Best quote and invoice software for UK tradespeople

Most "best quoting software" lists are written for agencies and consultants. This one is only for UK trades: plumbers, electricians, builders, gas engineers and handymen who price materials, labour and markup, often from a van. We compared the main options on the vendors' own pricing pages, checked on 12 October 2026.

Why is trade quoting different from office quoting?

An agency quote is a few lines of hours. A trade quote is a mix of things that change every job:

• Materials at cost plus markup. You buy a cylinder at trade price and add your margin. Good software stores your price list and applies the markup for you.
• Labour by the hour or the day. Often with different rates for you, an apprentice and a subcontractor.
• Options. "Good, better, best" (a standard boiler or a premium one) lets the customer choose without a second visit.
• Staged payments. A deposit, a mid-job payment and a final invoice on a bigger job. Software calls this progress invoicing.
• Photos and site notes. Proof of what you saw, attached to the job.
• Fast acceptance. A customer who can click "accept" on their phone tonight is less likely to ring another trader tomorrow.

General invoicing tools (and agency quoting tools) handle the paperwork but miss price lists, job sheets and certificates. That is why we focus on trade job apps here, with accounting apps covered further down. If you also want to track leads and follow up enquiries, see our guide to CRM for trades.

How do the quote and invoice apps compare?

Per user or per job: which pricing suits you?

Quote apps charge in one of three ways, and the right one depends on how many people and how many jobs you have.

The rule of thumb: lots of jobs per person favours per-user or flat pricing; lots of people with fewer jobs favours ServiceM8. Then weigh features: Tradify and Powered Now include UK certificates on these plans, while ServiceM8 and YourTradebase do not have named UK certificates.

Which features actually win jobs?

• Online acceptance: the customer taps "accept" and the job lands in your diary. Tradify has this from Pro.
• Automatic follow-ups: a reminder a few days after the quote goes out. Powered Now Premium chases quotes and invoices automatically; Jobber's Connect plan has quote follow-ups, though priced in US dollars.
• Options on one quote: Jobber Grow has optional line items and Commusoft offers multi-option proposals.
• Text-message delivery: many customers open a text faster than an email. Tradify charges £0.10 per text message; ServiceM8 includes a monthly text allowance on paid plans and charges 5p for extras.
• Branded, professional layout: your logo, clear totals and terms. Every app here does this.

Tradify: best all-round quoting for small teams

Pick Tradify Pro if you want quotes, certificates and staged invoices in one app. Lite is enough if you only need quotes, invoices and a diary.

Powered Now: best for Making Tax Digital

YourTradebase: simplest for small firms

Builders who quote larger projects should also read our builders software guide.

ServiceM8: best free plan

Fergus: best for materials-heavy quotes

What about ToolTime and the rest?

ToolTime offers branded quotes and invoices, speech-to-text job sheets and digital measurements. Its UK monthly plan is £59 per office user plus £29 per extra field user, with a 7-day trial. We found no UK accounting link, and Trustpilot UK shows 2.1 from 36 reviews (checked 12 Oct 2026), so we rank it below the others. General tools such as Square and Zoho also send invoices, but they are not built around trade price lists or job sheets, and we have not priced them here.

Are Xero, QuickBooks or Sage enough on their own?

All three accounting apps can create quotes and invoices. For a sole trader doing a few large jobs a month, that can be all you need.

They are enough if: you work alone, do fewer than about 10 jobs a month, and do not need certificates, job sheets or a shared diary.

Add a job app when: you take on staff, quote from site, need customers to accept online, or issue certificates. The job app then sends invoices to your accounts package automatically. Our accounting software for tradesmen guide shows which job apps link to which package.

What free options are there, and what are the limits?

A spreadsheet or Word template is also free, but it will not chase late payers, store your price list or link to your accounts. For most trades, the time saved on chasing one late invoice pays for a month of software.

How do you write a trade quote that wins?

Customers often compare more than one quote. The clearest one often wins, not only the cheapest. Here is a layout that works, with example figures for an imaginary job (they are illustrations, not market rates).

1. Lead with the outcome, not the parts list: "Replace kitchen tap and add isolation valve."
2. Offer two or three options. It turns "yes or no" into "which one".
3. Say what is not included (making good, decorating, skip hire) to avoid arguments later.
4. State VAT clearly. "£205 plus VAT" and "£205 including VAT" are very different numbers to a homeowner.
5. Add a validity date so you are not held to old material prices.
6. Send it the same day, by text or email with an accept button.
7. Follow up after 3 days. Software with automatic reminders does this for you.

How should you handle deposits and staged payments?

On anything bigger than a day's work, ask for money up front for materials and then in stages. It protects your cash flow and filters out customers who were never going to pay.

• Put the payment schedule on the quote, for example a deposit on acceptance, a stage payment at first fix and the balance on completion.
• Use progress invoicing so each stage invoice comes off the same quote and the total always adds up. Tradify includes progress invoicing from Pro.
• Send a payment link with every invoice. Tradify, Powered Now and YourTradebase all support online or card payments, and Fergus Pay adds direct debit and Clearpay.
• Turn on automatic reminders so you never have to make the awkward phone call yourself. Tradify includes them from Pro, YourTradebase on its standard plan and Powered Now on Premium.

Common quoting mistakes

• Quoting from memory instead of a price list, then forgetting the fixings, sealant and waste disposal.
• Not marking up materials, so you work for free on the parts.
• Leaving VAT unclear on a quote to a homeowner.
• No validity date, so a customer comes back six months later expecting the old price.
• Not following up. A quote with no reply is not a "no" until you have asked.

What do VAT and Making Tax Digital mean for your invoices?

What every invoice needs. GOV.UK lists: a unique invoice number; your business name, address and contact details; the customer's name and address; a clear description of the work; the date of supply; the invoice date; the amounts charged; VAT if applicable; and the total owed. Sole traders must also show their own name and any trading name. Any decent trade app fills these in for you.

VAT registration. You must register once your taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000. If you and your customer are both VAT-registered, you must issue a VAT invoice, which carries extra detail.

Making Tax Digital for VAT. VAT-registered businesses must keep digital records and file VAT returns using MTD-compatible software. Powered Now does this inside the app (Professional and up). Xero, Sage, QuickBooks and FreeAgent do it from the accounting side.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. If you are a sole trader or landlord, GOV.UK says you must use MTD for Income Tax if your qualifying income is:

For our full ranking of every type of trade software, start at the Software for Tradespeople home page.