Quick Answer
Three solid options under £50 a month, three different fits for a sole trader. Tradify at £34 per user, per month is the all-rounder, well-built mobile-first software that gets you quoting and invoicing in an afternoon. Powered Now Business at £28 a month wins on offline working and built-in CIS, VAT and certificate forms for UK trades. Fergus Essentials at £39 a month is the one to pick if job costing matters more than anything else, because back-costing every job is what stops you running at a loss without realising. Pick Tradify if you want the easiest start. Pick Powered Now if signal is shaky on site. Pick Fergus if you keep losing money on jobs and need to know why.
Table of Contents
Fergus
Tradify
Powered NowAt a glance for sole traders
You are a one person band. You quote in the morning, fit in the afternoon, invoice at night, and the paperwork chases you into the weekend. That is the reality for most UK trades right now. The Office for National Statistics counted around 4.1 million UK private sector businesses with no employees at the start of 2024, roughly 74 percent of the total, and the trades skew heavier still toward sole traders.
Three platforms own the affordable end of the UK sole trader market. Fergus, Tradify and Powered Now. All three sit under £50 a month for a single user. All three handle quoting, scheduling, invoicing and a mobile app. None of them are perfect.
The differences are not in the marketing copy, they are in the small stuff. Whether the app actually works in a basement with no signal. Whether the quote-to-invoice flow takes two clicks or seven. Whether you can see, at the end of the month, which jobs made you money and which jobs you actually lost on. That is where you choose.
This piece is the honest breakdown. Real pricing, real features, what each one is bad at, and a clear pick for the kind of sole trader you are.
Real UK pricing, not the headline numbers
All three publish prices on their websites. The numbers you see on the comparison sites are out of date by months. Here is what the official UK pricing pages showed at the time of writing.
| Plan | Tradify | Fergus | Powered Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry tier | Lite, £34/user/mo | Essentials, £39/user/mo | Business, £28/user/mo |
| Mid tier | Pro, £37/user/mo | Professional, £45/user/mo | Professional, £32/user/mo |
| Top tier | Plus, £44/user/mo | Enterprise (custom) | Premium, £40/user/mo |
| Annual saving | No discount | None (monthly only) | 2 months free |
| Contract | Month to month | Month to month | Month or annual |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days | 7 days |
| SMS add-on | £0.10 per message | £8 per 100 SMS | Included on top tiers |
Most sole traders I speak to set themselves a hard ceiling around £40 to £50 a month for software, separate from accounting. All three of these fit comfortably under that line on the entry tier. The trap is the add-ons. SMS alerts, extra timesheet users, an instant website, and you can quietly drift past £60 a month before you notice.
One thing to flag on Powered Now. Their pricing page lists £28 a month for Business, and that headline number is per user, not per company. The marketing line about being good for unlimited users meant a single login that you could use across multiple devices, not a multi-seat flat fee. For a sole trader that does not matter, you are one user anyway. But do not buy it expecting to add your brother in law later for free.
Tradify, deep dive
Tradify is the most polished of the three. New Zealand origin, now expanding hard in the UK, partnered with Schneider Electric on the electrical side. The mobile app is the strongest in this comparison and the onboarding is honestly faster than the rest.
The Lite plan at £34 a user covers what most sole traders actually need. Job management, scheduling with Google Calendar sync, quoting, invoicing, online payments via Stripe, and accounting integrations with Xero, Sage and QuickBooks. That is the floor. Pro at £37 adds custom branding, job photos, recurring jobs, timesheets and compliance certificates. Plus at £44 brings in the SmartTools AI features and bulk invoicing.
The customer base is solid. Tradify holds around 4.8 stars on Trustpilot UK across more than 500 reviews, and Capterra users like Craig described the ability to "capture enquiries, add the customer details into the data" as the standout. Andy on Capterra liked that he could use it on any device, phone, tablet or browser. Daniel praised the free training they put new users through.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Best mobile app in this group | Needs signal to work properly |
| Quoting and invoicing flow is fast | SmartTools AI is locked to the £44 tier |
| Strong Xero, Sage and QuickBooks integrations | No annual discount |
| 14 day full feature trial, no card needed | Reports are basic on Lite |
| UK VAT, CIS and reverse charge ready | Costs grow per user as you hire |
| Strong customer training and onboarding | SMS billed per message, not bundled |
If you mostly work in places with mobile signal, want the cleanest mobile app and value fast setup over deep customisation, Tradify is the safe pick. It is the one I recommend to sole traders who do not enjoy admin and want to get started this week.
Fergus, deep dive
Fergus was built by a New Zealand plumber who got tired of losing money on jobs without knowing why. That origin matters. Job costing and back costing are at the centre of the product in a way the others do not match. If you have ever finished a job, looked at the invoice and the materials receipts and realised you actually made nothing, Fergus is the platform that fixes that.
Essentials at £39 a month covers core job management, quoting, invoicing, scheduling, the Fergus Go mobile app, and the financial tracking that makes the platform what it is. Professional at £45 adds growth features. Enterprise is custom pricing for 10 plus staff and not what we are looking at for sole traders.
The billing model is honest. Monthly only, no contracts, change plans pro rata, cancel anytime. Add timesheet users for £11 a month each if you ever hire help, contractors at £2 per user per day. SMS alerts cost £8 per 100 messages on top.
The downsides are real. The learning curve is steeper. Aisha on Capterra called it "absolutely fantastic" but admitted she was still working through the feature list. Sharon left a one star review complaining that the developers seemed more focused on template updates than fixing the calendar. There is no AI tooling on the published feature list at the entry tier.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Best job costing and back costing of the three | Steeper learning curve |
| Built by a tradesperson, for tradespeople | No AI features published at the entry tier |
| Honest month to month billing | Costs add up quickly with extra users |
| Strong Xero integration with two way sync | Some users report sluggish workflow |
| Excellent reporting on profit per job | Mobile app trails Tradify on polish |
| Free TradeHub video training library | 14 day trial may not be enough to set up properly |
If you suspect you are losing money on jobs and cannot see where, Fergus is the platform that will tell you. Sole traders running materials-heavy work, plumbing, heating, electrical refits, get the most value here. You will spend longer setting it up. The payoff is knowing your real margin on every job, not just your turnover.
Powered Now, deep dive
Powered Now is the most UK specific of the three. British company, British support team, built for UK trades from the start. The product is heavier on forms and certificates than Fergus or Tradify, with nearly 100 industry specific templates covering gas safety, electrical installation, oil, plumbing and general contractor paperwork. That alone makes it the easier choice for any sole trader who issues a lot of compliance paperwork.
The Business tier at £28 a month is the cheapest entry point in this comparison. It covers unlimited quotes and invoices, expense tracking, Making Tax Digital compliance, basic project management and job sheets. Professional at £32 adds certificates and forms, Xero integration, team chat and staff location tracking. Premium at £40 brings in a customer portal, auto-chasing of quotes and invoices, drag and drop scheduling and the AI Text feature for generating message drafts.
The killer feature for many UK trades is offline working. The app syncs when you get signal back. Roger on Capterra called the diary and billing solid. Iain praised the staff for checking in regularly. Joshua said the ease of use was the standout. Powered Now sits on a 4.5 Trustpilot rating with around 520 UK reviews, weighted more toward older customers who have stayed.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Cheapest entry tier at £28 a month | Older interface than Tradify |
| Best offline working in this group | Some Trustpilot reviews flag billing disputes |
| Nearly 100 UK trade certificate forms built in | Xero integration only on Professional tier and up |
| UK based phone and chat support | Customer portal locked to Premium tier |
| 2 months free on annual billing | AI Text only on £40 tier |
| MTD ready out of the box | Lower brand awareness than the other two |
Read a few of the recent negative reviews before signing up to annual billing. A small number of users have flagged auto-renewal disputes. Set a calendar reminder a month before your renewal and check your subscription terms in writing. This is good practice for any SaaS, but it bites harder on annual.
AI features at the budget tier
The brochures all wave AI around. The reality at the sole trader tier is more limited and that is fine. Here is what is actually shipping and at what price.
Tradify's SmartTools are the most developed. SmartRead for Bills extracts costs from supplier invoices automatically, so you photograph a Travis Perkins receipt and it pulls the line items into the job. SmartWrite drafts quote descriptions and tightens up customer-facing copy. Both sit on the £44 Plus plan. If you process a lot of supplier bills, the time saving is real.
Powered Now's AI Text is on the Premium plan at £40. It generates message drafts for customer comms, quote follow-ups and chase emails. Simpler scope than Tradify's, useful if you find writing professional emails a chore.
Fergus has not published AI tooling on their entry or mid tier pricing pages. Their TradeHub training and chat support get strong feedback from customers, and the platform integrates with accounting AI on the Xero side, but there is no published Fergus-branded AI feature at this price point as of writing.
Bill reading from photos saves the most time. After that, quote description drafting and customer email writing. None of this is worth £10 a month extra on its own, but if you are already paying for the top tier for other reasons, use the AI features properly. Train them on your tone of voice by editing the first ten outputs by hand. For deeper AI workflows, look at automating your quoting end to end.
Head to head feature comparison
Full feature breakdown across the three at their entry tier, the level a sole trader is most likely to start at.
| Feature | Tradify Lite | Fergus Essentials | Powered Now Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | £34 | £39 | £28 |
| Quoting and invoicing | Yes, fast flow | Yes | Yes |
| Job scheduling | Google Calendar sync | Yes, drag and drop | Diary view, drag and drop on Premium |
| Mobile app quality | Best in group | Good | Solid, works offline |
| Offline working | Needs signal | Partial | Full offline sync |
| Job costing | Basic | Best in group | Basic |
| Xero integration | Included | Included | Professional tier and up |
| QuickBooks integration | Included | Limited | Limited |
| MTD ready | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| UK CIS support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Compliance certificates | Pro tier and up | Limited | 100 plus templates |
| AI features | SmartTools on Plus tier | Not published | AI Text on Premium |
| Online payments | Stripe built in | Yes via Xero | Premium tier and up |
| Customer portal | Pro and up | Limited | Premium only |
| Support quality | Strong, training-led | Strong, TradeHub | UK phone, video calls |
| Trial length | 14 days | 14 days | 7 days |
A green winner cell does not mean the product wins overall. It means it leads on that single line. Tradify wins the most lines on the entry tier, but Fergus wins the row that matters most if you keep losing money on jobs, and Powered Now wins the row that matters most if you work somewhere with bad signal.
What tradespeople are saying
Recommended videos
Tradify Tutorial for Newbies
Job Management Software Demo
See Tradify in Action, 7 Minute Quick Guide
Tradify official channel
Navigating Tradify: A Complete Walkthrough
Tradify Help and Training
What is Fergus? Job Management for Tradies
Fergus official channel
Powered Now Demo for Newbies
Field Management Software Tutorial
Managing Your Team with Powered Now
Powered Now official channel
Frequently asked questions
Powered Now Business at £28 a month is the lowest sticker price. If you take 2 months free on annual billing, you are at roughly £23 a month equivalent. Tradify Lite at £34 and Fergus Essentials at £39 are higher but include more on the entry tier. The cheapest is not always the best value, it depends what you need.
Yes, all three connect to Xero. Tradify and Fergus include Xero on the entry tier. Powered Now requires the Professional plan at £32 a month for Xero integration. If you live in Xero, that small uplift on Powered Now is worth it. We have a step by step guide for the Powered Now to Xero two way sync and another for the Fergus to Xero deductions automation.
ServiceM8 is a strong fourth option for sole traders on a tight budget. Its free tier covers basic use and it has a different pricing model, you pay per job created, not per user. It is worth considering but it is weaker on UK specific CIS and VAT than the three covered here. We have a full guide on ServiceM8 for sole traders.
Tradify is the fastest, a focused afternoon and you can be quoting. Powered Now is similar, expect a day to set up your templates and certificates properly. Fergus needs longer, plan a full weekend if you want to set up your job costing categories, suppliers and Xero sync correctly. Cutting corners on setup is the most common reason sole traders abandon the platform a month later. We have a complete weekend Tradify setup walkthrough if you want a step by step.
All three offer month to month with no lock-in. Fergus is monthly only. Tradify and Powered Now also offer annual billing with discounts. If you take an annual plan, set a calendar reminder 30 days before renewal and check the cancellation terms. A small number of Trustpilot reviews flag auto-renewal disputes on Powered Now annual, so read the terms in writing before you sign up.
Honest answer, not on their own. SmartRead for Bills on Tradify Plus saves the most time if you photograph a lot of supplier receipts. Powered Now's AI Text is useful if you find professional email writing slow. Neither is worth £10 extra a month on its own. If you are upgrading to the top tier for the other features, use the AI properly, edit the first ten outputs by hand to train it on your tone, and it earns its place.
ServiceM8 has a free tier and is the most credible free option for UK sole traders. Beyond that, spreadsheets and PDF invoices remain the only truly free path. We cover the trade-offs in our guide to free and low cost job management software for UK trades.
My verdict
For most sole traders, Tradify Lite at £34 is the right starting point. The mobile app is the best of the three, the quoting and invoicing flow is fast, the integrations with Xero, Sage and QuickBooks just work, and the support team will get you running in an afternoon. It is the platform I recommend by default.
Pick Fergus Essentials at £39 if job costing is the problem you need to solve. If you regularly finish jobs, look at the materials receipts and quietly realise you made nothing, Fergus is the platform that fixes that. Plan a weekend to set it up properly.
Pick Powered Now Business at £28 if you work in places with bad mobile signal, issue a lot of UK compliance certificates, or value a UK based support team you can ring. It is the cheapest and the most British of the three.
The trap to avoid is buying based on the feature list. Buy based on how you actually work. The best job management software is the one you will still be using in six months, not the one with the longest comparison sheet.
Once you have one of these running cleanly, the next step is connecting it to the rest of your stack. Automation tools sit on top of all three. The n8n vs Make.com vs Zapier comparison covers how to add that layer, and the FSM platform showdown for larger teams covers what to move to when you outgrow the sole trader tier.
