Markate's Owner Operator plan starts at $39.95/mo, but a lot of basics are $10/mo add-ons - booking forms, branded portal, custom SMS number, Zapier. Stack three add-ons and you're paying for what CurbBid includes. Then add per-employee fees on Team plan, and the math starts to favor one flat $399.
Markate is built for solo operators and very small home service teams (cleaning, handyman, lawn care) that want a budget-friendly base plan and the option to bolt on features later. CurbBid is built for residential trades crews up to 5+ that want everything in one price and the three automations on by default.
Markate's online booking form is a $10/mo add-on (source). Branded customer portal? $10. Zapier? $10. Custom SMS number? $10. They add up. CurbBid's text-first booking and quoting is core, not bolted on. Same on every plan.
Markate Owner Operator runs around $39.95/mo and is one of the lowest entry prices in the category. CurbBid Pro is $399/mo. There's no spinning that - Markate wins on sticker price for solo operators. CurbBid wins as soon as you turn on the booking form, the SMS number, the portal, hire a helper, and want the three automations actually running.
Add multiple employees and Markate's per-employee fees stack up. On CurbBid, every crew member is included.
| CurbBid | Markate | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $399 (Pro) or $999 (Max) | ~$39.95 Owner Operator |
| Per-user charges | None | Team plan: base + per-employee fee |
| All features on every plan | Yes - no feature gating | No - many basics are $10/mo add-ons |
| Quote follow-ups (auto) | Default | Manual or paid add-on |
| Review requests (auto) | Default | Limited |
| Text-first communication | Core | Custom SMS number is $10/mo add-on |
| Free trial / guarantee | 30-day money-back | 14-day free trial, no card required |
| Support | Real human, 15-min SLA | Smaller support team; documentation gaps reported |
| Best for | Solo + 2–5 person residential trades | Solo cleaners, handymen, very small operators on tight budgets |
| Crew size | Markate | CurbBid |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user, base only | $39.95/mo | $399/mo |
| 1 user + booking form + branded portal + SMS number | $39.95 + $30 = $69.95/mo | $399/mo |
| 3 users (Team) | ~$39.95 + (3 × $5–$36) | $399/mo |
| 5 users | Stack of base + per-employee fees | $399/mo |
For a true solo operator on a tight budget, Markate beats CurbBid on price every time. CurbBid is the upgrade - for the contractor who's tired of buying features one $10 box at a time and wants every feature included for one flat number.
Markate is genuinely better than CurbBid if you're a true solo operator with a tight budget, you don't need follow-up automations on by default, and you want to start at $40/mo and add features only as you need them. For a one-person window cleaner doing residential routes, Markate at base price is hard to beat. CurbBid is for the contractor who'd rather pay one fair price than build a Lego set.
Get started. Setup is fast, there is no setup fee, and the price is flat. If CurbBid doesn't pay for itself in 30 days, get every penny back.