Best joinery and carpentry software (UK)

By Software for Tradespeople Editorial Team · Updated 12 October 2026 · Prices checked 12 Oct 2026 · 7 min read

Quick answer

For most UK joiners and carpenters, Tradify is the best all-rounder (£34 to £44 per user), with progress invoicing and online quote acceptance from Pro. Fergus is best for job costing and purchase orders (£39 or £45 list). YourTradebase is the simplest budget pick at £29 a month plus £15 per extra user, ex VAT.

On this page

What does a joinery business need from software?
How do the joinery software options compare?
Our top picks for joiners and carpenters
What does joinery software cost?
Which features matter most, and which can you skip?
What mistakes should you avoid when switching?
FAQs

Joiners and carpenters price bespoke work, split time between the workshop and site, and live or die on materials costs and deposits. We compared the job management software that suits UK joinery firms, using pricing pages checked on 12 October 2026 and published user reviews.

What does a joinery business need from software?

Bespoke quotes with materials and labour

A staircase, a run of fitted wardrobes or a set of sash windows is a one-off. Your quote needs materials lines with your markup, labour priced from your day rate, and optional extras the customer can tick. Saved price lists or price books stop you re-keying timber and ironmongery prices every time.

Workshop time vs site time

Many joiners make in the workshop and fit on site. You need to schedule both, and to record hours against each job so you can see where the time really went. Timesheets that link to jobs are the minimum.

Deposits and stage payments

You should not buy £2,000 of oak on your own money. Take a deposit when the quote is accepted, a stage payment when the work is made, and the balance on fitting. Progress invoicing and online payments make this painless.

Job costing

Did that kitchen make money? Job costing compares the quote with actual materials (from supplier invoices) and actual hours. It is the feature that most separates the tools below.

Drawings, photos and customer sign-off

Bespoke work goes wrong when the customer remembers a different design from the one you made. Attach the drawing and the agreed specification to the quote, take photos at each stage, and get the customer to accept the quote online so there is a dated record. Tradify includes online quote acceptance from Pro, and Powered Now includes drawings on its Premium plan (£40 per user ex VAT). Variations need the same treatment: price them, send them and get them accepted before you cut any timber.

Paperwork on site

Joinery does not have a statutory certificate like a CP12 or EICR, but site work still needs risk assessments and method statements for bigger jobs. Fergus includes hazards and safe work method statements (SWMS) on its Pro plan, and Powered Now's forms library includes risk assessments. You can also use our free RAMS template.

How do the joinery software options compare?

Joinery and carpentry software compared. Prices checked 12 Oct 2026
Software	Price	VAT	Quoting and costing	Forms	Accounting	Mobile
Tradify	£34, £37 or £44 per user a month	Not stated	Online quote acceptance and progress invoicing from Pro; kit bundles and price list imports; purchase orders on Plus	Custom forms from Pro	Xero, Sage, QuickBooks	iOS, Android
Fergus	£39 (Essentials) or £45 (Pro) a month list; 90% off "til December" promo	Not stated	Price books and materials on both plans; purchase orders, tiered pricing, job phases and supplier integrations on Pro	Forms, checklists, hazards and SWMS on Pro	Xero, QuickBooks, MYOB	iOS, Android
YourTradebase	£29 a month plus £15 per extra user	Ex VAT	Quotes, lead tracking, invoices with automatic reminders	Job sheets	Xero, QuickBooks	iOS, Android
Powered Now	£28 to £40 per user a month	Ex VAT	Quotes, supplier invoices and purchase orders on all plans; drawings on Premium	Nearly 100 trade forms incl. risk assessments (Professional up)	Xero, QuickBooks, MTD built in	iOS, Android, Mac, Windows
ToolTime	£59 per office user plus £29 per field user a month	Not stated	Branded quotes and invoices; digital measurements	Mobile job sheets with photos	No UK links found	iOS, Android

Our top picks for joiners and carpenters

Best all-rounder for small joinery firms

Tradify

From £34 per user per month

Tradify covers the full job: quote, online acceptance, scheduling (including subcontractors from Pro), timesheets and progress invoicing for deposits and stage payments. Price list imports and kit bundles speed up quoting. Trustpilot rates it 4.8 from 610 reviews (checked 12 Oct 2026).

Progress invoicing for deposits from Pro (£37)
Xero, Sage and QuickBooks on every plan
Month-to-month, no contract

Purchase orders only on Plus (£44)
Inventory is basic
Per-user pricing adds up for bigger teams

Try Tradify free (Ad) Read our Tradify review

Best for job costing and purchase orders

Fergus

From £39 per month (list price)

Fergus is built around job costing: materials tracked against each job, price books, and on Pro, purchase orders, job phases and automatic supplier integrations, plus AI reading of supplier invoices. That suits joiners with workshop and site phases and big timber orders. It has a UK office in Manchester. The downsides: Trustpilot shows just 3.8 from 14 reviews (checked 12 Oct 2026), and the 90% "til December" offer does not state its full terms, and the pricing page does not say whether the base price is per user.

Purchase orders and supplier integrations on Pro
Job phases for make-then-fit work
Monthly billing, no lock-in

Small Trustpilot sample
Unclear promo terms
No Sage link listed

Read our Fergus review

Best budget pick for sole traders

YourTradebase

£29 per month plus £15 per extra user, ex VAT

A UK-built, no-fuss tool for quotes, jobs and invoices that lists carpenters among its target trades. The 30-day trial needs no card, and paying yearly gives 2 months free. Capterra UK rates it 4.9 from 59 reviews and Trustpilot 4.8 from 62 (checked 12 Oct 2026). It lacks the job costing depth of Fergus.

See YourTradebase pricing

Best for Making Tax Digital on a budget

Powered Now

From £28 per month ex VAT

Powered Now lists carpentry among its trades and includes supplier invoices and purchase orders on every plan, which is rare at this price. It is HMRC-recognised for MTD for VAT and Income Tax, and runs on Windows and Mac as well as phones. Its App Store score is lower, at 4.1 from 243 ratings (checked 12 Oct 2026).

Read our Powered Now review

Worth a look for finishing trades

ToolTime

£59 per office user plus £29 per field user

German-built ToolTime targets finishing trades, with digital measurements and speech-to-text job sheets. But we found no UK accounting links, and its UK Trustpilot score is 2.1 from 36 reviews (checked 12 Oct 2026). Try it only if measuring on site is your main pain.

See ToolTime pricing

Joiners who mostly work on building sites alongside other trades should also read our software for builders guide.

What does joinery software cost?

Monthly cost for a sole trader and a 5-person team. Prices checked 12 Oct 2026
Software	Sole trader	5-person team
YourTradebase	£29 ex VAT	£29 + (4 x £15) = £89 ex VAT
Powered Now	Business £28 ex VAT	Professional 5 x £32 = £160 ex VAT
Tradify Pro	£37	5 x £37 = £185
ToolTime (monthly plan)	£59	£59 + (4 x £29) = £175
Fergus Pro	£45 list	Not stated whether per user; ask Fergus

Worked example: quoting a bespoke oak staircase

A joiner with a £300 day rate quotes a staircase: 4 days in the workshop, 2 days fitting, and £1,200 of oak and fixings marked up by 20%.

Worked example: staircase quote
Line	Working	Amount
Labour	6 days x £300	£1,800
Materials at cost		£1,200
Materials markup (20%)	£1,200 x 0.20	£240
Quote (ex VAT)		£3,240
Deposit to cover materials	Materials at selling price	£1,440

A 20% markup is only a 16.7% margin on materials (£240 divided by £1,440), which is a common pricing trap. Our markup calculator shows both figures. If the workshop phase overruns by a day, profit drops by £300, and only job costing with timesheets will show you that it happened. That is the case for Fergus or Tradify over a simple quote and invoice app. For the simpler end, see our quote and invoice software comparison.

Which features matter most, and which can you skip?

Must have

Saved price lists or price books for timber and ironmongery
Quotes with optional extras and online acceptance
Deposit and stage invoicing
Timesheets linked to jobs (workshop and site)
Accounting sync

Can skip

Certificate libraries built for gas and electrical trades
GPS tracking, if you are mostly in your own workshop
Vehicle and fleet modules
Complex stock control, unless you hold a lot of timber

What mistakes should you avoid when switching?

Not loading your price list first. Quoting is where you save time, so import timber and hardware prices on day one.
Expecting a cutting list optimiser. None of the tools above lists one. Keep your design or cutting tool and use job software for the business side.
Skipping timesheets. Without hours against jobs, job costing is guesswork.
Choosing on promo price. Fergus's 90% offer is attractive, but plan your budget on the £39 or £45 list price.
Forgetting VAT on comparisons. Powered Now and YourTradebase quote ex VAT. Tradify's page does not say.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best software for a joinery business?

For a small UK joinery or carpentry firm, we rate Tradify the best all-rounder, with quotes, scheduling, progress invoicing and timesheets from £37 per user on Pro. Fergus is better if job costing and supplier purchase orders matter most. YourTradebase is the simplest and cheapest choice for a one or two person business.

Is there software that does cutting lists for joiners?

None of the job management tools we compared (Tradify, Fergus, YourTradebase, Powered Now, ToolTime or ServiceM8) lists a cutting list optimiser on its pricing or feature pages. Most joiners use a separate design or cutting list tool for the workshop and job management software for quotes, scheduling and invoicing.

How much does joinery software cost?

From pricing pages checked on 12 October 2026: YourTradebase is £29 a month plus £15 per extra user ex VAT, Powered Now is £28 to £40 per user ex VAT, Tradify is £34 to £44 per user, Fergus lists £39 and £45 a month with a 90% off promotion until December, and ToolTime is £59 per office user plus £29 per field user.

Can joinery software take deposits?

Yes. Tradify includes progress invoicing from its Pro plan, so you can invoice a deposit, stage payments and a final balance against one quote, with online card payments on all plans. Fergus offers Fergus Pay for card, Apple Pay and direct debit. Check how each tool handles deposits during the free trial.

How should a joiner price bespoke work?

Price labour from your day rate, split into workshop time and site time, then add materials with a markup, plus finishing, delivery and a contingency. Write it as a fixed price with clear exclusions, and take a deposit before ordering materials. Our markup calculator works out selling prices and margins for you.

Does joinery software work with Xero?

Yes for the main options. Tradify connects to Xero, Sage and QuickBooks on every plan. Fergus syncs with Xero and QuickBooks. YourTradebase works with Xero and QuickBooks. Powered Now connects to Xero and QuickBooks from Professional and has Making Tax Digital built in. We did not find UK accounting links for ToolTime.

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.