Tradify vs ServiceM8 for UK trades, and when neither fits

The biggest difference between Tradify and ServiceM8 isn't a feature. It's how you pay. Tradify charges per user: £34, £37 or £44 a person a month. ServiceM8 charges by how many jobs you run, with unlimited users on every paid plan, from a free plan up to £269 a month.

So the quick answer depends on your shape. A team of several people doing a modest number of jobs will usually pay less on ServiceM8. A busy sole trader turning over hundreds of small jobs a month can pay less on Tradify. If your team lives on iPhones, ServiceM8 was built for them first. If you're a builder running projects with contracts, variations and CIS, neither was built for that, and the last section is for you.

Per user vs per job: the sums

Tradify's UK plans are Lite £34, Pro £37 and Plus £44, per user per month (Tradify UK pricing). ServiceM8's UK plans are Free (1 user, 30 jobs a month), Starter £25 (50 jobs), Growing £59 (150 jobs), Premium £119 (500 jobs) and Premium Plus £269 (1,500+ jobs), with unlimited users on the paid plans and 15p for each job over your allowance (ServiceM8 UK pricing). ServiceM8's help centre says there are "no contracts, setup fees or 'per-user' fees" (ServiceM8 billing).

Some illustrative firms, using Tradify Pro because that's the plan with online quote acceptance:

Prices checked October 2026 on Tradify's UK pricing page and ServiceM8's UK pricing page. Tradify figures are users × £37. ServiceM8 figures use the plan whose allowance covers the jobs. Because extra jobs are 15p each, a smaller plan plus extras can come out cheaper: 120 jobs on Starter is £25 + 70 × 15p = £35.50, and the busy sole trader's 400 jobs on Starter is £25 + 350 × 15p = £77.50, still more than Tradify Pro's £37. ServiceM8 says its prices don't include VAT; we couldn't confirm whether Tradify's do, so check before comparing to the penny.

Two more details. ServiceM8 says a quote that becomes a work order "won't consume another job credit", so check how it counts quotes you don't win. And ServiceM8's paid plans include from 100+ to 3,000+ texts a month depending on tier, while Tradify charges 10p a text (Tradify texts).

ServiceM8 also has a real free plan for one user and 30 jobs a month (ServiceM8 free plan). We couldn't find a free plan at Tradify, which offers a 14-day trial.

Features side by side

"Not found" means we searched the vendor's website and help centre in October 2026 and couldn't find it. ServiceM8's Proposals is an add-on that may cost extra; we couldn't confirm its price. EstiMate's Yes and Built in features are on the £15.99 plan and above; (Pro) means the £39.99 plan.

Where ServiceM8 is stronger

• No per-user fees. Add a new starter and the bill doesn't move.
• Built for the phone. It started on iPhone and iPad, with a dispatch map and staff schedule (ServiceM8 features).
• AI that learns from your history. Auto-Quote drafts the description and a materials and labour list from the job card and past invoices, but needs at least 100 completed jobs "to generate reasonable results" (Auto-Quote help). Office Agent, added in its 2026 release, drafts quotes and invoices for your approval (Office Agent).
• Signatures on quotes. Clicking Accept asks the client to sign, and the PDF updates (ServiceM8 help).
• Room Scan. On a LiDAR iPhone or iPad it captures a 3D model of a room with floor area, wall length and wall area (Room Scan help).
• The catch: Android. A common complaint in ServiceM8's Capterra reviews is that the Android app does far less than the iPhone one (Capterra). ServiceM8's own pages differ: one says "almost all the same functionality as the iOS app", a FAQ recommends iPhones or iPads for full management (ServiceM8 Android).

Where Tradify is stronger

• Reviews. Tradify scores 4.7 from 152 reviews on Capterra and 4.8 from about 612 on Trustpilot. ServiceM8 scores 4.5 from 311 on Capterra and 4.1 from 118 on Trustpilot.
• A bill that doesn't move in a busy month. Per-user pricing means a run of small jobs costs nothing extra. On ServiceM8, every job over your allowance is 15p.
• A Sage connection. Tradify connects to Sage as well as Xero and QuickBooks (Tradify). Separately, ServiceM8 says it can't create credit notes, so you do those in your accounting package (ServiceM8 help); we didn't check Tradify on this.

The UK tax bit

Tradify's help centre says it "does not have any native Reverse VAT / CIS tax options" and needs Xero or Sage for CIS invoices (Tradify help). We couldn't find CIS at ServiceM8. For the reverse charge, ServiceM8 syncs the tax rates from Xero or QuickBooks Online or you create 0% rates by hand, and you add the reverse-charge wording yourself through a separate invoice template (ServiceM8 DRC help). It works, but it's on you to get right.

When neither fits: scanning a room isn't reading a drawing

Both apps are built for service work: lots of jobs, a schedule, an invoice at the end. A builder pricing a rear extension or a loft conversion works differently. The thing you're pricing doesn't exist yet. It's on the architect's drawings.

ServiceM8's Room Scan is clever for measuring a room that's already there. It doesn't read a drawing, and we couldn't find a take-off tool in either app. EstiMate Pro's AI take-off reads the architect's PDFs, shows which sheet each quantity came from, and feeds the quantities into a priced quote using your day rates. It isn't the only take-off tool on the market, but it's one that carries on into the contract, the variations and the invoices. Here's how AI take-off works.

From there, EstiMate turns the accepted quote into a contract the client signs online, prices variations from site with a one-tap approval link, invoices against payment milestones, and handles CIS deductions, reverse-charge wording and the CIS register itself. The Accounts tab gives you a P&L and VAT figures; it prepares them and doesn't file to HMRC. It's priced per business: free for 3 jobs a month, £15.99 or £39.99 for Pro (EstiMate pricing).

What EstiMate isn't: a dispatch tool for a big reactive team, or a native Android app (it runs in the browser on Android). If that's what you need, pick between Tradify and ServiceM8 on the sums above.

Who each one suits

• ServiceM8: small and growing service teams on iPhones, where headcount is rising faster than job count.
• Tradify: busy sole traders and small teams with lots of small jobs, who want a flat per-user price and a Sage, Xero or QuickBooks connection.
• EstiMate: builders and contractors who quote, contract, run and account for projects.

What to do next

Count last month's jobs and the number of people who'd need a login, then run both through the table above. If you're a builder, price your next drawing-based job in EstiMate as well. For more on each, see our Tradify pricing breakdown and ServiceM8 pricing explained.

Price your next job from the drawings: start free.