If you run a hood cleaning company and you are shopping for software, the shortlist usually looks the same: ServiceTitan, ServiceTrade, Jobber and Housecall Pro. They are all real products with real strengths. They were also all built for somebody else’s trade, and the gap shows up in the one document your client actually needs after every job — the NFPA 96 report and certificate.
What each one is built for
ServiceTitan is enterprise field-service software for HVAC, plumbing and electrical. It is powerful, priced per technician, and comes with an implementation fee. ServiceTitan alternatives for hood cleaning companies.
ServiceTrade is the commercial incumbent, built for fire protection, mechanical and multi-trade service contractors. Plenty of hood cleaning companies run on it. Hood cleaning runs on the same generic inspection forms as every other trade in it. ServiceTrade alternatives for hood cleaning companies.
Jobber is polished, general-purpose field-service software for residential trades. Scheduling, quoting and invoicing are strong; kitchen exhaust is not part of it. Jobber alternatives for hood cleaning companies.
Housecall Pro is built for residential home services. It schedules and gets you paid; it has no NFPA 96 layer. Housecall Pro alternatives for hood cleaning companies.
What none of them do
All four will schedule the visit, capture photos and raise the invoice. None of them turns the job into an NFPA 96 record. The cleaning frequency, the grease depth, the access panels, the report and the certificate are still assembled by someone in the office after the crew leaves the roof. That is the step that costs you hours every week — and the step your client’s insurer and fire marshal look at.
The six checks to run in any demo
Take this list into every software demo, including ours. Ask the vendor to show each one on a real job, not a slide.
- Cleaning frequency from cooking type. Does the software set the next service date from NFPA 96 Table 12.4 based on what the kitchen cooks, or do you type the date in? The Table 12.4 frequency guide.
- Grease depth against the threshold. Does the tech log a measured grease depth, and does the record show it against the threshold? Why grease depth is the record.
- Access panels recorded. Does the job capture which access panels were opened and what was found behind them?
- Report generated from the job. When the tech closes the job, does the NFPA 96 report build itself from what was captured, or does someone rebuild it from photos and notes?
- Certificate at job close. Does the client receive the certificate when the job is done, or days later? What an NFPA 96 certificate proves.
- Your jurisdiction’s edition cited. Does the record cite the NFPA 96 edition the kitchen’s jurisdiction actually adopted, or a generic default? NFPA 96 edition by state.
If a platform answers “you can build that” to most of these, you are buying a toolkit and supplying the hood cleaning part yourself.
Where HoodOps fits
HoodOps was built from a working hood cleaning operation for this one trade. All six checks are the product: the job record produces the NFPA 96 report and certificate, the next cleaning is scheduled from the cooking type, and citations resolve to the jurisdiction’s adopted edition. Pricing is by customer accounts serviced, with unlimited users. See every comparison, or book a 45-minute demo and run the six checks on us.