Broccoli is built around ServiceTitan and serves large operators, including private equity-backed roll-ups. Cactus doesn't integrate with ServiceTitan, and we don't work with PE roll-ups. We're built for the independent, family-owned trade businesses that compete with them. This guide walks through the difference so you can quickly tell which one is built for you.
Choose Broccoli AI if you run on ServiceTitan, operate multiple locations or are part ofa PE-backed platform, and you want a broad AI front-office suite with AI QA coachingfor a large CSR team.
Choose Cactus if you're an independent, family-owned trade business doing $1M to $25M a year on Jobber, Housecall Pro, JobNimbus, AccuLynx, Pipedrive or GoHighLevel, and you want an all-in-one AI growth partner that answers every call and works the revenue already sitting in your CRM. Cactus is month-to-month, with no long-term contract, so we earn your business every month.
There are roughly 200,000 SMB and mid-market trade businesses in the US doing $1M to$25M a year. Together they account for more than 60% of the industry's revenue, andmost of them are family-owned.
The typical owner started as a tech and grew to around 10 trucks and 20 people in the office. Their days are spent managing staff, vendors and software. And they're feeling the squeeze from PE roll-ups, which bring in-house software teams, call centers and bigger marketing budgets.
Broccoli serves both sides of that market, from single-location shops to the largest PE-backed roll-ups. Cactus made a different choice: we work only with independents. Our job is to give a family-owned business the front-office firepower of a roll-up, without becoming one.
Broccoli AI is a San Francisco company, founded in 2021 and part of Y Combinator's Winter 2022 batch, that describes itself as an AI operating system for home service businesses. It has raised a $25M Series A led by Khosla Ventures and reports serving 800+ contractors, from single-location shops to large PE-backed roll-ups.
Its product is a suite of specialized AI agents:
• AI CSR that answers inbound calls 24/7, books jobs directly into ServiceTitan and as signs the on-call tech
• AI receptionist that greets and routes callers and blocks spam
• Outbound agents for sales (tune-ups, inspections), open estimates, happy calls and membership renewals
• AI QA that reviews calls
Broccoli is an official ServiceTitan marketplace partner and also supports Housecall Pro. Pricing isn't published on its site; you get a quote through a sales conversation.
Cactus is the all-in-one AI growth partner built for independent, family-owned home service businesses. Its AI voice agent, Pam, answers every call in English and Spanish, books jobs straight into your CRM, and then goes after the revenue that's already sitting in your business.
Here's the gap Cactus was built to close. HVAC, plumbing, roofing and electricalcompanies spend $3K to $25K every month making the phone ring, then lose 10 to 20% ofthose leads to slow response times, missed calls and zero follow-up.
Cactus closes that gap on both sides:
Inbound: catch every lead
• Every call answered in under 60 seconds, 24/7, including after hours and overflow
• Callers qualified and booked directly into Jobber, Housecall Pro, JobNimbus,AccuLynx, Pipedrive or GoHighLevel
• Google LSA, Angi and web form leads answered in under 60 seconds
• Live call transfer when a human touch is needed, and spam blocking
• No voicemails. No missed jobs.
Outbound: tap into hidden revenue
• Warm leads, dormant customers and unworked estimates get contacted proactively
• Repeat jobs, cross-sells, upsells and referral asks, all without adding headcount
• Appointment reminders to cut no-shows
• A lead-to-revenue dashboard that shows which marketing channels actually make youmoney
The result: 20 to 30% more jobs from the ad budget you're already spending.
In September 2026, Cactus also added marketing management, connecting campaign data to what callers actually ask for and which calls turn into booked work. Cactus books directly into Jobber, Housecall Pro, JobNimbus, AccuLynx, Pipedrive and GoHighLevel.
Where Cactus is headed: AI is going to be the office
Today, a $3M home service business needs an office full of people, and it still breaks everyday. We believe that's about to change. Owners will run their entire office with as few as mzero staff, alongside their techs in the field. Cactus is the AI harness that runs everythingin between.
Answering calls is where we started. Here's the full office we're building:
1. AI CSR: answers calls, books jobs and runs outbound follow-ups
2. AI Dispatcher: dispatches and manages technicians
3. AI CMO: runs ads, social, the website, and Google and AI search
4. AI Billing: sends estimates and invoices and collects payment
5. AI Bookkeeper: handles bookkeeping and payroll
6. AI CFO: handles pricing, inventory and procurement
7. AI Technician Manager: drives technician sales and upsells
8. AI General Manager: reports across the business
Each of these replaces a person, a vendor or a piece of software the owner pays for today. That's what an all-in-one AI growth partner means to us: the independent shop gets the full front office a roll-up would have, without the overhead.
Broccoli is a strong product, and some contractors should pick it. It's likely your best option if:
• You live in ServiceTitan. Your dispatch board, memberships and customer records all run through it, and you want an AI that books and assigns techs there in real time.
• You're part of a PE-backed platform or a large multi-location group. You need a system built to standardize the front office across locations and brands.
• You already run a call center. You have multiple CSRs, and you want AI to cover overflow and after-hours while also grading your human team's calls.
• You want a dedicated outbound sales motion. Selling tune-ups, inspections and membership renewals at scale is a big part of your plan.
Cactus works only with independent trade businesses, and that's on purpose. It's likely your best option if:
• You're independent and plan to stay that way. You're family-owned or owner-led, doing $1M to $25M a year, and competing with roll-ups that have call centers and bigger budgets. Cactus gives you that front-office firepower without selling the business.
• You're paying for leads that slip away. Your ad spend makes the phone ring, but calls go to voicemail and estimates go cold before anyone follows up.
• Your days are already full. You started as a tech, built a team, and now spend your time managing staff, vendors and software. You need every call covered without one more thing to manage.
• You run on Jobber, Housecall Pro, JobNimbus, AccuLynx, Pipedrive or GoHighLevel. You want AI that books into the tools you already use instead of rebuilding around a new platform.
• You're in a trade beyond HVAC and plumbing. Roofers, electricians, landscapers and general contractors get trade-specific setups. See our roofing case study and construction case study.
• Your callers speak Spanish. Every Spanish-speaking caller gets answered and booked, not lost to a language barrier.
• You want growth without hiring. You have past customers and open estimates sitting untouched in your CRM, and no one on staff with time to work them.
• You want to pay for results, not promises. You'd rather work with a partner whose staying power depends on the revenue it adds.
Whichever vendor you're evaluating, these questions will tell you quickly whether it fits:
Does it book directly into my CRM, or just take a message? A message means your office still calls back the next morning.
Does it work with the software I run today? Ask for a live demo inside your actual CRM, not a slide.
What happens in my busiest month? Ask how pricing behaves when call volume spikes in a heat wave or storm season.
Can it handle my trade and my customers? Emergency routing, trade terminology and Spanish-speaking callers all matter.
What does it do with the leads I already have? Answering calls protects revenue. Following up on estimates and past customers creates it.
The fastest test of all: call the demo line yourself. You can hear Pam right now at (415) 903-6007.
What is Broccoli AI? Broccoli AI is a Y Combinator company (W22) that builds AI agentsfor home service contractors, including an AI CSR, AI receptionist, outbound sales andfollow-up agents, and AI call QA. It integrates with ServiceTitan and Housecall Pro.
How much does Broccoli AI cost? Broccoli AI doesn't publish pricing on its website. Contractors get a quote through its sales team, so ask how pricing scales with call volume and contract length.
What are the best Broccoli AI alternatives? Common alternatives include Cactus, Avoca, Sameday and ServiceTitan's own AI Virtual Agent. Cactus is a strong fit for independent, family-owned businesses on Jobber, Housecall Pro, JobNimbus, AccuLynx, Pipedrive or GoHighLevel, especially those that need Spanish-language coverage and CRM reactivation.
Does Cactus work with ServiceTitan? Not today. Cactus books jobs directly into Jobber, Housecall Pro, JobNimbus, AccuLynx, Pipedrive and GoHighLevel. If your business runs on ServiceTitan, Broccoli AI is a strong option to evaluate.
Does Cactus work with private equity-backed companies? No. Cactus works only within dependent trade businesses, most of them family-owned and doing $1M to $25M a year.If you're part of a PE-backed platform, Broccoli AI is built for that kind of operation.
Can Cactus answer calls in Spanish? Yes. Pam answers calls in English and Spanish, 24/7.
Which is better for a small HVAC or plumbing company, Broccoli AI or Cactus? It depends less on your size than on how you're set up. If you run on ServiceTitan or belong to a PE-backed group, Broccoli is worth a look. If you're an independent shop on one of the CRMs Cactus supports, Cactus is usually the better fit: it answers every call, books into the tools you already use, and follows up on the revenue in your CRM.
Comparing Broccoli AI and Cactus really is apples to oranges. Both stop the bleeding from missed calls, but they're built for different businesses. Broccoli is built for ServiceTitan shops and large, PE-backed operations. Cactus is built for the independents: family-owned trade businesses that want the front office of a roll-up without becoming one, with every call answered in English and Spanish and 20 to 30% more jobs from the ad budget they already spend.
© Copyright Cravd Inc. 2026. All rights reserved.