Best CRM for trades businesses in the UK
Quick answer
Most UK tradespeople do not need a separate CRM. A job management app with customer records and quote follow-ups does the job: Tradify (£37 per user a month on Pro, with online quote acceptance and reminders) or Powered Now Premium (£40 ex VAT, with automatic quote chasing). Installers with sales teams should look at Business Pilot.
On this page
Dedicated installer CRMs such as Business Pilot suit firms selling windows and doors, but are not much help if you are a two-van plumber. This is an independent comparison of trade CRMs, job apps with CRM built in and general CRMs, with £ prices checked on 12 October 2026.
CRM vs job management: what do tradespeople actually need?
A CRM (customer relationship management system) is software for winning work. It records every enquiry, tracks each quote through stages such as "sent", "chased" and "won", and reminds you to follow up. Job management software is for doing the work: scheduling, job sheets, certificates and invoices.
For most trade businesses the line has blurred. Modern job apps keep a full customer history, send quotes the customer can accept online, and chase them automatically. So the real question is not "which CRM?" but "how complicated is my sales process?"
| Your sales process | What you need | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Customer calls, you quote, they say yes or no within a week or two | A job management app with quote follow-ups | Tradify, Powered Now, ServiceM8, YourTradebase |
| Bigger jobs, site surveys, quotes that take weeks to decide | A job app with enquiry management and a pipeline view | Fergus Pro, Powered Now Premium, Jobber Plus |
| Separate sales reps, surveyors and fitters; leads from many sources | A dedicated installer CRM | Business Pilot |
| Marketing-led firm with lots of online enquiries and email campaigns | A general CRM alongside your job app | HubSpot Free, Pipedrive |
How do trade CRMs compare?
| Tool | Type | Price | Quote follow-ups | Also runs jobs and invoices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tradify | Job app with CRM | £34, £37 or £44 per user a month (VAT not stated) | Online acceptance and automatic reminders from Pro | Yes |
| Powered Now | Job app with CRM | £28, £32 or £40 a month ex VAT | Automatic invoice and quote chasing on Premium | Yes |
| ServiceM8 | Job app with CRM | £0 to £269 a month by job count (VAT not stated) | Texts included from Starter (100+ a month) | Yes |
| YourTradebase | Job app with lead tracking | £29 a month plus £15 per extra user, ex VAT | Lead tracking; automatic invoice reminders | Yes |
| Fergus | Job app with enquiry management | £39 or £45 a month list price (VAT not stated) | Enquiry management on Pro | Yes |
| Jobber | Job app with CRM | From $49 a month (USD on UK page) | Quote and invoice follow-ups from Connect; Pipeline on Plus | Yes |
| Business Pilot | Installer CRM | Not published (call for a price) | Leads, sales and survey stages | Yes, scheduling, job costs and invoices |
| HubSpot Free CRM | General CRM | Free (up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts) | Email templates, scheduling and tracking | No |
| Pipedrive | General CRM | $14 to $79 per seat a month, billed annually (USD, ex VAT) | Sales pipeline and reminders | No |
What does each approach cost a 3 person team?
Here is the monthly list price for a 3 person team under four set-ups. Add VAT where the price excludes it.
| Set-up | Monthly cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Tradify Pro (3 x £37) | £111 (VAT not stated) | Jobs, certificates, online quote acceptance and reminders |
| Powered Now Premium (3 x £40) | £120 ex VAT | Jobs, certificates, MTD, automatic quote chasing, customer portal |
| YourTradebase (£29 plus 2 x £15) | £59 ex VAT | Jobs, lead tracking, invoice reminders; no UK certificates found |
| Tradify Lite (3 x £34) plus HubSpot Free | £102 (VAT not stated) | Jobs and invoices, plus a separate enquiry pipeline for 2 users |
The pattern is clear: paying for a job app's higher plan usually costs less, and is less work, than bolting a general CRM onto a basic plan. Tradify Lite plus HubSpot Free saves £9 a month over Tradify Pro, but you lose online quote acceptance and automatic reminders in Tradify and have to keep two customer lists in step.
Which job management apps have CRM built in?
For a business under about 10 people, one of these is almost always the right answer. You get the customer database, quotes and follow-ups in the same app as the diary and invoices. Our job management software comparison covers them in more depth.
Best all-rounder with built-in CRM
Tradify
£37 per user per month for quote follow-ups (Pro)
Every plan keeps customer records with job history, quotes and invoices. Pro adds online quote acceptance, automatic reminders and progress invoicing, which covers what most trades want from a CRM. Text-message quotes cost £0.10 per message. Xero, Sage and QuickBooks links are on every plan.
- Online quote acceptance and reminders on Pro
- Trustpilot 4.8 from 610 reviews (checked 12 Oct 2026)
- No sales pipeline view found
- Per-user pricing
Best for automatic quote chasing
Powered Now
£40 per user per month ex VAT for automatic chasing (Premium)
Powered Now's Premium plan adds automatic invoice and quote chasing, a customer portal, appointment reminders and AI text writing. Professional (£32) includes unlimited texts and emails to customers. It also offers an AI Receptionist add-on that answers calls and books work.
- Automatic quote chasing and a customer portal on Premium
- Trustpilot 4.7 from 564 reviews (checked 12 Oct 2026)
- Chasing needs the top plan
- UK App Store 4.1 from 243 ratings (checked 12 Oct 2026)
ServiceM8
ServiceM8 describes itself as job tracking and CRM for trades and services. Each paid plan includes a monthly text allowance (100+ on Starter at £25, 300+ on Growing at £59), with extra texts at 5p each, which is handy for quote reminders. Online booking is included. Try ServiceM8 free (Ad)
YourTradebase and Fergus
YourTradebase includes lead tracking alongside quotes, job sheets and invoices with automatic reminders, for £29 a month plus £15 per extra user (ex VAT). Fergus adds enquiry management on its Pro plan (£45 a month list price). Both suit builders: see our builders software guide for more.
Which dedicated trade CRMs are worth a look?
Business Pilot
Business Pilot says it was "built for installers, by installers" and describes itself as installation company ERP and CRM software; its customer logos are mostly window, glazing and door firms. It covers the journey from leads and sales through surveys to fitter scheduling, job costs and invoices, so check the exact modules in a demo.
Prices are not published. The plans page names three licence types (Full, Sales/Survey and Site Only) and shows no figures. There is a 14-day free trial with no setup fees and no card needed. Pick it if you run separate sales, survey and fitting teams on high-value installs. Skip it if you are a small reactive trade: a job app does the same for a known monthly price. Visit Business Pilot.
Rule Your Jungle
We could not confirm the current product or pricing of Rule Your Jungle, another name linked to trade CRMs, so we have left it out of our comparison until we can.
Field service systems with a CRM module
Larger field service platforms also bundle a CRM. Klipboard, for example, lists CRM alongside scheduling, job sheets, stock, planned maintenance, a customer portal and fleet tracking, with Xero and QuickBooks links. It is aimed at fire, HVAC, plumbing and heating, electrical, security and facilities firms, and pricing is by demo only. This route suits firms of 10 or more engineers with maintenance contracts, where the CRM is really about renewals and repeat customers rather than chasing new quotes. See Klipboard field service.
When do general CRMs (HubSpot Free, Pipedrive) make sense?
General CRMs are built for sales teams in any industry. They are good at pipelines, emails and reporting, but they know nothing about jobs, certificates or materials. You would run one alongside a job app, not instead of it.
HubSpot Free CRM
HubSpot's free CRM is "100% free, with no expiration date", with no card needed. It covers up to two users and 1,000 contacts, with contact and deal management, email tracking, templates, meeting scheduling, live chat and sales quotes. It makes sense if you get lots of website enquiries and want to track them before they become jobs. See HubSpot Free CRM.
Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a visual sales pipeline: Lite $14, Growth $39, Premium $59 and Ultimate $79 per seat per month, billed annually, in US dollars and excluding VAT, with a 14-day trial. Worth it only for a trade firm with dedicated salespeople chasing bigger contracts. See Pipedrive pricing.
Our view: if you are paying for a general CRM and a job app, check first whether your job app's top plan (Powered Now Premium, Fergus Pro, Jobber Plus) already does enough. One app is cheaper and means your team only updates one system.
What follow-up automation actually wins quotes?
Many lost quotes are not lost on price. They are simply forgotten: the customer meant to reply, and the first trade to follow up got the job. Automatic follow-ups fix that without you remembering. Here is a simple sequence to set up in any app that supports quote reminders:
| When | Channel | Example message |
|---|---|---|
| Same day | Email with online accept button | "Thanks for having us round today. Your quote for the bathroom refit is attached. You can accept it online with one click." |
| Day 3 | Text | "Hi Sarah, just checking you received our quote for the bathroom. Happy to answer any questions. Dave, ABC Plumbing." |
| Day 7 | "We can currently start on the 14th. If you would like to hold that slot, just accept the quote online." | |
| Day 14 | Phone call (manual) | Ask whether anything in the quote needs changing. Note the reason if they went elsewhere. |
Tips that make the sequence work:
- Let customers accept online. Tradify supports online quote acceptance from its Pro plan, so a "yes" takes one click.
- Use text for the first chase. Texts get read. Tradify charges £0.10 per text, ServiceM8 includes an allowance on paid plans and Powered Now Professional includes unlimited texts.
- Give a real reason to reply. A start date or a slot in the diary works better than "just following up".
- Record why you lost. After a month, the "lost" reasons tell you whether you have a price problem or a speed problem.
- Chase invoices the same way. Automatic invoice reminders are on Tradify Pro, Powered Now Premium, YourTradebase and Jobber Connect.
We cover quoting tools in more detail in our quote and invoice software guide.
Our verdict
Most UK tradespeople should not buy a separate CRM. Use Tradify Pro for quote follow-ups and online acceptance, or Powered Now Premium if you want automatic quote chasing and a customer portal. Look at Business Pilot only if you run separate sales, survey and fitting teams, and add HubSpot Free only if online enquiries are a big source of work.
Frequently asked questions
Do tradesmen need a CRM?
Most do not need a separate one. A CRM (customer relationship management system) tracks enquiries, quotes and follow-ups so leads do not slip through. Job management apps such as Tradify, Powered Now, ServiceM8 and YourTradebase already store customer histories and chase quotes. A dedicated CRM only pays off when you have a sales team, surveyors or a long quote-to-install cycle.
What is the best CRM for builders?
For small builders, a job management app with lead tracking, such as YourTradebase (£29 a month ex VAT plus £15 per extra user) or Tradify Pro (£37 per user a month), is usually enough. Building and installation firms with separate sales, survey and fitting teams should look at Business Pilot, which is built for installers but does not publish prices.
Is HubSpot free CRM good for tradesmen?
It can work for a trade firm that mainly needs to track enquiries and sales emails. HubSpot's free CRM has no expiry date and covers up to two users and 1,000 contacts. But it has no job scheduling, job sheets, certificates or trade invoicing, so you would still need a job management app alongside it.
How do I follow up on quotes automatically?
Use an app that sends reminders for unanswered quotes. Tradify includes online quote acceptance and automatic reminders from its Pro plan. Powered Now Premium adds automatic invoice and quote chasing. Jobber's Connect plan includes quote and invoice follow-ups. Set the first reminder for a few days after sending, then a second about a week later.
What is the difference between a CRM and job management software?
A CRM is about winning work: leads, quotes, follow-ups and sales pipelines. Job management software is about doing the work: scheduling, job sheets, certificates and invoices. Trade apps now blend the two, which is why most small firms can manage with one app rather than paying for both.
Sources and checks
Prices, features and ratings were checked on 12 October 2026 against these sources. Software prices change often, so confirm on the vendor's site before you buy.