OnCrew alternatives for the trades

Last updated: 1 November 2026. OnCrew is a standalone AI receptionist built only for trades (HVAC, plumbing, electrical and roofing), sold on monthly minute plans with an alert-text allowance: Starter $49/mo (60 minutes, 150 alert texts); Pro $149/mo (200 minutes, 500 alert texts); Multi-Truck $349/mo (500 minutes, 1,500 alert texts); $0.99 per extra minute and $0.05 per extra alert text. No setup fee, and annual billing on request takes two months off any plan. It answers calls forwarded from your own number, so it needs no other subscription. Its plans also differ in how many AI phone numbers you get, how many people it can alert, how many live transfer destinations and how many on-call slots you can set. The five alternatives below are compared on what OnCrew is built around: getting an emergency to the right person, booking the job, and how many numbers and people each plan covers. They come from the AI Front Desk List directory, which lists 282 AI receptionist and voice agent vendors as of today. OnCrew's pricing, home and integrations pages were rechecked on 1 November 2026. We publish no star ratings or reviews.

Who OnCrew is for

It suits an owner-operator or a shop of up to about fifteen trucks that wants missed and after-hours calls answered, emergencies sent to the on-call tech, and everything else captured for the morning. OnCrew's home page (checked 1 November 2026) says you decide what counts as an emergency and who gets woken up, and that urgent calls reach the on-call tech by text; its plans include live transfers that announce the caller before connecting.

On booking, OnCrew's pages do not all say the same thing. The pricing page lists "Job booking on your Google Calendar" on every plan, and the home page says it books the job into an open time on your Google Calendar once you connect it and switch booking on. Its integrations page, which OnCrew dates 3 October 2026, still says Google Calendar gets "Appointment requests, for your team to confirm". Test which one your account does.

Beyond Google Calendar, OnCrew's integrations page says its Housecall Pro connection needs Housecall Pro's MAX plan and a full-access API key, and opens a customer and a lead tagged OnCrew with the call notes, not a scheduled job. Jobber and ServiceTitan are reached through a webhook export that you connect with Zapier or that OnCrew sets up. QuickBooks is not integrated.

OnCrew plan limits

From oncrew.ai/pricing, checked 1 November 2026. Every plan answers the same way; these are the differences.

Overage on every plan is the same per extra minute and per extra alert text, at the rates in the pricing above. OnCrew says a call counts only when the caller speaks with its receptionist, so hang-ups and recognised robocalls are not counted against your plan.

When to look at an alternative

Consider another service if you need:

• Booking into your field-service software during the call, not a Google Calendar slot or a lead. OnCrew's Housecall Pro connection opens a lead, and Jobber or ServiceTitan go through a webhook export.
• Limits that match your crew, if the alert recipients, transfer destinations or on-call slots on the OnCrew plan you would buy are too few.
• A billing unit other than minutes, such as a flat plan, if your calls run long.
• Languages beyond English and Spanish, the two OnCrew's pricing FAQ says its receptionist speaks today.

Tags show who a vendor markets to, not what it can do. We list what each record and each vendor page says.

OnCrew at a glance

OnCrew alternatives compared

"Starts at" and "Entry plan as published" come from each vendor's record. All five are standalone services, so none needs another subscription to answer.

All five bill minutes, like OnCrew, but each plan's allowance and overage differ, and OnCrew also counts alert texts. Price each one against a month of your own answered minutes; our cost guide explains each unit.

Emergencies, booking and plan limits

What each vendor's own page or our record says. The urgent-call lines are quotes from each vendor's trade page, read on 31 October 2026; we have not tested any call.

The alternatives, one by one

CallJanice

• Why it fits: a done-for-you service for home service trades that books into Jobber, ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Google Calendar during the call, asks trade-specific intake questions and transfers urgent calls to you or your on-call technician. It sends a WhatsApp and email summary of every call to everyone you choose.
• Entry plan and unit: One plan, $149/mo: 150 minutes of answered calls, then $1/min, counted by the second. Overage: per extra minute, at that rate.
• Tier to check: one plan, covering one business phone number; more numbers or locations are on request.
• Material limitation: the CallJanice team builds and maintains the receptionist rather than you setting it up, and the vendor says it goes live within 5 business days of the onboarding form. Our record does not describe an on-call rota.
• Confirm: how it picks the on-call technician for an urgent call, and what a booking creates in your field-service software.

Trial: Free trial, 14 days, card required. CallJanice invites you to call +1 (213) 733-9595. CallJanice listing.

RingOwl

• Why it fits: forwarded-number answering with Google Calendar booking in our record. Its home services page says it pages your on-call tech when it hears an emergency and books service calls and estimates into your calendar.
• Entry plan and unit: Lite $10/mo (50 min), billed in minutes. Overage: per minute after RingOwl notifies you; the rate is not in our record.
• Tier to check: Growth adds CRM and calendar integrations and a 60-second callback for missed calls, so confirm which plan books into your calendar.
• Material limitation: its own page says ServiceTitan and Jobber are not live integrations yet, so leads land as a summary. Our record does not say how many numbers or people each plan covers.
• Confirm: the overage rate, who it can page, and how many on-call people you can set.

Plans: Lite $10/mo (50 min); Starter $49/mo (250 min); Growth $99/mo (600 min + vertical pack, CRM + calendar integrations, 60-second callback for missed calls). Overage per-minute after notify. Cancel anytime. Trial: 7-day free trial with 30 minutes included (one-time trial budget); no card required. RingOwl listing.

Marlie

• Why it fits: minute plans with calendar booking, rescheduling and cancelling from Standard, call transfers and department routing. Its locksmith page says it escalates emergencies to your on-call team by SMS or call transfer, and its Premium plan adds multi-location and franchise setup.
• Entry plan and unit: Basic $49/mo (250 min, then $0.35/min), billed in minutes. Overage: per extra minute, at each plan's rate.
• Tier to check: calendar booking starts on Standard, not Basic.
• Material limitation: our record lists no field-service software; its locksmith page says it logs jobs into Housecall Pro or other apps via Zapier. The trial takes a card at checkout.
• Confirm: how an emergency reaches the on-call person on your trade, and whether you need Standard for booking.

Plans: Basic $49/mo (250 min, then $0.35/min); Standard $99/mo (500 min, then $0.35/min); Pro $199/mo (1,000 min, then $0.30/min); Premium $399/mo (2,000 min, then $0.25/min); Enterprise custom. Trial: Free trial, 14 days, card required. Marlie invites you to call (631) 970-4479 (Main demo) or (929) 577-3301 (Towing company demo). Marlie listing. Head to head: Marlie vs OnCrew. More on this product: Marlie alternatives.

AgentZap

• Why it fits: urgency detection with a text to the on-call technician, real-time calendar booking and live agent backup. Its HVAC page (checked 1 November 2026) says it checks your calendar for technician availability, books the appointment during the call and "books jobs directly into field service software like ServiceTitan, FieldEdge, and Jobber", and our record lists multi-location greetings and reporting.
• Entry plan and unit: Starter $109/mo (150 min, $0.85/min overage), billed in minutes. Overage: per extra minute, at each plan's rate.
• Tier to check: a one-time training and setup fee applies, waived on a 6-month Professional term.
• Material limitation: no free trial; our record lists a 30-day money-back guarantee. Its team sets up each integration, natively or through Zapier, and the page does not say which plan each needs; some need extra setup not covered by the setup fee.
• Confirm: the setup fee for your software, whether your connection is native or Zapier, and that a test booking lands in your field-service software.

Plans: Starter $109/mo (150 min, $0.85/min overage); Professional $295/mo (450 min, $0.75/min); Business $899/mo (1,500 min, $0.70/min); Enterprise custom. $499 one-time training and setup fee (waived on a 6-month Professional term). Fully managed plan also offered. Trial: Not offered. AgentZap listing. Side by side: AgentZap vs Marlie.

RingDesk

• Why it fits: built for trade and home-service shops, with job qualification and emergency routing, and each plan states its phone numbers and seats. Its HVAC page says an emergency-tier call dispatches the on-call tech with a one-tap accept SMS.
• Entry plan and unit: Starter $35/mo (100 AI min, then $0.25/min, 1 phone, 1 seat), billed in minutes. Overage: per extra minute, at each plan's rate.
• Tier to check: Starter has 1 phone and 1 seat; Growth 3 and 3; Pro 5 phones and 10 seats.
• Material limitation: our record lists no calendar or field-service integration, so we cannot say it books jobs anywhere.
• Confirm: how the on-call tech accepts a job, and how the details reach your schedule.

Plans: Starter $35/mo (100 AI min, then $0.25/min, 1 phone, 1 seat); Growth $195/mo (375 min, $0.25/min, 3 phones, 3 seats); Pro $399/mo (1,175 min, $0.23/min, 5 phones, 10 seats). Month-to-month. Prices in USD. Trial: Free trial, 7 days, no card required. RingDesk listing.

When to stay with OnCrew

Stay if emergency routing is the main job and Google Calendar is enough for booking: OnCrew lets you set what counts as urgent, texts and live-transfers the on-call tech, and publishes how many numbers, alert recipients, transfer destinations and on-call slots each plan covers. It also connects to Housecall Pro on the MAX plan, where it opens a lead for each real call, and it has a callable demo line and a no-card trial.

Switching checklist

1. Number porting or call forwarding. OnCrew answers calls forwarded from your number, so you keep it. Point the forwarding at the new service and keep OnCrew on until test calls pass.
2. Emergency and after-hours routing. Copy your emergency rules and on-call slots into the new service, then test a night-time emergency call and a routine one.
3. Human escalation. List every live transfer destination and alert recipient you use on OnCrew, and check the new plan covers that many.
4. Booking and handoff into your field-service software. Make a test call and check what lands in your schedule or software: a calendar event, a job, a lead or only a text.
5. Units. Compare a month of your answered minutes and alert texts with each alternative's allowance.

FAQ

How much does OnCrew cost?

OnCrew starts at $49/mo. Published plans: Starter $49/mo (60 minutes, 150 alert texts); Pro $149/mo (200 minutes, 500 alert texts); Multi-Truck $349/mo (500 minutes, 1,500 alert texts); $0.99 per extra minute and $0.05 per extra alert text. No setup fee, and annual billing on request takes two months off any plan.

Does OnCrew book jobs?

OnCrew's pricing page lists job booking on your Google Calendar on every plan, and its home page says that works once you connect the calendar and switch booking on; otherwise it takes the request and emails you. Its Housecall Pro connection, on Housecall Pro's MAX plan, opens a customer and a lead rather than a scheduled job. Jobber and ServiceTitan are reached through a webhook export.

Which OnCrew alternatives book into field-service software?

In our records, CallJanice books into Jobber, ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Google Calendar during the call. AgentZap's HVAC page says it books jobs directly into field service software such as ServiceTitan, FieldEdge and Jobber; its team sets up each integration, natively or through Zapier, and the page does not say which plan each needs. RingOwl and Marlie book into calendars, and RingDesk lists no booking integration. We have not tested any of them.

Can I test an alternative before switching?

CallJanice: Free trial, 14 days, card required. RingOwl: 7-day free trial with 30 minutes included (one-time trial budget); no card required. Marlie: Free trial, 14 days, card required. RingDesk: Free trial, 7 days, no card required. AgentZap has no free trial and lists a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Are these alternatives ranked by payment?

No. Picks are editorial. Picks and order are never sold. Paid placements are always labelled Sponsored. See our methodology and Advertise.

Related pages

• Marlie vs OnCrew, Jobber Receptionist vs OnCrew and OnCrew vs Upfirst
• Housecall Pro CSR AI alternatives, Jobber Receptionist alternatives and Marlie alternatives
• HVAC, plumbers, electricians and roofers, and the best HVAC answering service
• AI receptionist cost guide and OnCrew listing
• Methodology and submit a correction

Disclosure

OnCrew's pages were rechecked on 1 November 2026. The urgent-call quotes come from each vendor's own page on the date shown. Other prices and trial terms come from our vendor records, each with its own check date. Confirm current terms on each vendor's site before you buy.