Comparison
ArboStar alternative for the plant health care side.
ArboStar is an all-in-one office system for tree companies: CRM, estimating, scheduling, crew logins, invoicing, and a long list of modules. It is priced by office licence and crew login and it comes with setup and training. What it does not do is diagnose, dose, or label-check a treatment. If PHC is the part of your business that ArboStar is not touching, this page is the honest comparison.
Jobber sync
ConnectedTwelve Jobber event types are handled, and each one can be forwarded to your own webhook endpoint.
Short version
ArboStar will run the office end to end and train your staff on it. It will not tell the tech what is wrong with the tree, what to put in it, how much per inch, or whether the label allows it. That is the whole of what PHC Rx does, and it sits alongside.
ArboStar
Business management platform for tree care and landscaping companies, sold in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and the EU. CRM, lead tracking, estimating, scheduling and dispatch, GPS, crew logins with time tracking, invoicing and payments, equipment and fleet, reporting, and an education hub. Three plans: Starter with one office licence and one crew login, Growing with two office licences and three crew logins, and Enterprise by team size. Data migration, setup, and live training are included, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Best for: a tree company that wants one vendor to run the whole office, hold its hand through setup, and price by licence rather than per user.
PHC Rx
Diagnosis, species-specific treatment, label check, and a prescription the client approves. It sits beside your scheduling tool rather than replacing it.
Best for: companies that sell plant health care and need the clinical record behind it.
Feature by feature
What each one does
CRM and lead tracking
ArboStar
Yes, core product
PHC Rx
Clients and properties shared with the team; no CRM
Estimating and invoicing
ArboStar
Yes, with payments
PHC Rx
Prescriptions with a finding, confidence, product, timing, and price per inch; invoicing stays in your business tool
Scheduling, dispatch, GPS
ArboStar
Yes
PHC Rx
Follow-up and retreat visits only; sync to Jobber or your scheduler
Crew logins and time tracking
ArboStar
Yes, by crew login count
PHC Rx
Every seat is a full user; applicator on every record
Tree inventory
ArboStar
Property and job records
PHC Rx
Species, DBH, GPS, photos, diagnostic state, treatment history per tree
Diagnosis
ArboStar
Not offered
PHC Rx
Five-step weighted diagnosis with a confidence rating
Treatment library with rates
ArboStar
Not offered
PHC Rx
220+ species, 138 pests and diseases, rate per inch of DBH from the label
Pesticide label compliance
ArboStar
Not offered
PHC Rx
Five label checks before the prescription goes out, with documented overrides
Chemical application records
ArboStar
Notes on the job
PHC Rx
Product, EPA number, rate, applicator, weather, REI on every application
Tree Risk Assessment
ArboStar
Not offered
PHC Rx
Nine-step wizard, matrices built in, branded report
Setup and training
ArboStar
Free migration, setup, and live training
PHC Rx
Self-serve; in-app courses; onboarding call on Teams plans
Pricing
ArboStar
Starter $199/mo monthly or $149 annual; Growing $332/mo monthly or $249 annual; Enterprise custom. 30-day money-back
PHC Rx
Solo $99/mo, Teams 5 $199/mo, up to $699/mo unlimited. Month to month, 7-day trial
Choose ArboStar if
- You want one vendor for the whole office and someone to migrate your data and train the staff.
- You run crews in more than one country and need the currency and tax handling.
- Lead tracking and estimating are the bottleneck, not the treatment.
- You would rather pay by office licence and crew login than per user.
Choose PHC Rx if
- You sell plant health care and need the diagnosis, the rate per inch, and the label check documented, not just scheduled.
- Your PHC tech is deciding treatments from memory and a PDF and you want that on the record.
- You already have an office system and want to add the clinical layer instead of replacing anything.
- You want to try it for a week without a sales call.
Where ArboStar is the right call
A tree company moving off spreadsheets and a whiteboard, with an owner who does not want to configure software, gets a lot from a vendor that migrates the data, sets it up, and trains the staff live. ArboStar sells that. Its Growing plan gives two office people and three crews a shared system for leads, estimates, dispatch, and invoices, and the money-back window is long enough to find out whether it fits. If the pain is the office, that is where the money should go.
What it does not do, and why it matters for PHC
ArboStar's pricing page lists modules for CRM, estimates, scheduling, crews, fleet, and reporting. It does not list diagnosis, treatment selection, rates, or label checks. So the PHC job in ArboStar is a line item with a price, and what goes in the tree is whatever the tech decides in the driveway. Nothing checked whether the finding was right, whether the product is labeled for the host, or whether the timing window is open.
That is the part PHC Rx runs: a diagnosis with a confidence number, a rate off the label table, and a label check before the client sees a price.
Label check
1 warningLast application was 14 days ago. Proceed with a documented override, or reschedule.
Running both
PHC Rx syncs two-way with Jobber and has a REST API with webhooks. Companies on ArboStar keep the office there and run the PHC trees through PHC Rx; the prescription number goes on the ArboStar job and the clinical record lives on the tree in PHC Rx. A direct ArboStar sync is on the list; ask and it moves up.
Pricing side by side
ArboStar US figures from arbostar.com/pricing, September 2026. PHC Rx from the pricing page.
Entry plan
- ArboStar
- Starter, $199/mo monthly or $149/mo annual; 1 office licence, 1 crew login
- PHC Rx
- PHC Solo, $99/mo, 1 seat
Mid plan
- ArboStar
- Growing, $332/mo monthly or $249/mo annual; 2 office licences, 3 crew logins
- PHC Rx
- Teams 5, $199/mo, up to 5 seats
Top plan
- ArboStar
- Enterprise, custom by team size
- PHC Rx
- Teams Unlimited, $699/mo
Setup
- ArboStar
- Free migration, setup, live training
- PHC Rx
- Self-serve; onboarding call on Teams plans
Contract
- ArboStar
- Monthly or annual
- PHC Rx
- Monthly, cancel any time; annual is ten months for twelve
Trial
- ArboStar
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- PHC Rx
- 7 days, no card
FAQ
Questions arborists ask
Is PHC Rx a replacement for ArboStar?
Not for CRM, estimating, dispatch, or invoicing. It replaces the notebook, the rate PDF, and the guesswork on the plant health care side. Companies that need both run both.
Does PHC Rx integrate with ArboStar?
Not directly today. It syncs two-way with Jobber and has a public REST API and webhooks. If an ArboStar sync matters to you, tell us; demand moves it up the list.
How does ArboStar pricing compare?
ArboStar starts at $199 a month, or $149 on an annual plan, for one office licence and one crew login, with setup and training included. PHC Rx starts at $99 a month, month to month, with a 7-day trial. They are priced for different jobs.
ArboStar or Arborgold or SingleOps?
All three are business management systems for tree care with PHC as a service line, and all three leave the same gap on diagnosis, rates, and label compliance. Each has its own comparison page here.
Can I try PHC Rx while keeping ArboStar?
Yes. The 7-day trial does not touch your existing system. Run one property through the diagnosis and prescription flow and see whether the client approves faster.
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