AutomationFire vs. Broadly: Which Is Cheaper for a Small Contractor?

Broadly's Real Cost for Contractors

Broadly markets itself as an all-in-one platform. The base plan runs $99 per month. But most contractors need more than email and basic scheduling. You'll add video estimates, SMS texting, review management, and CRM features. That's another $50 to $150 in add-ons. So realistic spend is $150 to $250 monthly just for Broadly alone.

Then you hit the wall. Broadly doesn't have phone automation. Contractors taking 50+ inbound calls per month either hire someone to answer or lose leads to voicemail.

The Real-World Stack Contractors Build Around Broadly

Most contractors we work with (Taurus Roofing & Siding, Raiden's Electrical Services, FlipMantis) end up with this:

• Broadly: $99 to $199/mo
• Podium for SMS and lead routing: $399/mo
• Birdeye for reputation and review requests: $299/mo
• Calendly for booking automation: $12/mo
• HubSpot or similar CRM: $20 to $50/mo
• BrightLocal for local SEO tracking: $49/mo

That's roughly $948 monthly. Most small contractors don't realize they're paying this much until they look at their credit card statement in Q2.

AutomationFire: Built Different

We run all seven of those tools on one platform. No belt-and-suspenders situation.

Start with SMS only. That's $29/mo plus $99 one-time setup. If you need voice automation (and most contractors do), the Voice Starter tier is $79/mo for 300 inbound and outbound minutes. Growth tier runs $199/mo for 1,000 minutes. Pro tier is $449/mo for 3,000 minutes.

Everything sits on one platform: SMS, Voice Engine, Reputation Engine, Visibility Engine, Website Engine, Booking Engine, CRM, and Automation Platform (built on n8n, so you can connect your Stripe, Zapier, QuickBooks, or Google Sheets without hiring a developer).

The Math

Broadly + Stack: $948/mo

AutomationFire Voice Pro: $449/mo (includes SMS, voice, reputation management, visibility tracking, booking, CRM, native automations)

You save $499 per month. That's $5,988 per year. Enough to hire someone part-time or reinvest in Google Ads.

Smaller contractor? Just need SMS and basic lead capture?

AutomationFire SMS Tier: $29/mo + $99 setup

Broadly alone is $99/mo. You're already ahead.

Why Contractors Choose AutomationFire

One login. One billing cycle. One data model. Taurus Home Remodeling runs their entire operation on AutomationFire. Lead comes in via website form or Google. Voice Engine answers the call in 2 seconds. Reputation Engine requests reviews from job completions. Visibility Engine tracks their Google Business Profile. Booking Engine sends calendar links. CRM logs everything. No syncing headaches. No "did that lead actually make it to Podium?"

Broadly works fine if you're okay with a patchwork. Most contractors aren't.

One More Thing: Setup Time

Broadly takes 2-3 weeks to configure SMS rules, connect Podium, get Birdeye syncing, and set up Calendly automations. You're context-switching between five dashboards.

AutomationFire takes a day. You get a dedicated onboarding specialist. By week one, you're routing calls, capturing leads, and requesting reviews from one place.

Ready to cut your software stack in half? Check our pricing or schedule a 15-minute demo.

Key Takeaways

• Broadly alone won't handle inbound calls or reputation at scale
• The full contractor stack (Broadly + Podium + Birdeye + Calendly + CRM) costs $948/mo
• AutomationFire Voice Pro does all of it for $449/mo
• SMS-only contractors save even more with our $29/mo tier
• Single platform means zero integration labor

If you're comparing Broadly, compare the full cost, not just Broadly's headline price.

Explore our Voice Engine and reputation tools to see how contractors are replacing seven tools.