Tradie Apps in Australia
There are dozens of apps for tradies. Five of them actually run an Australian trade business: quoting, jobs, invoicing, accounts and getting paid. What each is for, what it costs, and the two most sole traders end up on.
A tradie app in Australia means five different things depending on who is selling it: a quoting app, a job management app, an invoicing app, accounting software or a payments app. Nobody needs all five. Most sole traders end up on two, a quoting and invoicing app on the phone and an accounting package for the accountant, and the mistake is paying for a third that overlaps both. This guide covers the five tradie apps that actually run an Australian trade business, what each one is for, what it costs for one person and for a small crew, and the honest signs that you have outgrown a quoting app and need a job management platform instead.
The five jobs a tradie app can do
Every app on this page does some of these. None does all five well, and the ones that claim to are expensive and heavy. Work out which two or three you are missing before you compare features.
- Quote: turn a site visit into an itemised price with materials at today's cost, GST included, sent before you leave.
- Run the job: know what is quoted, accepted, scheduled, in progress and paid. Calendar, photos, follow-ups.
- Invoice: turn the accepted quote into a tax invoice with your ABN on it, without retyping.
- Accounts: reconcile the bank, lodge the BAS, run payroll. This is Xero's job and nothing on your phone replaces it.
- Get paid: take a card on site, or chase the invoice automatically when it goes quiet.
At a glance
| # | App | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | QuoteMate ★ Top pick | Quoting, invoicing and getting paid on site for sole traders and small crews | Free plan; Pro $49/mo or $490/yr |
| 2 | ServiceM8 | iPhone teams wanting job cards & forms | Free then from $29/mo |
| 3 | Tradify | Small crews needing timesheets & dispatch | From $48/user/mo |
| 4 | Fergus | Plumbing & electrical job costing | From $53/mo |
| 5 | Xero | Full accounting & BAS | From ~$35/mo |
The two-app setup most sole traders end up on
A quoting and invoicing app in front, an accounting package behind. The front app builds the quote at live supplier prices, converts it to an invoice, takes the payment on site and tracks the job. The accounting package receives the finished invoice and does the books.
When tradies ask us which two apps to run, that is the honest answer, and QuoteMate is built to be the front one: it syncs each invoice into Xero in one tap so nothing is entered twice. The third app people add is usually a job management platform, and for a sole trader it overlaps the first app almost entirely.
The setup costs a free QuoteMate plan plus Xero from around $35 a month, or QuoteMate Pro at $49 plus Xero if you want the AI material suggestions, the job pipeline and lower card fees.
The five apps, honestly
QuoteMate. Quoting, invoicing, job pipeline and on-site payment for sole traders and small crews. AI-assisted line items, live Australian supplier pricing, branded PDFs, GST and ABN, Square tap-to-pay, Xero sync. Web, iPhone and Android. Free plan with unlimited quotes and invoices; Pro is a flat $49 a month or $490 a year. Not for dispatching a crew or holding stock.
ServiceM8. Job cards, forms and scheduling for teams that run on iPhones. Free tier for very low volume, then from $29 a month by job volume. Strong on documenting the job in the field; quoting is manual.
Tradify. Scheduling, timesheets and dispatch for small crews, quoting attached. From $48 per user per month. Right for a crew of three to eight; the per-user price is the catch below that.
Fergus. Job costing for plumbing and electrical businesses with office staff. From $53 a month. Tracks cost against margin on bigger jobs. Manual quoting, no live supplier prices.
Xero. Accounting, from around $35 a month. BAS, payroll, the books. Not a tradie app in the field sense, but the one almost every tradie business runs behind whichever app is in the van.
What you will pay per month
One person: QuoteMate free or $49, ServiceM8 from $29, Tradify from $48, Fergus from $53, Xero from around $35. Three people who all need a login: QuoteMate stays at $49 for the business, Tradify becomes from $144, ServiceM8 and Fergus depend on tier and users, Xero is unchanged because it is per business.
The number that matters is the total for the two apps you actually need, multiplied by the people who need to log in. For a sole trader that is somewhere between $35 and $85 a month. Paying $150 for a platform built for a crew of six is the most common overspend we see described.
Signs you have outgrown a quoting app
A quoting-first app like QuoteMate is the right tradie app until specific things start happening. When they do, the job management platforms earn their per-user price.
- Two people turned up to one job this month and nobody turned up to another. You need a dispatch board.
- You are working out hours per worker from text messages at the end of the week. You need timesheets.
- You carry stock in a shed and do not know what is in it. You need inventory.
- Someone in an office spends Monday morning scheduling the crew. They need a scheduler, not your phone.
- You are quoting commercial jobs where cost against margin has to be reported to a client. You need job costing.
Frequently Asked Questions
A quoting and invoicing app that works from a phone on site, prices materials at live supplier rates, takes payment and syncs to your accounting package. QuoteMate does that with a free plan for unlimited quotes and invoices and Pro at a flat $49 a month. Run it in front of Xero and you have covered the whole loop.
Yes. Xero is accounting: bank reconciliation, BAS, payroll. It was not built to itemise a trade quote at a customer's kitchen bench. A tradie app does the quoting, job tracking and on-site payment, then hands the invoice to Xero. QuoteMate syncs to Xero in one tap.
QuoteMate has a permanent free plan with unlimited quotes and invoices, with a 14-day Pro trial that starts when you create your first quote. ServiceM8 has a free tier limited to a small number of jobs a month. Tradify, Fergus and Xero are paid after a trial.
A tradie app usually means a quoting and invoicing app built for the person on the tools. Job management software is built for an office running a crew, with scheduling, dispatch and timesheets, and quoting as a module. Most sole traders need the first and are sold the second.
QuoteMate runs on web, iPhone and Android. ServiceM8 is built around Apple devices in the field. Check before you commit if your crew is mixed, because an iPhone-only app on an Android crew is a dead subscription.
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