Finding the best job management software for UK trades is not a features contest — it is a money question. The five tools in this guide charge in three different ways (per user, per job, per plan), bill in two currencies, and disagree about what counts as a certificate. This guide compares them on verified November 2026 pricing, at one user and at five users, so a UK plumber, electrician, or builder can see what each one really costs before trialling it.

The short answer

The three UK tools at a glance

The North American alternatives at a glance

Pricing changes often — confirm on the official pricing page before buying: Tradify UK, ServiceM8 UK, Fergus UK, Jobber, Housecall Pro.

What it costs at 1 and 5 users

Assumptions: list prices checked November 5, 2026. Tradify, ServiceM8, and Fergus in pounds; Jobber and Housecall Pro in US dollars. Jobber and Housecall Pro figures show annual billing first, monthly billing second. Pound conversions for the US tools use about $1.35 to the pound (Bank of England spot $1.3415 on 3 November 2026) and are approximate — your card statement will move with the exchange rate.

How to read this table. The five tools don't price the same thing, so the columns don't compare cleanly:

• Tradify and Fergus charge per user. Every hire adds £34–£45 a month, forever. At one user they're the cheapest paid options in the UK; at five they're the most expensive.
• ServiceM8 charges by jobs, not people. Five users doing 150 jobs a month costs £59 — a third of Tradify Pro's £185 for the same crew. But a busy month pushes you into the next tier, so the bill rises with your workload, not your headcount.
• Jobber and Housecall Pro charge a flat price per plan, in dollars. Their 5-user prices look cheap in pounds (£110 on annual billing) — but a UK card pays in dollars, so the amount drifts with the exchange rate, and Jobber's cheapest plan (Core) covers one user only: a growing team steps up to Connect pricing.

Billing types, and why they matter. Tradify, ServiceM8, and Fergus are month-to-month with no contracts and no annual discount — the price you see is the price every month, and you can cancel anytime. Jobber has three billing options: monthly with no commitment (cancel anytime), monthly on a 1-year commitment (a 12-month minimum term, billed monthly), and annual prepaid (pay the full year upfront; non-refundable if you cancel mid-year). Annual billing saves up to 25% on Jobber's team plans — the Core plan alone reaches about 40% off ($29 vs $49) — so compare like-for-like billing before you compare prices. Housecall Pro's annual price is a discounted monthly rate (Basic $59 vs $79) with no long-term contract, so it behaves like a discount rather than a commitment.

Ease of use at a glance

Editorial assessment only. We have not run hands-on trials of these apps, so this is our judgement from each vendor's own documentation, its onboarding offer, and published user ratings — not measured results. See How we picked these.

The honest summary: Tradify is the quickest to get value from; ServiceM8 is the quickest to start (because the free plan costs nothing to learn on); Fergus and Jobber repay a longer setup with deeper costing and dispatch respectively; Housecall Pro sits in the middle — broad, but that breadth is the learning curve.

1. Tradify — best all-rounder for UK trades

Tradify is job-management software built specifically for trade businesses — electricians, plumbers, gas engineers, HVAC techs, and property maintenance firms — rather than generic field-service teams. It covers the full paperwork lifecycle of a job: enquiry, quote, scheduling, timesheets, job costing, invoicing, and payment, synced to Xero, Sage, or QuickBooks. It sells in the UK through a UK-localised site with pricing fixed in pounds, so the number you see is the number you pay. Tradify says more than 55,000 tradespeople use it (its own site's claim).

The reason most UK trades pick it is the certificates. Pro (£37) and Plus (£44) include the UK compliance certificates — EICR, EIC, Minor Electrical Works, PAT, EV charger, CP12 gas safety, service maintenance, and oil CD/10 and CD/12 — completed, signed, and sent as PDFs from the app. No other tool in this guide puts that library behind a £37 plan. The other reason is quoting: price books, markups, good/better/best quote options the customer accepts online, and automated quote reminders. Users rate it 4.7 out of 5 on GetApp from 152 reviews (checked 5 November 2026), with support rated 4.8 and ease of use 4.7.

The catch is the pricing model. Every figure is per user, so a five-person crew on Pro pays £185 a month — roughly one-and-a-half times what the closest flat-priced rivals charge for the same team. And the certificates that make Tradify worth buying start at Pro, not at the £34 Lite headline. The AI tools (SmartRead, which photographs a supplier bill and extracts the cost lines; SmartWrite, which drafts customer messages) live only on Plus at £44 a user a month, with no published usage limits. Tradify's pricing page also doesn't state a VAT treatment — its billing help says it does not currently charge subscription tax to UK customers, but check your invoice and your accounting position.

Pricing (verified November 5, 2026): Lite £34, Pro £37, Plus £44 — per user per month, month-to-month, no contracts. 14-day free trial with all features, no credit card. Optional add-ons: Instant Website £10/month, text-message reminders at 10p per message.

• UK certificates (EICR, CP12, gas and oil) from Pro — the UK dealbreaker feature, in our assessment
• Sterling billing — no exchange-rate drift on your card statement
• Xero, Sage, and QuickBooks sync on every plan, including Lite
• Progress invoicing, quote options, and per-job costing give small shops margin visibility usually reserved for bigger systems
• Month-to-month on every plan; no contracts; 14-day free trial, no card

• Per-user pricing punishes headcount: five users on Pro is £185 a month
• The key UK feature (certificates) is locked behind Pro — Lite at £34 misses the main reason to buy
• AI tools only on the top tier (Plus, £44), with no published usage limits and no independent accuracy benchmark for SmartRead
• No dispatch board — scheduling and route planning, not a dispatch platform
• Materials and stock management is basic: GetApp users rate inventory management 2.7 out of 5

• Crews of 5+ where the per-user maths doesn't work — run the five-user numbers against Jobber Connect and ServiceM8 Premium first
• Materials-heavy firms that live in their stockroom — Fergus is stronger on materials and job costing
• Dispatch-led firms that move vans around a city all day — Jobber's dispatch and live tracking fit better

Read the full Tradify review

2. ServiceM8 — best free start

ServiceM8 flips the pricing model: instead of charging per user, it sells monthly job credits with unlimited users on every paid plan. That makes it unusually cheap for growing crews — and it has the only genuinely free plan in this guide: one user, up to 30 jobs a month, forever.

The trade is that the bill climbs in steps as you get busier. Free covers 30 jobs; Starter is £25 a month for 50 jobs; Growing is £59 for 150; Premium is £119 for 500; Premium Plus is £269 for 1,500 or more — all with unlimited users. A five-person team doing 150 jobs a month pays £59, a third of Tradify Pro's £185 for the same crew. A five-person team doing 600 jobs pays £269, and the step structure means a single busy month can push you into the next tier. Prices are in pounds on a UK pricing page and stated ex VAT — ServiceM8 issues reverse-charge invoices for you to account for UK VAT to HMRC, so confirm that treatment with your accountant.

What you get is solid job management: job cards, scheduling, time tracking, CRM, job history, invoicing and payments, and Xero and QuickBooks sync. Growing adds asset management, forms, proposals, and bundles; Premium adds job costing, markup billing, and a knowledge base. SMS allowances grow with the tier (100+ a month on Starter, 300+ on Growing, 1,000+ on Premium, 3,000+ on Premium Plus), and extra jobs beyond your allocation cost 15p each on Premium Plus. ServiceM8 Pay card fees run 1.19% + 30p on Premium Plus up to 1.89% + 30p on Free, with international and American Express at 3.70% + 30p.

The gaps are real: no named UK certificates (generic PDF forms only — if you issue EICRs or CP12s daily, this is the reason to pick Tradify instead), no Sage sync, and no job-costing depth until Premium. A few features are iPhone-only on the app.

Pricing (verified November 5, 2026): Free £0 (1 user, 30 jobs/mo); Starter £25/mo (50 jobs); Growing £59/mo (150 jobs); Premium £119/mo (500 jobs); Premium Plus £269/mo (1,500+ jobs). Unlimited users on paid plans. Prices ex VAT.

• The only free plan in this guide that a sole trader can actually run a business on
• Unlimited users on every paid plan — headcount never raises the bill
• The cheapest 5-user option in this guide at normal job volumes (£59 for 150 jobs)
• Sterling pricing on a UK page, with the VAT treatment stated

• The bill rises in steps with workload — a busy month costs more, which is the opposite of how most software pricing works
• No named UK certificates — generic PDF forms only
• No Sage integration (Xero and QuickBooks only)
• Job costing only arrives on Premium (£119); custom invoice templates need Growing (£59) or above

• Electricians and gas engineers who issue certificates daily — Tradify Pro is the honest pick
• Firms that need Sage sync — Tradify and Fergus both offer it
• Very high-volume firms doing 1,500+ jobs a month — Premium Plus is £269 and the steps keep climbing

Visit ServiceM8

3. Fergus — best for margins and job costing

Fergus is built around one question: what did each job actually earn? Quoting and estimating, price books, job cards, materials, supplier integrations, purchase orders, and reporting that shows the real profit on every job — it's the pick for plumbers and electrical teams who live and die by margins, and it claims 26,000+ trade businesses on its own pricing page.

Pricing is per user, like Tradify: Essentials from £39 a user a month, Professional from £45, with an Enterprise tier for 10+ staff on a custom quote. The "from" matters — Fergus publishes starting prices rather than a fixed rate card, so confirm your exact price before committing. Timesheet-only users cost from £12 a month and contractor users £2 a day, which keeps the bill down when not everyone needs a full seat. Card payments cost 1.6% + £0.20 per transaction, SMS alerts £8 per 100, and the UK certificates add-on is free on both plans — Fergus stores EICR and gas safety certificates rather than charging extra for them. Billing is monthly with no lock-in contracts, and there's a 14-day free trial with no credit card and a free one-hour onboarding session.

What you get beyond costing: quoting and estimating, job cards, GPS tracking, timesheets, calendar, materials, supplier integrations, recurring jobs, checklists, forms, enquiry management, and a mobile app, with Xero, QuickBooks, and MYOB sync. Reporting covers timesheet overviews, pay summaries, quote reports, customer invoice reporting, supplier document reporting, staff reporting, business reporting, and financial reporting. Support is email and chat on Essentials, phone plus email and chat on Professional.

The gaps: no dispatch board, and Fergus's pricing page doesn't state a VAT treatment — the same gap Tradify has, so check your invoice. The "from" pricing means the £39 figure is a floor, not a promise.

Pricing (verified November 5, 2026): Essentials from £39/user/mo; Professional from £45/user/mo; Enterprise (10+ staff) custom. Timesheet users from £12/mo; contractor users £2/user/day; SMS £8/100; card payments 1.6% + £0.20. Certificates free. Monthly billing, no lock-in. 14-day free trial, no card.

• The deepest job costing and materials tracking of the five, in our assessment
• Free UK certificates add-on — no plan gate for EICR and gas safety records
• Timesheet (£12) and contractor (£2/day) user types keep the bill down for non-office staff
• Monthly billing with no lock-in; free one-hour onboarding

• "From" pricing — £39 is a starting price, not a fixed rate; confirm yours before committing
• VAT treatment not stated on the pricing page
• No dispatch board
• No free plan — the trial is 14 days, then you're paying

• Sole traders who just need quotes and invoices — ServiceM8 Free or Tradify Lite cost less
• Dispatch-led firms — Jobber's dispatch and live tracking fit better
• Firms that need a fixed published price before they talk to sales — Fergus's "from" pricing needs a check

Visit Fergus

4. Jobber — best all-rounder for US and Canada

Jobber is the biggest name in North American home-service software — scheduling, quoting, invoicing, and payments for businesses from solo operators to 15-person crews, with the deepest dispatch, routing, and client follow-up of the five tools in this guide. Its own pricing page invites you to join a community of 20,000+ home service pros.

Jobber prices in a way that needs careful reading: four plans, three billing options, and the price depends on team-size band. Core covers one user ($49 a month with no commitment, $39 on a one-year commitment billed monthly, $29 billed annually). Connect starts at one user ($139/$119/$99) and steps up by band — 5 users is $199/$169/$149, 10 users $299/$259/$229, 15 users $399/$339/$299. Grow follows the same bands ($199/$169/$149 for one user, $299/$259/$229 for five). Plus starts at five users ($499/$439/$399) and runs to 15 users ($699/$599/$529). Jobber prices by team-size band, not per extra user — its pricing page publishes no per-extra-user rate,so if your headcount falls between bands you pay the next band's price. All prices are in US dollars and exclude sales tax where applicable — and the 1-year commitment is a 12-month minimum term, while annual prepaid billing is non-refundable if you cancel mid-year.

What each tier adds matters more than the headline: Core is quoting, scheduling, invoicing, CRM, and the client hub. Connect adds automated follow-ups, QuickBooks Online sync, job forms, and GPS tracking. Grow adds quote add-ons, job costing, automated quote follow-ups, and two-way texting. Plus adds crew scheduling, AI Receptionist, and the full reporting set. Card payments cost 2.9% + 30¢ online (2.7% + 30¢ in the app) and bank (ACH) payments 1%, with instant payout available for an extra 1%. The 14-day free trial runs on the Grow plan, with no credit card required.

For UK buyers: Jobber accepts UK customers — online card payments and two-way texting work in the UK — but it bills in US dollars, so the amount on your card drifts with the exchange rate (see Check 3). At five users, Connect on annual billing is about £110 a month against Tradify Pro's £185, and Jobber's dispatch and route tools are stronger — but there are no UK certificates and no Sage sync. That's the trade, stated plainly.

Pricing (verified November 5, 2026): Core 1 user $49/$39/$29; Connect 1 user $139/$119/$99, 5 users $199/$169/$149, 10 users $299/$259/$229, 15 users $399/$339/$299; Grow 1 user $199/$169/$149, 5 users $299/$259/$229; Plus 5 users $499/$439/$399, 10 users $599/$499/$449, 15 users $699/$599/$529. (Monthly no commitment / 1-year commitment billed monthly / billed annually.) No published per-extra-user rate — pricing is by team-size band. 14-day free trial on Grow, no card.

• The strongest dispatch, route optimisation, and live team tracking of the five
• Flat plan pricing beats per-user costs decisively at five users and beyond
• Online booking and automated client follow-ups are best in class, in our assessment
• QuickBooks Online and Xero sync; 14-day Grow trial, no card

• Billed in US dollars — UK buyers face exchange-rate drift, and there are no UK certificates
• The cheap Core plan covers one user only — a growing team steps up to Connect pricing
• Annual prepaid billing is non-refundable; the 1-year commitment is a 12-month minimum
• No Sage sync; add-ons (Marketing Suite, AI Receptionist, Pipeline) are billed separately

• UK electricians and gas engineers who issue certificates — Tradify Pro is the honest pick
• Firms that need sterling billing — Tradify, ServiceM8, and Fergus all bill in pounds
• Solo operators who won't use dispatch — Core is fine, but Tradify Lite or ServiceM8 Free cost less in the UK

Visit Jobber

5. Housecall Pro — best for US and Canadian home-service pros (US and Canada only)

Housecall Pro is the all-in-one for US and Canadian home-service shops — HVAC, plumbing, electrical, cleaning, landscaping — with scheduling and dispatch, estimates, invoicing, a price book, job costing, online booking, and review management in one platform. Its own pricing page says it is trusted by 200,000+ Pros. Important first: it operates in the US and Canada only, so it is not an option for UK firms at all.

Pricing is flat per plan, in dollars. Basic is $79 a month on monthly billing ($59 on annual) with one user included. Essentials is $189 ($149 annual) with five users, adding routes, flat-rate pricing, checklist automations, photo reports, employee GPS tracking, commissions, and QuickBooks Online sync. MAX is $329 ($299 annual) with eight users, adding the sales proposal tool, recurring service plans, route optimisation, open API access, a dedicated onboarding specialist, and escalated phone support — plus $35 a month per additional user. The pricing page currently shows introductory offers ($26 a month for one month on Basic and Essentials, $99 a month for three months on MAX) — budget at the list prices above, not the intros. The 14-day free trial runs on MAX with no credit card required, and there are no long-term contracts. Card processing starts at 2.59% and bank payments cost 1%.

For UK buyers: there is no UK version of this one. Housecall Pro operates in the US and Canada only — its card processing is available to businesses in the US and Canada, and its bank payments are US-only. If you are a UK firm, stop here: Tradify, ServiceM8, or Fergus is your shortlist.

Pricing (verified November 5, 2026): Basic $79/mo monthly / $59 annual, 1 user; Essentials $189/$149, 5 users; MAX $329/$299, 8 users, +$35/mo per additional user. 14-day free trial of MAX, no card. No long-term contracts.

• The most complete all-in-one for US and Canadian home-service teams, in our assessment — dispatch, estimates, price book, job costing, and review management in one place
• Flat plan pricing with users included — no per-seat maths
• QuickBooks Online sync from Essentials; route optimisation and service plans on MAX
• 14-day MAX trial, no card; no long-term contracts

• US and Canada only — not an option for UK firms
• Introductory prices on the page today ($26 for a month) are not the list price — budget at $79/$189/$329
• Add-ons (payroll, VoIP, GPS) mostly have unpublished pricing
• No free plan — the trial is 14 days, then you're paying

• Any UK firm — it doesn't operate outside the US and Canada
• Solo operators who just need quotes and invoices — Jobber Core or Tradify Lite cost less
• Teams that need Sage sync — Jobber and Tradify both offer it; Housecall Pro syncs QuickBooks Online

Visit Housecall Pro

Which is the best job management software for your UK trade business?

• Solo trader, UK, tight budget → ServiceM8 Free. One user, 30 jobs a month, costs nothing — and it stays free until you outgrow it.
• Solo trader who issues certificates → Tradify Lite at £34, or Pro at £37 if you need the EICR and CP12 library. See our Tradify review.
• Small team, 2–4 users, UK → Tradify Pro at £37 a user. Certificates, progress invoicing, timesheets, and reminders for the whole crew — this is the team size Tradify is built for.
• Growing team, 5+ users, UK → run the maths first. At five users Pro is £185 a month; Jobber Connect on annual billing is about £110 and ServiceM8 Premium is £119. Choose Tradify at this size only if the certificates and quoting depth are worth the premium to you.
• Electricians and gas engineers → Tradify Pro, for the certificates. If you issue EICRs or CP12s daily, this is the feature that justifies the price.
• Materials-heavy firms → Fergus. Its job costing, purchase orders, and supplier integrations are stronger than Tradify's, and its certificates add-on is free.
• Dispatch-led firms → Jobber. Its dispatch, route optimisation, and live team tracking are the better fit — and at five users its flat pricing beats Tradify decisively.
• US or Canadian home-service shop that wants one platform → Housecall Pro. Everything in one place, from $59 a month on annual billing — but only if you're in the US or Canada.

The verdict

There is no single best job management software for UK trades — the right pick depends on what your business does most:

• Best overall for UK trades: Tradify. If you have 1–4 users, quote constantly, and issue certificates, nothing else in this guide matches the combination of quoting depth, the certificate library, and sterling billing. Start with Pro at £37 a user.
• Best for a tight budget: ServiceM8 Free. The only plan here that costs nothing, and the cheapest route to a growing crew because it charges by jobs, not people.
• Best for margins: Fergus. If knowing the profit on every job is the whole game, its costing and materials tracking win — and its certificates cost nothing extra.
• Best at team scale: Jobber. Once a crew passes four or five people, flat plan pricing beats per-user billing decisively — but only if you don't need UK certificates and can live with dollar billing.
• Best for North America: Housecall Pro. The most complete all-in-one for US and Canadian shops. Not an option for UK firms.

If you read nothing else in this guide: price your pick at five users and double your current job count before you buy, check which plan unlocks the certificates you issue, and confirm whether the price on the page includes VAT. Those three checks decide more purchases than any feature list.

How to choose: the 4 checks we run

1. How the bill grows with your team

Most job-management tools charge by users, by jobs, or by plan band — and the model matters more than the headline price. Price the tool at five users and at double your current job count before committing. Tradify Pro at five users is £185 a month; ServiceM8 Growing at 150 jobs is £59; Jobber Connect at five users is $149 a month on annual billing (about £110). The winner flips depending on whether your team or your workload grows faster. Our Tradify review shows the per-user maths in full.

2. Certificates and Making Tax Digital

If you issue EICRs, CP12s, or gas and oil certificates, the certificate library — and which plan unlocks it — decides the purchase. Tradify includes certificates from Pro (£37); Fergus includes them free on both plans; ServiceM8 has generic PDF forms only; Jobber and Housecall Pro have none. Separately, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has applied since 6 April 2026 to sole traders and landlords whose qualifying income (gross self-employment plus property income, before expenses) was over £50,000 in 2024/25 — falling to £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and £20,000 from 6 April 2028 (GOV.UK, checked 5 November 2026). Your invoicing app should sync cleanly with Xero, Sage, or QuickBooks so the records it keeps are the records your accounting software reports. Tradify syncs all three on every plan; ServiceM8 syncs Xero and QuickBooks; Fergus syncs Xero, QuickBooks, and MYOB; Jobber syncs QuickBooks Online and Xero; Housecall Pro syncs QuickBooks Online from Essentials.

3. Billing currency and VAT

Tradify, ServiceM8, and Fergus bill UK customers in pounds — the number you see is the number you pay. Jobber and Housecall Pro bill in US dollars, so a UK card pays in dollars and the amount drifts with the exchange rate (about $1.35 to the pound in early November 2026). On VAT: ServiceM8 states its prices exclude VAT and issues reverse-charge invoices; Tradify's and Fergus's pricing pages don't state a VAT treatment at all, so check your invoice and your accounting position rather than assuming. Jobber's prices exclude US sales tax where applicable.

4. Trial terms and lock-in

Every tool in this guide offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card — but the trials aren't identical. Tradify's trial covers all features on every plan; Fergus's covers the full product; Housecall Pro's trial runs on MAX, its top tier; Jobber's trial runs on Grow, its third tier. Use the trial on the plan you'd actually buy, not the one the trial defaults to. On lock-in: Tradify, ServiceM8, and Fergus are month-to-month with no contracts and no annual discount; Jobber's 1-year commitment is a 12-month minimum term and its annual prepaid billing is non-refundable if you cancel mid-year; Housecall Pro has no long-term contracts.

Frequently asked questions

How we picked these

Each tool was scored against our published methodology: fit for the job (30%), value for money (25%), ease of use (20%), support & reliability (15%), and room to grow (10%).

Research process. We read each vendor's official pricing page on November 5, 2026 (tradifyhq.com/uk/pricing, servicem8.com UK pricing, fergus.com/uk/pricing, getjobber.com/pricing, housecallpro.com/pricing) and cross-checked plan prices against independent analyses that read the same official pages first-hand in September–October 2026 (listed below). Tradify's figures reuse the research from our full Tradify review, published November 5, 2026. Rankings reflect documented research — plan documents, pricing pages, and feature tables — not hands-on trials. We have not run paid trials of each app, so ease-of-use judgements are editorial assessments, not measured results. In this v3 revision we re-read all five official pricing pages on November 5, 2026, corrected two v2 errors (Jobber's annual discount and Housecall Pro's availability wording), and removed Jobber's extra-user price because it does not appear on the official pricing page — see the change log below.

What "value for money" meant here. We priced each tool at 1 user and at 5 users on the billing basis the buyer actually pays, because headline "from" prices hide how fast job-management tools get expensive. A tool that looks cheap at one user can cost 3–5× more at five — the cost table above shows exactly where. Where the comparison isn't like-for-like (per-user pounds vs per-job pounds vs flat-plan dollars), we say so instead of forcing a single number, and US-dollar figures carry an approximate pound conversion at the stated exchange rate.

Limitations. Prices change frequently; every figure carries its check date. Fergus publishes "from" prices rather than a fixed rate card, so its figures are starting prices to confirm. User counts (55,000+ for Tradify, 26,000+ for Fergus, 200,000+ for Housecall Pro) are the vendors' own claims. Learn more about us.

A note on links

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