Hearth Pro wins this comparison by default in 2026, because Hearth no longer sells a Starter plan. Hearth's own pricing page now lists three tiers: Hearth Pro, Pro + Harper, and Enterprise, with prices quoted through a demo instead of published on the site. Under the old lineup, Starter (also sold as Essentials) listed at $1,499 per year and Pro at $1,799, a $300 gap that bought the full quoting, contract, invoicing, and payments suite. Below is what each plan included, what replaced them, and what to do if you are still riding a legacy Starter subscription.
Key takeaways
- Hearth retired the Starter (Essentials) tier. As of July 2026 the lineup is Hearth Pro, Pro + Harper, and Enterprise, and pricing is demo-quoted rather than published.
- Legacy list prices were $1,499 per year for Starter, $1,799 for Pro, and $4,999 for the top tier, plus a one-time $99 setup fee, per Software Advice and Loanfolk listings.
- Every Hearth tier includes the same financing marketplace: 18+ lenders with $0 dealer fees. Starter's cuts were all software: no digital quotes, contracts, invoicing, or payments.
- Harper, Hearth's AI receptionist and follow-up assistant, runs a flat $199 per month with no per-call charges.
- At Pro's legacy price, the break-even against Wisetack's 3.9% per-transaction fee is roughly $46,000 in financed volume per year.
Quick verdict by scenario
The right Hearth plan depends on where you are starting from, not on a feature checklist. Signing up new in 2026? Hearth Pro is the baseline, so the Starter question is moot; your real decision is whether to add Harper. Already on a legacy Starter plan and running quotes and invoices through Jobber, Housecall Pro, or another CRM? Keep Starter as long as Hearth lets you renew it, because you are paying only for the financing network. On legacy Starter but still writing paper contracts and chasing checks? Upgrade to Pro; the software gap costs you more than the price gap. Missing inbound calls while you are on roofs or under sinks? Pro + Harper is the tier built for you. Multi-crew or multi-location operations belong on Enterprise.
Hearth Pro vs Starter at a glance
The table below shows the two legacy tiers as they were sold, which is still the version most contractors are comparing when they search this question.
| Feature | Starter (legacy, $1,499/yr) | Pro (legacy, $1,799/yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Financing marketplace (18+ lenders) | Yes | Yes |
| $0 dealer fees on standard loans | Yes | Yes |
| Digital quotes with monthly payments | No | Yes |
| Digital contracts and e-signatures | No | Yes |
| Invoicing and payment collection | No | Yes |
| Automated reminders | No | Yes |
| Still sold to new customers in 2026 | No | Yes (as the baseline tier) |
What Hearth actually sells in 2026
Hearth's live pricing page, checked in July 2026, lists three tiers and no dollar figures. Hearth Pro is described as the baseline and bundles the financing marketplace (18+ lenders, $0 dealer fees), quotes with monthly payment options, 0% credit-card offers, client management, web tools, Hearth Pay, and concierge support. Pro + Harper layers on the AI workforce: a 24/7 AI receptionist, AI-drafted follow-up texts you approve before they send, loan application chasing, and a social media creator. Enterprise adds a dedicated account manager, a marketing audit and gameplan, a live financing masterclass, and implementation service.
Two practical notes on the new structure. First, published pricing is gone, so expect a sales conversation and some room to negotiate, especially at renewal. Third-party listings such as Software Advice and Loanfolk still show the legacy list prices ($1,499 Essentials, $1,799 Pro, $4,999 top tier, $99 setup fee), and contractors report renewal quotes in that same neighborhood for Pro. Second, features that used to be paid add-ons, notably promotional 0% offers, now appear inside the Pro baseline. Our full Hearth fee breakdown tracks these numbers as they move.
Financing access: identical on both plans
Financing access was never the difference between Starter and Pro. Both tiers plugged contractors into the same marketplace of 18 or more lenders, covering loans from roughly $1,000 to $250,000, with no per-job dealer fee on standard unsecured loans. A homeowner applying through your Starter link saw the same offers as one applying through a Pro account. If the lender network is all you want, the cheaper plan was always the rational buy; here is how Hearth's 18-lender network works and why multiple lenders lift approval rates. Winner: Starter, because equal access for $300 less is a win.
Sales software: the whole reason Pro exists
Software is where the $300 gap earned its keep. Pro included digital quotes with monthly payment amounts printed next to the project price, e-signature contracts, invoicing, card and ACH payment collection through Hearth Pay, and automated reminders. Starter included none of that. Bought separately, those tools cost real money: Jobber's entry plan alone runs about $39 to $49 per month on annual billing, roughly $470 to $590 per year, before you add a contract tool or payment processing. If Hearth was going to be your only back office, Pro was cheaper than assembling the pieces. If you already ran a CRM, Pro's software was shelfware. Winner: Pro, for any contractor without an existing system.
Promotional 0% offers: add-on then, bundled now
Promotional financing worked differently on the legacy tiers than it does today. Under the old lineup, contractor-subsidized 0% APR promotions were an add-on that third-party reviews listed at around $399 per year on Starter and Pro. On the 2026 pricing page, Hearth folds 0% credit-card offers into the Pro baseline. Compare that with pay-per-deal platforms: Wisetack's 0% promos cost the contractor 4.9% to 9.9% per transaction on top of its 3.9% base fee, per Wisetack's published fee documentation. One $15,000 job on a 12-month 0% promo through Wisetack costs over $1,600 in fees; a flat subscription amortizes fast if you run promos often. Our guide to how 0% APR contractor financing actually works covers the math in detail. Winner: Pro.
Support: concierge on Pro, account manager on Enterprise
Support tiers followed the price ladder. Legacy Starter came with standard support only. The 2026 Pro tier advertises a concierge team, and Enterprise is the only tier with a named account manager plus onboarding and implementation service. Contractors on Trustpilot mention onboarding staff as a bright spot, with reviewers calling the setup walkthroughs thorough. If your office manager will live in this tool daily, support quality matters more than it looks on a feature grid. Winner: Pro.
Pricing by tier, legacy and current
| Tier | Legacy list price | Status in 2026 | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter / Essentials | $1,499/yr + $99 setup | Retired; existing subscribers only | Contractors with their own CRM who only want the lender network |
| Pro | $1,799/yr + $99 setup | Current baseline; price now demo-quoted | Contractors who want financing plus quotes, contracts, invoicing, payments |
| Pro + Harper | Harper listed at $199/mo flat | Current mid tier | Solo and small crews missing calls during work hours |
| Enterprise / Elite | $4,999/yr | Current top tier; demo-quoted | Multi-location operations with sales teams |
Harper deserves its own line item. Hearth's Harper product page lists it at a flat $199 per month for unlimited use, with no per-minute or per-call charges, which undercuts most live answering services once call volume passes a few dozen calls a month. Setup help from a Hearth AI specialist is included.
The break-even math against pay-per-deal platforms
Break-even is the number that should drive this whole decision. Hearth charges a flat subscription and no dealer fee; pay-per-deal platforms charge nothing up front and take a cut of every financed job. Wisetack charges contractors 3.9% per transaction with no subscription, per its published fee schedule, and merchant-fee programs like GreenSky commonly run higher on promotional plans. The table assumes Pro's legacy list price of $1,799.
| Annual financed volume | Cost at 3.9% per deal | Hearth Pro flat cost | Cheaper option |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20,000 | $780 | $1,799 | Pay per deal |
| $46,000 | $1,794 | $1,799 | Break-even point |
| $75,000 | $2,925 | $1,799 | Hearth Pro |
| $150,000 | $5,850 | $1,799 | Hearth Pro |
Two caveats. Against programs charging 5% to 7% dealer fees, the break-even drops to roughly $26,000 to $36,000 of financed work. And if you are brand new to offering financing, a zero-subscription platform is the cheaper way to test homeowner demand before committing to a flat fee; our Hearth vs Wisetack comparison and this dealer fee math breakdown walk through both sides.
What contractors say about Hearth
Contractor sentiment on Hearth skews positive but not unanimous. Hearth holds a 4.6-star rating on Trustpilot from roughly 1,000 reviews as of mid-2026. Recent reviewers credit the platform with 20%+ sales lifts and praise the AI answering service as cheaper and more reliable than a live agent. The recurring complaints are worth reading before you sign: some contractors report low approval rates or high rates for their customers, and several describe auto-renewal charges they say they did not authorize, so calendar your renewal date and confirm cancellation terms in writing. We collected field reports in our roundup of what contractors say after using Hearth.
Choose your path
Stay on legacy Starter if
- Hearth still lets you renew it at or near $1,499 per year
- Your quotes, contracts, and invoicing already live in Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, or similar
- You finance roughly $40,000 or more per year, enough to beat pay-per-deal fees
Choose Hearth Pro if
- You are signing up new (it is the entry tier now) or your Starter renewal gets forced upward anyway
- You have no dedicated quoting or invoicing software and want one login for the whole sales-to-payment flow
- You run 0% promotional offers, which now sit inside the Pro bundle instead of a paid add-on
Choose Pro + Harper or Enterprise if
- Missed calls are your biggest leak: Harper's flat $199 per month answers 24/7 with no per-call fees
- You run multiple crews or locations and will actually use a dedicated account manager and implementation service
Final verdict
Hearth Pro is the answer for almost everyone in 2026, mostly because Hearth made the decision for you by retiring Starter. Legacy Starter holders with a working CRM should hold their plan as long as the renewal price holds. Everyone else should price Pro against their real financed volume: above roughly $46,000 per year financed, the flat fee beats Wisetack's 3.9% per-deal model, and the software bundle replaces $500 or more in separate tools. Below about $25,000 in financed volume, skip the subscription entirely for now; our honest look at whether Hearth is worth it for small contractors covers that call, and the Hearth financing FAQ answers the contract-level questions to ask on the demo.
How we put this together
We compared Hearth's live pricing page and Harper product page (checked July 2026) against the legacy tier prices still listed by Software Advice and Loanfolk, pulled contractor sentiment from Trustpilot's roughly 1,000 Hearth reviews, and used Wisetack's published 3.9% transaction fee for the break-even math. Where Hearth no longer publishes a number, we say so and cite the third-party listing instead. Last verified July 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Does Hearth still offer a Starter plan?
No, Hearth no longer sells a Starter or Essentials plan to new customers as of 2026. The current lineup on Hearth's pricing page is Hearth Pro, Pro + Harper, and Enterprise. Existing Starter subscribers may be able to renew, but new signups begin at Pro.
How much does Hearth Pro cost in 2026?
Hearth no longer publishes Pro pricing; quotes come through a demo call. Third-party listings such as Software Advice and Loanfolk still show the legacy list price of $1,799 per year plus a $99 one-time setup fee, and renewal quotes reported by contractors land in that range.
What was the difference between Hearth Pro and Starter?
Software was the entire difference. Both plans included the same 18+ lender financing marketplace with no dealer fees, while Pro added digital quotes, e-signature contracts, invoicing, payment collection, and automated reminders that Starter lacked, for about $300 more per year.
What is Harper and what does it cost?
Harper is Hearth's AI assistant, priced at a flat $199 per month per Hearth's Harper page. It answers calls 24/7, captures and follows up with leads via texts you approve, chases stalled loan applications, and creates social content, with no per-call or per-minute charges.
Does Hearth charge dealer fees on financed jobs?
No, Hearth charges no per-job dealer fee on standard loans; the flat subscription is how it gets paid. Homeowners pay their lender's interest rate directly, which is why the break-even against a 3.9% per-deal platform sits near $46,000 in annual financed volume at Pro's legacy price.
Can I keep my legacy Starter plan?
Usually yes, until Hearth ends renewals for the tier or reprices it. Retired plans typically stay valid for existing subscribers, but Trustpilot reviews mention auto-renewal disputes, so confirm your renewal price and cancellation terms in writing at least 30 days before your renewal date.
