How We Grade
Short version: PestGrade is an independent guide to the software pest control businesses use to run their operations. We don't make any of these tools, and our rankings are never sorted by how much a company pays us. Our job is to compare the real options honestly so you can choose the right one for your operation — without sitting through five sales demos.
Who writes this
PestGrade is researched and written by Andy Mills, Founder. Andy runs PestGrade as an independent guide to pest control software and doesn't build, sell, or work for any of the tools it grades.
We're an independent reviewer — not a practitioner, not a vendor. Our authority comes from a rigorous, transparent, repeatable method.
What we compare
For every tool, kept current: pricing & plans (every tier, per-user/route cost, real entry price); core capabilities (scheduling & dispatch, route optimization, recurring/quarterly billing, mobile/field usability, chemical & material tracking and compliance, customer communication & reviews, reporting, onboarding/support); and best-fit segment (solo / small crew / commercial).
How we score
Every tool is graded on the same rubric, weighted toward what matters to a working pest control business: pricing & value; scheduling, dispatch & routing; recurring & subscription billing; mobile field usability; chemical tracking & compliance; customer communication & reputation; onboarding & support; and fit by business size. A high grade for a solo operator isn't the same as for a 30-tech commercial outfit — so we publish the verdict by situation, not as one universal winner.
Where our information comes from — and what we don't do
We assess every tool from three sources, and we're upfront that hands-on use isn't one of them:
- Published vendor data
- Pricing pages, feature docs, plan details — re-checked on a set schedule.
- Verified user reviews
- Real operator feedback from G2, Capterra, and the App Store / Google Play, plus pest-control communities (Reddit's r/Pestcontrol and industry groups), and direct quotes from operators we hear from. When we quote operators, we say where it came from.
- Public product demos
- The vendors' own walkthroughs, which we analyze feature by feature.
We don't run these tools in a live business, and we won't pretend we do. Telling you exactly how we know what we know is more useful — and more honest — than implied authority. Our edge is the work most sites skip: one normalized, current data set across every tool, and a real synthesis of what operators actually report.
How we keep it current
Pricing and features change often, and a stale comparison is worse than none. Every comparison shows a "Last verified" date, and we update tools when their pricing or features move.
How we make money — and how we don't
PestGrade is free to read. When you click through and sign up, some vendors pay us a referral commission (disclosed on every page). That commission never affects a tool's grade or ranking. We rank on fit and merit — if the best tool for your situation pays us nothing, that's the one we recommend, and we'll tell you when a tool isn't worth it.
For the full detail on those relationships, see our affiliate disclosure.