Housecall Pro Commissions vs. TeamBuyIn: 2026 Comparison

Housecall Pro commissions vs. TeamBuyIn: what's the difference?

Housecall Pro has a built-in commissions feature. So do you actually need TeamBuyIn? Here's an honest breakdown of what each tool does, where Housecall Pro's commissions stop, and where TeamBuyIn can take your commission to the next level.

If you're running commission-based pay at your HVAC or plumbing shop and you're already on Housecall Pro, it's a fair question. Housecall Pro has a commissions feature built into the platform. It's free, it's already there, and for some shops it does the job.

With Housecall Pro's Price Book Commissions update, you can set Worked By and Sold By rates directly on Price Book items, calculated on either total revenue or gross profit across your account.

But a lot of owners hit a wall with it. Payout logic is tied to one global calculation setting, there are no tiered commission rules, technicians have no mobile app visibility, and someone in the office is still doing manual math in a spreadsheet when payday rolls around.

Here's exactly what each tool does.

How Housecall Pro's commissions work

Housecall Pro's commission feature gives you two main ways to assign rates:

1. Employee Default Rates: Assign a standard Worked By and Sold By percentage to each team member under Manage Pay settings.
2. Price Book Item Rates: Configure custom Worked By or Sold By percentages directly on Services, Materials, or Pricing Forms.

You select whether your account calculates payouts based on Revenue or Gross Profit. That setting applies across your entire company. When a Price Book item with custom rates is added to a job, those rates override the employee's default percentage. If an item has no custom rate set, it falls back to the employee's default rate.

For a shop that pays simple, static percentages on revenue or gross profit, this works fine. The problem is that growing shops need more flexible structures.

Where Housecall Pro's commissions fall short

While Price Book rates add control over individual line items, Housecall Pro still limits how flexible your comp plan can be:

• One Account-Wide Basis: You must choose Revenue or Gross Profit for the entire shop. You cannot pay a top-line percentage on an install and a gross profit split on a repair job within the same system.
• No Tiered Commissions: Housecall Pro cannot scale rates based on individual tech volume, ticket size, or company-wide milestones.
• No Tech Visibility: Technicians cannot see their earnings breakdown in Housecall Pro. They find out what they made when payroll runs.

How TeamBuyIn works with Housecall Pro

TeamBuyIn connects directly to your Housecall Pro account and handles the commission layer. You keep using Housecall Pro for scheduling, dispatching, price books, and invoicing.

Commissions in TeamBuyIn support three core calculation models:

1. User-Based Commissions: Custom rates and payout rules tailored to individual employees.
2. Service-Based Commissions: Specific rules, top-line percentages, bottom-line profit splits, or flat-dollar payouts attached to individual line items or services.
3. Tiered Commissions:
   • Per User: Automatically scale a technician's rate as their individual revenue increases.
   • Per Job Size: Pay higher commission percentages on larger ticket totals.
   • For the Organization: Unlock company-wide bonus multipliers when the whole shop hits revenue targets.

When a job syncs from Housecall Pro, it lands in TeamBuyIn as pending. You review line items, adjust splits, log override notes, and approve payouts. Technicians open the TeamBuyIn app to see their earnings in real time after every job, along with live company leaderboards.

At the end of a pay period, export a Performance Pay CSV for payroll and an Accounting CSV for your books with job-level details.

Housecall Pro commissions vs. TeamBuyIn: Feature Comparison

Commission rate setup

Housecall Pro: Employee default rates + custom Sold By / Worked By rates on Price Book items

TeamBuyIn: User-based, service-based, and tiered commission rules

Payout calculation basis

Housecall Pro: Single account-wide setting (Revenue OR Gross Profit)

TeamBuyIn: Flexible per service (top-line %, bottom-line %, fixed dollar payouts, or custom spiffs)

Tiered commissions

Housecall Pro: Not supported

TeamBuyIn: Supported across individual user volume, job size thresholds, and company-wide targets

Technician earnings visibility

Housecall Pro: Techs cannot see their expected earnings

TeamBuyIn: Real-time earnings in the app for technicians to see how they're getting paid and why as they earn

Multi-tech payout splits

Housecall Pro: Applies assigned Sold By / Worked By rates to assigned line items

TeamBuyIn: Even split by default, with custom split control (e.g. 60/40)

Payout overrides

Housecall Pro: Manual amount override available per job

TeamBuyIn: Simple and advanced override modes with optional notes

Job review and approval

Housecall Pro: No approval workflow, commissions live on each individual job.

TeamBuyIn: Pending to reviewed workflow building in additional control and admin oversight.

Performance leaderboard

Housecall Pro: Can be built with report.

TeamBuyIn: Monthly leaderboard can be organized by payout, profit, and revenue

Payroll and accounting export

Housecall Pro: Commissions Report with totals by employee

TeamBuyIn: Performance Pay and Accounting CSV exports with job-level detail

Where to access

Housecall Pro: Web App only

TeamBuyIn: Dedicated web app for admin and a mobile app for techs and admins

When Housecall Pro's commissions are enough

Housecall Pro's built-in feature works well if your shop uses a straightforward percentage structure, doesn't run tiered incentives, and doesn't need real-time technician app visibility.

When you've outgrown it

You've outgrown Housecall Pro commissions when you need tiered structures (user milestones, job size tiers, or org targets), want to mix flat-dollar spiffs with profit-based payouts, or want your technicians tracking their earnings live on their phones to build accountability.

TeamBuyIn is built for Housecall Pro

You keep using Housecall Pro for scheduling, dispatch, and invoicing. TeamBuyIn plugs in to manage user-based, service-based, and tiered commissions, technician mobile visibility, and admin approvals. Nothing in your core workflow changes.