The Builder's Verdict

Tradify vs ServiceM8 (UK): which to choose, and when

BV-C-001Head to headDesk assessed

By Jake WalkerCommercial links disclosed below

Tradify
from £34 · Per user/mo
ServiceM8
£0 to £269/mo · unlimited users on paid plans

The verdict

Three questions decide this. How many staff per job? What devices do you run? How fussy is your VAT/CIS situation? Choose Tradify if you're a sole trader or small team billing a healthy monthly job volume and want simple per-user pricing plus Xero, Sage or QuickBooks from £34/month. Choose ServiceM8 if you have more staff than jobs, where unlimited users from £25/month (or free under 30 jobs) can be hard to beat. ServiceM8 now has native iOS and Android apps, but its current documentation conflicts on how close Android is to iOS, so Android-heavy teams should verify their exact advanced workflow on trial rather than treating device choice as an automatic yes or no. Neither product is universally better; they are priced for different business shapes.

Desk assessed: We checked current UK pricing against official vendor sources, read the official documentation and terms, and weighed public user evidence. Some records also include clearly bounded trial spot-checks, but not enough first-hand workflow evidence to earn the Trial account used level.

What that doesn't mean: That we've run the product on live customer work over time. Long-term reliability, mobile field use and support quality stay unverified unless the record says otherwise.

Who should choose which

Choose Tradify if…

  • You're a sole trader or 2 to 10 team doing a solid volume of jobs each month, where per-user beats per-job maths
  • You want a cross-platform workflow whose Android scope is described consistently in the vendor documentation rather than needing to resolve ServiceM8's current Android/iOS documentation conflict
  • You need Sage or QuickBooks (not just Xero) synced from the entry plan
  • You want progress invoicing and subcontractor scheduling for staged works
Try Tradify free (opens Tradify Ltd in a new tab)

Choose ServiceM8 if…

  • Your staff-to-job ratio makes ServiceM8's unlimited-user paid plans materially cheaper, and you can prove the exact iOS/Android workflow you need during the trial
  • Headcount is high relative to job count, where unlimited users changes everything
  • You want to start free: 30 jobs a month costs £0, indefinitely
  • Your monthly job volume swings seasonally and you want the bill to swing with it
Try ServiceM8 free (opens ServiceM8 Pty Ltd in a new tab)

Look elsewhere if…

  • You need a quote-led enterprise system for a larger firm (6+ staff) with contracted onboarding: look at Commusoft instead
  • Your real problem is missed calls rather than job admin: fix call handling first and revisit software later

The differences that matter

Feature and pricing comparison between Tradify and ServiceM8
 TradifyServiceM8
Pricing modelDepends on youPer user/month: £34 (Lite), £37 (Pro), £44 (Plus)Per job pack/month, unlimited users on paid plans: £25 (50 jobs) to £269 (1,500+); free tier £0 is single-user (30 jobs)
Cost: 1 person, 60 jobs/monthAdvantage: Tradify£34/month (Lite)£59/month (Growing, 150 credits; the 50-credit tier is too small)
Cost: 5 staff, 40 jobs/monthAdvantage: ServiceM8£170/month (5 × Lite)£25/month (Starter)
Free optionAdvantage: ServiceM814-day trial onlyPermanent free tier: 30 jobs/month
DevicesDepends on youiOS, Android, webNative iOS and Android apps. Newer ServiceM8 Help Centre pages say Android offers almost all iOS functionality, while the UK pricing/marketing pages and an older help article still describe a narrower Lite experience; verify any advanced mobile feature you rely on.
Accounting integrationsAdvantage: TradifyXero, Sage, QuickBooks from the entry planPublished UK plan matrix doesn't lead with accounting integrations; verify your platform on trial
UK tax fitAdvantage: TradifyUK-localised product and pricing; compliance certificates on ProGBP pricing published, but Australian origin; UK reviewers report VAT/CIS workarounds
Overage clarityDepends on youn/a; per-user pricing has no overagesPublished: 15p/job beyond top-tier allowance, 5p/SMS
TrialAdvantage: ServiceM814 days, all features14 days, plus the permanent free tier

Marked cells show the stronger side of a row. Prices checked 29 Sept 2026 against both vendors' UK pricing pages.

The pricing maths, worked honestly

Per-user versus per-job sounds abstract until you put your own numbers in. The crossover is roughly this: divide your monthly job count by your headcount. If each person handles many jobs (a busy sole trader, a lean two-person outfit), per-user pricing is cheaper per job and Tradify wins on cost. If each job involves several people (installation crews, a firm with apprentices and an office manager), ServiceM8's unlimited-user model can cost a fifth of the per-user equivalent.

Two worked examples from the verified price lists (13 July 2026, ex VAT). Sole trader, 60 jobs/month: Tradify Lite £34; ServiceM8 needs the £59 Growing tier because the £25 tier caps at 50 credits. Five-person firm, 40 jobs/month: Tradify 5 × £34 = £170; ServiceM8 Starter £25. Same category, opposite winners.

One more ServiceM8 wrinkle: credits expire monthly. A quiet January doesn't bank credits for a busy March, so size your tier on your busy months, or accept mid-cycle upgrades.

Devices matter, but ServiceM8's own Android documentation now conflicts

ServiceM8's newer Help Centre FAQs now say its Android app offers almost all the same functionality as iOS, including scheduling, client job history, payments and deposits, Proposals and Asset workflows. At the same time, its current UK pricing/marketing pages and an older Android help article still describe an Apple-optimised product and a narrower ServiceM8 Lite experience. Those official sources do not currently tell one perfectly consistent story. Tradify lists iOS, Android and web apps without the same documented split. We have not independently tested either vendor's Android app, so an Android-heavy team should put the exact field and management tasks it needs through both trials rather than relying on either an old 'Apple-only' warning or a new near-parity claim.

UK tax and accounting fit

Tradify ships Xero, Sage and QuickBooks integrations on its cheapest plan and sells through a UK-localised product with compliance certificates on Pro. ServiceM8 publishes proper GBP pricing but remains an Australian product first; UK-focused reviewers consistently note VAT and CIS edge cases need workarounds. If you're CIS-registered, run your actual deduction workflow through both trials before deciding. That's a fifteen-minute test that outweighs every review on the internet, including this one.

What this comparison is based on

Desk assessment: both price lists were checked against the vendors' UK pages. ServiceM8's Android position was re-checked 29 September 2026 because its newer Help Centre FAQs now describe near-parity with iOS while current UK marketing/pricing pages still carry older Apple-first / Lite wording. We preserve that vendor-source conflict instead of silently choosing one version. Each product's own review also carries a completed fictional-data trial workflow (quote through to invoice), but we have not run a joint side-by-side Android test for this comparison. Nothing here was influenced by any commercial relationship, and neither vendor saw it before publication.

The full records

Full review

Tradify review UK: pricing, who it suits and trial checks

Full review

ServiceM8 review UK: per-job pricing, Android and the real limits

Other head-to-heads

Head to head

Tradify vs Powered Now

Head to head

Tradify vs Jobber

Evidence & sources

  1. Tradify UK pricing: £34/£37/£44 per user/month; plan features; 14-day trial, no card required

    Tradify (vendor) · checked · vendor/commercial source

  2. ServiceM8 UK pricing: £0 to £269/month job-credit tiers, unlimited users on paid plans (free tier single-user), overage rates, 14-day trial, no card required

    ServiceM8 (vendor) · checked · vendor/commercial source

  3. Newer ServiceM8 Help Centre guidance says the native Android app offers almost all the same functionality as iOS, including schedules, client job history, payments/deposits, Proposals and Asset workflows

    ServiceM8 Help Center (vendor) · checked · vendor/commercial source

  4. ServiceM8's current UK pricing/marketing guidance still describes the product as optimised for Apple, calls the Android product ServiceM8 Lite and recommends iPhones for the fullest advanced experience, creating a live conflict with the newer Help Centre wording

    ServiceM8 (vendor) · checked · vendor/commercial source

  5. UK forum evidence: historical ServiceM8 Apple-only complaint (no longer current, see vendor sources above); Tradify setup-overwhelm report

    Electricians Forums (public discussion) · checked

Prices and terms change. If a source above no longer matches what we've written, tell us via the corrections page and we'll fix it.