Best Job Management Software for NZ Tradies in 2026: Tradify vs Fergus vs ServiceM8

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You're a sparky, plumber, builder, or HVAC tech. You're running a team of two to fifteen people, quoting jobs on paper or by text, chasing invoices manually, and spending Sunday nights doing admin that should take twenty minutes. Job management software fixes that — but Tradify, Fergus, and ServiceM8 all claim to be the right tool for NZ tradies, and they're genuinely different products.

Here's the plain comparison.

Who each tool is built for

Before pricing: each of these tools has a different home turf.

• Tradify is Auckland-built and designed specifically for NZ and Australian trade businesses. Electricians, plumbers, builders, HVAC, and gas fitters are its core market. Strong Xero integration, familiar to NZ accountants.
• Fergus is also NZ-built (Auckland). It has a strong reputation with plumbers and electricians who want detailed job costing and margin tracking. More financially focused than Tradify.
• ServiceM8 is Australian-built, widely used in NZ. Unique pricing model — you pay per job per month rather than per user. Works well for sole traders and small teams doing high job volume.

All three integrate with Xero and MYOB. All three have iOS and Android apps. None requires long-term contracts.

Tradify

Tradify is the most widely used job management tool among NZ tradies. It's been around since 2012, has a clean mobile app, and covers the basics well: quoting, scheduling, job tracking, invoicing, and timesheets.

The Lite plan at US$47/user/month covers everything a one- to three-person trade business needs. The Pro plan adds custom branding, progress invoicing, and subcontractor scheduling. Plus adds purchase orders, bulk invoicing, and job service reports with full reporting.

Tradify plans — 2026 NZD pricing (approx, converted from USD):

4+ users get a volume discount — contact Tradify for pricing. 14-day free trial on all plans.

What works well:

• Simple quoting flow — send a quote from your phone in under five minutes
• Scheduling drag-and-drop calendar syncs with Google Calendar
• Xero integration is solid, particularly for invoicing
• NZ-based support team (phone and email)
• Good for mixed trade businesses (builders who also do carpentry, etc.)

What's frustrating:

• Timesheets only available from Pro plan upward
• Job costing is basic on Lite — you don't get real margin visibility without Pro
• No native GPS tracking or route planning on entry plans
• Per-user pricing gets expensive for larger teams

Tradify has a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

Fergus

Fergus is the financially focused option. Its strength is detailed job costing — you can see material costs, labour, margins, and profit per job in real time. For a trade business owner who wants to know exactly how much money they made on each job (not just what they invoiced), Fergus is the better tool.

Fergus plans — 2026 NZD pricing (approx, converted from USD):

Fergus runs regular promotions — 50% off first three months is available at time of writing. 14-day free trial, no credit card.

The Timesheets plan is a lightweight option for businesses that just need time tracking and basic job cards. Essentials covers the full job management workflow. Pro adds deeper financial tools, purchase orders, and team features.

What works well:

• Best-in-class job costing — material and labour margins tracked per job
• Strong for subcontractor management
• Fergus Academy (free training resources) reduces onboarding time
• NZ-founded and NZ-supported
• No lock-in contracts

What's frustrating:

• Pro plan is expensive at ~NZ$119/user/month for larger teams
• Interface is more complex than Tradify — steeper learning curve for admin staff
• Quoting workflow is slightly less slick than Tradify
• Reporting depth comes at a cost — most useful features require Pro

Fergus free trial at fergus.com — no credit card required.

ServiceM8

ServiceM8 is the outlier in this comparison. Instead of charging per user, it charges per job per month — unlimited users on every paid plan. That makes it the only option that doesn't get more expensive as you add staff.

ServiceM8 plans — 2026 NZD pricing (approx, per account per month):

All plans include unlimited staff accounts. "Jobs" = new job cards created per month.

For a plumbing business doing 80 jobs a month with five technicians, ServiceM8 Growing at NZ130/monthissignificantlycheaperthanTradifyProatNZ84 x 5 = NZ$420/month.

What works well:

• Per-account pricing is highly competitive for teams with four or more people
• Unlimited staff on every plan — no per-seat cost
• Strong iOS app (better than Android, to be honest)
• Good forms and certificates builder — useful for electricians needing compliance certificates
• Free plan is genuinely useful for sole traders doing under 30 jobs a month

What's frustrating:

• Job costing and markup billing only available from Premium ($149/month) upward — that's the whole monthly plan cost for a feature Fergus includes earlier
• Android app lags behind iOS in responsiveness
• Asset management (for service businesses tracking equipment) requires Premium
• The job-volume cap model catches people out — hitting your monthly cap mid-cycle forces an immediate upgrade or a seven-day grace period

ServiceM8 free plan available with no credit card.

Side-by-side comparison

Which one should you pick?

Solo tradie or two-person team: ServiceM8 Free or Starter. At NZ$48/month for a solo operator, you get unlimited job tracking, scheduling, invoicing, and Xero sync. If you're doing under 30 jobs a month, the free plan costs nothing.

Plumber, electrician, or gas fitter who wants to see their margins: Fergus Essentials (~NZ$79/user/month). Job costing is the reason Fergus exists. If you want to know your actual profit per job — not just what you invoiced — this is the tool.

Builder or mixed-trade business, three to ten people: Tradify Pro (~NZ$84/user/month). The interface is the most approachable of the three. Quoting is fast, scheduling is clean, and the NZ support team is responsive. Suits businesses doing varied work across job types.

Team of five or more with consistent job volume: ServiceM8 Growing or Premium. Once you're past four users, ServiceM8's per-account pricing is substantially cheaper than per-user competitors. A five-person team on ServiceM8 Growing (NZ130/month)versusTradifyLite(NZ390/month) is a NZ$260/month saving for roughly equivalent functionality.

One thing to check before you sign up

All three tools have free trials. Before committing to any of them, run a real job through the software — quote it, schedule it, complete it, and invoice it. That's the only reliable way to know whether the workflow matches how your business actually runs.

The biggest mistake trade businesses make with job management software is choosing a tool based on features lists rather than how it feels to use on a phone at a job site. Fergus has better job costing, but if your team finds the interface confusing and stops using it after a month, the feature advantage is worthless.

All three have local NZ support. All three integrate with Xero. Start with a trial and make the decision after you've used it with real jobs.

Toby Downs is a Wellington-based technology writer covering SaaS tools and software for NZ businesses.