SoloDesks vs Powered Now, for a solo tradesperson
Powered Now is a UK-built trade app and one of the few that names sole traders on its own pricing page: the Business plan is £28 a month before VAT for a single user, with Making Tax Digital included. The catch is what sits above it. Automatic invoice and quote chasing is on Premium, two tiers up at £40 per user, so the one job a one-person business most wants software to do is priced for a firm. SoloDesks is £12 a month flat with chasing on that plan, and a free tier below it.
Free plan, no card needed. £12/month for unlimited when you want it.
SoloDesks vs Powered Now, side by side
| Feature | SoloDesks | Powered Now |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price for one person | £12 flat (or £0 on Free) | £28 before VAT (Business plan) |
| Free plan with no time limit | Yes, free forever, no card | No, 14-day trial, then paid |
| Pricing model | Flat, one person | Single-user entry plan, per user above it |
| Built for | A single sole trader | Sole traders up to trade teams |
| Chases overdue invoices for you | Yes, Overdue Autopilot on the £12 plan | Yes, on Premium at £40 per user |
| Making Tax Digital | No, not an MTD product | Yes, on every plan |
| Professional PDF quotes & invoices | Yes | Yes |
| Works fully from your phone | Yes | Yes |
Powered Now's plans
Powered Now is a UK trade app with a single-user plan at £28 and two per-user tiers above it, built to carry a sole trader up to a team with compliance paperwork. For reference, here is what Powered Now publishes, next to SoloDesks's flat £12/month.
Business
£28/mo
one user, before VAT
Professional
£32/mo
per user, before VAT
Premium
£40/mo
per user, before VAT
Those are Powered Now's own prices, in pounds, off its UK pricing page. Every one of them excludes VAT, which is their own footnote rather than our reading of it: add VAT at the standard rate and the £28 sole-trader plan is £33.60 a month to anyone not registered, who cannot reclaim it. Business is the only single-user plan they sell. Professional and Premium are priced per user, so the tiers holding certificates, unlimited texts and automatic chasing all carry a pricing model built for staff. Annual billing takes two months off, bringing Business to £280 for the year.
Questions people ask
- Is SoloDesks cheaper than Powered Now?
- For one person, yes. SoloDesks Pro is a flat £12 a month with a free plan below it. Powered Now's single-user Business plan is £28 a month before VAT, and the plan that carries automatic invoice and quote chasing is Premium at £40 per user. So the gap is wider than the headline suggests if chasing is the thing you want.
- Does SoloDesks do Making Tax Digital?
- No. Powered Now does, on all three of its plans, and it is HMRC-recognised for it. If you want your software to file for you, that is a real reason to stay where you are. SoloDesks quotes, invoices, schedules and chases overdue payments; it does not file anything to HMRC.
- Can I try SoloDesks free?
- Yes, and the free plan needs no card and does not expire. It covers 10 quotes, 10 invoices and 10 emailed PDFs a month, with unlimited clients and jobs. Powered Now offers a 14-day trial on every plan, also without a card, which then converts to a paid plan.
Not sold on either? Read the wider list of Powered Now alternatives. Comparing more than these two? See our comparison of eight invoicing apps for UK tradespeople, including Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent, with every price dated and linked to the page it came from.
Built for one, priced for one
Start on the free plan, no card. Upgrade to Pro for £12 a month when the work picks up.
Start freePricing and features shown for Powered Now are as of September 2026, taken from Powered Now's pricing page. Plans and prices change. Verify on Powered Now's own site before you buy. Powered Now is a trademark of its owner; SoloDesks isn't affiliated with or endorsed by it, and this comparison is our own.