Smartphones and tablets, loaded with the best plumbing apps, belong in a plumber’s toolbox as much as wrenches, pliers or hand augers.
Considered essential tools for large corporations and independent contractors alike, the right plumbing apps on your mobile device help improve your techs’ efficiency, and ultimately boost your company’s bottom line. But with so many options out there, it can be hard to choose.
That’s why we’ve compiled a must-have list of the 15 best apps for plumbers available today. We chose these apps for their ability to help plumbers with a wide range of business and technical tasks—both in the office and in the field.
Calculator Apps for Plumbers
1. Plumbing Formulator
As a plumber, you regularly need to solve complex equations in the field, such as calculating appropriate pipe sizes, determining water flow and pressure, or maximizing pump efficiency. Plumbing Formulator© makes this process a whole lot easier with more than 120 standard formulas that you can easily check right in the app.
The app also includes a number of great “quality-of-life” features — such as the ability to email and print specific formulas for easier reference. It also prominently displays your most frequently used formulas on the app for future use, and check out the handy graphical charts included to illustrate concepts in a clear manner.
With Plumbing Formulator, your techs can stop wasting time searching online for each individual solution while in the field.
2. Pipe Trades Pro
(iOS – $24.99 or Android – $24.99)
It isn’t cheap, but among apps for plumbers, this one’s perfect for pipe calculations and it features built-in, pipe-related data. It’s a great time-saver when cutting, welding and placing pipe, which likely offsets the app cost in the long run.
The plumbing app allows plumbers to choose a pipe material and type, then calculate diameters, wall thickness, filled weight per foot, and internal area, among other measurements.
The built-in calculations for cut lengths, odd-degree fittings, parallel pipe cutbacks, and pressure loss for any pipe size, type, or distance make this a must-have among apps for plumbers.
3. Electrical Wiring Lite/Electrical Wiring Pro
(Android Lite; Android Pro; iOS Lite; iOS Pro – All Free)
Most plumbers inevitably come across basic electrical wiring or central heating work while on the job. That’s where Electrical Wiring Lite can help.
The app includes many commonly used electrical calculations such as Ohm’s Law, ground wire sizing, voltage drop, burial depth, and more. Written by a working electrician who uses the app on a daily basis, Electrical Wiring Lite provides all of the essentials and nothing more.
For complex needs, consider upgrading to the Pro version of the app, which includes more than 40 electrical calculators and tools. The calculations come preconfigured to meet the National Electrical Code standards and are updated regularly. This ensures your calculations adhere to the latest regulations.
Reference Plumbing Apps
4. Plumbing Systems Design Tables
(Android – Free)
This app, designed by the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE), offers a convenient reference for your plumbing techs when they’re in the field. Instead of thumbing through the 2,500-page handbook version just to find one specific table, they can access all of the data by clicking on the app.
It also comes with interactive calculators, which allows you to customize pipe materials and other design criteria, so it gives you the relevant sizing data in SI or English. All U.S. standards and major plumbing codes are supported—including the International Plumbing Code (IPC), Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), and National Standard Plumbing Code.
Please note: Only ASPE members can access the app’s full functionality.
5. Copper Tube Handbook
(iOS – Free)
This plumbing app from the Copper Development Association sets the standard for plumbers working with copper piping systems. The Copper Tube Handbook© contains a wealth of information and quantitative data on various types of copper tubes, joints, fittings, and joining methods. This digital handbook is detailed, yet accessible.
Currently, the app is free for the first 10,000 users, so grab it while you can.
6. Pipe and Fitting
(Android – Free)
When it comes to pipe fitting, sometimes clear visuals help better than a wordy reference guide. That’s where the Pipe and Fitting app blows other plumbing apps out of the water. Simply select from its comprehensive list of pipes, joints, clamps, and other parts available. The app calculates for you, with detailed specs for each part including dimensions, hardness, tensile strength, yield strength, maximum load, and more.
The app displays data visually with clearly illustrated technical diagrams, so you can see exactly how a part fits into any given plumbing system. And judging from the 100+ reviews and an average 4.3-star rating, that visual element is a major hit with users.
Utility Apps for Plumbers
7. EasyMeasure
Are you wondering how to fit an appliance into a certain space, such as moving a large boiler or water heater through a narrow doorway? The EasyMeasure© app can help. Just take a photo of the space on the app and let it calculate the dimensions, angles, area, and even distance to the object.
While it sounds like magic, the app actually works on basic trigonometric principles. It uses the camera lens height and its tilt angle to calculate the distance to the object. With that information, it then determines an object’s height and width, and hence its area.
The app even estimates how accurate it expects each particular measurement to be, so you’ll know when to use a tape measure instead.
The best thing about this app is its “dynamic photos” feature, which allows you to store photos in the app and analyze measurements after the fact. If you’ve ever left a job site and realized you forgot to take an important measurement, you’ll quickly realize the value of this feature.
8. White Light Flashlight
(Android – Free)
Plumbers often know this better than anyone else. It’s a huge hassle to juggle a heavy flashlight while trying to maneuver through a tight, dark space. The White Light Flashlight© app lets you illuminate those tricky areas behind pipes. Plus, it comes with adjustable brightness settings so you get the exact amount of light you need in any given situation.
Unlike many other free flashlight apps, this one does not feature any annoying ads to distract you while you’re working.
9. Bubble Level / Bubble Level for iPhone
These plumbing apps may be two different apps, but they perform the same function. Each app is able to determine the horizontal or vertical alignment of a given surface. Essentially, these plumbing apps act as a replacement for a physical bubble or spirit level by utilizing the gyroscope in your phone to calculate the tilt angle along three different axes.
While iOS devices are generally calibrated correctly, Android devices come from multiple manufacturers and might not be as reliable.
Fortunately, the Android app includes the ability to manually recalibrate your device by placing it face-up on a flat surface and pressing the SET button. There’s also a RESET button to return to the default factory calibration at any time.
Business Apps for Plumbers
10. ServiceTitan Mobile
(iOS, Android – Free, Subscription Required)
ServiceTitan® is the leading all-in-one software solution for the home service industry. The mobile app, in particular, allows technicians to quickly view detailed job histories, access easy-to-use digital forms, and invoice customers with payments accepted directly through the app.
Among the other features:
Allows technicians to see their personal dashboard, and gives a company owner the ability to offer incentive bonuses based on a tech’s average ticket or rating. The techs can easily see what they are doing well, what they need to do to earn that bonus, and where they need to improve.
Automatically generates statistics for salespeople, too, including close rate, average sale, how many options the salesperson offered each customer and more.
Tracks customer service representatives’ booking rates, and records calls. Potential jobs that are not booked can be reviewed to see what went wrong, improve the CSR’s skills and increase the close rate.
Requires CSRs to collect certain information, such as how a potential customer heard about the company, keeping the reps accountable and providing data for marketing decisions.
Automates payment of recurring services and membership renewals by storing customers’ payment information securely, making collection simple and easy.
Simplifies inventory management with a module tied to the pricebook that raises a flag whenever the supply falls below a specified level.
Saves time for owners and managers with data at their fingertips.
“I like the way the system functions,” says Brandon Mageno, who owns Big B’s Plumbing in Murrieta, California. “We’ve been able to make a lot of business decisions based on numbers instead of gut feelings. “That’s been huge for us. It has really helped us move strategically versus on impulse, and that has been big.”
ServiceTitan streamlines operations in the field and office with one integrated system, which greatly reduces clerical errors and saves your team valuable time. It also helps to create a smoother experience when presenting good-better-and-best options for the modern-day homeowner.
11. Video Conferencing Apps for Plumbers
As plumbing companies trend toward remote work and digital communication with customers, apps such as FaceTime, GoToMeeting, Skype, Zoom, and other similar video conferencing services are becoming more relevant in the plumbing industry.
“It’s been very helpful,” Mageno says. “We have weekly meetings on Monday mornings, and 1-on-1 meetings with our individual guys, so we’re able to keep up and check in with our guys remotely.”
12. ServiceTitan Service Business Valuation Calculator
(Android, iOS – Free, Subscription Required)
It’s not an app in the traditional sense, but if you’ve ever wondered how much your business is worth, this interactive calculator offers business operators a snapshot of their companies’ monetary value.
The site asks owners/operators to input their company’s assets, revenue, number of employees, expenses, industry and state to offer a projected valuation. You don’t need a ServiceTitan account to input your company’s information.
The calculator isn’t designed to offer financial advice. Instead, it functions as a self-help tool for business owners who are looking to track their growth or they are considering selling their business.
13. QuickBooks for Plumbers
(iOS – Free; Android – Free trial, online subscription required)
Among plumbing apps that assist the business side, QuickBooks is one of the best across several service industries. From viewing net profit to tracking miles and managing financial reports and cash flow, it’s a one-stop shop in the app world.
Google Play reviewers tout the app’s real-time expense tracking and its ability to save detailed notes while your plumbers produce estimates. The app also helps techs manage payments, track sales and customers, view account balances and more.
Like most QuickBooks software, you’ll need to set up a subscription once you’ve completed a 14-day trial.
14. ServiceTitan Field Management Software for QuickBooks
(Android, iOS – Free, Subscription Required)
If you’re already using QuickBooks, but also utilizing ServiceTitan for your business needs, consider combining the two with our integration program.
You can go paperless and see your transactions in real time, all while keeping the processes you currently use. You don’t need to enter the same data twice; simply generate your invoices and purchase orders in ServiceTitan, then export them to QuickBooks for secure, accessible accounting.
If you’re already using QuickBooks, it’s not automatically included with the ServiceTitan platform. You can link the two programs to streamline your accounting.
15. Route4Me Route Planner
Efficient travel is essential for all businesses, and plumbers with multiple jobs in the same day are no exception. Among plumbing apps, this one is a great time-saver.
This app enables users to load all service locations into the app, then it orders your stops to maximize efficiency along the way. This separates the app from other navigation services and makes it a must-have among apps for plumbers.
This app becomes even more efficient if you have several techs out in the field at once. You’ll be able to squeeze more stops into your day by utilizing this efficiency builder.
ServiceTitan Plumbing Software
ServiceTitan is a comprehensive plumbing business software solution built specifically to help service companies streamline their operations, boost revenue, and achieve growth. Our award-winning, cloud-based platform is trusted by more than 100,000+ contractors across the country.
