SERVICETITAN VS BUILDOPS

Misconceptions About How ServiceTitan and BuildOps Differ

1. BuildOps emphasizes that their product is purpose-built for commercial service, and states this as a key point of differentiation between their platform and ServiceTitan. However, while it is true that ServiceTitan has a robust set of features for residential service businesses, we’ve invested heavily in commercial-focused features as well. For example, in 2022 alone, our platform introduced 105 new commercial-focused features and improvements, including client-specific rate sheets, office estimates, project tracking, job costing reports, purchase orders, inventory management, and more. So, the notion that ServiceTitan is not purpose-built for commercial businesses is simply not true. 

2. In addition, BuildOps shares the feature comparison table pictured below on their comparison page, which is blatantly inaccurate. Our platform has features to support every one of the items listed (project management, asset management, GPS tracking, etc.). 

Now, with these misconceptions out of the way, let’s take a closer look at scenarios where ServiceTitan is a better fit for a service business.

2 Key Contexts Where ServiceTitan Makes More Sense For a Service Business

1. Companies That Want Access to Robust Communities and Resources That Provide Support to Help Them Grow Their Business and Revenue

Having been founded over a decade before BuildOps, ServiceTitan offers robust communities and resources that help our users develop greater industry expertise, get maximum usage out of our product, and learn how to implement best practices to grow their businesses and revenue.

For example, ServiceTitan users get exclusive access to:

• Titan Exchange: A cloud-based platform for sharing assets such as contracts, templates, checklists, and other valuable information.

• ServiceTitan Community: A users-only message board where ideas for our software and business in general are shared. 

• Free Peer-Group Training: A program run by ServiceTitan employees through Ember and Spark sessions, designed to be a place where best practices are shared.

• Certified Admin Program: Our Certified Administrator program provides a structured approach to increasing knowledge on ServiceTitan, as well as constant and continuing education on the software.

Business owners and operators, particularly in the core industries that ServiceTitan was built to support (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, etc.) find these resources to be absolutely invaluable for getting the most out of our platform, as well as staying up to date with best practices and strategies that are working for other companies. 

For example, here are some testimonials from people in the ServiceTitan Community:

• “ServiceTitan Community has had a massive impact on our growth as a company. We have created connections, gleaned ideas/strategies, and grown exponentially that may have never happened without the network that Community provides.”

• “The ServiceTitan community provides a wonderful opportunity for networking. It’s a great place to have questions quickly answered. You can search by keywords to pull up resources and if these can’t answer your question, you can post your question as a discussion and have other users help. Having the community helps all ServiceTitan users to feel connected to one another! I love the ideas page where we can post our ideas about the direction we would like to see the software go. This helps us feel like valued customers when we can influence the future of the software!” 

At the time of this writing (August 2023), BuildOps does not have active user communities set up to support each other, which is a huge disadvantage for their customers. And furthermore, it would take many years for them to grow a community to the size and value that ServiceTitan’s community offers. 

2. Hybrid Shops: Companies with Both Residential and Commercial Service Divisions

As we explained above, BuildOps is a commercial-focused field service management software, meaning their platform is not purpose-built to support residential service. In contrast, ServiceTitan has extensive features tailored to serving both sets of business divisions. 

Therefore, if your company is focused on residential service, or has both commercial and residential service divisions (as many of our customers do), ServiceTitan would be a better fit for your business because we have robust workflows for serving both business divisions. 

Now, with these high-level differences between ServiceTitan and BuildOps covered, let’s look at some examples of the features ServiceTitan offers for businesses with commercial service divisions. 

Examples of Commercial-Specific Features That Our Platform Offers

Inventory Management: Built-In Workflows For Inventory Tracking, Replenishment, Purchase Orders, and More

ServiceTitan is one of the only FSM platforms that has true purchasing and inventory management capabilities. We help contractors employ automations that help them track warehouse counts, ensure trucks are always stocked, and generate purchase orders automatically when materials are running low. 

Appointed staff can access and leverage a suite of tools to optimize inventory and purchase order management, including:

• Inventory Overview: See big-picture numbers, such as total inventory valuation and total number of items, or drill down into individual inventory items for further detail.

• Replenishment: Easily track equipment and materials in your trucks and warehouse with automatic updates that reflect the number of items needed for replenishment in a given location.

• Purchase Orders: Users can initiate the requisition of equipment and materials for jobs right from within the estimate screen. They can then create and send purchase orders to the appropriate vendors, and track those orders through fulfillment. Inventory data automatically updates to reflect all POs.

• And more: This feature set also includes workflows for managing adjustments, returns, warranty parts tracking, and more. 

In addition, with the introduction of our Inventory App, customers can leverage barcode scanning to automate these processes even more. 

Project Tracking: Easily Monitor Job Costs and Manage Long-Term Projects

With ServiceTitan, service businesses can view commercial project financials in real time via the project page. 

For any given project, they can view a set of financial tables including:

• Project Summary: An overview table containing the high-level details of their project, such as the amounts and percentages completed of their contract sum, expenses, cost to complete, total earned, total retainage, total invoiced, etc.

• Budget vs. Actual: An in-depth look at budgeted versus actual expenses, including the variance and percentage of the budget used.

• Expense Details: A detailed breakdown of all expenses for the project, and the ability to drill down into individual line items to track expenses at a granular level. 

These tables are updated automatically throughout the project as expenses occur, work is completed, invoices are received, etc. And from this same page, service contractors can take a variety of key actions that include building estimates, adding invoices or applications for payment, requisitioning equipment and materials, and more.

With these tools, commercial subcontractors gain a significant leg up for maximizing efficiency and maintaining profitability on longer-term projects. 

Customizable Forms: Robust Form Capabilities for Improved Day-to-Day Workflows

Contrary to what BuildOps states on their comparison page, ServiceTitan has a number of flexible features when it comes to form management. For example:

• Ability to Upload PDF Forms: ServiceTitan users can upload PDF forms that were created outside of ServiceTitan, and then host and use them in our platform.

• Ability to Create Custom Forms: Users can design any type of form they need, from a checklist, to a contract, to a warranty form — right from within our custom form settings.

• Easily Duplicate Forms: If a technician needs to complete multiple copies of the same form for a job, they don’t need to re-create the same document multiple times. They can duplicate the initial document and customize it accordingly.

• Leverage Dynamic Forms: Dynamic forms use conditional logic to update form fields based on information that’s populated. For example, if a water heater is tankless, the form automatically updates to only display questions related to tankless water heaters. 

• Required Forms: Users can define rules so that specific forms are completed by specific staff members, depending on the job stage, to ensure all necessary forms are filled out throughout the course of a job. 

With our advanced form functionality, businesses can better ensure techs and office staff follow best practices when executing day-to-day workflows, as well as ensure the right information is documented for every job. 

Client-Specific Rate Sheets: Easily Implement Custom Pricing For Commercial Customers

ServiceTitan has built-in features for offering customer-specific rate sheets to commercial customers. For example, if you’re working with a particular chain of big-box stores or restaurants, and you want to offer them special rates, you can create custom rules for pricing and markups for that specific customer.

Additional Factors to Consider When Choosing Between ServiceTitan and BuildOps

In addition to everything we’ve discussed so far, there are yet more areas where ServiceTitan stands out as a top solution for service businesses. For example:

• System Consolidation/All-in-One Functionality: We bring the functions of standalone systems into one connected solution. No alternatives bring together FSM, CRM, ERP, and financial technology (fintech) capabilities to deliver an unmatched experience for commercial contractors. 

• At the Center of the Ecosystem and Tech Stack: From our 30+ direct integrations to open APIs, we provide the ability and seamless connection to third-party platforms to not only ensure real-time data syncing but make ServiceTitan the source of truth for your data.

• Machine Learning & AI: We're at the forefront of bringing AI to the trades, something no other platform can provide. With Titan Intelligence (TI), ServiceTitan's AI engine, you get actionable insights to help automate repetitive and simple tasks, predict outcomes, lower costs, and stay competitive in a world run by data.

• Infrastructure to support you as you grow and scale: We’ve been the leading software of the trades for over 10 years and backed by leading investors. With quarterly releases, we’re continuously delivering new features and improvements right to your account, so you know your business is running with the latest innovation in the market. Our platform provides the reliability and support that’s needed for a business operating in a 24/7 world. With our historical uptime of 99.9%, ServiceTitan is a partner you can rely on. 

• Security: Protecting customer data is top priority for ServiceTitan, so we have implemented best-in-class security practices to keep customer data safe based on best practices in the SaaS industry. We have compliance with PCI-DSS Level 1, AICPA SOC 1 Type I, and AICPA SOC 2 Type II. ServiceTitan’s formal security program is detailed in its independent third-party SOC-2 audit report and ServiceTitan’s Security and Privacy Documentation. ServiceTitan’s Security and Privacy Documentation and independent third-party audits demonstrate the advanced security framework that ServiceTitan uses to protect customer data. 

Note: Curious how we compare to other field service management solutions? Visit our comparison hub where you can find in-depth comparisons of ServiceTitan versus popular solutions such as Housecall Pro, Service Fusion, Jobber, FieldEdge, and others. 

Want a Live Walk-Through of ServiceTitan’s All-In-One Platform?

The features we’ve discussed throughout this section are just some of the areas where ServiceTitan’s platform helps commercial and home service businesses streamline and automate operations. 

We also offer tools for:

• Scheduling and Dispatching

• Customer Experience

• Mobile App (Compatible with Android and iOS devices)

• Automations, Alerts, and Notifications

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• Estimates and Proposals

• Work Orders and Job Management

• Billing and Invoicing

• Payment Processing 

• Accounting Software Integrations (QuickBooks Integration, Sage Intacct Integration, and Viewpoint Vista Integration)

• Time Tracking

• And more 

To see why our software is trusted by 100,000+ service professionals, schedule a call to get a free, live, one-on-one walk-through of how our user-friendly management platform can help you grow revenue, work smarter, and keep your business operations on track.