We Tested 4 UK Trade Apps on the Same Job: What Each Got Wrong (2026)
We ran the same kind of job, a consumer unit upgrade, through four pieces of software UK tradespeople actually use: Tradify, Jobber, Sage Accounting and VioTrade. Every tool got something wrong. Some of it was fixed within a day. Some of it you only find out about once you are paying.
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In our tests, Tradify over-billed a deposit split by 2p through VAT rounding and has no CIS of its own without Xero or Sage. Jobber bills UK accounts in US dollars and loaded American electrical templates. Sage’s “free trial” needs card details and forces two-factor setup. VioTrade’s AI priced a full day of electrician labour at £35, which the founder fixed within a day. None of these are deal-breakers, but each is worth knowing before you sign up.
The Test Job
To compare like with like, we used the same job type in every tool: a consumer unit upgrade. In Tradify, Jobber and Sage it was quoted for the same fictional customer, Margaret Fenwick, at a Harrogate address, and VioTrade’s AI was given the same job as a rough description. In Tradify the quote was built from three lines: a 10-way dual RCD consumer unit (£95 cost with a 25% markup, so £118.75 to the customer), £280 of labour, and £120 for testing, the Electrical Installation Certificate and Part P. That came to £518.75 plus £103.75 VAT, a total of £622.50.
We then took the quote through to a job and an invoice wherever the software allowed. No real customer was contacted. The tests ran between August and September 2026, and each finding below is dated so you can judge how current it is.
Results at a Glance
| Tool | Price we saw | Bills in | Best thing we found | Main problem we hit | Fixed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tradify | £34, £37 or £44 per user a month | £ | Full BS 7671 EIC (around 203 fields) pre-filled from the job | 2p deposit over-bill, and no native CIS | Not as of our test |
| Jobber | Grow $299 a month ($200 first year), 2 to 5 users | US $ | Quote to job to invoice with zero re-entry | USD billing and US “100 Amp Service” templates | Not as of our test |
| Sage Accounting | Standard £43 a month excl. VAT (£4.30 for 6 months) | £ | CIS maths correct: £600 labour, £120 deducted, £480 paid | Card needed for the free trial, forced 2FA, repeating popup | Not as of our test |
| VioTrade | See our review | £ | Itemised quote drafted from a rough description | A day of labour priced at £35, no certificate flagged | Yes, within a day |
What Each Tool Got Right and Wrong
Tradify
Right: The quote maths was correct line by line, and the customer preview hides your cost and markup so they only see prices. Accepting the quote offered to create a job straight away, pre-filled with the customer, address and description. Under the job’s forms we found a full Electrical Installation Certificate to BS 7671, roughly 203 fields, with the contractor and customer details already filled in. Its AI writing tool, SmartWrite, turned our line items into an accurate UK job description mentioning the 18th Edition, the EIC and Part P.
Wrong: We invoiced a 30% deposit and then the remaining balance. The deposit dialog showed £186.75, but the invoice came out at £186.76, and the balance invoice rounded up as well. Together they billed £622.52 against a £622.50 quote. Two pence is trivial, but on staged jobs with several invoices it is worth checking the final total. We also found that typing a cost before setting a price shows the markup as -100%. And Tradify’s own help centre says it has no CIS options of its own: CIS only works when Tradify is connected to Xero or Sage, not QuickBooks.
Jobber
Right: The quote to job to invoice flow carried every line item, price and description through with no re-typing at any step, the smoothest version of that flow we have tested. Each job shows revenue, cost and profit as you go, and the app displayed pounds and a UK address format once the account was set to the UK.
Wrong: Jobber’s own billing page says prices are in US dollars, so what a UK business pays moves with the exchange rate. For our 2 to 5 person test business, the Grow plan was $299 a month, or $200 a month for the first year. Its onboarding also loaded quote templates in US electrical terms, such as “100 Amp Service”, even with a UK address set.
Sage Accounting
Right: Sage separates a firm quote from an estimate, turns an accepted quote into an invoice in one click, and tracks each invoice from created to sent, viewed and paid. We switched on the Construction Industry Scheme and raised a purchase invoice from a test subcontractor on the standard 20% rate: £600 of labour produced a £120 deduction and £480 to pay, with labour and materials kept in separate accounts so the deduction only applies to labour.
Wrong: The advertised discount is a paid plan from day one, and the 30-day free trial needs card details up front. Sage made us set up two-factor authentication before we could open the product at all. A “confirm your trading information” popup came back on every quote and invoice we created. Switching CIS on cannot be undone.
VioTrade
Right: Its “Draft with AI” feature turned a rough description of the job, a fuse board swap for a 10-way consumer unit with RCBOs, into itemised, priced line items in seconds.
Wrong: The first draft priced a full day of electrician labour at £35, nowhere near a real UK rate. It did not flag that the job needed an Electrical Installation Certificate and Part P notification, and it left a placeholder line in the quote. We reported all three to the founder, who confirmed them fixed the same day: labour now prices from the hourly rate in your Business Profile, and the drafter names the certificate a job needs.
What This Means If You Are Choosing Software
- Check the currency on the billing page, not the app. Jobber showed pounds everywhere except the bill.
- Run a deposit and balance split on a free trial. Add the invoices up and compare them to the quote total.
- Ask how CIS actually works. In Tradify it needs Xero or Sage. In Sage it is built in from the Standard plan. If you pay subbies, test a real deduction before you commit.
- Set your hourly rate before trying AI quoting. AI drafts are a starting point, and on notifiable work you still need to check the certificates yourself.
- Read the trial terms. Some trials need a card and bill automatically when they end.
What We Did Not Test
To be clear about the limits: every test above was an electrical job, so trade-specific features for gas, plumbing and building were not covered. We did not send anything to a real customer, take a real card payment, or connect live accounting integrations. In Tradify we did not test certificates for other trades, the mobile app, or CIS. In Sage we tested the contractor side of CIS, not the subcontractor side. Prices are what we saw at the time and can change, so always check the provider’s own pricing page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which trade software was the most accurate in your tests?
Sage Accounting got the numbers right, including a CIS deduction of £120 on £600 of labour, but had the most friction getting started. Tradify’s quote maths was correct, but a 30% deposit and balance split over-billed by 2p through VAT rounding.
Does Jobber charge UK customers in pounds?
No. When we tested it in September 2026, Jobber’s billing page said prices were in US dollars, even though the app itself displayed pounds once set to the UK.
Can Tradify handle CIS deductions?
Only through an accounting connection. Tradify’s help centre says it has no CIS options of its own. Connected to Xero or Sage, it shows CIS deductions on invoices and subcontractor bills. CIS is not supported with QuickBooks.
Is AI quoting software accurate for tradespeople?
Treat it as a first draft. In our test, VioTrade’s AI first priced a full day of electrician labour at £35 and missed the certificate the job needed. Both were fixed within a day, and it now uses your own hourly rate, but every AI quote still needs checking before it goes to a customer.
TradeStack HQ is an independent site that tests software for UK tradespeople. Tests were run on trial or test accounts with fictional customer details between August and September 2026. Some links on this page are affiliate links, we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. See how we test and check.