Why landscapers look for a SingleOps alternative
SingleOps started as software for the green industry in general, and plenty of landscape and lawn companies signed up in its early years. Today it sits inside Granum, next to LMN, and its product page describes it as built for tree care companies and arborists: tree inventory by species and condition, proposals with upsell options, time-based scheduling, crew work orders and invoicing.
That is a good product for an arborist. For a landscape company, four things push owners to shop around.
- The roadmap is tree care. Tree inventory, plant health care and arborist workflows get the attention. Landscape-specific estimating, such as mulch by the cubic yard, sod with waste or paver assemblies, is not where the product is heading.
- Measuring sits on the higher tiers. Granum's pricing page lists "Job Site Measurements and Mapping" and job costing on Plus and Premier, not on Essential. A small company on the entry plan measures some other way.
- Seats add up. SingleOps is priced per plan with a fee for each additional office or sales user. A company with two or three estimators pays for each one.
- The sister product is the landscape answer. When the vendor itself steers landscapers to LMN, it is worth asking whether LMN, or something else, is the better long-term home.
If you run a mixed tree and landscape company where tree work is most of the revenue, SingleOps may still be the right system. Everyone else should compare.
SingleOps alternatives for landscaping compared
These are the tools landscape companies shortlist when they leave SingleOps or add something next to it. The notes reflect what each vendor says about its own product. Pricing changes often, so check current plans with each vendor.
| Tool | Built around | Satellite measurement | Job costing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LMN (Granum) | Budget-based estimating, job costing and crew timesheets for landscapers | Partner integrations | Yes | Growing landscape companies that price from an overhead budget |
| Aspire | End-to-end operations for commercial landscape firms | PropertyIntel add-on | Yes, property level | Multi-crew commercial contractors with seven-figure revenue |
| Jobber | Scheduling, quotes, invoicing and client hub for home service trades | Deep Lawn integration, otherwise map tools | On higher plans | Owner-operators who want a simple app |
| QuoteIQ | All-in-one field service app for 50+ trades | MapMeasure Pro on tiers above Essentials | On Pro and above | Small lawn and landscape crews running everything from a phone |
| Arborgold | Tree, lawn and landscape business management | Check with vendor | Yes | Mixed tree care and landscape companies |
| Landscapeestimating | Satellite measuring, cost library, proposals with e-sign and job costing | Built into every plan (turf, beds, sod, hardscape, edging) | Estimate vs actual on Company and above | Landscapers who need accurate bids and keep their scheduling tool |
Landscapeestimating is our product. It does not do tree inventory, routing or invoicing, and if you need those in one system it is not a full replacement. It covers the part landscape companies most often get wrong: turning a property into a priced, signed estimate. See the detail on our QuoteIQ alternative, LMN alternative and Aspire alternative pages.
Example of one install bid in a general app and in an estimating tool
Take a typical spring job: 1,400 sq ft of mulch beds at 3 inches, 320 linear feet of bed edge and 1,800 sq ft of sod.
In a general field service app you measure each area, then type a price per unit. The mulch line says 1,400 sq ft at a flat rate. Nobody sees that 3 inches over 1,400 sq ft is 13 cubic yards before waste, or that edging at your crew's pace is about 8 man-hours. If the rate was set two seasons ago, the margin on the job is a guess.
In an estimating tool you trace the three layers on satellite imagery. Mulch converts to cubic yards with your waste factor, then prices from material cost plus your install production rate. Edging prices by the linear foot from your edging rate. Sod runs as an assembly with prep and haul-off. Each line shows labor hours, cost and margin before the proposal goes out, and the client picks between a basic and an upgraded option and signs online.
After the job, the crew's actual hours post against the same lines on our landscape job costing software. If the edging took 11 hours instead of 8, next spring's edging rate changes. Materials matter too: if crew leads buy mulch and fuel on company cards, scanning the crew receipts into categories makes the actual cost side of the job complete instead of estimated.
Replace SingleOps, or keep it and add an estimating tool?
Start with where your revenue comes from, then look at where money leaks.
- Tree work is most of the business. Stay on SingleOps. It is built for you. If landscape installs are a side line and their estimates run over, add an estimator for those bids only.
- Landscape maintenance and installs are most of the business, several crews, commercial clients. Look at LMN, which Granum builds for landscapers, or Aspire. Both carry estimating, job costing and payroll-style timesheets in one system.
- Small crew, mostly residential, wants one app. Jobber or QuoteIQ cover scheduling, invoicing and payments on a phone. Read our Jobber alternative for landscapers post for how that setup works.
- Scheduling works, bids lose money. Keep what you schedule with and measure and price bids in landscape estimating software. The signed estimate exports as CSV on every plan and to QuickBooks Online on Company and above.
Which landscapers should leave SingleOps
Leave if landscape work is most of your revenue and you are paying for a tree care roadmap, if your estimators are on the entry plan without measuring, or if extra office seats are driving the bill. Stay if tree care leads your revenue. Before you move, pull your last ten install jobs and compare estimate to actual. If most came in over on labor, fix the estimate first; a new scheduling system won't.
What is the best SingleOps alternative for landscapers?
For commercial landscape firms, LMN (from the same parent company, Granum) or Aspire are the closest replacements. For small crews, Jobber or QuoteIQ are simpler. If estimates are the problem, keep your scheduling tool and add Landscapeestimating, which measures from satellite and prices from your own production rates.
Is SingleOps for landscaping or tree care?
SingleOps is now positioned as tree care business management software. Granum, which owns SingleOps and LMN, describes SingleOps as built for tree care companies and arborists and presents LMN as its landscaping product. Landscape companies can still use SingleOps, but its features center on tree work.
How much does SingleOps cost?
Granum publishes three SingleOps plans on its pricing page: Essential, Plus and Premier, billed monthly or yearly with a discount for yearly, plus a monthly fee for each additional office or sales user. Measurements, mapping and job costing are on Plus and Premier. Check current prices with Granum before comparing.
Does SingleOps have property measurement?
Yes, on the higher plans. Granum's pricing page lists job site measurements and mapping on SingleOps Plus and Premier, not on Essential. For landscape bids, Landscapeestimating includes satellite measurement on every plan and prices each traced layer from your cost library.
Is SingleOps the same company as LMN?
Yes and no. SingleOps and LMN are separate products owned by the same company, Granum. LMN is the landscaping business management product, and SingleOps is the tree care product. Moving from one to the other is still a software change with its own setup and data migration.