Tradify alternatives for a one-person trade
We make one of the alternatives, so read this knowing that. What follows is still the honest version: why people leave Tradify, who shouldn't, and what the real options are with prices attached. If you finish it and stay put, the page did its job.
Why people look for a Tradify alternative
Almost always the per-seat price. Tradify charges per user, which is the right model for a firm and the wrong one for a sole trader: you pay a team rate for a single login, and around a third of that cost buys the team features you are the only user of. The other trigger is trial expiry — 14 days, then a paid per-user plan, with no free tier to fall back to in a quiet month.
Who should stay on Tradify
Trades businesses with two or more people on the tools, and anyone who needs the job-sheet and certificate side of Tradify. Per-seat pricing stops being a problem the moment there are seats. If you are about to hire, staying put is the cheaper decision overall.
Tradify is priced per user and aimed at trades businesses with a few people on the tools. Switching software costs you a weekend and a month of small annoyances, so it needs to buy you more than that.
The options, with prices
Four honest shapes of answer. Prices as published by each company, read on the dates shown.
SoloDesks
£12/month, flat
If you're leaving over the price for one person. Priced per business rather than per seat or per job, with a free plan that has no card and no expiry. Quotes, invoices, payment chasing and a job calendar — and nothing else, which is the trade-off. No team seats, no dispatch, no timesheets.
Jobber
From $29–$49/mo (1 user; annual vs monthly)
Jobber is built for growing teams with dispatch, a scheduling desk and staff to manage. Worth a look if what pushed you off Tradify was the product rather than the pricing model — though check that its model suits you better before you move, because a like-for-like swap solves nothing.
ServiceM8
From $0 (up to 30 jobs/mo)
ServiceM8 prices by monthly job volume, stepping up through tiers as you do more work. Worth a look if what pushed you off Tradify was the product rather than the pricing model — though check that its model suits you better before you move, because a like-for-like swap solves nothing.
Accounting software you already pay for
If invoicing is the only part you actually use. If you're already paying for bookkeeping software for Making Tax Digital, it almost certainly raises invoices too. One subscription instead of two. You lose the job-side of things — the calendar, the quote-to-invoice flow, the chasing — so it depends whether you were using those.
Stay where you are
If it works and the price doesn't hurt. Migrating costs you an evening of exporting, a week of muscle-memory, and the small risk of losing a client record you only notice needing in eight months. That's a real cost. If Tradifyis doing the job and the bill isn't the thing that brought you here, the honest advice is to close the tab.
Before you switch anything
- Export first, cancel second. Clients, invoice history, anything with a number on it. Do it while you still have an account.
- Keep six years of records. That's how long HMRC can ask you to produce them, and “it was in the old app” isn't an answer.
- Don't move mid-job. Finish and invoice what's open, then switch on the quiet week. Half a job in each system is how a quote goes missing.
- Carry your invoice numbering across. Start the new system at the next number in your sequence, not back at 1. Gaps and restarts are the first thing an HMRC enquiry picks at.
Questions people ask
- What is the best Tradify alternative for a sole trader?
- It depends why you're leaving. If it's the price for one person, a flat-priced one-person tool like SoloDesks (£12/month, free plan below it) is the direct answer. If it's a missing feature, another team product is more likely to have it — and if you have staff, Tradify is probably still the right call.
- Is there a free Tradify alternative?
- SoloDesks has a free plan with no card and no expiry: 10 quotes, 10 invoices and 10 emailed PDFs a month, with unlimited clients and jobs. ServiceM8's free tier is more generous on job count at 30 jobs a month. Between those two, pick on which limit you'd hit first.
- Should I switch away from Tradify?
- Trades businesses with two or more people on the tools, and anyone who needs the job-sheet and certificate side of Tradify. Per-seat pricing stops being a problem the moment there are seats. If you are about to hire, staying put is the cheaper decision overall.
- Will I lose my data if I move off Tradify?
- Export before you cancel, not after — clients, past invoices and anything you might need for HMRC. Most job software can export clients and invoices to CSV or PDF. Whatever you move to, keep a copy of your old records for at least six years: that's how long HMRC expects you to be able to produce them.
If the price for one person is the problem
That's the one we were built to solve. Start on the free plan, no card, and see whether a month of your own work fits.
Pricing shown for Tradify and other named products is as of July 2026, taken from each company's own published pricing page, linked above. Plans and prices change — verify before you buy. All product names are trademarks of their owners; SoloDesks isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of them, this comparison is our own, and we make one of the products listed.