application rates of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), and aims to help lawn care businesses train staff and calculate quotes. As the app’s creator says: “Say goodbye to long, drawn out, mind-numbing math!”How does it benefit lawn care businesses?The app has several highly-focused features, including:

• Granular or liquid calculation rate options
• A “therapy journal” to monitor the products applied
• A cost calculator to keep projects on track

How much is it? The app costs $0.99 to download, for all features. Available on iOS and Android.

8. FieldScout: For soil and plant diagnostics

FieldScout lets you set up your phone to measure the relative “greenness” of your turf. Source[/caption] FieldScout, or FieldScout GreenIndex+ Turf to give it its full name, may sound complicated but its aim is simple. It gauges turf health by measuring its relative “greenness” (or chlorophyll content.) The app uses what it calls the DGCI (Dark Green Color Index) and, through your phone’s camera, helps you determine your turf’s health, so you can decide your next steps when caring for a turf lawn. How does it benefit lawn care businesses?The app is relatively simple to use, with features including:

• A white balance lock for your phone’s camera, to help create the correct color reference 
• Timestamp and GPS log information (if Location Services are enabled), for use with other programs if you wish
• The ability to combine multiple samples into a single computation
• Image pairing for comparison of different sections of turf

How much is it? The app costs $49.99 to download and use, for all features. Available on iOS.

9. NiceJob: For customer reviews and referrals

NiceJob lets you automate review requests via text, to gain social proof and boost sales. Source[/caption] What’s better than a happy lawn care customer? A happy lawn care customer that tells everyone how great your work is and gets you lots of new business! And this app makes getting and sharing great reviews even easier. Designed for local businesses that rely on word-of-mouth, it helps you get more reviews, more referrals, more web presence, and more sales. How does it benefit lawn care businesses? The NiceJob platform splits its features across six categories: reviews, referrals, sites, social proof, insights, and gifts. These include:

• The ability to share reviews online and get high rankings on search engines
• Automated positive review sharing on social media to drive engagement
• Automated referral invites for customers to share recommendations to others
• Review and referral requests via text for easy communication
• Microsite web builder designed for small business owners to generate more direct bookings
• Social Proof website widget to embed positive reviews on your own site
• The ability to offer gifts for customers, including tokens and thank yous, to build loyalty
• Staff leaderboards to encourage “friendly competition” among staff members

How much is it? NiceJob prices its monthly packages depending on how many customers you have per year. It also has a limited free option, no matter how many customers you have. 

• Free: $0. Review and referral requests, and shows reviews on your own site. Customer management.
• Grow: $75 per month for up to 2,500 customers. Everything included in Free, plus automated reviews and referral requests, automated social sharing, and staff leaderboards.
• Grow + Sites: $75 per month for up to 2,500 customers, plus $399 set up fee. Everything in Grow, plus a website, personal website coach, SEO optimization, and marketing analytics.

NiceJob also offers a 14-day free trial. Available on iOS.

10. CompanyCam: For field job tracking via photos and video

CompanyCam lets you gather high-quality images and videos to share project progress and show off your good work, even remotely. Source[/caption] CompanyCam aims to make it easier to manage and record progress in a field job business. As its name suggests, it focuses on managing photos, videos, chats, and projects under a single digital umbrella, so you can share progress, scan documents, and improve marketing. How does it benefit lawn care businesses? CompanyCam uses cloud storage to manage every aspect of its tools. Features include:

• Video capture, to show details in 4K
• Photo annotation to take images and add text, drawings, and helpful notes
• Document scanning to capture PDFs and other helpful papers
• Report templates to save time on tracking projects
• Offline mode, to keep projects moving even if you don’t have a signal
• Project management, including maps, labels, contact details, and GPS stamps to stay focused
• Custom checklists and to-do lists to share project progress
• Integrations with tools including Jobber and Salesforce for a comprehensive tech stack
• High-res photos and videos to show off your results and get more bookings

How much is it? CompanyCam offers three tiers of pricing.

• Pro: $24 per user per month. Includes unlimited projects and storage. Real-time photos, checklists, templates, website project widget, PDF photo reports.
• Premium: $34 per user per month. Everything in Pro, plus logo stickers, 4K videos and high-quality photos, 10-minute videos, chat, email, and phone support, plus onboarding help
• Enterprise: Price on request. For 50+ users. Everything in Premium, plus quarterly business reviews, locked contract rates, onboarding training, success manager, and VIP chat, email, and phone support. 

CompanyCam also offers a 14-day trial of its Premium plan. Available on iOS and Android.

From Harvest to Homebase: The best lawn care business apps

When you use apps to automate your lawn care business, you can spend more time focusing on actually caring for lawns (and less time on admin.) Depending on your needs, an app like Jobber can help you improve customer communication, get online quotes, and send invoices promptly. There’s Harvest for time tracking and budgeting; LeafSnap for step-by-step guides to beautiful plants; and Profit Margin Calculator for, well, calculating profit. Then there’s NiceJob and CompanyCam, which enable you to document and share your work in the best possible light, for effective marketing and excellent online reviews.And for an all-in-one app, you can choose Homebase to manage priorities like scheduling, time tracking, and team communication. It also gives you must-have tools like payroll, hiring, HR management, labor cost controls, and compliance, all under the same digital roof. So you can manage your people, just as well as you manage your plants. Because there may be an app for pretty much everything, but the fewer you need to juggle, the better. 

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