Tradify vs ServiceM8 UK 2026: Which Is Better?
Tradify vs ServiceM8 comes down to one question most comparisons skip: how many people and how many jobs are you paying for? Tradify charges per user, ServiceM8 charges by how many jobs you take on each month. Both are priced in pounds and both cover quoting, scheduling, invoicing and online payments. This Tradify vs ServiceM8 UK comparison uses real UK prices, a cost table for different team sizes, and what we found when we tested Tradify hands-on.
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Choose Tradify if you are an electrician or gas engineer who wants UK certificates built in, you use Sage, anyone in the business runs their day from an Android phone, or you are a busy sole trader with a high job count. Choose ServiceM8 if everyone is on iPhone and you have two or more people, because unlimited users on every paid plan makes it much cheaper as a team grows. Doing under 30 jobs a month on your own? ServiceM8 has a free plan.
Quick Verdict
Best for certificates and solo trades
Tradify
Full apps on iPhone and Android, built-in UK electrical and gas certificates on Pro, and Xero, Sage and QuickBooks sync. £34 to £44 per user a month.
Best value for iPhone teams
ServiceM8
Priced by monthly job volume with unlimited users on paid plans, text bundles included, and a free plan for 30 jobs a month. Full app is iPhone and iPad.
Tradify vs ServiceM8 Pricing UK
These are the prices on each company’s UK pricing page in October 2026. Both run month to month.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Tradify Lite | £34 per user/month | Jobs, scheduling, quotes, invoices, online card payments, Xero/Sage/QuickBooks sync |
| Tradify Pro | £37 per user/month | Adds deposits and stage payments, automatic chasing, timesheets, job costing and compliance certificates |
| Tradify Plus | £44 per user/month | Adds Tradify’s AI SmartTools |
| Tradify text messages | £0.10 per message | Optional add-on on every plan |
| ServiceM8 Free | £0 | 1 user, 30 jobs a month, texts at 5p each |
| ServiceM8 Starter | £25/month + VAT | Unlimited users, 50 jobs a month, 100+ texts included |
| ServiceM8 Growing | £59/month + VAT | Unlimited users, 150 jobs a month, 300+ texts included |
| ServiceM8 Premium | £119/month + VAT | Unlimited users, 500 jobs a month, 1,000+ texts included |
| ServiceM8 Premium Plus | £269/month + VAT | Unlimited users, 1,500+ jobs a month, 3,000+ texts included |
What You Would Actually Pay
Because the two charge in different ways, the cheaper option flips depending on your team. Here is the monthly cost for some typical UK trade setups, using Tradify Pro (the plan most trades end up on) and the ServiceM8 plan that covers the job count.
| Your business | Tradify Pro | ServiceM8 |
|---|---|---|
| Sole trader, 25 jobs a month | £37 | £0 (Free) |
| Sole trader, 120 jobs a month | £37 | £59 + VAT (Growing) |
| 3 people, 120 jobs a month | £111 | £59 + VAT (Growing) |
| 5 people, 400 jobs a month | £185 | £119 + VAT (Premium) |
The pattern: Tradify wins for a busy one-person business, because its price does not rise with your job count. ServiceM8 wins as soon as you add people, because every paid plan includes unlimited users. Text messages also favour ServiceM8: its paid plans include a bundle of texts, while Tradify charges 10p for each one.
What We Found When We Tested Tradify
Hands-on findings
- Quoting keeps your margins private. Each line shows your cost, markup and profit, but the customer’s copy only shows quantity, price and total. VAT at 20% was added correctly.
- Quote to job in two clicks. Accepting a quote created the job with the customer, address and description already filled in.
- A full Electrical Installation Certificate. The EIC was a complete BS 7671 form with test results and signatures, pre-filled from the job. Gas safety records sit in the same menu.
- Deposits can be a penny out. Our 30% deposit plus balance came to £622.52 against a £622.50 quote because of VAT rounding, so check the final invoice.
We ran a consumer unit upgrade through Tradify’s free trial as a test UK electrical contractor. We have not tested ServiceM8 hands-on, so its details here come from ServiceM8’s own UK pricing, feature and help pages.
Features Face-Off
| Feature | Tradify | ServiceM8 |
|---|---|---|
| Quoting, scheduling and invoicing | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Full Android app | ✓ Yes | ⚠ Lite app for field staff; full app in beta |
| UK electrical and gas certificates | ✓ Built in on Pro (EIC, EICR, Minor Works, gas records) | ⚠ Custom electronic forms you set up or buy |
| Deposits and stage payments | ✓ Pro plan | ✓ Partial and progress invoices |
| Online card payments | ✓ All plans | ✓ All plans, plus Tap to Pay |
| Text messages | ⚠ 10p per message add-on | ✓ Bundles included on paid plans |
| AI tools | ⚠ Plus plan only | ✓ AI Smart Helpers on every plan |
| Accounting sync | ✓ Xero, Sage, QuickBooks Online | ⚠ Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB (no Sage) |
| Users included | Priced per user | 1 on Free, unlimited on paid plans |
| Free option | ⚠ 14-day trial only | ✓ Free plan + 14-day trial |
Where Each App Wins
Tradify wins on
- Full apps on Android as well as iPhone
- Built-in UK electrical and gas certificates
- Sage sync, alongside Xero and QuickBooks
- Flat price for busy sole traders, however many jobs
- Deposits and stage payments that pull straight from the quote
ServiceM8 wins on
- Unlimited users on every paid plan
- A free plan for up to 30 jobs a month
- Text message bundles included
- AI tools on every plan, not just the top one
- Much cheaper for teams of three or more
ServiceM8 vs Tradify: Which Should You Choose?
Quotes, jobs, certificates and invoices in one app on iPhone and Android, billed in pounds. No card needed for the trial.
The Bottom Line
For a sole trader doing certificated work, Tradify is the better fit. The certificates are proper UK forms, it syncs with Sage as well as Xero, and one flat price covers however many jobs you do. It also works fully on Android, which ServiceM8 still does not outside its beta.
Once there are three or more of you and everyone carries an iPhone, ServiceM8 is hard to beat on price. Unlimited users and included texts mean a five-person team can pay well under what Tradify would cost. Both have a 14-day free trial, so put a real job through each one before you decide.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on your team and your trade. Tradify is better for electricians and gas engineers who want UK certificates built in, for Sage users, for anyone on Android, and for busy sole traders. ServiceM8 is better value for iPhone teams of two or more, because every paid plan includes unlimited users.
For teams, usually yes. ServiceM8 charges by job volume with unlimited users, from £25 a month plus VAT for 50 jobs, and has a free plan for one user and 30 jobs. Tradify charges £34 to £44 per user a month. A sole trader doing over 50 jobs a month will often pay less on Tradify, because its price does not rise with job count.
Tradify Lite is £34 per user a month, Pro is £37 and Plus is £44, billed month to month in pounds. Text message quotes, invoices and reminders are an optional add-on at £0.10 per message. There is a 14-day free trial with no card required.
Partly. ServiceM8’s full app is built for iPhone and iPad. On Android, ServiceM8 Lite lets field staff see their jobs, checklists and forms, and a rebuilt fuller Android app has been in beta since August 2026. Tradify’s full app works on both iPhone and Android.
ServiceM8 has electronic forms you can set up for any report or certificate, and extra forms can be purchased. Tradify includes ready-made UK forms on its Pro plan, including the EIC, EICR, Minor Works and gas safety records.
ServiceM8 lists Xero, QuickBooks Online and MYOB as its accounting integrations, not Sage. Tradify syncs with Xero, Sage and QuickBooks Online on every plan.
Yes. ServiceM8 Free covers one user and up to 30 jobs a month, with text messages at 5p each. Tradify has no free plan, only a 14-day free trial.
TradeStack HQ helps UK tradespeople find the best tools to run smarter businesses. Some links on this page are affiliate links, we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. Pricing checked against Tradify and ServiceM8’s own UK pricing pages in October 2026. See how we test and check.