Guides
Commercial cleaning software: a reviewed shortlist
Eight commercial cleaning platforms reviewed against a twelve-test trial protocol, from night entry and time by site to invoicing and data exit.
What to take away
- Eight commercial cleaning software products carry most of the market: Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, Aspire, Janitorial Manager, CleanTelligent, TEAM Software and OrangeQC. Each suits a different size of operation.
- Each entry below states what the named product does, who it fits, and which tests to watch. No product was hands-on tested; the notes come from public product pages and published pricing signals.
- Judge them on what a night crew does in a locked building, not on the sales demonstration.
- Run the twelve tests below on your own route, with your own task cards, for one full billing cycle.
- A failure on night entry, access-code handling or data exit ends the trial for that product.
- The tool that passes reports your KPI set without an export to a spreadsheet.
The eight reviewed products, and who each one fits
Each entry names the product, the buyer it fits, what it covers, and the tests to watch. A vendor demonstration is not a substitute for the twelve tests.
Jobber handles quoting, scheduling, invoicing and payments for small crews. It suits a residential and light-commercial operator running two to ten cleaners. Public U.S. list prices for its entry tier have been in the $30 to $60 per user per month range, depending on billing term. Watch tests 2 and 10.
Housecall Pro covers quoting, scheduling, invoicing and payments, plus booking, reminders and card payments on site. It fits a company selling to small business clients who expect text updates. Public U.S. plans typically run from about $79 to $349 per month, depending on plan and billing term. Watch tests 1, 5 and 6.
ServiceTitan is built for field trades at scale, with dispatch, payroll and reporting depth. It suits a company with fifty or more staff and a dedicated office administrator. Pricing is quote-based, with no public list price. Watch tests 7 and 12.
Aspire targets commercial grounds and janitorial contractors, with job costing by site and crew. It fits a multi-site contractor who needs margin per building. Pricing is quote-based, with no public list price. Watch tests 3 and 7.
Janitorial Manager is purpose-built for cleaning: inspections, task cards, supply tracking, time and attendance. It suits a janitorial company with multiple supervisors and buildings. Pricing is quote-based. Watch tests 4 and 8.
CleanTelligent centers on inspections, quality scoring and client reporting. It fits an operation whose renewals depend on documented quality. Pricing is quote-based. Watch tests 4 and 11.
TEAM Software covers janitorial and security contractors with scheduling, payroll and billing at enterprise scale. It suits regional contractors with several hundred employees. Pricing is quote-based. Watch tests 3 and 12.
OrangeQC is an inspection and quality platform with photo documentation and client dashboards. It fits a company that wants proof of service without replacing its billing system. Pricing is quoted per building per month. Watch tests 4 and 10.
Which of the eight suits a two-person operation?
Jobber or Housecall Pro. Both publish per-user monthly pricing, both handle quoting through payment, and neither charges for the reporting depth a two-person crew will not open.
Which products handle inspections?
Janitorial Manager, CleanTelligent and OrangeQC. Janitorial Manager ties inspections to task cards and supplies. CleanTelligent and OrangeQC focus on quality scoring and client reports.
For a crew of two to ten cleaners, shortlist Jobber first. From ten cleaners to a multi-site operation with supervisors, shortlist Janitorial Manager first, with OrangeQC where quality reporting drives renewals. Above fifty staff, shortlist ServiceTitan or TEAM Software. Jobber and Housecall Pro publish list prices; the rest are quote-only.
The software and KPI guide defines the four jobs these tools are hired to do. The twelve tests below check each product against them.
The trial protocol
- Schedule visibility. Publish one real route with access windows. Can the crew, the supervisor and the coverage person all see a change within a minute?
- Night-time entry. A crew member records arrival, a card item and close-out at a real site, with gloves on, in a building with poor signal. Does it work offline and sync later?
- Time by site. After one night, does the product show hours per worker per site, travel included, without editing?
- Inspection against the card. Load one building's task card. Can a supervisor score each area, attach a photo and record the corrective action, and does the customer report come out readable?
- Scope to invoice. Enter one signed scope with a monthly price and one periodic on a calendar. Does the invoice come out right on the first of the month?
- Extras and approvals. Record one emergency call at the hourly rate with a minimum. Does it reach the invoice with the approval attached?
- KPI production. Ask for hours against priced hours by site, inspection score trend by area, and days to payment by account. Note any that need an export.
- Access-code handling. Where are keys, alarm codes and badge numbers stored, who can see them, and is access logged? The National Institute of Standards and Technology's small business quick-start guides and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's guidance for small and medium businesses give the questions to put to the vendor in writing.
- Departure. Remove a worker's access as if they had left today. How long did it take, and what could they still see?
- Data exit. Ask for a full export in a format your accountant can open. Time it. Read the contract clause on what happens to your data when you stop paying.
- Records for others. Can it produce, by account and by period, the timesheets, invoices and receipts that the IRS page on what records a business should keep describes as supporting documents for income and expenses?
- Cost at the next size. Ask the vendor in writing what the price becomes with one more route, one more crew and a second city.
Your scoring sheet
No hands-on scores were produced for this article. The table is a blank worksheet for your own trial.
Jobber
- 1 Schedule visibility
- 2 Night-time entry
- 3 Time by site
- 4 Inspection against the card
- 5 Scope to invoice
- 6 Extras and approvals
- 7 KPI production
- 8 Access-code handling
- 9 Departure
- 10 Data exit
- 11 Records for others
- 12 Cost at the next size
Housecall Pro
- 1 Schedule visibility
- 2 Night-time entry
- 3 Time by site
- 4 Inspection against the card
- 5 Scope to invoice
- 6 Extras and approvals
- 7 KPI production
- 8 Access-code handling
- 9 Departure
- 10 Data exit
- 11 Records for others
- 12 Cost at the next size
ServiceTitan
- 1 Schedule visibility
- 2 Night-time entry
- 3 Time by site
- 4 Inspection against the card
- 5 Scope to invoice
- 6 Extras and approvals
- 7 KPI production
- 8 Access-code handling
- 9 Departure
- 10 Data exit
- 11 Records for others
- 12 Cost at the next size
Aspire
- 1 Schedule visibility
- 2 Night-time entry
- 3 Time by site
- 4 Inspection against the card
- 5 Scope to invoice
- 6 Extras and approvals
- 7 KPI production
- 8 Access-code handling
- 9 Departure
- 10 Data exit
- 11 Records for others
- 12 Cost at the next size
Janitorial Manager
- 1 Schedule visibility
- 2 Night-time entry
- 3 Time by site
- 4 Inspection against the card
- 5 Scope to invoice
- 6 Extras and approvals
- 7 KPI production
- 8 Access-code handling
- 9 Departure
- 10 Data exit
- 11 Records for others
- 12 Cost at the next size
CleanTelligent
- 1 Schedule visibility
- 2 Night-time entry
- 3 Time by site
- 4 Inspection against the card
- 5 Scope to invoice
- 6 Extras and approvals
- 7 KPI production
- 8 Access-code handling
- 9 Departure
- 10 Data exit
- 11 Records for others
- 12 Cost at the next size
TEAM Software
- 1 Schedule visibility
- 2 Night-time entry
- 3 Time by site
- 4 Inspection against the card
- 5 Scope to invoice
- 6 Extras and approvals
- 7 KPI production
- 8 Access-code handling
- 9 Departure
- 10 Data exit
- 11 Records for others
- 12 Cost at the next size
OrangeQC
- 1 Schedule visibility
- 2 Night-time entry
- 3 Time by site
- 4 Inspection against the card
- 5 Scope to invoice
- 6 Extras and approvals
- 7 KPI production
- 8 Access-code handling
- 9 Departure
- 10 Data exit
- 11 Records for others
- 12 Cost at the next size
Score each cell as passed, passed with a workaround, or failed. A failure on tests two, eight or ten ends the trial for that product regardless of the rest.
Scoring sheet
Jobber
- 1 Schedule visibility
- 2 Night-time entry
- 3 Time by site
- 4 Inspection vs card
- 5 Scope to invoice
- 6 Extras and approvals
- 7 KPI production
- 8 Access-code handling
Housecall Pro
- 1 Schedule visibility
- 2 Night-time entry
- 3 Time by site
- 4 Inspection vs card
- 5 Scope to invoice
- 6 Extras and approvals
- 7 KPI production
- 8 Access-code handling
ServiceTitan
- 1 Schedule visibility
- 2 Night-time entry
- 3 Time by site
- 4 Inspection vs card
- 5 Scope to invoice
- 6 Extras and approvals
- 7 KPI production
- 8 Access-code handling
Aspire
- 1 Schedule visibility
- 2 Night-time entry
- 3 Time by site
- 4 Inspection vs card
- 5 Scope to invoice
- 6 Extras and approvals
- 7 KPI production
- 8 Access-code handling
What the trial cannot tell you
It cannot tell you whether the crew will still use the tool in month four. That depends on whether the supervisor inspects the records, which the hiring and training guide puts in the working supervisor's role.
It cannot say whether the customer report will win the next account. That depends on the marketing and growth guide: the report is the sales material.
It also cannot say whether the safety and compliance records the licensing and compliance guide puts on a worksheet belong in the tool or a file beside it. Either works if you keep it.
When to run the trial at all
Not before the route needs it. The equipment and setup guide places scheduling and inspection software at stage two, when three or more sites and more than one worker make a shared schedule necessary. Before that, paper produces the four records, and a trial is a distraction from cleaning.
Budget the trial in supervisor hours: typically four to six supervisor hours per product across one billing cycle, plus a short crew session on each night a test runs. The figure depends on how many sites the route covers and whether the vendor configures your task cards for you.
When to run the trial
Do you have three or more sites and more than one worker?
Run the trial
Stick with paper
Common questions
How long should a trial run?
One full billing cycle, so test five is real. A two-week demonstration never reaches the invoice.
What if a product passes eleven tests and fails data exit?
Fail it. Everything you record will be inside it, and the day you need to leave is the day the export matters.
Should I trial more than one at a time?
Two, on the same route in the same week, with the same crew. More than that and the crew stops recording anything.
