Choosing software, 29 October 2026
Best job management software for UK trades (2026)
The best job management software for a small UK trade firm is the one that fits how you price and how many people you have. For reactive domestic work, Tradify, Fergus, ServiceM8 and Powered Now are month-to-month and cost roughly £700 to £1,800 a year for four people. Joblogic, Commusoft and Simpro suit contract and maintenance work, usually on longer contracts.
What does job management software do?
It holds your jobs in one place: enquiry, quote, schedule, job card, photos, certificates, invoice, and a sync to your accounts. Engineers see their day on the app; the office, or you in the evening, sees what's booked and what's billed.
What it doesn't do is the thinking. Someone still has to price the quote, read the supplier bill, chase the invoice and answer the customer. About 9 of the 28 firms we spoke to on sales calls this year raised frustration with job software: it wouldn't connect to other tools, came with a 12-month contract, or ended up as little more than a diary. If that sounds familiar, read do you need job management software if you use AI? too.
Which job management apps do UK trades use?
Here are the seven most often named on our calls, with what each vendor's own pages said in October 2026.
| App | Price as of October 2026 | Charged by | Contract | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tradify | £34, £37 or £44 a user a month | User | Month to month | Domestic trades, 1–15 people |
| Fergus | Essentials £39, Professional £45 a month; offer of 90% off until December | Per user | No lock-in | Plumbers, electricians, builders who quote with labour and markup |
| ServiceM8 | Free, then £25, £59, £119, £269 a month | Jobs a month | No contracts | Reactive jobs, many engineers, iPhone-heavy teams |
| Powered Now | £28 a month (Business, one user), £32 or £40 a user a month, ex VAT | Plan or user | No contract | Sole traders and small VAT-registered teams |
| Joblogic | From £49 a user a month, billed annually | User | Most commit to 24 or 36 months; 12 possible | Maintenance, PPM, compliance-heavy service firms |
| Commusoft | Quote on request | Licence, minimum 4 | 12 months | Heating and service firms with an office |
| Simpro | Quote on request | Custom | Ask | Growing firms with projects and service |
Prices exclude VAT where the vendor says so (Powered Now, Joblogic); the others don't say. Fergus's pricing page lists timesheet and contractor users separately, so ask how many paid users your team needs.
How do the main apps compare?
Tradify. Three plans; Pro adds branding, quote options with online acceptance, costing, timesheets and certificates; Plus adds AI bill reading, purchase orders and service reminders. Syncs with Xero, Sage and QuickBooks Online. Free training. Suits small domestic teams that want to be up and running quickly. See Tradify alternatives.
Fergus. Two plans. Professional adds automatic supplier integrations, purchase orders, tasks and phone support. Xero, QuickBooks and MYOB on both plans, a public API, AI assistants, and a takeoff link with Groundplan. Suits firms that price labour plus materials with markup. See Fergus alternatives.
ServiceM8. Priced by jobs a month with unlimited users on paid plans, so a firm with lots of engineers and modest job counts pays less. Two-way Xero sync. Job costing and markup billing start on Premium (£119). Suits reactive service work.
Powered Now. A one-user Business plan, then per-user plans. It says the Professional and Premium plans submit VAT returns to HMRC under Making Tax Digital, CIS included. Suits sole traders and small teams who want quotes, invoices and certificates without a big system.
Joblogic, Commusoft, Simpro. Built for contract maintenance, planned preventative maintenance, assets and compliance. Joblogic publishes a starting price; Commusoft and Simpro quote. Commusoft's page states a 12-month contract, a minimum of four licences, and paid onboarding. Suits firms with an office and service contracts.
What will it cost a firm like yours?
Work out a year, not a month, and count every person who needs a login.
A year's software for a four-person heating firm
Owner plus three engineers, about 60 jobs a month, prices from each vendor's page as of October 2026.
| ServiceM8 Growing, up to 150 jobs, unlimited users£59 × 12 | £708 |
| Powered Now Professional£32 × 4 users × 12 | £1,536 |
| Tradify Pro£37 × 4 users × 12 | £1,776 |
| Joblogic Standard, billed annually£49 × 4 users × 12 | £2,352 |
The cheapest isn't automatically right. If your engineers need gas certificates on site, or you price from supplier price lists, a plan that lacks them costs you hours every week.
Another monthly bill that I feel like I don't need… a smart diary.
He was weighing his job app against what it saved him. On a team of three, a diary on his phone and an accounts package did most of what he needed. That's a fair test for any small firm: list what you'd stop doing by hand.
Which type of tool fits your firm?
Joblogic, Commusoft and Simpro are built for PPM, assets and compliance. Expect a longer contract and paid onboarding. Ask for the full cost in writing.
ServiceM8 charges by jobs with unlimited users; Tradify and Fergus charge by user. Work out both for your numbers.
Tradify, Fergus or Powered Now. Trial two of them for a fortnight on live jobs.
A shared calendar, your accounts package and a quoting tool may cover it. Read the guide on job software and AI before you sign up.
What should you check before you sign?
Check the contract, the data and the connections before the features. Two of the firms we spoke to had been stung. One renovation builder signed a 12-month contract with a job software firm, paid £500 for training and found he was on the wrong package. A Northern Ireland heating firm with about 700 gas customers was afraid to leave its software because there was no open API and six or seven years of records were inside it.
For a fuller list, see software contracts for trades and integrations to check before buying.
Where does Nexley fit?
Nexley isn't job management software. It's an AI back office that works over WhatsApp: it drafts quotes from voice notes, reads supplier bills, chases invoices and handles take-offs. It costs £799 a month, month to month, with a 7-day free trial.
It suits owners who are the bottleneck on quoting, tenders and admin, whether or not they keep a job app. It doesn't suit a firm whose main need is a dispatch board for ten engineers and cheap per-user pricing: a job app is the better buy there, and the two can run side by side.
Where Nexley fits
Nexley is the AI back office for UK trade firms: five AI assistants run your tenders, quotes, buying, scheduling and invoicing. It connects to the tools you already work in, you run it all from WhatsApp, and you approve everything. £799 a month.
For job management, Nexley works alongside the app you have. When a customer accepts a quote it drafted, it updates your job software so nobody types the job in twice, and it posts supplier bills and invoices to your accounts. You approve every quote and message over WhatsApp.
Common questions
How is Nexley different from a job management app?
A job app is a better filing system: it holds your jobs, and you still do the quoting, invoicing and chasing. Nexley does that work. Five AI assistants draft your quotes, invoices, supplier orders, replies and tenders overnight from your own prices and your Xero, and you approve each one in WhatsApp. It's the office help you'd otherwise hire, for £799 a month against about £2,358 a month for a full-time admin.
What is the cheapest job management software in the UK?
ServiceM8 has a free plan for one user and 30 jobs a month. Powered Now's Business plan is £28 a month ex VAT for one user. Both prices as of October 2026; check what each plan leaves out before choosing on price.
Which job management software works with Xero?
All of the apps here list a Xero integration. Test on the trial that invoices, payments and contacts sync the way you expect, and which plan includes it.
Do I need a contract for job management software?
Not with Tradify, Fergus, ServiceM8 or Powered Now, which all state no lock-in as of October 2026. Joblogic says most customers commit to 24 or 36 months, and Commusoft states 12 months. Read the terms before you sign.
Is Jobber available in the UK?
Jobber's pricing page shows US dollars only, as of October 2026. Ask Jobber directly about UK pricing, VAT and UK certificates before you trial it.
Sources
- Tradify: UK pricing and plans
- Fergus: UK pricing
- ServiceM8: UK pricing
- Powered Now: pricing
- Joblogic: pricing
- Commusoft: pricing
- Jobber: pricing
- Simpro: plumbing job management software compared
Every rule, rate and date above was checked against these sources on the date shown at the top.
Topic: Choosing software
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