What is the best Powered Now alternative in the UK?

Tradehand answers missed calls, quotes from your rates, books and chases, at 5% of what Tradehand collects after the fee-free allowance. Certificate-heavy work: stay on Powered Now.

Why do UK trades leave Powered Now?

Powered Now prices per user, so the bill grows with the team, and the AI Receptionist and Here Is My Work website are sold separately.

Is Tradehand cheaper than Powered Now?

Tradehand earns 5% of collected invoice payments after the fee-free allowance, and nothing in a quiet month. Powered Now bills per user regardless.

Powered Now already chases my quotes. What does Tradehand add?

Powered Now chases a quote you already wrote, on its top tier. Tradehand chases the customer before there is a quote.

How is Tradehand different from the Powered Now AI Receptionist?

The Powered Now AI Receptionist takes details and texts you the lead, as an add-on. Tradehand answers, prices, books and chases payment.

Can I move my data from Powered Now to Tradehand?

Tradehand imports customers and prices, done for you by a person. Tradehand does not import historic jobs or Powered Now certificates.

Does Tradehand work with Xero or QuickBooks?

Tradehand pushes invoices one way into Xero and QuickBooks, plus CSV. VAT-registered companies cannot push today. Powered Now markets a Xero sync of invoices, payments and customers.

Will I lose my certificates if I leave Powered Now?

Powered Now ships industry specific certificates and forms, signed on site. Tradehand has ten certificate types, not a forms library. Export before cancelling Powered Now.

Powered Now alternative UK

The Powered Now alternative for UK sole traders who want more work

Powered Now is a good UK product that papers a job beautifully. Trades leave because the bill is per user, and the parts that win work are sold separately.

Blake FolgadoCo-founder, Tradehand

Published 25 July 2026

The short answer

The question is not who clears paperwork fastest. It is who fills a thin diary. Powered Now wins certificate-heavy work. Tradify suits a team wanting accounting sync. Tradehand answers, quotes, books and chases, for 5% of collected invoice payments after the fee-free allowance.

Why Tradehand only earns after you have been paid

Those tiers are doing a person's job, so compare a person. Powered Now bills per user. Tradehand bills nothing until a customer pays.

An office admin

£25,000 /year

UK office manager starter salary, before NI and pension. Paid whether invoices land or not.

Source: Office manager salary

Tradehand

£0 /month

No monthly fee, no setup fee, no add-ons. 5% of what Tradehand collects after the fee-free allowance.

Salary: National Careers Service office-manager profile, read 24 July 2026. Competitor tier prices are deliberately not reproduced; see the sources.

Side by side

	Tradehand	Powered Now
Answers the phone mid-jobSource: Powered Now AI Receptionist	TradehandAnswers, prices from your rates, books it in	Powered NowAI Receptionist add-on takes details, texts the lead
Chases a customer who went quietSource: Powered Now pricing	TradehandChases customers you never quoted, plus unpaid invoices	Powered NowAutomatic quote and invoice chasing, top tier
Certificates and compliance formsSource: Powered Now features	TradehandTen certificate types, free, signed and countersigned	Powered NowIndustry specific certificates and forms, signed on site. Powered Now wins
Repeat revenueSource: Powered Now features	TradehandMembership and service plans, billed on repeat	Powered NowService reminders, no plan billing
Driving between jobsSource: Powered Now features	TradehandDay optimiser reassigns jobs to cut driving, you approve	Powered NowRoute planning through Google and Apple Maps
Keeping the customer postedSource: Powered Now features	TradehandText, email, voice and web, live ETA on the link	Powered NowUnlimited text and email, on-my-way alerts
How you are billedSource: Powered Now pricing	Tradehand5% of invoices collected, nothing until you are paid	Powered NowMonthly per user, excluding VAT, receptionist extra

More work, on a Tuesday

You are under a floor at 09:32 and the phone goes. Powered Now's receptionist texts you the lead, so you quote tonight. Tradehand quotes before you leave.

Powered Now papers that job once you have won it. The gap is earlier, because someone has to answer the call and price the work, and your assistant is the one who does it.

So which should you pick?

Stay on Powered Now if…

·Your week is certificate-heavy: gas, electrical, risk assessments
·You are happy buying the receptionist as an add-on

Choose Tradify if…

·You want Xero and QuickBooks Online sync on every plan
·You need timesheets and job costing

Choose ServiceM8 if…

·Your crew is on iPhones and someone drives it
·Job count is steady, so job credits never bite

Choose Tradehand if…

✓Your problem is a thin diary, not a messy one
✓You would rather pay nothing in a quiet month

Powered Now beats Tradehand on paperwork, and it is not close: industry specific certificates and forms, completed, stored and signed on site, plus staff tracking and a Xero sync of invoices, payments and customers.

Leaving Powered Now without losing your records

Run both for a week, keeping Powered Now as your certificate book.

Day 1
Export customers and prices
Pull them out of Powered Now, keeping that account for old certificates.
Day 1
We do the import
A person moves customers, prices, number, rates and diary. Historic jobs do not come.
Day 7
Judge it on jobs won
Count calls answered, quotes accepted, invoices paid. No contract either way.