HVAC is the most seasonal of the trades. The phones go quiet in the shoulder months, then the first real heat wave or cold snap hits and every system that limped through last year quits at once. A shop that can't answer during those weeks loses the jobs it spent all year marketing for. The rest of the year the work shifts to tune-ups, maintenance agreements and replacement proposals, which need different tools: load calculations, equipment options, financing and follow-up.
This guide sorts the software HVAC contractors commonly use by the job it does, with what each tool does and its published price, checked on each vendor's own site. We don't rank them. Your mix of service, replacement and new-construction work, and how many trucks you run, decide what fits.
The short answer
- Run the jobs: A field-service management app (ServiceTitan, FieldEdge, Housecall Pro, Jobber, Service Fusion) for dispatch, maintenance agreements, estimates, invoices and payments.
- Size the system: Load calculation and duct design software (Wrightsoft Right-Suite, CoolCalc) for replacements and new installs.
- Price the work: A flat-rate price book, built in or dedicated, such as Profit Rhino.
- Keep the books: QuickBooks Online or Xero.
- Answer the phone: A phone and texting setup that keeps up on the first 95-degree day.
What HVAC software has to handle
- Peak-season call spikes: No-cool and no-heat calls arrive in waves. You need a way to answer all of them, sort true emergencies (elderly residents, infants, extreme temperatures) and set honest arrival windows.
- Maintenance agreements: Spring cooling and fall heating tune-ups, member pricing and renewal reminders. This recurring revenue smooths out the slow months, and your software has to schedule it without manual lists.
- Replacement sales: Good-better-best equipment options, load calculations, rebates and financing. These are the biggest tickets most HVAC shops write.
- Refrigerant rules: Technicians who work on equipment that could release ozone-depleting refrigerants must be certified under EPA Section 608 (EPA, checked October 18, 2026). Keep certifications on file where dispatch can see them.
- Equipment history: Model and serial numbers, install dates and warranty status for every unit you service.
Field-service management apps
| Tool | What it does for an HVAC shop | Published pricing (checked October 18, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| ServiceTitan | A larger platform used by multi-truck residential and commercial HVAC shops: dispatch, memberships, price book, sales presentations and reporting; sells Phones Pro, a built-in phone system | Quote-based; confirm with the vendor; priced per technician (ServiceTitan pricing) |
| FieldEdge | Field-service software built for HVAC, plumbing and electrical contractors | Quote-based; confirm with the vendor (FieldEdge pricing) |
| Housecall Pro | Scheduling, dispatch, estimates and invoicing; Max adds recurring service plans and a sales proposal tool | Basic $79/mo ($59 billed annually), Essentials $189/mo ($149), Max $329/mo ($299) (Housecall Pro pricing) |
| Jobber | Quotes, scheduling, invoicing and payments; Grow and Plus add job costing, quote options and two-way texting | Core from $29/mo billed annually ($49 month to month) for 1 user, up to $699/mo for 15 users on Plus month to month (Jobber pricing) |
| Service Fusion | Scheduling, estimates, invoicing and payments with unlimited users; Plus adds inventory and job costing | Starter $245/mo ($208 billed annually), Plus $382/mo ($325), Pro $627/mo ($533) (Service Fusion pricing) |
The HVAC-specific questions: does it track maintenance agreements and schedule the visits automatically, and does it keep equipment records per address so the tech knows the unit's age and warranty before arriving?
Load calculations, design and price books
| Tool | What it does | Published pricing (checked October 18, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Wrightsoft Right-Suite Universal | HVAC design software: ACCA Manual J and S loads, Manual D duct design, drawings, proposals and parts takeoff | $900 a year for the US Residential package and the same for Commercial-Only, per the package chart; add-ons extra (Wrightsoft) |
| CoolCalc | Browser-based Manual J, S and D reports built from a LiDAR scan, a floor plan or a satellite trace | Pro $50 per user per month for unlimited reports, or $45 per project (CoolCalc) |
| Profit Rhino | Prebuilt flat-rate price books for HVAC, plumbing and electrical, and price data that feeds field-service software | Quote-based; confirm with the vendor (Profit Rhino) |
A proper load calculation is what separates a right-sized replacement from swapping in the same tonnage that was there before. Some local codes and utility rebate programs ask for one, so check what your jurisdiction and rebate programs require.
Accounting
| Tool | What it does | Published pricing (checked October 18, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Online (Intuit) | Bookkeeping, invoices, bills, reports; the accounting app most field-service apps sync with | Simple Start $38/mo, Essentials $85/mo, Plus $140/mo, Advanced $340/mo list; Intuit often discounts the first months (Intuit pricing) |
| Xero | Bookkeeping, invoices, bank reconciliation, reports | Early $27/mo, Growing $59/mo, Established $97/mo list, with a new-customer promotion at times (Xero US pricing) |
Maintenance agreements complicate the books: a customer pays up front for visits you deliver over the year. Ask your accountant how to record that, and ask your field-service vendor how agreement payments sync.
Phones and texting
HVAC call volume isn't steady, and that's the problem. Staffing the phones for peak days means paying people to sit idle in April; staffing for April means voicemail in July. Callers with no AC in a heat wave don't leave voicemails. They call the next shop.
- Phone features inside your field-service app: ServiceTitan's Phones Pro links calls to jobs (ServiceTitan). Housecall Pro sells CSR AI, which answers calls and chats and books jobs (Housecall Pro). Jobber's Receptionist answers calls and texts and books visits (Jobber). If AI booking straight into your schedule is the goal, these are the natural first look.
- A standalone business phone app: Quo charges $15 to $47 per user per month, and its Sona AI agent includes 10 calls free with paid tiers from $25 to $199 a month (Quo pricing, checked October 18, 2026).
- An AI and texting layer next to your app: An AI that answers every call during the spike, takes the details and puts them in a shared inbox, so the dispatcher works a list instead of a voicemail box. This is where Chargezen fits.
Write a heat-wave script before you need it: what counts as priority (vulnerable occupants, no cooling in extreme heat), the earliest honest arrival window, what the diagnostic fee is, and simple checks the caller can make now (thermostat set to cool, breaker not tripped, filter not clogged). Those checks resolve some calls without a truck.
Sample stacks by shop size
| Shop | Typical stack |
|---|---|
| Owner-operator | An entry-level field-service app, CoolCalc per project for replacements, accounting, and a number that answers when you are on a roof |
| Three to ten trucks | A field-service app with maintenance agreements and good-better-best proposals, a load calc subscription, accounting sync, and a phone setup that can absorb peak days |
| Multi-location | ServiceTitan or FieldEdge, Wrightsoft, a dedicated price book, call recording for training, and one history per customer across calls and texts |
A checklist for choosing
- Does it track maintenance agreements, schedule the visits and remind customers to renew?
- Does it keep equipment records (model, serial, install date, warranty) per address?
- Can techs present good-better-best replacement options with financing on site?
- How will the phones handle three times the normal calls on the first hot day?
- Can the office see who called, what they said and what was promised, without listening to voicemails?
- Can you record calls for training, with a notice to callers?
- What does it cost at peak-season headcount, not just today?
How Chargezen helps
Chargezen isn't a field-service app, and it doesn't try to be one. It doesn't book jobs, schedule or dispatch crews, write estimates or send invoices, and it doesn't connect directly to Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, FieldEdge, QuickBooks or Xero today. Keep the app that runs your jobs. Chargezen is the phone, text and AI layer next to it: the part that makes sure every HVAC customer who calls or texts gets an answer.
- An AI receptionist on your business number: Concierge answers calls day and night with the greeting you write, answers common questions from what you teach it, and takes the job details for your team. When a caller needs a person, it alerts your team in the Finn app and emails or texts the teammates you pick. See AI receptionist and the phone channel.
- Answers the whole spike: Concierge picks up every call, so the first hot day doesn't turn into a voicemail backlog. It asks your triage questions and passes each job to the team with the details filled in.
- Photos by text: Customers can text a photo of the thermostat screen, the error code or the unit's data plate, and it shows up in the conversation for the tech.
- A teammate can join any call: Listen in from the browser or the Finn app, tap Join the call, and Concierge tells the caller you are there. From the Finn app you can transfer the call to another teammate.
- Calls and texts in one team inbox: Every call, voicemail and text lands in the customer's conversation, so whoever picks it up sees the whole history. See the team inbox.
- Missed calls and voicemails on your phone: The Finn app shows missed calls and voicemails with transcripts. From a missed-call notification, a teammate can call back or send a text in one tap.
- Recordings by your rules: Callers hear your recording notice first, and you choose how long recordings are kept. See call recording.
- The number customers already have: Get a new US local or toll-free number, or bring the number on your trucks and yard signs. See business phone number.
What Chargezen doesn't do on the phone: no phone menu, no ringing a group of phones, and no forwarding calls to personal cell numbers. Concierge answers, and teammates join or take over from it. Your field-service app stays the place where jobs get booked, priced and billed, so a teammate copies the job details from the conversation into it.
Concierge Starter is $20 a month with 20,000 credits. Pro is $199 a month with 199,000 credits, or $1,990 a year. Phone and text charges are billed as used. See pricing.
Related terms: AI answering service, voice AI agent and MMS. Related guides: plumbing business software, electrical business software and IVR vs AI phone agent. Software for other trades: roofing, cleaning, pest control, lawn care and painting. See how Concierge answers the phone for HVAC companies, or Concierge for home services.
Frequently asked questions
What software do HVAC companies use?
Most run a field-service management app for dispatch, maintenance agreements, estimates and invoices, plus accounting software and a phone system. Shops that do replacements and new installs add load calculation and duct design software such as Wrightsoft or CoolCalc, and many add a dedicated flat-rate price book.
Do I need Manual J software?
If you size replacement or new systems, a load calculation is how you get the size right, and some codes and rebate programs ask for one. Check your local requirements. Per-project pricing, such as CoolCalc's $45 per project (checked October 18, 2026), lets a small shop do them without a subscription.
How do HVAC companies handle peak-season calls?
Usually with a mix: extra office help for the season, an answering service or AI receptionist for overflow and after hours, and a written triage script so every caller gets the same priority questions. The goal is that nobody hits voicemail when their system is down.
Does Chargezen connect to ServiceTitan?
Not today. Chargezen doesn't connect directly to ServiceTitan, FieldEdge, Housecall Pro or Jobber. It answers calls and texts and gives your team the job details; your team enters the job in your field-service app.
