Best ServiceM8 alternatives for UK tradespeople in 2026

Before you leave ServiceM8, know this: most alternatives will cost you more. ServiceM8 charges by jobs, not people, with unlimited users on its paid plans, so a five-person team doing 120 jobs a month pays £59 ex VAT on Growing, or £35.50 by topping up Starter at 15p a job. Most of the alternatives below charge per user, at least in part.

So switch for a reason, not a whim. Good reasons to switch include the Android app, UK construction tax (CIS and the reverse charge), wanting the accounts or variations in the app, or being a builder rather than a service firm. Below are seven alternatives, grouped by the problem each one solves, with the catch for each.

What a five-person team would pay

Prices checked October 2026, per month, cheapest plan for five logins: ServiceM8, EstiMate, YourTradebase, Powered Now, Tradify, Fergus, Joblogic and Jobber. Illustrative sums, assuming all five need a login. ServiceM8's range runs from Starter plus 70 extra jobs at 15p (£25 + £10.50) to Growing, which includes more texts. EstiMate's £15.99 and £39.99 plans are one business login, so five logins means Corp, from £249; if only you need the office login and the other four use Site Crew links, Pro is £39.99. We couldn't confirm Tradify's or Fergus's VAT basis, Jobber's prices are in US dollars excluding sales tax where applicable, and EstiMate's are what you pay. YourTradebase's page doesn't say which users the £15 applies to, and Powered Now's pricing page and help centre disagree on how extra users work, so ask both.

If you're leaving because of Android

ServiceM8 started on iPhone and iPad. Its own pages are mixed: one says the Android app has almost all the same features, another calls it "ServiceM8 Lite" and recommends iPhones or iPads for full management (ServiceM8 Android). A recurring Capterra complaint is that the Android app does less (Capterra). In fairness, ServiceM8 15, its 2026 release, lists ServiceM8 for Android among its updates (ServiceM8 15).

Powered Now

UK-made, with apps for iOS, Android, PC and Mac, and the vendor says its forms work offline (Google Play). Business is £28 for one user, Professional £32 and Premium £40 per user, ex VAT. It's also strong on UK tax: native CIS that estimates the deduction on invoices (Powered Now CIS), a reverse-charge tax rate per line, and Making Tax Digital VAT returns sent to HMRC on Professional and Premium (Powered Now MTD).

The catch: per-user pricing, and we couldn't find variations or client-selectable optional extras. Some Trustpilot reviewers mention auto-renewals they didn't expect; Powered Now replies that plans renew annually and reminders are sent (Trustpilot).

YourTradebase

UK-made, with iOS and Android apps (YourTradebase app), though the App Store listing we saw was dated. More on it below.

A word on EstiMate here, because Android is a fair reason to leave: EstiMate has an iPhone app and runs in the browser on Android. There's no native Android app. If a native Android app is your deal-breaker, Powered Now and YourTradebase are the ones to trial.

If you're leaving because of CIS and the reverse charge

We couldn't find CIS deductions in ServiceM8, and its help centre says the reverse charge works through tax rates you sync or create, with the wording added through a separate invoice template (ServiceM8 DRC). If you're a CIS subbie, that gets old quickly.

YourTradebase

£29 a month for the business plus £15 per extra user, ex VAT, with a 30-day trial. CIS deductions at 0%, 20% or 30% are worked out from the labour total on the invoice (CIS help), reverse charge is built in (reverse charge help), and the Xero sync carries CIS across. The catch: we couldn't find AI features, variations or built-in accounts.

Powered Now (above) also covers CIS, reverse charge and VAT filing. Our CIS software comparison goes deeper.

If you're a builder, not a service firm

EstiMate

This is the one we make, and it's built for UK construction. The accepted quote becomes a contract the client signs online, variations become signed addenda, CIS deductions go on the CIS register, and reverse-charge invoices carry the required wording. The Accounts tab gives you P&L, VAT return figures and aged debtors. Pro adds AI take-off from architect drawings, retention, valuations and snagging with pins on drawings. It charges per business: free, £15.99 or £39.99 a month.

The catch: no native Android app, no live Xero sync (it exports files in Xero and QuickBooks formats), it doesn't file VAT to HMRC, and it isn't a dispatch tool. ServiceM8's free plan also covers 30 jobs a month against EstiMate's 3. Our ServiceM8 vs EstiMate comparison has the detail.

Fergus

Per user, from £39 a month. Its variations are linked child jobs (Fergus variations), progress invoices go by percentage or quote section, and Fergus Assistant builds quotes with AI. It syncs with Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks. The catch: per-user pricing, and we couldn't find CIS or a build-contract feature.

If you want a client portal or simple scheduling

Jobber

Canadian, priced in US dollars in team bands. Its Client Hub lets clients approve quotes, request changes and pay deposits (Client Hub), and "Draft for me" drafts quotes with AI (Jobber AI). The catch: no sterling price we could find, and no CIS, reverse charge or change orders found.

Tradify

Per user, from £34. A scheduler with horizontal, vertical and month views (Tradify scheduler), timesheets, and optional sections the customer ticks online on Pro and Plus (Tradify help). The catch: its help centre says it has no native reverse VAT or CIS options, so you need Xero or Sage for CIS invoices (Tradify help).

If you've grown into planned maintenance

Joblogic

UK-made, from Birmingham (Joblogic), for maintenance contractors across 30-plus trades, with planned maintenance, certificates and compliance forms including risk assessments. Standard is from £45 per user a month, billed annually, ex VAT (Joblogic pricing). Its portal lets customers approve or decline sections of a quote (Joblogic portal), and it syncs live with Xero, QuickBooks and Sage 50. The catch: Standard is billed annually (one Joblogic page mentions a rolling monthly contract, so ask), and some Capterra reviewers say features they thought were standard turned out to be paid add-ons (Capterra).

Or stay put

If your problem is price, ServiceM8 is already one of the cheapest options for a team, and its per-job model is rare. If your problem is a missing feature, check ServiceM8's add-ons first: Proposals handles optional extras and Forms covers risk assessments, though they may cost extra and we couldn't find their prices. Our ServiceM8 pricing guide has the sums.

What to do next

1. Write down the one thing that's making you leave.
2. Pick the two apps above that fix it, and trial them on real jobs, on the phones your team uses.
3. Price them with your actual headcount, not the headline figure.

Start free if you're a builder and want to try EstiMate alongside.