The short answer
If you're already running Alto, Reapit or Arthur for the core tenancy record, a maintenance add-on like Fixflo is worth paying for once you're handling a real volume of repairs across several contractors and need a formal audit trail. Below that volume, a lighter workflow built around a simple form, a shared log and automatic routing often does the same job for less money and less new software to learn. Fixflo doesn't publish a standard price; as of today it quotes "price on request" with tiered plans and a separate monthly software fee, so any figure you've seen quoted elsewhere needs checking against their own site.
Why this decision comes up
Platforms like Alto, Reapit and Arthur are genuinely good at the core record: who's in which property, what the tenancy terms are, when rent's due. Most of them are weaker, out of the box, at the messy bit in between: a tenant's first report, the back-and-forth with a contractor, and a landlord wanting a plain-English update without logging in anywhere. That gap gets filled one of two ways: buying a maintenance-specific add-on such as Fixflo, or building a lighter workflow around what you already have. Both are legitimate. The right choice depends on your volume and your contractor base, not on which option sounds more "proper."
What maintenance add-ons do well
Fixflo and similar tools are built specifically for structured maintenance at scale: a tenant-facing reporting portal, a contractor portal so tradespeople can see and update jobs themselves, and a full audit trail of who said what and when. That audit trail matters more than it sounds, particularly if a repair dispute or an insurance question ever comes up and you need to show exactly when something was reported and actioned. They also tend to integrate, to varying degrees, with the core platforms, so a job logged in the add-on can show up against the right property without manual re-entry.
When a bought add-on is clearly worth it
An add-on earns its cost once you're managing enough properties and enough contractors that the coordination itself becomes the bottleneck, not just the volume of individual repairs. If several staff are juggling multiple contractors across a large portfolio, and you need tenants and contractors both updating the same job without everyone going through a member of staff, a dedicated tool usually pays for itself in time alone, on top of the audit trail benefit.
When a lighter workflow does the job
Below that point, a lot of what an add-on gives you can be built more simply: a single online form for tenants to report a repair with a photo, feeding straight into one shared log regardless of which channel it arrived on, with emergency and routine jobs triaged and routed differently from the moment they're reported. This won't give you a dedicated contractor portal or the same formal audit trail, but for an agency that isn't yet drowning in repair volume, it removes most of the actual pain (the scattered phone-email-text split, and manually chasing contractors for updates) without adding a second piece of software everyone has to learn.
Cost and set-up compared
Fixflo's own pricing page, checked today, quotes "price on request" across its tiers plus a published monthly software fee from around £75, with professional services for setup starting from roughly £300 plus VAT, so this is in addition to whatever you already pay for Alto, Reapit or Arthur. Always check current figures directly on Fixflo's own pricing page rather than relying on a number quoted anywhere else, including here, since tiers and fees change.
| Maintenance add-on (e.g. Fixflo) | Lighter workflow | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost model | Monthly software fee plus setup, on top of your core platform | One-off build cost, no new recurring software fee |
| Set-up time | Depends on the vendor's own onboarding | Usually a couple of weeks |
| Contractor portal | Yes, dedicated | No, contractors are notified and update by reply or a simple form |
| Formal audit trail | Yes, built in | Basic, built from the log itself |
| Best suited to | Larger portfolios, several contractors, high repair volume | Smaller to mid-sized agencies, or those not yet at that volume |
| What it needs from your core software | Integration with Alto, Reapit or Arthur, where supported | A way to attach the job to the right property record |
Making both talk to your core software
Whichever route you take, the thing that actually saves time is the job being attached to the right property without someone retyping it into Alto, Reapit or Arthur by hand. A bought add-on handles this through its own integration, where one exists and is supported for your specific platform and plan. A lighter workflow handles it through a direct connection between your form, your log and your core system, which is scoped to exactly what you need rather than depending on a vendor's integration roadmap. Connecting several systems reliably is its own piece of work, usually scoped after a quick look at what you're already running, since it varies too much to price upfront.
Decide in an afternoon: five questions
- How many maintenance jobs are you logging in a typical month, roughly?
- How many different contractors are involved regularly?
- Would tenants or contractors actually use a dedicated portal, or would they still just phone or text anyway?
- Do you need a formal audit trail for insurance, dispute or regulatory reasons, beyond what a simple log gives you?
- Is the admin pain mainly "too many channels" (fixed by a lighter workflow), or "too much volume for anyone to coordinate" (better fixed by a dedicated tool)?
If most answers point to volume and multiple contractors genuinely needing their own portal, lean towards a bought add-on. If the pain is mainly the scattered channels and chasing updates, start lighter.
When to get help, and what we'd do
For most agencies not yet at the volume that justifies a dedicated add-on, we'd start with a single automated workflow, a guide price from £350, usually live within one to two weeks: one online form, one shared log, with emergency and routine jobs triaged and routed automatically from the moment they're reported. If you later need the two to talk to each other, or to a tool like Fixflo once you've outgrown the lighter version, connecting several systems is scoped after a free call once we know what's involved. For agencies wanting tenants and landlords to see progress themselves rather than asking for an update, a customer portal is the next step up, typically from £6,000. These are guide prices for typical projects; the fixed quote comes after a free 30-minute call.
Related
- General guide: Admin eats our evenings and weekends
- Sector pillar: Property drowning in admin
- Example project: a letting agent with a maintenance portal for tenants and landlords
- Sibling page: Emergency or routine? A repair triage workflow
Frequently asked questions
Is Fixflo worth it for a small letting agency?
Not always. Fixflo and similar add-ons earn their cost once you're coordinating a real volume of repairs across several contractors and need a formal audit trail. Below that, a lighter workflow built around a simple form and shared log often covers most of the same pain for less ongoing cost.
How much does Fixflo actually cost?
Fixflo doesn't publish a single headline price. As of today, its own pricing page quotes plans on a "price on request" basis, alongside a published monthly software fee and separate setup costs. Always check Fixflo's current pricing page directly rather than relying on a figure from elsewhere.
Will a lighter workflow replace Alto, Reapit or Arthur?
No, and it isn't meant to. It fills the gap those platforms leave around the messy, manual bit of maintenance, tenant reports, contractor chasing and landlord updates, while the core platform keeps holding the tenancy record.
What if I outgrow a lighter workflow later?
That's a normal progression, not a failed first choice. Once volume or contractor numbers grow enough to justify it, the lighter workflow's log and routing logic usually transfers cleanly into a bought add-on or a fuller custom portal, rather than being wasted effort.
Do maintenance add-ons integrate properly with Alto, Reapit or Arthur?
It varies by vendor, by platform, and sometimes by which plan you're on, so it's worth checking directly with both providers for your specific combination before assuming an integration exists or covers what you need.