Job management software for UK trades: prices, features and how to choose
Short answer: Job management software runs a trade business from first enquiry to paid invoice: quotes, scheduling, job sheets, certificates and payments. In the UK, Tradify, ServiceM8, Fergus, Joblogic and simPRO are the main options, from about £25 to £49 a month for small teams as of October 2026. Pick the one that matches how you price work, and check it syncs with your accounts software for Making Tax Digital.
You're comparing job management software for a UK trade business, and want to know what actually matters beyond the demo.
I'm Ranjit, and I run Blur Studio: 15+ years building software, 120 apps taken live, and clients who have gone on to raise $10M+. I build AI systems and processes that help businesses do a lot more with a lot less time. I also work differently from most of what else is out there, more on that further down this page. Say hello.
What does job management software do for a trade business?
It replaces the paper and the spreadsheets. Most products cover the same core jobs.
- Enquiries and quotes: Log a new enquiry, build a quote from your price list and send it by email or text.
- Scheduling: Put jobs on a shared calendar and assign them to engineers or subcontractors.
- Job sheets on a phone: Engineers see the job, the address, notes and photos, and they record time and materials on site.
- Certificates and forms: Fill in gas, electrical and safety forms on a tablet and send them to the customer.
- Invoices and payments: Turn the finished job into an invoice and take card payment on the spot.
- Accounts sync: Push invoices and payments into Xero, QuickBooks or Sage, so your bookkeeper does not re-type them.
- Recurring work: Set up service and maintenance visits that come round each year.
My guide to field service management software covers the same tools from a US angle, if you work in both markets.
Which job management software do UK trades use?
All prices below come from each vendor's own UK page as of October 2026. Several pages do not say whether VAT is added, so check that when you get a quote.
Tradify
Tradify charges per user, month to month, with no contract. Lite costs £34 a user a month, Pro costs £37 and Plus costs £44. Pro adds timesheets, cost tracking, subcontractor scheduling and compliance certificates. Plus adds service reminders, purchase orders and AI tools that read supplier bills and write job descriptions. Text messages cost 10p each.
ServiceM8
ServiceM8 prices by the number of jobs a month, and every paid plan allows unlimited users. A free plan covers one user and 30 jobs a month. Starter costs £25 a month for 50 jobs, Growing costs £59 for 150 jobs and Premium costs £119 for 500 jobs. This model suits a team with many people and a steady number of jobs.
Fergus
Fergus lists Essentials at £39 a month and Professional at £45 a month as its standard rates. Its page also shows a limited offer of 90% off until December. Billing is monthly with no lock-in contract. Professional adds checklists, forms, purchase orders, phone support and most of the reports. Setup and training are included on both plans.
Joblogic
Joblogic is aimed at service and maintenance firms with contracts and assets. Its Standard plan starts at £49 a user a month, billed yearly. Premium is priced by quote and adds planned maintenance contracts and route planning. Enterprise, also by quote, adds stock control and a customer portal. Joblogic says most customers sign for 24 or 36 months, and 12-month terms are also offered. If it does not suit you, see this UK Joblogic alternatives comparison.
simPRO
simPRO does not publish prices on its UK page, so you request a quote. Its base plan covers quoting, scheduling, stock and purchasing, invoicing and reporting. Add-ons include digital forms, maintenance planning and GPS fleet tracking. It fits larger firms that run projects as well as service work.
How do they compare?
| Product | Starting price (Oct 2026) | Priced by | Good fit for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tradify | £34 a user a month | User, month to month | Small trade teams that want a simple setup |
| ServiceM8 | Free, then £25 a month | Jobs a month | Teams with many users and steady job numbers |
| Fergus | £39 a month standard rate | Plan, month to month | Small teams that want setup and training included |
| Joblogic | £49 a user a month, billed yearly | User | Maintenance firms with contracts and assets |
| simPRO | By quote | Quote | Larger firms running projects and service |
How do you choose the right one?
Start with how you price and plan work. That narrows the list quickly.
- Small reactive jobs: If you do many short call-outs, test how fast an engineer can open a job, add photos and take payment on site.
- Planned maintenance: If you service boilers, alarms or air conditioning on contract, look hard at asset records and recurring visits. Joblogic and simPRO lean this way.
- Bigger projects: If you quote kitchens, rewires or fit-outs, you need staged invoices and job costing. Check that the quote, the job and the invoice stay linked.
- Team size and cost: Per-user pricing gets expensive as you add engineers. Per-job pricing gets expensive as you get busier. Work out both for next year.
- Contract length: Read the term before you sign. A 36-month contract is hard to leave if the tool does not fit.
- Your data: Ask how you export customers, jobs and certificates if you move on.
If you mainly need better quotes, my quote generator guide and invoicing app guide go deeper on those two jobs.
What UK rules should your job software help with?
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
If you are a sole trader or landlord, HMRC's Making Tax Digital rules now affect how you keep records. You had to start from 6 April 2026 if your qualifying income was over £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year. The threshold drops to £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and £20,000 from 6 April 2028.
Under these rules, you keep digital records and send quarterly updates to HMRC through compatible software. Your job tool usually sends invoices and payments to your accounts software, which does the filing. So check that the sync to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage is reliable and complete.
UK GDPR and the ICO fee
Your job software holds customer names, addresses, phone numbers and photos of their homes. That is personal data under UK GDPR. The ICO says organisations, including sole traders, that use personal information need to pay a data protection fee unless they are exempt.
In practice, give each engineer their own login and remove access the day someone leaves. Ask the vendor where it stores your data and whether it will sign a data processing agreement with you.
How does the Construction Industry Scheme affect your invoicing?
If you work as a subcontractor for a contractor in UK construction, the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) means the contractor deducts tax from your invoice before paying you, currently either 20% for registered subcontractors or 30% for those who are not registered with HMRC. The scheme covers around 245,000 contractor businesses and roughly a million subcontractors, so this is not a niche edge case for most UK trade businesses.
The real software question is whether CIS is handled automatically or bolted on. A job management tool with genuine CIS support calculates the deduction on each invoice, produces the monthly CIS return and generates the Payment and Deduction Statement you must give each subcontractor, without you doing the arithmetic by hand. Several UK accounting tools, including Xero, FreeAgent and Clear Books, now support CIS directly, and some trade-specific platforms like Powered Now build it into the invoicing flow itself. If your business does any subcontracting, ask specifically whether CIS calculation and the monthly return are automatic, not just supported in theory.
How can AI help a trade business?
Some job tools now include AI. Tradify Plus reads supplier bills for you, and ServiceM8 lists AI helpers on every plan. These uses also save real time for trades.
- Missed call answering: An AI receptionist picks up when you are on a roof or under a sink. It takes the details, books a slot in your job calendar and texts you a summary. My AI for trades guide covers how this works.
- Quotes from photos and notes: The customer sends photos. AI drafts a quote from your price list, and you check and send it.
- Job notes by voice: The engineer speaks a short summary at the end of a job. AI turns it into a clean job note and fills in the certificate fields for review.
Keep a qualified person signing off every certificate. AI can fill in a draft, but the engineer is responsible for the result.
When does a custom tool make sense?
Most UK trade businesses should buy one of the products above. They are cheaper than a build for a small team, and they keep up with new forms and payment options. A build starts to pay off in situations like these.
- Your work does not fit their screens: You run a mix of service contracts, projects and hire, and no product handles all three well.
- Too many tools: Your team uses a job app, a CRM, a stock sheet, a fleet tracker and a separate portal, and nothing talks to anything else.
- Per-user fees at scale: You have 40 engineers, and you pay for logins they use for five minutes a day.
- You want your own customer portal: Your commercial clients want to log jobs, see certificates and approve quotes in one place with your brand on it.
Often the best answer is a small tool that sits on top of your job software. It fills the gap through the vendor's API, the link that lets other software read and write its data. If you are looking at bigger platforms, my ServiceTitan alternatives guide covers those.
How would Blur Studio approach this for a UK trade business?
I like to follow one job from the first phone call to the money in the bank. That shows where your team loses time. If Tradify, ServiceM8 or Joblogic covers what you need, I will tell you to buy it. If there is a gap, I build the missing piece and connect it to your job and accounts software. The code and logins are set up in your firm's name. I'm a one-person studio working remotely with UK trade businesses, and I look after the tool once it is live.
Questions people ask
What is the best Tradify alternative in the UK?
It depends on how you price work. ServiceM8 suits teams with many users because it charges by jobs. Fergus includes setup and training on both of its plans. Joblogic suits maintenance firms with contracts and assets.
How much is job management software in the UK?
As of October 2026, ServiceM8 has a free plan and paid plans from £25 a month. Tradify starts at £34 a user a month, and Joblogic starts at £49 a user a month billed yearly. simPRO is priced by quote.
Does job management software work with Making Tax Digital?
Most job tools send invoices and payments to accounts software such as Xero, QuickBooks or Sage. That accounts software keeps the digital records and sends the quarterly updates to HMRC. Check the sync works before you rely on it.
Is simPRO or Joblogic better for maintenance work?
Both handle planned maintenance and asset records. Joblogic publishes a starting price of £49 a user a month on yearly billing, while simPRO quotes each business. Ask both to show a full maintenance contract from set-up to invoice.
Does job management software handle CIS deductions automatically?
Some do and some don't, so ask directly rather than assuming. A tool with genuine CIS support calculates the deduction on each invoice, produces your monthly CIS return and generates Payment and Deduction Statements for subcontractors automatically, which saves real time if you do any subcontract work.
Roughly what does this cost?
As a broad reference, fixes and finishes start at around $1,500, and new builds start higher, always a fixed price agreed in writing before I start, never an hourly rate. My AI app cost guide explains what actually drives a quote up or down.
Is my project too small for this?
No. Most of the owners I work with have no tech team at all, that is the whole point. If the smarter move is a cheap software subscription instead of custom software, I will tell you that on the first call, even though it means I do not get paid.