Tradify vs ServiceM8: which suits a UK trades firm?
Tradify and ServiceM8 price in opposite ways. Tradify charges £34, £37 or £44 per user per month. ServiceM8 charges by jobs completed each month, free for one user up to 30 jobs, then £25 to £269, with unlimited users on every paid plan. At 30 jobs per person a month, ServiceM8 is cheaper at every team size we modelled, though its prices exclude VAT and Tradify's page does not say either way. The bigger difference for UK firms is certificates: Tradify ships a wide library of UK certificates, including gas safety records and EICRs, and ServiceM8 names neither on its feature or tour pages. If you issue gas or electrical certificates, Tradify is the stronger fit. If you do not and the team is growing, ServiceM8 usually wins on cost.
Neither of these is our product. We make Gafferly, a competitor to both, so every price and feature below comes only from each vendor's own public pages, checked 2026-10-19. How we compare products.
Entry tier, list prices excluding VAT, assuming 30 jobs per person per month.
- Tradify
- ServiceM8
Show the numbers behind this chart
| Monthly cost | 1 user | 3 users | 5 users | 10 users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tradify | £34 | £102 | £170 | £340 |
| ServiceM8 | £0 | £59 | £59 | £119 |
Entry tier for each product, at the cheapest plan that allows that many users. A per-job product's figure depends on volume rather than headcount. Feature differences between tiers are covered in the table below.
Source: Tradify and ServiceM8 pricing pages. Checked 2026-10-19.
Feature by feature
Checked against each vendor's own feature and documentation pages. Where a vendor advertises a capability without naming it specifically, this table says "not stated" rather than guessing.
| Feature | Tradify | ServiceM8 |
|---|---|---|
| CP12 gas safety records | YesNamed as the Landlord/Homeowner Gas Safety Record, alongside 10 or more other gas forms. | NoNo UK gas certificate is named on the feature or tour pages. |
| EICR certificates | YesPart of a wider library than ours, also covering EIC, Minor Works, PAT, emergency lighting, fire alarm, solar PV and EV charger certificates. | NoNo UK electrical certificate is named on the feature or tour pages. |
| Custom forms and checklists | Yes | YesQuestion and answer forms that produce PDF reports. |
| Quotes signed on the customer's phone | YesElectronic signatures captured on site. | YesClient signature captured for job approval. |
| Xero sync | Yes | YesAlso integrates with QuickBooks Online. |
| Card payments | Yes | Yes |
| See where the team is | Not statedNot stated on the feature pages we checked. | YesStaff shown on a map for dispatch. |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 daysNo card needed |
| Contract | Month to month. No contract, cancel any time. | No lock-in contracts. |
| VAT | Not stated on the pricing page. | VAT is added on top of the listed price. |
Feature sources: www.tradifyhq.com/uk/features/electrical-safety-certificates (checked 2026-08-26) and www.servicem8.com/uk/tour (checked 2026-08-26).
Where Tradify is the better buy
UK certificates, ready-made
Tradify's feature pages list the landlord gas safety record and ten or more other gas forms, plus EICR, EIC, Minor Works, PAT, emergency lighting, fire alarm, solar PV and EV charger certificates. ServiceM8 names none of these, so a gas or electrical firm would be building its own forms from scratch.
Busy small teams pay less
Tradify charges per person, so job volume does not move the bill. Two people completing 200 jobs a month pay £68 on Tradify Lite. ServiceM8 needs its £119 Premium plan for anything over 150 jobs in a month.
Where ServiceM8 is the better buy
Unlimited users on every paid plan
Office staff, apprentices and a bookkeeper cost nothing extra on ServiceM8. On Tradify each of them is another £34 to £44 a month. At ten people and 300 jobs a month that is £119 on ServiceM8 against £340 on Tradify Lite.
A free plan that is actually free
One user and up to 30 jobs a month costs nothing on ServiceM8. Tradify's cheapest option is £34 a month after a 14-day trial.
Cheaper texts
ServiceM8 charges 5p a text beyond the plan allowance. Tradify lists texts as an add-on at 10p each.
Choose Tradify if
- You issue gas or electrical certificates and want them ready-made
- You are a small team doing a high volume of jobs each
- You want a wide electrical set: EIC, Minor Works, PAT, emergency lighting
Choose ServiceM8 if
- More than about four people need to log in
- You do not issue gas or electrical certificates
- You are a sole trader doing under 30 jobs a month
- You send a lot of texts
A third option
If you issue CP12s or EICRs and want them for less than Tradify charges, Gafferly is £29 per user per month with no VAT added and both certificates on every plan. It is not cheaper than ServiceM8 for a bigger team, and Tradify's certificate library is wider than ours.
Common questions
Is Tradify or ServiceM8 cheaper?
ServiceM8, for most firms. At 30 jobs per person a month, a sole trader pays nothing on ServiceM8's free plan against £34 on Tradify Lite, three people pay £59 against £102, and ten people pay £119 against £340. The exception is a small team doing lots of jobs each: two people completing 200 jobs a month pay £68 on Tradify against £119 on ServiceM8. ServiceM8's prices exclude VAT. Prices as at 19 October 2026.
Does ServiceM8 do CP12 or EICR certificates?
Neither is named on ServiceM8's feature or tour pages. It has customisable question and answer forms that produce PDF reports, so you could build one yourself, but it is not a supplied certificate the way it is in Tradify.
Which is better for electricians, Tradify or ServiceM8?
Tradify, if you issue certificates. Its own pages list EICR, EIC, Minor Works, PAT, emergency lighting, fire alarm, solar PV and EV charger certificates. ServiceM8 names no electrical certificates. If you do not certify and your team is growing, ServiceM8's unlimited users make it cheaper.
Do Tradify and ServiceM8 have contracts?
No. Tradify's UK pricing page says there is no contract and you can cancel any time, and ServiceM8's says there are no lock-ins. Both offer a 14-day free trial, and ServiceM8's does not need a card.