The short answer
Tradify, ServiceM8 and Jobber are all job-management tools built for trades, and at the level of scheduling a job, holding a job sheet and raising an invoice, they do broadly the same thing well. The real differences for a UK firm are in pricing shape, how cleanly each one syncs to Xero or QuickBooks, which mobile platform it feels most at home on, and how much pain moving your existing job history would cause. None of them fix the gap before a job exists, the enquiry sitting in a text, a missed call or a Checkatrade message, which is a separate problem a CRM pipeline solves rather than job-management software.
What each tool is actually built for
Tradify started life built around UK and Australasian trades specifically, and it shows in small details: VAT handling, UK-style quoting and job costing feel native rather than bolted on. ServiceM8 has a broader, more global customer base and leans heavily on a clean mobile app and a wider app-store style ecosystem of add-ons, which suits a firm that likes to bolt extra tools on as it grows. Jobber is US-rooted but has a solid UK presence now, and tends to feel strongest on the client-facing side, online booking requests, a polished client hub, automated review requests, slightly ahead of the other two on that front.
None of the three is a CRM in the sales-pipeline sense. They're built to run a job once you've won it: scheduling, job sheets, materials, timesheets, invoicing. The moment before that, an enquiry that hasn't become a job yet, isn't really their job to manage, and treating them as if it is tends to be where things get missed.
Quick verdict by firm size
A solo tradesperson or a two-van firm doing mostly domestic work tends to get on well with Tradify, the UK-specific quoting and VAT handling removes a layer of fiddling, and the feature set doesn't outgrow a small team quickly. A growing firm, three to eight vans, juggling more admin and wanting a wider ecosystem of integrations, often finds ServiceM8 scales more comfortably, particularly if staff are already comfortable on Android and iPhone in a mixed fleet. A trade business that leans on its own brand and client relationship, kitchen fitters, high-end electricians, anyone quoting bigger jobs with a longer sales cycle, often gets more value from Jobber's stronger client-facing booking and review tools.
None of these verdicts are rigid. All three offer free trials, and the only reliable way to know which fits is running a genuinely busy week of real jobs through each one before committing.
Pricing compared
| Tradify | ServiceM8 | Jobber | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Tiered monthly plan, per user | Pay-as-you-go per job, or a monthly plan at higher volumes | Tiered monthly plan, per user |
| UK-specific handling | VAT and UK quoting built in | General, works for UK VAT with setup | General, works for UK VAT with setup |
| Where to check current pricing | tradifyhq.com | servicem8.com | getjobber.com |
All three plans and prices change regularly, so treat any number quoted anywhere, including this page, as a starting point rather than a fixed figure, and check each vendor's own pricing page before deciding. ServiceM8's pay-as-you-go-per-job model is worth looking at closely if your job volume varies a lot month to month, since it can work out cheaper than a flat monthly seat price for a quiet month and more expensive in a busy one.
Xero and QuickBooks: what actually connects
All three integrate with Xero, and all three integrate with QuickBooks, so a job marked complete can push through to an invoice without retyping the customer's details or the job's cost breakdown. The practical difference is depth rather than existence: Tradify's Xero sync tends to carry job costing detail (materials, labour, margin) through cleanly because it was built with that reporting in mind from the start. ServiceM8 and Jobber both sync invoices and payments reliably, but a firm that wants detailed job-level profitability reporting inside Xero sometimes finds a bit more manual tidying is needed on the accounting side. None of the three needs a separate CRM pipeline bolted on to make this sync work, that's a job-management-to-accounting connection, not an enquiry-tracking one.
Android vs iPhone in the van
All three have apps for both Android and iPhone, so this is less about compatibility and more about day-to-day feel. ServiceM8's app is generally considered the most refined on both platforms, with a particularly clean experience for taking photos, signatures and job notes on site. Tradify's app does the same job competently without feeling quite as polished, which rarely matters once a team's used to it. Jobber's app leans a little more toward scheduling and the client hub than fast photo-and-notes capture on a dirty job site, worth testing with wet or gloved hands before assuming it'll suit a working van.
Switching cost: moving your job history
Moving from a spreadsheet or no system at all into any of the three is a straightforward one-off setup. Moving between them once you've built up a year or more of job history, customer records and invoices is the harder case, and it's where firms most often get stuck staying on a tool they've outgrown. All three support exporting customer and job data, and all three offer some form of migration help when you sign up, but none of it is instant: expect real admin time checking that job history, outstanding invoices and customer contact details have actually carried across correctly, not just that an export ran without errors. Running the old and new systems in parallel for a week or two before fully switching off the first one is the safest way to catch anything that didn't migrate cleanly.
When to get help, and what we'd do
Picking between Tradify, ServiceM8 and Jobber isn't something we sell, you'll be the one using it day to day, so a free trial against your own real jobs tells you more than any comparison page can. Where we come in is the piece none of the three covers: making sure every enquiry, phone call, web form, Checkatrade or MyBuilder lead actually reaches whichever tool you pick, instead of living in a separate inbox that gets checked at the end of the day. We'd set up an enquiry pipeline that feeds a won lead straight into Tradify, ServiceM8 or Jobber as a scheduled job, so the switch from enquiry to job happens without retyping anything, and nothing sits forgotten in the gap between the two systems.
See the wider picture on enquiries slipping through the cracks for trade businesses, and the related example of a plumbing firm going from missed calls to booked, invoiced jobs.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheapest for a one-van business?
It depends on job volume more than the headline price. ServiceM8's pay-as-you-go model can suit a quiet solo operator well, while Tradify or Jobber's flat monthly fee may work out better once you're running several jobs a week. Always check current pricing on each vendor's own site before deciding.
Do I need a CRM as well as a job-management tool like these?
Usually yes, if enquiries come in from more than one place. Job-management software takes over once a job exists; a CRM pipeline catches everything before that, a missed call, a web form, a lead-platform message, so nothing is lost before it ever becomes a job.
Can I move my existing job history if I switch tools?
Generally yes, all three support exporting customer and job data and offer migration help, but expect to spend real time checking it's landed correctly rather than assuming an export is a complete migration.
Does it matter if my team uses a mix of Android and iPhone?
Not for compatibility, all three apps run on both. ServiceM8's app is generally seen as the most polished across both platforms for fast, on-site use, which is worth testing yourself before deciding it matters for your team.
Will any of these three handle CIS invoicing for subcontract work?
Features and depth vary and change over time, so check each vendor's current documentation directly. Where CIS handling needs to be precise, it's often cleaner to let Xero or QuickBooks do the CIS calculation itself once the job syncs through from whichever tool you're using.