A simple scheduling app for one-person service businesses.
Patcher is a simple scheduling app for one-person service businesses: customers book online while your hands are busy, your whole day sits in one place and cancellations fill from customers booked later. It’s $29 a month for 1–2 people.
Get started Free to try for 14 days.
A Tuesday for a one-person detailing business.
Some cars come to the shop, some get detailed where they’re parked, and one booking came in online overnight. Then the 1:30 cancels by text.
Kowal Auto Detailing · Tuesday
Sam: Owner and detailer
Ramirez
Full detail · SUV, at the shop
Dog hair throughout. Extra vacuum time.
15 min drive
Thompson
Interior detail · at his office
Booked online at 10 PM. Keys at the front desk.
15 min drive
Lunch
Opening
Delgado cancelled by text. Lineup ready.
Becker
Wash, clay & wax · sedan
Tree sap on the hood. Check before the clay.
Ellis · Headlight restoration
Sam’s 1:30 cancelled. Here’s how it got filled.
-
A customer cancels
At 9:40, with Sam deep in the Ramirez SUV, Ms. Delgado texts: her 1:30 interior detail at the shop is off. An hour after lunch is open.
1:30–2:30 with Sam Open
-
Patcher finds who fits
Customers booked later who fit the opening, closest fit first.
-
Ortiz · Interior detail · at the shop, 60 min
Booked Friday 10:00 with Sam
- Same length: 60 minutes
- Sam is free at 1:30
-
Nash · Wash & wax · at the shop, 60 min
Booked Thursday 3:00 with Sam
- Same length: 60 minutes
- Sam is free at 1:30
-
Hale · Headlight restoration · shop, 30 min
Booked next Monday 9:00 with Sam
- Shorter: 30 of the 60 minutes
- Sam is free at 1:30
-
-
You approve who gets asked
Between vacuum passes, you open the list on your phone and approve Ortiz, then Nash. Hale stays on Monday. From there Patcher does the texting while you work.
-
Ortiz accepts
Ortiz gets one text, sees Friday 10:00 next to today at 1:30 and taps Accept before you’ve finished the SUV. Nash is never texted.
-
The schedule updates
Ortiz’s detail moves to 1:30, Friday 10:00 opens up for someone else, and you never stopped working to text anyone.
1:30–2:30 with Sam · Ortiz Filled
Friday 10:00 with Sam Open for someone else
You stay in control
- Nothing goes out until you approve.
- Offers go out one at a time. Unanswered ones close on their own.
- The customer chooses: the earlier time or theirs.
- Outreach stops once someone accepts.
- Pause it anytime with one switch.
- Customers can reply STOP to opt out.
How does Patcher work for one-person service businesses?
When you do the work and the booking, the schedule has to run itself between jobs. Here’s how Patcher works for a one-person business.
- 01
Add your services and hours
List what you offer with a price and a length, set the hours you work, and block off school pickup or your day off. That’s enough to start booking.
- 02
Let customers book while you work
Put your booking page link in your texts, your business profile and your website. Customers pick a service and an open time and get a confirmation text, so the phone isn’t ringing mid-job.
- 03
Work at your place or theirs
Set each service to happen at your place or the customer’s. When you go to them, suggested times leave room for the drive there and back.
Does Patcher do what one-person service businesses need?
Every plan includes every feature.
- Can customers book without calling me? Yes
- Customers pick a service and an open time while you work. Each books instantly or comes in as a request. How online booking works
- Does it send automatic appointment reminders? Yes
- Reminder texts go out before each appointment, plus confirmations for online bookings.
- Can I set up recurring appointments? Yes
- Book a repeating appointment once and your regulars stay on the schedule.
- If I hire help later, do they get their own column? Yes
- Add a second person and they get their own column, with their openings and blocked time like lunch.
- Will it stop me booking two customers at once? Yes
- Every time is checked against the day before it saves. If you mean to overlap, Patcher asks first. How booking works
- Can a last-minute cancellation be filled? Yes
- Customers booked later are lined up for the opening. You approve, and they’re texted one at a time. How cancellation filling works
- Does it leave time to drive when I go to customers? Yes
- With “we visit customers” on, suggested times leave room for the drive between jobs. How travel-aware scheduling works
- Can I run it all from my phone? Yes
- Patcher works in your phone’s browser, with a day view made for a small screen.
- Can I switch from paper, texts or a calendar app? Yes
- Free help organizing your paper book, texts or calendar app. Your subscription is priced separately. How switching works
Who Patcher suits best.
- Anyone who does the work and the booking: trainers, detailers, groomers and more.
- Owners who miss calls mid-job and want customers to book themselves.
- People keeping appointments in a paper book, texts or a personal calendar.
-
Coming from paper or another system?
Setup and switching help is free. We agree what comes over, then handle the transfer. See how switching works
How much does Patcher cost for one-person service businesses?
One price for your team, by how many people take appointments. On your own, you’re on the smallest plan, and it still covers you if you add one helper.
-
1–2 people
$29 /month
Total for your team
-
3–6 people
$79 /month
Total for your team
-
7–10 people
$149 /month
Total for your team
Every feature. Every plan. Free to try for 14 days.
Monthly billing. Cancel anytime.
Questions one-person service businesses ask about Patcher
Is it cheap enough for just me?
Yes. It’s $29 a month for 1–2 people, so a one-person business is on the smallest plan with every feature included, from online booking to estimates and cancellation filling. It still covers you if you add one helper later. You can try it free for 14 days, and the live demo needs no signup.
How do I stop answering the phone in the middle of a job?
Send callers and texters to your booking page. Customers pick a service and an open time on their own, get a confirmation text, and the booking lands on your day. For work you want to look at first, set the service to come in as a request you schedule when your hands are free.
Can I switch from paper, texts or my phone’s calendar?
Yes, and the switching help is free. Tell us what you have, whether it’s a paper book, a text thread or a calendar app, and we help organize your customers and upcoming appointments so you start with a clear schedule. Your subscription is priced separately.
I go to some customers and others come to me. Does that work?
Yes. Set each service to happen at your place or at the customer’s address. Appointments at your place sit back to back, and for ones at the customer’s, suggested times leave room for the drive from wherever you were before. Both kinds sit on the same day view.
If a customer cancels while I’m working, do I have to text people to fill it?
No. Patcher lines up customers already booked later whose appointment fits the open time, and you approve the list from your phone between jobs. Patcher texts them one at a time. Everyone keeps their current time until someone accepts, and anyone who says no keeps theirs while the next person you approved is asked.
More for one-person service businesses
- Cancellation filling
Offer a cancelled time to customers booked later, after you approve the lineup.
- Online booking
A booking page where customers pick a service and an open time.
- Appointment scheduling
Book a caller into a time that fits before you hang up.
- Customer link
The appointment page your customer opens from a text, and the reschedule link you send.
- House cleaning
For cleaners and small crews: standard, deep and move-out lengths, entry and alarm notes, estimates and refilled Friday cleans.
- Mobile pet grooming
For groomers working out of a van: drive-aware suggested times, gate and hookup notes, and refilled stops.
- Pet grooming
For grooming shops leaving a paper book: rebook every few weeks, pet notes, online booking and reminder texts.
See Patcher with a sample business.
Try the live demo, no signup required, or set up your own day.