Job Management Software for Tradies 2026: Prices Compared

Job management software for tradies handles quotes, scheduling, job cards, timesheets, safety forms and invoices, then syncs them to Xero or MYOB. As at 18 October 2026, ServiceM8 costs $29 to $349 a month with unlimited users on paid plans, while Tradify, Fergus, Ascora and AroFlo charge $45 to $80 per user. The right pick depends on team size, trade and how often you work without signal.

The seven options at a glance

Prices are the vendors' published standard rates, checked 18 October 2026. Note the GST column: vendors quote on different bases, and three of them don't say.

Fergus was advertising "90% off til December" on 18 October 2026 without stating the year or who qualifies, so confirm the offer terms before you budget around it. We excluded Geeks2U and similar on-call IT support services: they fix computers and don't manage trade jobs.

What job management does that accounting software doesn't

Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks are built around money that has already moved: invoices, bills, bank lines, GST, BAS and payroll. Job management software is built around the job itself, from the first phone call to the signed job card. You need both, and they connect through an integration that pushes invoices and payments across.

MYOB Business Lite includes basic job tracking and Xero's Ultimate plans include Projects, so a sole trader with a handful of jobs a week can run on accounting software alone. Signs you've outgrown that: jobs are booked on paper or in a group chat, staff ring the office for addresses, quotes take an evening to write, finished jobs sit unbilled for days, and you can't tell which jobs made money. Our unbilled work register and job profitability review show how big those gaps are before you spend anything.

How the features compare

Taken from each vendor's pricing and help pages on 18 October 2026, not hands-on testing. Where a feature needs a particular plan, the table names the cheapest one.

Three things in that table catch people out. Tradify's cheapest plan has no timesheets, safety forms or job costing, so most crews should budget for Pro. ServiceM8 is cheap at the bottom but forms need Growing ($79) and job costing needs Premium ($149). And offline support ranges from solid to none, which matters if you work in basements, plant rooms or regional areas.

What it costs at 1, 5 and 10 users

Monthly standard prices as published, checked 18 October 2026, no promotions. ServiceM8 charges by jobs, so we assume about 40 jobs a month for one person, up to 150 for five and up to 500 for ten. Illustrative only.

Ascora adds a one-off implementation fee it doesn't publish, and AroFlo was advertising half-price setup without stating the full fee. ServiceM8's pricing flips the usual logic: it gets cheaper per person as you add staff, but dearer as you add jobs. A one-person cleaning or pest business doing 150 short jobs a month needs Growing at $79, which costs more than Tradify Lite. A ten-person electrical crew doing 300 longer jobs pays $149 on Premium, well under any per-user product.

The full monthly bill, with accounting software

Job management sits on top of your accounting subscription. This table adds the Xero or MYOB plan each team would need for payroll, assuming the owner isn't on payroll. Standard prices including GST, checked 18 October 2026; MYOB payroll uses the $5 per employee fee that applies from 1 November 2026.

A sole trader sending fewer than 20 invoices a month could use Xero Ignite ($37) instead of Grow. Be careful: Xero says Ignite's 20-invoice limit applies to approving as well as sending invoices, so invoices your job app pushes into Xero are likely to count. Our Xero pricing guide and MYOB pricing guide cover the plan limits in detail.

Which one fits your team size

These picks follow stated criteria: total monthly cost at that headcount, whether the plan you'd need includes timesheets, forms and job costing, offline support, and the accounting packages it syncs with.

Sole traders

ServiceM8 is the lowest-cost start if you do up to 50 jobs a month: Starter costs $29 including GST, includes timesheets, offline access and accounting sync, and the free plan covers 30 jobs. Its pricing page summary describes mobile access in iOS terms, so confirm Android support if your phone isn't an iPhone. Tradify Lite ($48 plus GST) suits a high-volume sole trader, because its pricing page lists no job limit, and it includes Google Calendar sync. If you work alone but need certificates, compare Tradify Pro ($52 plus GST) with Fergus Professional ($77 plus certificates).

Many sole traders don't need job software yet. If you quote fewer than five jobs a week and already invoice from Xero or MYOB, start with our accounting software for sole traders guide.

Teams of 2 to 10

This is where most of the products compete. Tradify Pro and Fergus Professional both include timesheets, SWMS and job costing tools; Tradify is cheaper per user and Fergus includes phone support on Professional. ServiceM8 Growing or Premium is the value pick when staff numbers rise faster than job numbers, because users are unlimited. Ascora Essentials ($45 per user) is the one to test if your crew often works without signal, since offline mode is on its entry plan.

Teams of 10 or more

Larger crews usually need project stages, stock, purchase orders, asset maintenance and enforced compliance forms. AroFlo includes compliance forms, inventory and project tools on its single plan from $80 per user. simPRO targets the same market but only quotes after a demo, so ask for the full cost including setup, digital forms and any data feeds. Ascora Elite ($59 per user) covers teams up to 30 technicians with custom forms, equipment tracking and WIP reporting, and Fergus offers a custom Enterprise plan above 10 staff.

Which one fits your trade

For the business side of starting out, including licences and insurance, see our guide to starting a trade business.

Card payments, surcharges and EFTPOS

Most job apps let customers pay an invoice by card from a link, or on site by tapping a card on your phone. The fee comes out of your payout.

Surcharging changed on 1 October 2026. The RBA's FAQs say surcharges are not permitted on eftpos, Mastercard or Visa cards from that date. They list American Express as no surcharge too, and PayPal's rule started on 5 October 2026. If your job app has a "pass card fees to customer" setting, switch it off and build the cost into your rates. Our card surcharge checklist walks through every payment channel.

If you take a lot of payments on site, compare the job app's built-in payments with a separate terminal. Our EFTPOS machine comparison lists per-transaction rates, and the offline card payments guide explains the risk of taking cards with no signal.

SWMS, certificates and record keeping

A lot of trade work counts as high risk construction work. Safe Work Australia's list includes work with a risk of falling more than 2 metres, trenches deeper than 1.5 metres, disturbing asbestos, and work on or near pressurised gas mains, refrigerant lines or energised electrical installations. For that work, the business must prepare, keep, comply with and review a safe work method statement (SWMS), and give a copy to the principal contractor.

Job software helps in three ways: it stores a SWMS template for each job type, puts the form on the worker's phone at the site, and keeps the signed copy with the job record. Ask during your trial whether a form can be made mandatory before a job starts or closes, because that is what stops the step being skipped on a busy day. The software doesn't write a compliant SWMS for you, and certificate requirements differ between states, so check that any certificate template matches the form your state regulator currently requires.

Timesheets matter too. If staff clock time against jobs in the app, those records feed payroll, and Fair Work requires employers to keep time and wages records for 7 years. Before you cancel any job management subscription, export timesheets, job cards and forms. Our guide to correcting employee timesheets covers how to fix errors without losing the original record.

A selection checklist

Score your two shortlisted products against these before you pay.

1. Plan you'd actually need. List must-haves (timesheets, forms, certificates, job costing, progress claims) and find the cheapest plan that includes all of them.
2. Pricing basis. Per user, per job or per plan; GST included or not; US dollars or Australian dollars.
3. Users who don't need full licences. Ask about timesheet-only, contractor or office-only users. Fergus, for example, prices timesheet users from $26 a month and contractors at $4 per user per day.
4. Offline behaviour. What works with no signal, and what waits.
5. Accounting sync. Which product and version (MYOB Business versus AccountRight, QuickBooks Online only), which direction, and whether payments come back.
6. Payroll link. Whether approved timesheets reach Xero, MYOB or your payroll app without retyping.
7. Supplier price lists. Whether your main wholesalers' price files or invoices import automatically.
8. Compliance. Your trade's SWMS, JSA and certificate templates, and whether forms can be made mandatory.
9. Card fees and surcharge settings. The rate on your expected plan, and that surcharging is off.
10. Support hours. Phone or chat, Australian hours, and who helps with setup.
11. Setup costs and contract. Implementation fees, minimum terms and notice periods.
12. Getting your data out. Export of customers, jobs, forms and timesheets in a usable format.

A two-week trial plan

Most trials run 14 days (ServiceM8, Tradify, Fergus, Ascora and Jobber). AroFlo and simPRO start with a demo, so ask for a sandbox account. Use a copy or demo file of your accounting software for the sync, never your live books on day one.

Our accounting software trial checklist has more tests for the bookkeeping side.

What changed in 2026

• Card surcharges. From 1 October 2026, card network rules stop surcharges on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa cards, according to the RBA. Some invoicing tools still describe a surcharge option, so check the settings in yours.
• MYOB payroll. MYOB's per-employee payroll fee on Lite and Pro rises from $3 to $5 a month from 1 November 2026, which changes the total cost for crews running payroll in MYOB.
• Promotions. Fergus was showing 90% off until December, and AroFlo half-price setup, on 18 October 2026. Budget on standard prices, because promotional rates end.

Key takeaways

• Pricing models differ: ServiceM8 charges by jobs a month with unlimited users on paid plans, while Tradify, Fergus, Ascora and AroFlo charge per user (as at 18 October 2026).
• Entry plans often leave out what tradies need most: Tradify Lite has no timesheets or safety forms, ServiceM8 forms start on Growing and job costing on Premium, and Fergus puts SWMS in Professional.
• Offline support varies. ServiceM8 and Ascora list offline access, AroFlo and Fergus offer limited offline use, and Tradify's help centre says its app needs a live connection.
• You still need accounting software. A 5-person crew on Tradify Pro and Xero Comprehensive pays about $393 a month including GST.
• From 1 October 2026, card network rules stop surcharges on Visa, Mastercard and eftpos cards, so switch off any surcharge setting in your job app and build card costs into your rates.
• Trial with a real week of jobs, including a no-signal site, a SWMS, a variation and an invoice synced to your accountant's file.

Where to get help

• Safe Work Australia: SWMS requirements and the interactive SWMS tool for high risk construction work — safeworkaustralia.gov.au. Your state or territory WHS regulator enforces the rules where you work.
• Fair Work Ombudsman: record-keeping rules for timesheets and pay — fairwork.gov.au, or call 13 13 94.
• ATO: what you can claim for business software — ato.gov.au.
• Your bookkeeper or BAS agent: ask which job apps they already support, and get them to check the first synced invoices. Insurance for trade businesses is covered in our public liability insurance for tradies guide.

Related tasks

See all guides in accounting software, including invoicing software compared.