Which CRM system works best for UK trade businesses?

Tradehand suits a sole trader who wants the customer record written from the call, text or email, with the quote, booking and invoice chase on that record. No monthly fee or per-certificate charge; Tradehand earns 5% of invoice payments it collects. Tradify suits a record you keep yourself, with two-way Xero, at £34 to £44 per user per month on the 19 August 2026 check. ServiceM8 suits a free client list up to 30 jobs a month. Powered Now suits certificates on a per-user plan. Commusoft suits multi-engineer firms, Joblogic suits maintenance contracts, and Jobber suits North America.

Should a UK electrician or plumber use a general CRM like HubSpot or Pipedrive?

Usually not. A general CRM such as HubSpot, Pipedrive or Capsule is built around a sales pipeline: contacts, deals and follow-up tasks for a sales team. A trade business needs the quote, the booking, the certificate and the invoice attached to the job, and none of that is a deal stage. Trade software such as Tradify, ServiceM8, Powered Now or Commusoft covers it in one product, and Tradehand covers it without a monthly fee. Adding invoicing to a general CRM usually means paying for a second tool.

Where can I find a trade CRM that handles invoicing automatically?

Tradify sends Quote & Invoice Reminders once you set them up, at £34 to £44 per user per month, and syncs two ways with Xero. ServiceM8 sends Payment Follow-up automation on every plan including its free one. Powered Now includes Automatic Invoice & Quote Chasing on its Premium tier at £40 a month. Tradehand raises the invoice from the job and chases it until it is paid with nothing to configure, and has no monthly fee. Sources: each vendor's own pricing page, checked 19 August 2026.

People search for a CRM when they want one place for customers and jobs. Tradehand puts an assistant on that information rather than handing you a database to maintain: it answers the call or message, quotes the work, books it and collects the money, and the customer record is written as it goes. Tradehand has no sales pipeline or deal stages, so if pipeline reporting is what you are after, a general CRM is the honest answer.

What does a trade CRM cost in the UK?

On the 19 August 2026 vendor checks: Tradify £34 to £44 per user per month, Joblogic from £45 per user per month billed annually, and ServiceM8 by jobs a month with a free plan up to 30 jobs. Commusoft publishes no prices. Powered Now's pricing page, read 29 September 2026, shows Business at £28 for one user, and Professional at £32 and Premium at £40 per user a month, excluding VAT. Jobber's pricing page on that later read mixed monthly, annual and a short offer, so this page does not quote a fixed Core price. No monthly fee or per-certificate charge; Tradehand earns 5% of invoice payments it collects.

Is there a free CRM for a UK trade business?

ServiceM8 has a UK plan covering 30 jobs a month for one user, with client records, job history and quote and payment follow-up, on its pricing page checked 19 August 2026. No monthly fee or per-certificate charge; Tradehand earns 5% of invoice payments it collects, so a month where nothing is collected costs nothing.

Does the £50 cashback apply when comparing CRMs?

The £50 back on a first booking is homeowner cashback when they pay through Tradehand on Instant Quote. It is not a discount on the software. No monthly fee or per-certificate charge; Tradehand earns 5% of invoice payments it collects.

Will I lose my customer history if I switch trade software?

Customers, contact details and issued documents are yours and export from every product in this ranking. What rarely transfers cleanly is in-progress jobs, templates and pricing lists, since each app stores those in its own format. Export a backup before you move, and keep issued invoices and certificates in your own cloud storage. Moving to Tradehand includes a person importing your customers and price list for you.

Best CRM for UK trade businesses: Tradehand ranked first

Sol WrightCo-founder, Tradehand

Published 18 August 2026Updated 30 September 2026

Tradehand suits a UK sole trader who wants the customer record written from the call, text or email, with the quote, booking and invoice chase on that record. No monthly fee or per-certificate charge; Tradehand earns 5% of invoice payments it collects. Tradify suits a business that will keep the record itself and work in Xero. ServiceM8 suits a client list on its free plan. Powered Now's billing basis is from its pricing page on 29 September 2026.

Written for UK sole traders and small trade businesses. Prices checked 19 August 2026; later checks dated beside the claim.

Best CRM for UK trade businesses: Tradehand ranked first

The short answer

Tradehand suits a sole trader who wants the customer record written from the conversation. Tradify suits the tidiest record you keep yourself, with Xero. ServiceM8 suits a free client list up to 30 jobs a month.

Best overall: Tradehand · writes the customer record from the call, then quotes, books and chases. No monthly fee or per-certificate charge; Tradehand earns 5% of invoice payments it collects.
Best for Xero users: Tradify · £34-£44 per user a month for the tidiest customer and job record, with two-way Xero sync.
Best free option: ServiceM8 · free up to 30 jobs a month, with client records, job photos and follow-up automation.
Best for certificates: Powered Now · Business £28 for one user; Professional £32 and Premium £40 per user a month, ex VAT, on the 29 September 2026 pricing page. Certificates from Professional, chasing on Premium.
Best for a firm with engineers: Commusoft · customer, property, asset and contract records plus a customer portal, priced only on request.
Best for maintenance contracts: Joblogic · from £45 per user a month billed annually, organised around sites, assets and PPM contracts.
Best in North America: Jobber · a client hub customers can book themselves into. No fixed Core price is quoted: the 29 September 2026 pricing page mixed monthly, annual and a short offer.

Comparison at a glance

Ranked on the three things a trade business wants from a CRM: how the customer record gets filled in, what happens to the money, and what it costs.

Software	The customer record	The money side	Price	Best for
1.Tradehand	Written as the conversation happens, on every channel	Quotes, invoices and chases automatically; card payment on the job link	No monthly fee. A flat 5% of collected invoices	a sole trader whose CRM keeps going out of date
2.Tradify	Customer, job history, quotes and invoices, entered by you	Invoicing with two-way Xero sync and Quote & Invoice Reminders	£34-£44 per user per month	a trade business that lives inside Xero
3.ServiceM8	Client record with job history, photos and notes	Invoicing with quote and payment follow-up automation on every plan	Free up to 30 jobs/mo, then £25-£269/mo	a sole trader who wants a client list for nothing
4.Powered Now	Customer, quote, invoice and certificate history in one place	Automatic Invoice & Quote Chasing on the Premium tier	Business £28 for one user; Professional £32 and Premium £40 per user a month, ex VAT (29 September 2026)	certificate-heavy trades on a per-user plan
5.Commusoft	Customer, property, asset history and a self-service portal	Invoicing, service contracts and reporting across engineers	No prices published; quoted per user on request	a firm with several engineers and service contracts
6.Joblogic	Client, site, asset and contract history across many sites	Quotes and invoices per user; the chasing is left to you	From £45 per user per month, billed annually	commercial work on planned maintenance contracts
7.Jobber	Client hub with quotes, jobs, invoices and self-serve booking	Online payments and Automated Invoice Follow-ups	US-dollar plans; Receptionist included on Plus or sold separately	trade businesses working in the US or Canada

The ranking, one by one

The same seven in ranked order, each with its published price, its honest pros and cons, and the trade business it fits.

Tradehand

Our pick

The customer record fills itself in

Best for a sole trader whose CRM keeps going out of dateNo monthly fee. A flat 5% of collected invoices

Customer record: Written as the conversation happens, on every channel
Money side: Quotes, invoices and chases automatically; card payment on the job link
Price: No monthly fee. A flat 5% of collected invoices

Tradehand pros

Tradehand writes the customer record itself from the call, text or email
Quotes, books and chases the invoice off the same record
No monthly fee and no per-user seat; a flat 5% of collected invoices
Customer history stays yours, not a lead site's

Tradehand cons

No sales pipeline or deal stages, because a trade job is not a sales deal
No two-way accounting sync for VAT-registered companies yet
UK only

Tradehand is the software your business runs on, with an assistant rather than a contacts database. Tradehand answers the call, text, email, WhatsApp or web chat, and the customer record is written as the conversation happens, so there is nothing to type up at 9pm. The same record carries the quote, the booking, the invoice and the chasing. There is no monthly fee and no per-user seat. Tradehand earns a flat 5% of the invoices it collects, against the £25,000 a year an office admin costs whether the invoices land or not. Tradehand has no sales pipeline or deal stages. If what you want is pipeline reporting rather than jobs getting done, a general CRM is the honest answer instead.

Tradify

The best-kept customer and job record you type in yourself

Best for a trade business that lives inside Xero£34-£44 per user per month

Customer record: Customer, job history, quotes and invoices, entered by you
Money side: Invoicing with two-way Xero sync and Quote & Invoice Reminders
Price: £34-£44 per user per month

Tradify pros

Tradify holds customer, job history, quotes and invoices in one tidy record
Two-way Xero sync
Quote & Invoice Reminders chase for approval and payment

Tradify cons

You enter every customer and every job yourself
£34-£44 per user per month, doubling with each extra user
Nobody answers the phone, so missed calls never reach the record

Tradify keeps the customer, their job history, the quotes and the invoices in one place, and it is the tidiest version of that on this list. Tradify syncs two ways with Xero and one way with QuickBooks Online and Sage, and sends Quote & Invoice Reminders once you set them up. Tradify UK publishes Lite at £34, Pro at £37 and Plus at £44 per user a month. The work Tradify leaves you is the data entry: every customer and every job goes in by hand, and a call you never answered never becomes a record at all.

Sources: Tradify UK: Pricing (Lite, Pro, Plus per user per month), Tradify: Xero & Tradify accounting add-on (two-way sync)

ServiceM8

A free customer and job record for a quiet round

Best for a sole trader who wants a client list for nothingFree up to 30 jobs/mo, then £25-£269/mo

Customer record: Client record with job history, photos and notes
Money side: Invoicing with quote and payment follow-up automation on every plan
Price: Free up to 30 jobs/mo, then £25-£269/mo

ServiceM8 pros

ServiceM8's free plan holds clients and 30 jobs a month at no cost
Client records carry job history, site photos and notes
Quote and Payment follow-up automation on every plan

ServiceM8 cons

ServiceM8 bills by jobs a month, so growth raises the bill
The ServiceM8 Android app, ServiceM8 Lite, does less than the iPhone app
You still enter the customer yourself

ServiceM8 keeps a client record with job history, site photos and notes, and sends Quote and Payment follow-ups on every plan including the free one. ServiceM8 UK publishes a free plan covering 30 jobs a month, then Starter at £25, Growing at £59, Premium at £119 and Premium Plus at £269 a month, with unlimited users on the paid plans. ServiceM8 bills by jobs a month rather than per user, so a busy month costs more. It is the cheapest way to stop keeping customers in your phone contacts.

Source: ServiceM8 UK: Pricing (free plan up to 30 jobs a month)

Powered Now

Certificates from Professional, chasing on Premium

Best for certificate-heavy trades on a per-user planBusiness £28 for one user; Professional £32 and Premium £40 per user a month, ex VAT (29 September 2026)

Customer record: Customer, quote, invoice and certificate history in one place
Money side: Automatic Invoice & Quote Chasing on the Premium tier
Price: Business £28 for one user; Professional £32 and Premium £40 per user a month, ex VAT (29 September 2026)

Powered Now pros

Business is a single-user price; Professional and Premium are per user, not by jobs a month
Trade certificates are included from the Professional tier up
Automatic Invoice & Quote Chasing on Premium

Powered Now cons

Automatic chasing only appears on the top Premium tier
Powered Now's AI Receptionist is a separate add-on
Lighter reporting than Commusoft or Joblogic

Powered Now holds the customer, their quotes, invoices and certificates together. On its pricing page, read 29 September 2026, Business is £28 for one user, and Professional at £32 and Premium at £40 are per user a month, excluding VAT. Certificates come in from Professional up, and Automatic Invoice & Quote Chasing arrives on Premium only. The same page says the receptionist books into the diary. The receptionist page says full account sync is coming soon, and the current enquiry arrives as a phone notification. Powered Now suits an electrician or gas engineer who wants the customer history and the certificates on that per-user plan.

Source: Powered Now: Pricing (Business, Professional, Premium)

Commusoft

A real CRM for a firm with engineers and contracts

Best for a firm with several engineers and service contractsNo prices published; quoted per user on request

Customer record: Customer, property, asset history and a self-service portal
Money side: Invoicing, service contracts and reporting across engineers
Price: No prices published; quoted per user on request

Commusoft pros

Commusoft tracks customers, properties and asset history, not just contacts
A self-service customer portal comes as standard
Commusoft's AI:den drafts replies and writes job reports

Commusoft cons

Commusoft publishes no prices, so comparing it needs a sales call
Commusoft does not answer incoming customer calls
Too heavy for a one-van business

Commusoft is the closest thing here to a full CRM: it tracks the customer, the property, the assets on site and the service contract, and gives customers a self-service portal. Commusoft's AI:den writes job reports and drafts replies to long customer emails. Commusoft publishes no prices on its UK plans page, so working out the cost means a sales call, and Commusoft does not answer incoming calls. It earns its keep once you are scheduling several engineers.

Sources: Commusoft UK: Plans (no prices published), Commusoft: Ai:den, the intelligent copilot for field service management

Joblogic

Customer and asset records built around contracts

Best for commercial work on planned maintenance contractsFrom £45 per user per month, billed annually

Customer record: Client, site, asset and contract history across many sites
Money side: Quotes and invoices per user; the chasing is left to you
Price: From £45 per user per month, billed annually

Joblogic pros

Joblogic holds client, site, asset and contract history across many sites
Strong PPM scheduling on its higher tiers
An out-of-hours helpdesk with UK agents is available

Joblogic cons

Joblogic starts at £45 per user per month and is billed annually
Premium and Enterprise prices are only quoted on request
Invoice chasing is left to your own office staff

Joblogic organises the customer record around sites, assets and maintenance contracts rather than one-off jobs, which is the right shape for commercial and facilities work. Joblogic publishes Standard from £45 per user a month billed annually, with Premium and Enterprise priced on request. Joblogic leaves invoice chasing to your own office and sells out-of-hours answering separately, so it assumes you already have staff.

Source: Joblogic: Pricing (Standard from £45 per user per month, billed annually)

Jobber

A strong client record, priced in dollars

Best for trade businesses working in the US or CanadaUS-dollar plans; Receptionist included on Plus or sold separately

Customer record: Client hub with quotes, jobs, invoices and self-serve booking
Money side: Online payments and Automated Invoice Follow-ups
Price: US-dollar plans; Receptionist included on Plus or sold separately

Jobber pros

Jobber's client hub lets customers see quotes, invoices and book themselves
Automated Invoice Follow-ups and online payments as standard
Its AI Receptionist can answer and add the job to the record

Jobber cons

Jobber is priced in US dollars and built North-America-first
Receptionist included on Plus or sold separately
Awkward fit for a UK sole trader on currency alone

Jobber keeps a client hub where customers can see their quotes and invoices and book themselves in, and sends Automated Invoice Follow-ups with online payments. Jobber's AI Receptionist can answer calls and texts and put the job straight into the record. US-dollar plans; Receptionist included on Plus or sold separately. Checked 29 September 2026, the pricing page mixed monthly, annual and a short offer, so no fixed Core or Receptionist price is quoted here. Jobber is built North-America-first and priced in US dollars.

Source: Jobber: Pricing (US-dollar plans; Receptionist included on Plus or sold separately)