Open source field service management software, and what self-hosting really costs
Open source field service management software gives you the code and the freedom to host it yourself, with options built on ERP platforms like Odoo, ERPNext and Dolibarr. The licence is free; the server, updates, backups and the person who fixes it at 6am are not. Skuadra is not open source, it is hosted software from $19.99 per month.
14 days free · no card · cancel anytime
Today's jobs
8
Revenue (mo)
$12,940
Active crews
3
Crew on site
Quick answer
Open source field service management software gives you the code and the freedom to host it yourself, with options built on ERP platforms like Odoo, ERPNext and Dolibarr. The licence is free; the server, updates, backups and the person who fixes it at 6am are not. Skuadra is not open source, it is hosted software from $19.99 per month.
- Best for
- Small and mid-sized field-service crews that need scheduling, dispatch, proof of service and invoicing in one place.
- Languages
- English and Spanish across the dashboard, worker app, invoices and client emails.
- Starting price
- Plans start at $19.99/month (up to 2 users). GPS check-in and live GPS start with Manage at $79/month. No per-booking fees.
- Demo
- A live seeded demo is available without signup.
The costs that do not appear on the licence
Forgotten jobs, double-booked crews and late invoices all land on the owner. Skuadra puts every job, photo and payment in one calm place.
| Without Skuadra | With Skuadra |
|---|---|
| Scheduling lives on a whiteboard and in group chats | A shared calendar; assign the right crew in seconds |
| The classic 'he said, she said' when a client disputes a job | GPS check-in plus before & after photos on every visit |
| English-only tools half your crew fights with | Fully bilingual, every screen in English and Spanish |
| Hand-written estimates and a slow yes | Branded estimates the client approves online from their phone |
| Chasing checks from memory at month end | Invoices from completed jobs; paid and overdue at a glance |
| Rebuilding the weekly route by hand | Recurring visits that generate themselves |
| Clients, jobs and money scattered across apps | Every client, job and dollar in one place |
From booking to paid in four steps
Add clients and services
Set up your customers, sites and the services you offer, each with its price.
Schedule and dispatch
Drop jobs on the calendar and assign the right crew in seconds.
Crew checks in and proves the work
Workers check in with GPS, snap before and after photos and mark the job done.
Invoice and get paid
Completed work rolls into PDF invoices and your monthly balance.
Your whole operation, organized from day one
Create your account and take a job from scheduled to invoiced today, fully bilingual.
14 days free · no card · cancel anytime
The honest comparison
Open source is a real answer for some businesses and a trap for others. The deciding factor is almost never the software, it is whether you have technical capacity in-house.
- 1
You have a developer or sysadmin on the team: self-hosting is viable and the licence saving is real
- 2
You need data to stay on your own infrastructure for policy reasons: open source may be the only path
- 3
You are an owner running crews with no technical staff: the maintenance becomes your second job
The options people actually mean
- Odoo Field Service: an app inside a much larger open source ERP
- ERPNext: a full open source ERP with maintenance and asset modules
- Dolibarr: a lighter open source ERP and CRM with intervention tracking
- A custom build on a framework, which is a project rather than a product
Why Skuadra is not on this list
Skuadra is not open source and we are not going to bend the word to appear here. It is hosted software: we run the servers, ship the updates and handle backups, and you pay $19.99 to $79 per month for that. If the licence freedom is the point for you, one of the options above is the honest recommendation.
When self-hosting is genuinely the right call
Licence cost
Genuinely zero on all the main open source options. This part of the promise is real.
Hosting
A small production server plus backups typically runs $20 to $80 per month before anyone's time is counted.
Setup time
Expect days to weeks to configure an ERP-based field service module into something a crew can use.
The mobile question
Test the worker app first. It is where open source stacks are usually weakest and where your crew lives all day.
Updates and security
Patching is on you, and a field service system holds client addresses and access details.
The hosted alternative
If none of the above sounds like a good use of your week, hosted tools start around $19.99 per month with the maintenance included.
Quote on the spot, get the yes from their phone
Build a branded estimate in minutes, send it as a link and let the client accept or decline from their phone. Every quote expires on its own, and an accepted one becomes a scheduled job or an invoice in one click.
- The client accepts or declines online, with no account
- You are notified the moment they open it
- Quotes auto-expire so old documents never pile up
- One click turns a yes into a job or an invoice
Your business
Estimate
EST-1042
Turn finished work into invoices that get paid
Completed jobs roll into clean PDF invoices you can send and track. See at a glance what is paid, pending or overdue, so money stops slipping through the cracks at month end.
- PDF invoices straight from completed jobs
- Send them by link and mark them paid
- Paid, pending and overdue, all at a glance
- Auto-numbered per business, no skips
INV-2087
For: Maple Court Offices
The whole crew's week on one calendar
Drop jobs on the calendar, assign the right crew and reshuffle in seconds when the weather wins. Recurring visits build themselves, so you set a route once instead of rebuilding it every week.
- Day, week and month views of the schedule
- Assign crews to jobs in seconds
- Recurring jobs generate themselves
- Reschedule without the spreadsheet
This week
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Proof every job got done, on the record
Workers check in and out at the property with optional geofence validation, and before-and-after photos attach to the job automatically. When a client questions the work, you answer with a timestamped, photo-backed record instead of your word against theirs.
- GPS check-in and check-out
- Geofence validation
- Before & after photos
- Timestamped on every visit
Your crew and your office, on the same page
Assign a job and the crew sees it instantly. They check in, snap before and after photos and finish, and you see it all on the live dashboard, with no group chats.
Frequently asked questions
The commonly used options are Odoo Field Service, ERPNext and Dolibarr, all of which deliver field service as a module inside a broader open source ERP rather than as a dedicated product. Which is best depends mostly on whether you already run one of those ERPs.
The licence is free. The total cost is not: budget for a server and backups (roughly $20 to $80 per month), the setup time, and someone available to fix it when it breaks. For a business with technical staff that maths often works. Without one, it usually does not.
No. Skuadra is hosted software: we run and maintain it, and plans start at $19.99 per month. We would rather tell you that directly than stretch the definition to rank on this page.
Yes. Your clients, jobs and invoices are yours, and being able to leave cleanly is a fair thing to check before you commit to any tool, open source or not.
The worker mobile experience, on a real phone, with a real job. It is where open source field service stacks most often fall short, and it is the surface your crew uses every day.
Start running your crew the organized way
Create your account, set up your services and schedule your first job today.
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