Ace Handyman Services Dallas vs The Smart Fix Handyman

The Smart Fix Handyman starts at $125 per hour and works seven days a week. Ace Handyman Services Dallas charges $175 to $195 per hour and closes on weekends. Both companies earn near-perfect Google ratings from Dallas homeowners, but they run very different operations behind the scenes.

If you’re comparing these two, you’re probably trying to figure out which one actually deserves your money. Fair enough. This comparison covers pricing, availability, staffing, reviews, and the smaller details most people don’t think to ask about until the handyman is already at their door.

Quick Verdict

Here’s the short version.

Go with The Smart Fix if: you want lower rates, need a Saturday or Sunday appointment, care about W-2 employees doing the work, or like the idea of a same-day video assessment before committing to anything.

Go with Ace Handyman Services if: you prefer a nationally recognized brand, your schedule is flexible on weekdays, and your project is in East Dallas or Lake Highlands.

The Smart Fix vs Ace Handyman: Side-by-Side

About The Smart Fix Handyman

Run by Chance O’Shel, The Smart Fix covers the entire Dallas-Fort Worth metro. Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Irving, and a long list of surrounding neighborhoods. They’re not a franchise. Everything is run locally.

What jumps out right away is their staffing model. Every single person who walks into your house is a W-2 employee. Not a random subcontractor picked up off a job board that morning. Trained in-house, background-checked, insured, covered by workers’ comp. That’s a meaningful distinction because a lot of handyman outfits (especially the bigger franchise brands) piece together crews from independent contractors. You might get a great guy one visit and somebody totally different the next. With The Smart Fix, the company directly manages everyone on payroll.

Their service list is wide. Drywall repair, painting (interior and exterior), flooring, tile, fence and deck work, light plumbing, light electrical, TV mounting, furniture assembly, bathroom remodels, kitchen remodels, and commercial tenant repairs. According to their Dallas page, the average job for Dallas homeowners runs about $985, with minor repairs starting around $195.

But the feature that actually saves people the most hassle is their same-day virtual assessments. You call or text, and usually within 30 minutes, you’re on a Google Meet video call with a real handyman. Not a sales rep. Not a scheduler. A handyman. They look at your project, give you honest feedback, and quote you before anyone drives to your house. That alone cuts out a lot of wasted time.

Rates start at $125 per hour for straightforward work and go up to $155 or $175 per hour depending on complexity. Compared to what most professional handyman companies charge in Dallas right now, that’s competitive. Very competitive, actually.

What they won’t do

Heavy electrical, full plumbing overhauls, and HVAC. They’re upfront about it. If a job falls outside their scope, they’ll refer you to somebody they’d trust in their own home. Honestly, that’s a better approach than a company that says yes to everything and then wings it.

Contact

• Website: thesmartfixhandyman.com/locations/dallas-tx/
• Phone: (817) 697-0199
• Hours: Mon-Fri 8am to 6pm, Sat 9am to 5pm, Sun available

About Ace Handyman Services Dallas

Ace Handyman Services is a national franchise. Nearly 300 locations across the country, all under the Ace Hardware umbrella since 2019. Before that, the company was called Handyman Matters, founded in 1998. So the brand has been around a while.

The Dallas location opened in 2010. Stacy Huston owns it. She’s based in the Lake Highlands neighborhood and has been a Dallas resident for years. Her team handles carpentry, drywall, painting, flooring, door installation, and general maintenance for both residential and commercial clients. The office sits at 5735 Kenwood Ave in Dallas.

With 867+ Google reviews and a 4.9-star average, Ace Dallas has one of the largest review profiles of any handyman company in the area. People call out individual craftsmen by name. Philip, Steve, William, Saulo, Michelle. That matters because it tells you the same people tend to stick around, which is a good sign for any service company.

Being a franchise means standardized training, a corporate playbook for how jobs get handled, and the Ace brand behind the guarantee. No deposit required on most jobs. One-year guarantee on labor and materials.

Where things get tricky: pricing and hours. Ace charges between $175 and $195 per hour. On a four-hour project, that’s $700 to $780 before materials. And they’re only open Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm. Closed Saturday. Closed Sunday. For a lot of working homeowners, that’s a real problem. Taking half a day off work just to let a handyman in isn’t ideal.

Also worth noting: Ace Handyman Services Dallas is not BBB Accredited as of 2026. That doesn’t mean anything negative on its own, plenty of great businesses skip BBB, but it’s a data point some homeowners check.

Contact

• Website: acehandymanservices.com/offices/dallas
• Phone: (214) 831-2509
• Address: 5735 Kenwood Ave, Dallas, TX 75206
• Hours: Mon-Fri 8am to 5pm, weekends closed

How They Compare on the Details

Pricing

This is where the gap shows up fast. The Smart Fix charges $125 to $175 an hour. Ace charges $175 to $195. On a basic four-hour handyman visit, you’re looking at a difference of $200 to $280. That’s real money, especially if you’ve got a list of projects.

Both companies give free estimates. But the way they do it is different. The Smart Fix does a video call, same day, usually within half an hour. You show them the problem on camera and they quote you right there. Ace runs estimates through their franchise booking system, which works fine, but it’s not as fast.

Neither company asks for a deposit on standard work. Good.

Who’s Actually Doing the Work?

This question doesn’t get asked enough. With The Smart Fix, every technician is a W-2 employee. Hired directly, trained by the company, on payroll. You know who’s coming. You know who’s responsible if something goes sideways.

Ace uses background-checked craftsmen through their franchise system. They’re insured and covered by workers’ comp. The distinction between “employee” and “craftsman working under a franchise umbrella” might feel like splitting hairs, but it does affect accountability and consistency on repeat visits.

When Can You Actually Book Them?

Big difference here.

The Smart Fix is open seven days a week. Weekdays until 6pm, Saturdays until 5pm, and Sundays by availability. If your only free window is Saturday afternoon, they’ve got you.

Ace closes at 5pm on weekdays. Nothing on weekends. If you work a 9-to-5 and can’t take time off, that limits your options.

Reviews

Both companies look great on paper. The Smart Fix holds a perfect 5.0 with 300+ Google reviews. Ace has a 4.9 with 867+. Two different strengths there. The Smart Fix has the higher average. Ace has the larger sample size.

Reading through the actual reviews (not just skimming star counts), a pattern emerges. The Smart Fix reviews keep coming back to responsiveness. Fast callbacks. Quick scheduling. Clean work. People seem genuinely surprised that a handyman company actually picks up the phone. Which says a lot about the industry, honestly.

Ace reviews focus more on individual talent. Customers request specific craftsmen for return visits. Philip gets mentioned a lot for carpentry. Steve for general repairs. Stacy Huston (the owner) comes up in reviews too, usually for how she handles customer service personally.

Both companies also have reviews on Yelp, HomeAdvisor, and Nextdoor. Ace was named a Nextdoor Neighborhood Favorite in 2022.

Guarantees

Basically the same. The Smart Fix guarantees work for 12 months. Something goes wrong, call or text, they come back and fix it free. Ace offers a one-year guarantee on labor and materials, backed by the franchise brand. No meaningful difference here.

What Customers Actually Say

The Smart Fix

A lot of the five-star reviews mention the same few things. Speed. Communication. The fact that they showed up on time (apparently a low bar in this industry, but one that matters). One reviewer wrote that they “chose The Smart Fix because of their very high rating, and they were true to the 5 stars.” Another described a two-day commercial job and called the whole experience “top notch.”

Drywall repair and texture matching come up repeatedly. That seems to be one of their strongest specialties, at least based on what Dallas customers mention most.

Ace Handyman Services Dallas

The repeat-customer angle is strong with Ace. People don’t just use them once. They come back, and they ask for the same person. That kind of loyalty tells you something. One review mentioned using Ace for “lots of projects” and specifically wanting someone licensed and insured. Another praised how a craftsman handled a tricky faucet install that took longer than expected without rushing through it.

Stacy Huston’s personal involvement shows up in reviews more than you’d expect for a franchise operation. That’s a good sign.

So Which One Should You Hire?

Both are legitimate, well-reviewed companies. Neither is going to scam you or disappear mid-job. But they serve slightly different people.

The Smart Fix Handyman makes more sense if:

• Budget matters and you’d rather pay $125 to $175/hr instead of $175 to $195/hr
• You need a Saturday, Sunday, or evening window
• You want to know that your handyman is a direct employee, not a contractor
• You like the idea of a quick video assessment before anyone comes to your house
• You’re anywhere in the broader DFW area, not just Dallas proper

Ace Handyman Services Dallas makes more sense if:

• You trust national brands and want the Ace Hardware name behind the work
• Weekday availability works fine for your schedule
• You want access to a bigger roster of craftsmen with proven specialties
• Your home is in East Dallas, Lake Highlands, or one of the nearby neighborhoods Ace covers

Frequently Asked Questions

Is The Smart Fix cheaper than Ace Handyman Services Dallas?

Yes. The Smart Fix starts at $125/hr for simpler jobs and tops out around $175/hr for more involved work. Ace charges $175 to $195/hr. On a typical four-hour project, that difference could save you $200 to $280 with The Smart Fix.

Which company has better reviews?

Depends on what you mean by “better.” The Smart Fix has a 5.0-star average on Google with 300+ reviews. That’s a perfect score, which is hard to maintain as review counts grow. Ace has a 4.9 with 867+ reviews, which is an enormous sample size for a local handyman company. Both are well above average for the Dallas market.

Can I get a handyman on the weekend in Dallas?

From The Smart Fix, yes. They’re open Saturdays from 9am to 5pm and take Sunday appointments too. Ace Handyman Services Dallas only works Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm.

Do these companies use subcontractors?

The Smart Fix does not. Everyone on their team is a W-2 employee, hired and trained directly by the company. Ace Handyman uses background-checked craftsmen under their franchise system. Both carry insurance and workers’ comp coverage.

What handyman services do they actually cover?

Both handle the usual list: drywall, painting, carpentry, flooring, door repair, fixture installation, fence work, and general maintenance. The Smart Fix also takes on full bathroom and kitchen remodels, commercial tenant turnovers, and larger residential projects. Neither company does heavy electrical, plumbing, or HVAC.

Do both offer free estimates?

Yes. The Smart Fix provides same-day virtual assessments over Google Meet, often within 30 minutes of your first call. You talk to a handyman, not a receptionist. Ace Handyman provides free estimates through their standard booking process.