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Run a local service business (e.g. a plumber): cheapest tool stack

Run the office side of a local service business: online booking, a CRM, a website, an AI receptionist for missed calls, and signed quotes.

Prices are official, dated and quoted (latest check 2026-10-18). Change any number and the stacks update. Ranking never depends on affiliate status.

Cheapest$1.58/mo1.7 h/week by handLowest monthly price that covers every category.

Balanced$109.33/mo0.0 h/week by handLowest price + your time (hours × your hourly value).

Most automated$109.33/mo0.0 h/week by handFewest manual hours; price breaks ties.

Call minutes per month: 450.0

The three stacks

Cheapest stack

Category	Tool	What it does	$/month	Manual h/week
AI receptionist	Answer yourself	You or a colleague take every call.	$0.00	1.7 h
Online booking	Setmore Free	Online booking, up to 4 users.	$0.00	0.0 h
CRM	Zoho CRM Free Edition	3 users, workflow automation.	$0.00	0.0 h
Website	Carrd Pro Standard	One-page site with your own domain; $19 a year.	$1.58	0.0 h
Signed quotes	BoldSign Essential (free)	25 envelopes a month, one user.	$0.00	0.0 h
Total			$1.58/mo	1.7 h/week

Balanced stack

Category	Tool	What it does	$/month	Manual h/week
AI receptionist	AI-Receptionist.com affiliate Essential	AI answers calls; 75 minutes included, $0.25/min after.	$107.75	0.0 h
Online booking	Setmore Free	Online booking, up to 4 users.	$0.00	0.0 h
CRM	Zoho CRM Free Edition	3 users, workflow automation.	$0.00	0.0 h
Website	Carrd Pro Standard	One-page site with your own domain; $19 a year.	$1.58	0.0 h
Signed quotes	BoldSign Essential (free)	25 envelopes a month, one user.	$0.00	0.0 h
Total			$109.33/mo	0.0 h/week

Most automated stack

Category	Tool	What it does	$/month	Manual h/week
AI receptionist	AI-Receptionist.com affiliate Essential	AI answers calls; 75 minutes included, $0.25/min after.	$107.75	0.0 h
Online booking	Setmore Free	Online booking, up to 4 users.	$0.00	0.0 h
CRM	Zoho CRM Free Edition	3 users, workflow automation.	$0.00	0.0 h
Website	Carrd Pro Standard	One-page site with your own domain; $19 a year.	$1.58	0.0 h
Signed quotes	BoldSign Essential (free)	25 envelopes a month, one user.	$0.00	0.0 h
Total			$109.33/mo	0.0 h/week

Every option, per category

Sorted by price at your numbers. “Doesn’t fit” means a plan limit (users, minutes, subscribers…) is exceeded.

AI receptionist

Tool / plan	$/month	h/week	Evidence
Answer yourself	$0.00	1.7 h	No tool to buy.
AI-Receptionist.com affiliate Essential	$107.75	0.0 h	Price source AI-Receptionist.com Essential: $14/month incl. 75 minutes, extra $0.25/min (checked 2026-10-17, ReceptionistCost: ai-receptionist-com / Essential) $14 75 Extra minutes only $0.25/min Formula: `14+max(0,call_minutes-75)*0.25`
Dialzara Business Lite	$216.20	0.0 h	Price source Dialzara Business Lite: $29/month incl. 60 minutes, overage $0.48/min (checked 2026-10-17, ReceptionistCost: dialzara / Business Lite) $29 Up to 60 minutes of talk time included Overage: $0.48/min Formula: `29+max(0,call_minutes-60)*0.48`
Rosie affiliate Professional	doesn’t fit		Price source Rosie Professional: $49/month incl. 250 minutes (checked 2026-10-17, ReceptionistCost: rosie / Professional) $49 250 minutes per month Formula: `49`

Online booking

Tool / plan	$/month	h/week	Evidence
Setmore Free	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source Free: up to 4 users, $0 (checked 2026-10-18, Booking calculator (schedulecost): setmore fact setmore/free) Start Free Up to 4 users $0 USD user / month Formula: `0`
Square Appointments Free	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source Monthly fee per location: Free $0, Plus $49, Premium $149 (checked 2026-10-18, Booking calculator (schedulecost): square-appointments fact square/locations) $0/mo. per location $49/mo. per location $149/mo. per location Formula: `0`
Book by phone	$0.00	1.1 h	No tool to buy.
Setmore Pro	$24.00	0.0 h	Price source Pro: $12 per user per month with monthly billing (checked 2026-10-18, Booking calculator (schedulecost): setmore fact setmore/pro-monthly) monthly billing - free plan $0 per month, pro plan $12 per month Formula: `techs*iff(annual,5,12)`
Calendly Free	doesn’t fit		Price source Free: always free, one event type, one calendar connection (checked 2026-10-18, Booking calculator (schedulecost): calendly fact calendly/free) Free Always free Get started Includes: Scheduling One event type One calendar connection Formula: `0`

CRM

Tool / plan	$/month	h/week	Evidence
Zoho CRM Free Edition	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source Free Edition: US$0, 3 users, forever free; workflow automation, standard reports, APIs (checked 2026-10-18, CRM calculator (crmcost): zoho-crm fact zoho-crm/free) Free US$0 US$0 3 users START NOW Forever free Workflow automation Formula: `0`
HubSpot Free	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source Free: $0/mo, no credit card required, up to 2 users (checked 2026-10-18, CRM calculator (crmcost): hubspot fact hubspot/free) Free No credit card required $0/mo Up to 2 users Formula: `0`
Less Annoying CRM One plan	$30.00	0.0 h	Price source One price: $15 per user per month, everything included, plus applicable tax (checked 2026-10-18, CRM calculator (crmcost): less-annoying-crm fact less-annoying-crm/price) Everything included $15 per user per month + applicable tax No tiers. No contracts. Formula: `techs*15`
Pipedrive Lite	$48.00	0.0 h	Price source Monthly billing, per seat per month: Lite US$24, Growth US$49, Premium US$79, Ultimate US$99 (checked 2026-10-18, CRM calculator (crmcost): pipedrive fact pipedrive/monthly) Lite: US$24, Growth: US$49, Premium: US$79, Ultimate: US$99 Formula: `techs*24`
Capsule Free	doesn’t fit		Price source Free plan: US$0, maximum 2 users, 250 contacts, 1 sales pipeline (checked 2026-10-18, CRM calculator (crmcost): capsule fact capsule/free) US$0 Maximum 2 users. 250 Contacts 1 Sales Pipeline Formula: `0`

Website

Tool / plan	$/month	Evidence
Carrd Pro Standard	$1.58	Price source Pro Standard: $19 per year, 10 sites, Custom Domain URLs, forms, widgets, embeds (checked 2026-10-18, Website builder calculator (buildercost): carrd fact carrd/standard) Pro Standard Next Previous $19 / year 10 Sites Custom Domain URLs Formula: `19/12`
Framer Basic (yearly view)	$10.00	Price source Basic: $10 per month in the page's yearly-billing view, free custom domain, 50 GB bandwidth (checked 2026-10-18, Website builder calculator (buildercost): framer fact framer/basic) Basic Creative personal sites $10 per month Free custom domain 2× credits first month 2 CMS collections 50 GB bandwidth Formula: `10`
Hostinger Website Builder Premium, 1-month term	$11.99	Price source Premium, 1-month term: $11.99/mo, renews at $11.99/mo (checked 2026-10-18, Website builder calculator (buildercost): hostinger fact hostinger/premium-1) Premium Run websites smoothly. Great for creators and small brands. $ 11.99 /mo Choose plan Renews at $11.99/mo. Formula: `11.99`
Wix Light (yearly)	$17.00	Price source Light: $17/month (yearly subscription, paid in full), free domain for 1 year, 2 GB storage (checked 2026-10-18, Website builder calculator (buildercost): wix fact wix/light) Light Get the basics Accessibility Text $ 17 mo Free domain for 1 year 2 GB storage space Formula: `17`
Durable Launch (monthly)	$25.00	Price source Monthly view: Launch $25 and Grow $49 per month (checked 2026-10-18, Website builder calculator (buildercost): durable fact durable/monthly) Free $0 Launch $25/m Grow $49/m Formula: `iff(annual,22,25)`

Signed quotes

Tool / plan	$/month	h/week	Evidence
BoldSign Essential (free)	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source Essential (free): 25 envelopes a month, no additional users (checked 2026-10-17, SignCost: boldsign fact 0) 25 envelopes/month No additional users Formula: `0`
Paper / PDF by email	$0.00	0.4 h	No tool to buy.
SignWell Light	$12.00	0.0 h	Price source Monthly billing: Light $12 (+$12/sender), Business $36 (+$15/sender) (checked 2026-10-17, SignCost: signwell fact 5) LIGHT 12 1 Sender BUSINESS 36 3 Senders $12/mo per additional sender $15/mo per additional sender Formula: `12`
Zoho Sign Free	doesn’t fit		Price source Free: single user, 5 envelopes per month (checked 2026-10-17, SignCost: zoho-sign fact 0) Single user only 5 envelopes per month Formula: `0`

Not covered (yet)

Review tools (e.g. review-request apps): no verified price data yet.
Invoicing/accounting: no verified price data yet.
Field-service apps (Jobber, Housecall Pro): not covered yet.

Affiliate disclosure: links marked “affiliate” may earn Built & Stuck a commission at no extra cost to you. They are chosen after the ranking is computed and never affect it. Manual-hours figures are estimates from the assumptions above, not measurements.

Questions

What does an AI receptionist cost for a small plumbing business?

At 150 calls of 3 minutes (450 minutes) the published plans range from a few tens of dollars to over $100 a month depending on included minutes and overage; the calculator compares them at your call volume.

Can a local business run on free tools?

Booking (Setmore Free, Square Appointments Free), CRM (Zoho CRM Free for 3 users) and e-signature (BoldSign free, 25 envelopes) all have free plans; the website and phone answering are where money goes.

Do affiliate links change the ranking?

No. The ranking only uses price, manual hours and your hourly value. Some tools have a marked affiliate link; the calculation never reads it.