What a builder's software stack really costs per month

Most small builders never choose a software stack. It builds up. A quoting app because the quotes looked scruffy. Xero because the accountant asked. Something for e-signatures when the first big contract came in, a RAMS template when a main contractor insisted, a snagging app on the job where the client sent forty photos in one evening.

Then one month you read the card statement properly.

This post adds it up using only prices we could verify on each vendor's website (or, where we say so, a review site), checked in October 2026. Where a price excludes VAT or is in US dollars, we say so. Where we couldn't verify a price at all, we've left it out of the sums rather than guess. That means the real stack probably costs more than we show here.

The five jobs

1. Quoting and invoicing.
2. Accounts: the P&L, VAT and CIS.
3. Contracts with e-signature.
4. RAMS and site paperwork.
5. Snagging.

What each piece costs

Prices checked October 2026: Tradify UK pricing, YourTradebase pricing, Xero UK pricing (from 1 September 2026), Xero CIS returns (Xero's pages conflict a little on the add-on, so check), and Fieldwire from Capterra, a third-party listing; we didn't check Fieldwire's UK page. We couldn't find a verified price for a standalone e-signature or RAMS tool in our research, so both are £0 in the sums below.

Why Xero Grow and not Ignite? Ignite is £18 but lets you send 20 invoices and enter 10 bills (Xero Ignite). A busy building firm will hit that. More in Xero for builders.

Stack 1: Tradify plus Xero, for a three-person firm

You price the jobs and work on the tools, with two lads on site. Everyone uses the app for timesheets, photos and job notes.

• Tradify Pro, 3 users: 3 × £37 = £111
• Xero Grow: £39
• Xero CIS add-on: £5
• Fieldwire Basic for snagging: £0, while you have 3 projects or fewer
• Total: £111 + £39 + £5 = £155 a month, or £1,860 a year (Xero's figures are ex VAT; we couldn't confirm Tradify's VAT basis)

Why Pro rather than Lite? Tradify lists quote options and online acceptance on Pro and Plus only. And Tradify's help centre says CIS and reverse-charge invoices need Xero or Sage connected, so for a firm on CIS, Xero isn't optional in this stack. If you run more than 3 projects and move to Fieldwire Pro, add 3 × $39 = $117 a month on annual billing, in US dollars, so the pound cost depends on the exchange rate.

Stack 2: YourTradebase plus Xero

Same firm, different quoting app.

• YourTradebase: £29 + 2 × £15 = £59 ex VAT
• Xero Grow: £39 ex VAT
• Xero CIS add-on: £5 ex VAT
• Total: £59 + £39 + £5 = £103 a month ex VAT, or £1,236 a year

YourTradebase's pricing page doesn't say which users the £15 applies to, so we've assumed all three need one. The yearly figure is 12 monthly payments; YourTradebase also sells the base plan at £290 a year, but we couldn't find an annual price for extra users. It puts CIS and reverse charge on its own invoices and syncs CIS deductions to Xero, which makes it tidier than Stack 1 on tax. For RAMS, its own blog points readers to a separate tool, HANDS HQ (YourTradebase blog), which we couldn't price.

Those are ex-VAT list prices. VAT-registered builders reclaim the VAT anyway, so throughout this post we compare list prices as published and say which VAT basis each one uses. More in YourTradebase vs EstiMate.

Stack 3: Powered Now Premium on its own

Fair's fair: Powered Now gets closer to one app than most. Premium covers quotes, invoices, MTD VAT returns sent to HMRC, a customer portal, automatic chasing and a drawing and annotation tool the vendor says covers snagging lists (Powered Now pricing). Powered Now also has native CIS, reverse charge, a CIS 300 report (marked "Pro only" in its help centre) and a RAMS form, though we couldn't confirm which plans include the report and the form.

• Powered Now Premium, 3 users: 3 × £40 = £120 a month ex VAT, which is 12 × £120 = £1,440 a year on monthly billing, or 3 × £400 = £1,200 a year on annual billing

Its pricing page and help centre disagree on how extra users are charged, so ask. We couldn't find build contracts with e-signature, variations or a site diary in it. Read EstiMate vs Powered Now.

EstiMate Pro: one subscription

EstiMate Pro is £39.99 a month per business, or 12 × £39.99 = £479.88 a year. Against the five jobs:

1. Quoting and invoicing: AI quote writer, a quote link where the client ticks optional extras, branded PDFs, invoices with a Stripe pay-online link and automatic chasing.
2. Accounts: P&L for any period, VAT return helper, CIS register, aged debtors, bank statement import and year-end exports.
3. Contracts: generated from the accepted quote and signed online, with variations as signed addenda. See construction contract software.
4. RAMS: RAMS, COSHH, permits and the site document pack. See the RAMS generator.
5. Snagging: numbered pins on drawings, and clients can report snags too. See snagging software.

The two lads on site get the job by QR code or link and log time, expenses, photos and diary entries without a full account.

The totals side by side

EstiMate's pricing page says the prices shown are what you pay, with a VAT receipt for every payment. On the prices as published, Stack 1 costs £155 less £39.99 = £115.01 a month more than EstiMate Pro, which is £1,380.12 a year. Stack 2 costs £63.01 a month more on its ex-VAT price, and Stack 3 costs £120 less £39.99 = £80.01 a month more, also on an ex-VAT price. Full price list on our pricing page.

What EstiMate doesn't replace

• Filing. EstiMate prepares your VAT figures and CIS register but doesn't file VAT or CIS returns to HMRC. If you file your own, you still need MTD software or an accountant. Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent file VAT returns, and so does Powered Now from its Professional plan up.
• A live accounts sync. EstiMate exports costs in Xero and QuickBooks formats as a file. There's no two-way sync.
• Android. There's an iPhone app; on Android it runs in the browser.
• Office logins with roles. If three people in the office each need their own login with permissions, that's EstiMate Corp, from £249 a month.

Work out your own number

1. List every software subscription on last month's card statement.
2. Multiply each per-user price by the people who actually log in.
3. Note which prices are ex VAT and which are in dollars.
4. Add the hours spent retyping the same job between apps. Our post on per-user pricing has team-size tables, and Tradify pricing breaks down one app in detail.

If the total makes you wince, start free and move your next job into one app.