Regardless of your industry, scheduling mix-ups or late deliveries are monthly stressors. With skyrocketing costs and customers walking away, the last solution you need is expensive software.

We’ve put together a research-backed list of free dispatch software. Excited to learn more?

Read on for our unbiased analysis of features, benefits and limitations.

Compare Top Dispatch Software Leaders

What This Article Covers

• Best Free Dispatch Software
  • Workiz
  • Setmore
  • Connecteam
  • Kickserv
  • Freshdesk
• How To Choose the Right Dispatch Software
• Next Steps

Best Free Dispatch Software

We’ve covered the features, benefits and limitations of the top dispatch software. Let’s learn all about them.

Compare Top Dispatch Software Leaders

Workiz

Workiz is free cloud-based dispatch software for small to medium-sized businesses in the on-demand industry. It includes an extensive set of tools for managing scheduling, client interactions, invoicing and payment processing.

It gives you complete visibility and control over various functional areas of your business operations. The software includes efficient job scheduling, dispatching, and tracking capabilities, which allow you to schedule tasks, dispatch the nearest available staff, and track job progress from a single platform.

Workiz also integrates with Zapier, allowing it to connect to pre-built and third-party apps. Furthermore, its Android and iOS mobile apps facilitate on-the-go operations such as notifications, coordination, work status updates, and payment collection.

Schedule jobs and get estimates from the drag-and-drop calendar. Source

Top Benefits

• Free Pricing Plan: This dispatch software allows you to take it for a spin and see how it fits your operation without any financial commitment.
• Live Interaction: Start real-time discussions, leading to quicker issue resolution and improved customer satisfaction.
• Easy Tax Collections: It helps you keep a close eye on your tax collections. Workiz lets you create tax rates and assign them to particular service regions, using the correct tax rate and calculating the right tax amount based on the service address.
• Seamless Mobile Access: Workiz provides a complete phone system, packing features like call masking, call recording and automatic notifications. This feature helps maintain your professional image and ensures you have every essential interaction documented.

Primary Features

• Drag And Drop Calendar: This feature lets you keep track of job progress and respond quickly to new opportunities or delays. Filter the calendar by employee type or crew so you have the best professional for the job.
• Customer Communication: The platform allows you to call clients, reschedule appointments, and message them directly from the calendar, enabling smooth and efficient customer interactions.
• Estimate Management: Workiz facilitates the creation, transmission, importation, and conversion of estimates into jobs or invoices, offering a smooth workflow for handling customer quotes and service contracts. The Workiz App can instantly provide an estimate to prospective clients during a consultation.
• Invoice Management: It helps minimize unpaid invoices and improve client service by sending friendly payment reminders automatically. Customers can quickly pay or leave deposits online and receive automated receipts right away.
• Job Management: You can manage your team, keep an eye on the status of jobs, and communicate with clients from the calendar, which improves customer service and operational effectiveness.

Features Not Included in the Free Plan

The features in the free pricing plan of Workiz are not as extensive as those included in the paid subscription plans. These include but are not limited to

Fundamentals:

• Flat rate

Workiz Pay:

• Estimate deposits
• Consumer financing
• Card readers

Client Service Tools:

• Customer account management
• Sales proposals

Workflow:

• Automation (30 included)
• Job and client custom fields
• Subcontractor management

Limitations

• The free plan lacks features of paid subscription plans like Workiz Pay.
• Clients can’t save passwords for automatic login.
• This free dispatch software may accept booking appointments for the same time frame with the same people, causing inconveniences.

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Setmore

Setmore’s free dispatch software is an effective tool for individuals, nonprofits and small to medium-sized businesses. Its primary advantage is that it makes appointment scheduling, online reservations and electronic payments simple.

Provided web plugins can increase client retention and draw in new business. Its easy-to-understand layout guarantees that you and your team will be able to use it quickly.

This free dispatch software also allows for further communication streamlining with over 40 app integrations. Additionally, the Setmore mobile app, which is available for iOS and Android, allows you to manage listings, bookings, calendars, and communications from anywhere.

Simplified payment for bookings on the Setmore app. Source

Top Benefits

• Easy Appointment Management: This free dispatch software allows for convenient appointment management, enabling you to book appointments, cancel, and reschedule them from anywhere, providing flexibility and accessibility to both businesses and their clients
• Attractive Interface: Setmore supports the creation of colorful icons for individual treatments on the online booking page, enhancing the visual appeal and clarity of the booking interface.
• Toggleable View: The platform lets you toggle the view of other staff members’ schedules on or off, providing flexibility in managing and displaying team availability.
• Timely Income Tracking: It facilitates income tracking and offers daily, weekly, and monthly views, contributing to effective performance monitoring and financial management.

Primary Features

• Customized Reservation: This feature allows clients to schedule their appointments independently by accessing the booking page and selecting their preferred time slot.
• Staff Calendar Management: The software helps you create individual staff logins, enabling team members to handle their bookings. Administrators can oversee all schedules to ensure efficient management.
• Payment Processing: This free dispatch software integrates with the Square payment gateway for secure transactions on the booking page. It enables comprehensive tracking of all financial transactions, invoice generation and more.
• Appointment Scheduling: You can schedule and oversee appointments seamlessly across desktop, mobile and tablet devices. The online booking calendar allows for an easy selection of available slots, where users can choose the desired service time and specify guests.
• Email Notifications: The solution supports automatic notifications to clients and staff for booked, rescheduled, or canceled appointments. Additionally, it sends email updates for new or modified bookings.

Features Not Included in the Free Plan

Setmore’s free pricing plan doesn’t include some capabilities that the paid subscription plans have. These include the following:

Features:

• SMS reminders
• Recurring appointments
• HIPAA compliance

Integrations:

• Zoom
• Google Calendar 2-way synchronization
• Office 365 Calendar 2-way synchronization

Limitations

• Users can’t customize automatic emails.
• It doesn’t support assigning multiple technicians to the same job.

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Connecteam

Developed in the mobile app format, Connecteam is a free automated scheduling solution. Teams can manage tasks from any location, ensuring flexibility and convenience. You can streamline team engagement using a systematic approach to create, dispatch and monitor jobs in real time.

Given the platform’s powerful scheduling features, you can precisely plan and organize jobs. Add smooth in-app communication between managers and team members, as well as real-time updates to make sure everyone is aware of the task status and changes.

A GPS tracking feature lets managers effectively monitor team location and progress.

Keep track of client arrival times and work hours using real-time GPS time tracking. Source

Top Benefits

• Free Pricing Plan: Connecteam offers a complimentary pricing option that accommodates up to 10 users, catering to the needs of small businesses.
• Smart Task Tracking: This free dispatch software incorporates geofencing to ensure clocking in is only possible when on-site, thereby improving precision and accountability in time monitoring.
• Multilevel Time Clocks: Users have the flexibility to establish distinct time clocks for individual departments, enabling customized time tracking and administration.

Primary Features

• Scheduling: The free dispatch software facilitates scheduling through the use of templates, duplications and recurring shifts. It provides visibility into employees’ availability, qualifications, time off and preferences.
• Payroll and Invoicing: Accurately record work hours as staff clock in via their phones. It supports the calculation of overtime, breaks, time off and project/job time tracking. Staff can export timesheets in PDF or XLS formats.
• Task Management: The solution supports the creation and assignment of tasks to team members, complete with detailed descriptions, subtasks, attached images, files and due dates. Managers can check in with employees for status updates, send push reminders and provide real-time updates on task completion.
• Work Hour Records: Staff can clock in when starting a shift or job by syncing with their schedules. It monitors attendance in real-time, issues notifications for late or missed clock-ins, and supports the management of absences, PTO requests and overtime.
• Timesheets: Managers can set break and overtime rules in compliance with local, state, and federal labor laws. It sends alerts for discrepancies such as exceeded overtime limits and double bookings. The system automatically compiles hours, breaks, overtime and time off on timesheets for payroll purposes.

Features Not Included in the Free Plan

The features in the free pricing plan of Connecteam are not as extensive as those included in the paid subscription plans. These include but are not limited to

User Management and General Settings:

• Save custom updates and forms as templates- unlimited
• Two Factor Authentication (2FA) for administrators
• App lock for mobile application
• API access and support

Limitations

• The free tier lacks features like automated summary reports and automated trigger-based summary reports
• It lacks an active directory SSO for administrators.

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Kickserv

Kickserv’s free dispatch software provides a comprehensive suite of tools to streamline job dispatching. Its task automation significantly reduces manual effort. The system houses key features like real-time schedule visibility, field staff availability monitoring and customer appointment tracking.

One of the core offerings of Kickserv is its mobile access feature. This critical component allows for remote job dispatching, greatly extending operational capabilities beyond conventional constraints.

Users get immediate access to job details, client information and schedules. This instantaneous connection facilitates improved communication and operational efficiency for field service management staff.

Track jobs and navigate routes in real time. Source

Top Benefits

• Simplified Task Management: Maximize the efficiency of your service technicians by enhancing the organization of field activities through our service route optimization. Transform estimates into assignments seamlessly with a single click, allocating them to your team according to optimal routes or team expertise.
• Real-Time Communication: The cloud-based system enables seamless communication, ensuring that all technicians can access and update job information in real-time, enhancing coordination and efficiency.
• Centralized Call Tracking: Track all incoming calls, display them on the calendar screen and get a centralized view of customer communications and service requests.
• Easy Attachment Management: Kickserv allows you to add attachments to customer profiles and work orders, enabling you to store and access relevant documents and information for each job.

Primary Features

• Estimate Generation: This feature enables service technicians to make notes, generate estimates and obtain digital signatures while on-site with the customer. You can schedule jobs and, upon completion, generate an invoice and collect payment directly through the on-site application.
• Customer Management: A customer portal provides access to interactions, details, invoicing and payment history, job history, service appointment requests, messaging, estimate approvals, and invoice and payment management. Automated communication, GPS alerts and task management enable effective client communication.
• Invoicing and Payment: Get various digital payment options and tools for online signatures, approvals, digital invoices, customer center access with billing history and payment reminders. Customer billing history for home service enables them to log in and view their information and communication within the customer center.
• Lead Capture: The system automatically creates new opportunities through online scheduling forms, utilizing customer records that contain notes from all discussions.
• Smart Search and Filters: This free dispatch software provides a universal search for locating customers, contacts, or jobs and supports filtering by tags, dates and other criteria.

Features Not Included in the Free Plan

Kickserv’s paid plan has some features that its free tier doesn’t offer. These include the following:

• Embedded contact forms
• Automatic email and text reminders
• Tracking of time and expenses
• Mapping for dispatch
• GPS check-ins
• Tailorable data fields
• Tailorable reports
• Tailorable templates

Limitations

• Time tracking requires manual input.
• Customer support isn’t responsive.
• Inventory management feature is missing.

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Freshdesk

This free help desk software streamlines ticket management and resolution, making it easier for you to track customer issues. Freshdesk not only automates your dispatching process but also ensures that the right support agent gets the ticket right from the start.

It offers productive collaboration tools and sturdy multi-channel support to keep your team connected. Plus, its robust reporting capabilities allow you to keep an eye on performance stats.

Freshdesk brings in the power of artificial intelligence. The AI helper focuses on fast and accurate problem resolution, helping your team provide top-notch customer service.

Resolve tickets from a central dashboard. Source

Top Benefits

• Timely Ticket Notifications: Users have the option to receive updates on their support tickets through email, ensuring they are kept abreast of the status and progress of their customer support inquiries.
• Helpful Documentation: The platform retains records of all sent and received emails, along with a log of every action taken within the ticket. Keep a comprehensive history of customer interactions and support-related activities.
• Multi-Channel Support: Freshdesk accommodates various customer support channels, allowing you to interact with customers through email, phone, chat, and social media, providing a versatile approach to customer engagement.
• Tailored Experience: You can fully customize the user interface, views, workflows and reports in this free dispatch software. This function tailors the platform to meet your specific requirements for customer support and ticket management.
• Omni-Channel Functionality: The platform automatically directs requests from different channels to the appropriate agents, streamlining the assignment of tickets and ensuring that customer inquiries receive resolutions.

Primary Features

• Service Ticketing: This free dispatch software supports assigning the right field employee or service group based on problem type, location and skills needed. It also allows access to service tasks via the application for iOS and Android.
• Portal Customization: Freshdesk supports customizing the look and layout of the support portal with CSS customization and ready-made themes, enabling businesses to tailor the support portal to their brand and user experience needs.
• Integrated Ticketing Across Email and Social: The solution supports converting all emails and social inquiries into tickets, allowing you to track, prioritize and reply to customer inquiries from various communication channels.
• Ticket Dispatch: Freshdesk supports categorizing, prioritizing, and routing tickets to the right team by creating custom business rules, ensuring that customer inquiries are efficiently handled and resolved.
• Ticket Trend Report: The platform supports analyzing trends and allocating resources, providing insights to improve support operations and customer service.

Features Not Included in the Free Plan

Freshdesk’s free plan doesn’t include the following features that you’ll get in the paid subscription:

Knowledge base and community forums:

• Auto-suggest solutions
• Automatic article reordering
• Interlinking articles

Social support:

• Advanced Facebook channel
• WhatsApp Business

Collaboration:

• Linked tickets
• Shared ownership of tickets
• Parent-child ticketing

Reporting and analytics:

• Save reports
• Timesheet summary report
• Agent and group performance

Limitations

• Its ticket management feature is clunky.
• Tedious email formatting consumes time.
• It has a steep learning curve to create a new customized report.

Compare Top Dispatch Software Leaders

How To Choose the Right Dispatch Software

When navigating the options for dispatch software, it’s crucial to consider several factors that directly impact your business operations.
If you need more guidance, read our Lean Selection book with the nine vital steps to successful software selection.

Alternatively, here’s a guide to help you make an informed decision:

Ease of Use and Scalability

Look for free dispatch software that boasts a straightforward installation process, ensuring a hassle-free setup for your team.

Opt for an intuitive user experience that makes it easy for your staff to navigate and use the software efficiently.

Consider scalability; choose a system that can seamlessly grow with your business, preventing any delays or disruptions as your operations expand.

Integration Capabilities

Prioritize dispatch software that easily integrates with other crucial systems within your organization.

Ensure the software offers an application programming interface (API) for synchronous use with other programs, promoting a cohesive and interconnected workflow.

Mobile and Cloud Access

Choose dispatch software that provides mobile and cloud access, offering flexibility in managing operations from various locations.

Opt for a system that allows access at any time, ensuring you can stay connected and in control of your dispatch operations regardless of your location.

Schedule Optimization

Look for software that includes schedule optimization features, such as streamlining the assignment of technicians to jobs.

Ensure the system is designed to match the right technician with the right task, enhancing overall operational efficiency.

Real-Time Tracking and Resource Management

Prioritize free dispatch software that provides real-time tracking capabilities, allowing you to monitor job statuses and technician locations promptly.

Opt for a system that efficiently manages essential resources such as vehicles and field technicians, ensuring optimal deployment and resource utilization.

Industry-Specific Features

Consider dispatch software that caters to your industry-specific needs, offering features tailored to your business requirements.

Look for specialized functionalities, such as route planning for delivery services or insights into technician movements, enhancing the software’s relevance to your specific industry.

Customer Support and Training

Ensure that the software provider offers robust customer support, assisting whenever you encounter issues or have queries.
Choose a system that includes training resources to maximize your team’s proficiency in using the software and effectively address any implementation challenges that may arise.

Select the Right Software with the Free Lean Selection Book

Next Steps

If you get capabilities that take care of dispatching staff, tracking task status and collecting payment in dispatch software that’s free, why pay for premium solutions?

The best part about the solutions above is you can check the functions not included in the free plans and upgrade accordingly.

Grab a copy of our free, interactive comparison report for an in-depth view of field service vendors’ capabilities like preventative maintenance, invoicing and customer notifications.

Which free dispatch solutions have you used? Let us know in the comments!