What Cleaning Business Owners Are Asking Their Software For (November 2026)
We read what BookingKoala, Jobber, Housecall Pro and ConvertLabs owners ask for most, then checked every request against Busy Book.
Every booking app has a wish list. Owners post what they need, other owners vote, and the most-wanted ideas float to the top. So we sat down and read them, you guys. We went through what cleaning business owners on BookingKoala, Jobber, Housecall Pro and ConvertLabs are asking for in November 2026, and checked every single request against Busy Book.
Some of it Busy Book already does. Some of it we built this week because the same thing kept coming up. And some of it we haven't built yet, and we'll tell you that too, okay?
The short answer
- Owners everywhere want the same few things: see every job and partner on a map, a text back when a call is missed, one simple page where clients manage their cleanings, and notes from partners on the job.
- A lot of what they're asking for is already in Busy Book: invoices, memberships, two-way texting with clients, your bookings in Google Calendar, a bonus for 5-star reviews, Airbnb calendar sync and rescuing half-finished bookings.
- This week we added five more: Sarah can call a new lead right away, partners can send notes and tap Running late, you can send clients an arrival window, whole-home extras can't be added twice, and every client gets a page of their own to manage their cleanings.
- What we haven't built yet: a map with drive time, a text back after a missed call, and partner service areas. They're on our list.
What BookingKoala owners are asking for
These are the most-voted requests on BookingKoala's public feature board, as of November 1, 2026.
| What owners asked for | Votes | In Busy Book today |
|---|---|---|
| An open API | 54 | Partly: send every booking to your other apps |
| Their own brand on the apps | 35 | Partly: your look on your booking page, website and form |
| Square footage from a home lookup | 33 | Not yet |
| Billing and invoicing | 29 | Yes: an invoice with every booking |
| A map and route planning | 29 | Not yet |
| Two-way texting with clients | 27 | Yes: from your own business number |
| Partners can comment on a booking | 25 | Yes, new: notes from the partner app |
| A map of your partners | 25 | Not yet |
| A quote right from the lead | 24 | Yes: Sarah texts every new lead and quotes your flat price |
| An app for the owner | 23 | Yes: Busy Book on your phone |
| A bonus for a 5-star review | 21 | Yes: partner bonuses |
| Google Calendar | 21 | Yes: every booking in your calendar |
| Memberships | 19 | Yes: cleaning memberships |
If you're on BookingKoala today, the big ones to notice are the quote from the lead and two-way texting. In Busy Book, Sarah answers a new lead by text within a minute, quotes your flat price and books the cleaning, day or night. Our BookingKoala vs Busy Book post compares the two side by side.
What ConvertLabs owners are asking for
These are the top requests on ConvertLabs' public feature board, as of November 1, 2026.
| What owners asked for | Votes | In Busy Book today |
|---|---|---|
| Google Calendar | 18 | Yes |
| A client agreement sent with the booking | 15 | Yes: your terms box on the booking form |
| See where visitors come from | 15 | Yes: know what your marketing brings in |
| A rewards path for clients | 12 | Partly: give $25, get $25 referrals |
| Sales tax by location | 11 | Not yet |
| Partners only see their own jobs | 10 | Yes |
| A receipt every time a card is charged | 10 | Yes |
| Memberships | 9 | Yes |
| A map of clients | 9 | Not yet |
| Unfinished bookings turn into leads | 7 | Yes: finish half-done bookings |
| Service areas for each partner | 6 | Not yet |
| Let clients pay in parts | 5 | Yes |
| Holidays blocked on the calendar | 5 | Not yet |
| A "running late" button | 4 | Yes, new |
ConvertLabs owners also asked for Apple Pay and Google Pay at checkout, which ConvertLabs has marked as planned. Busy Book doesn't have those yet either.
What Jobber owners wish it did
Jobber is built for every kind of home service, from landscaping to HVAC, so its reviews cover a lot of ground. These came up again and again in its Capterra reviews and owner community, and they matter for a cleaning business:
- Simpler pricing, without paying more for each person you add or for marketing tools. Busy Book has three flat plans and no fee per cleaner.
- Reports you can shape, with leads, conversions and money owed at a glance. Busy Book has reports and a Sunday summary in your inbox; custom reports aren't there yet.
- Giving certain areas or services to certain people. Not in Busy Book yet.
- Texts that reach both people in a couple. Not in Busy Book yet.
- Time-off requests that update the schedule. In Busy Book, partners add their own days off in their app.
- An instant price on the booking form instead of a quote request and a callback. That's how Busy Book's booking page works: clients see your flat price as they fill it in.
What Housecall Pro owners wish it did
Housecall Pro started with trades like HVAC and plumbing. In its Capterra reviews, the cons that matter most for cleaning were:
- Invoicing that handles repeat jobs well. Busy Book makes an invoice with each booking, so there's nothing to build by hand.
- Email tools with more control, tracking and bulk sends. Busy Book has coupons and email campaigns; open and click tracking is on our list.
- Service agreements built in. In Busy Book, that's cleaning memberships, charged automatically each month.
- Fewer surprise layout changes. Fair! Every Busy Book screen has a guide and a short video, and we update them every time a screen changes.
What we added this week
Owners kept asking, so these are new in Busy Book in November 2026:
- Sarah can call new leads right away. Pick Call right away and Sarah phones every new lead the moment they ask. If they don't pick up, she texts them. At night she texts instead.
- Notes, Running late and arrival windows. Partners send you notes from the job and tap Running late with about how late. You can tell a client you're on the way, or send an arrival window you pick, like 9:00 to 11:00 AM.
- Pause a partner's jobs. Waiting on a new partner's paperwork? Pause their jobs. They can sign in, but they won't see or take jobs until you turn them back on, or until everything is checked off.
- Extras sold once per cleaning. Baseboards, blinds and pet hair are whole-home jobs. Tick Once per cleaning and clients get a simple tick box, so nobody books two.
- A page of their own for every client. From one link, clients move a cleaning to an open time, skip one, cancel, update their card, tip and book again. No login, and your late cancellation fee still applies.
Each one has a step-by-step guide and a short video in the Busy Book Help Center.
How to pick the right one for you
Every app on this list has happy owners. The right one is the one that fits how you run your business, so test it with a real booking:
- Book a cleaning the way a client would, on your phone, at your real prices.
- Send a test lead and see how fast it gets an answer, and who answers it.
- Send the job to a partner and look at it in their app.
- Check the price with your real team size, so you know what happens when you add partners.
If you work a 9 to 5 and can't answer every lead yourself, pay the most attention to step 2. That's where most bookings are won or lost.
Questions people ask
What do BookingKoala users want most?
On November 1, 2026, the most-voted requests on BookingKoala's public board were an open API (54 votes), their own brand on the apps (35), square footage from a home lookup (33), billing and invoicing (29) and a map with route planning (29).
Is Busy Book a good ConvertLabs alternative?
It depends on what you need. Many of the top ConvertLabs requests, like Google Calendar, client agreements, receipts, memberships and turning unfinished bookings into leads, are already in Busy Book. Busy Book also has Sarah, who texts and can call your new leads.
What's missing from Busy Book?
As of November 2026: a map with drive time, a text back after a missed call to your business line, partner service areas, sales tax by location, and Apple Pay and Google Pay. We're working through that list.
Can I move my clients over from another app?
Yes. Export your clients to a file from BookingKoala, Jobber, ZenMaid or any app, then upload it in Busy Book's Bring your clients over page.
