What Is Tradify and Who Is It For?
Tradify is a job management platform originating from New Zealand and now widely used by UK trade businesses. It covers:
- Scheduling jobs across multiple engineers
- Job dispatch and tracking
- Customer quoting and invoice generation
- Timesheet tracking for staff
- Purchase order management
For a plumbing business with 3–10 engineers to coordinate, Tradify offers genuine value. The multi-user features — scheduling a team, tracking jobs across multiple engineers, managing supplier orders — justify the per-user cost for a growing trade business. For a solo plumber working alone, these features are dead weight, and you are paying for them.
Feature Comparison: Tradify vs TraderInvoice
| Feature | Tradify | TraderInvoice |
|---|---|---|
| Target user | Trade businesses with teams / multiple engineers | Solo self-employed tradespeople |
| Pricing | ~£35/month per user (as of 2026) | Free (5 invoices), £29/month Starter, £59/month Pro |
| Voice invoicing | No | Yes — core feature, create invoice by speech in 30 seconds |
| Invoice creation time | 2–5 minutes (form-based entry) | Under 60 seconds from voice |
| Quoting | Yes — detailed job quotes | Yes — on Starter and Pro plans, with customer acceptance link |
| Job scheduling / dispatch | Yes — multi-engineer scheduling | No — not a job management tool |
| Timesheet tracking | Yes | Not required for solo trader |
| CIS invoice formatting | Basic | Yes — labour/materials separation built in |
| Free tier | No (trial period only) | Yes — 5 invoices/month, permanently free |
| Mobile app | Yes — iOS and Android | Yes — works from browser on any phone |
| Learning curve | Moderate — full platform with many features | Minimal — speak your invoice, it does the rest |
Pricing Comparison
Tradify
- ~£35/month per user (annual billing)
- No permanent free tier
- Trial period available
- Additional cost for extra users
~£35/month for one user
(£420/year)
TraderInvoice
- Free tier: 5 invoices/month — no expiry
- Starter: £29/month (unlimited invoices + quoting)
- Pro: £59/month (full features)
- No per-user fees
£29/month for Starter
(£348/year — £72 less than Tradify)
For a solo plumber who does 5–20 invoices per month, the Starter plan at £29/month is more than sufficient — and the free tier covers plumbers just getting started or doing limited invoicing. Over a year, switching from Tradify to TraderInvoice saves £72+ — and the invoicing workflow is faster.
The Voice Invoicing Difference
The most meaningful functional difference for day-to-day use is voice invoicing. TraderInvoice is built around creating invoices by speaking, not typing — you describe your job in plain English and the AI creates a complete, formatted invoice.
Tradify invoice creation
- Open app, navigate to invoices
- Select customer (or create new)
- Enter job title and description
- Add line items (labour and materials separately)
- Enter rates and quantities for each line
- Set due date, payment terms
- Preview and send PDF
Typical time: 3–6 minutes per invoice
TraderInvoice voice creation
You say:
"Invoice for Mrs Chen at 24 Oak Street. New kitchen tap and isolation valve replacement. Labour 1.5 hours at £65, materials £42. Payment due in 7 days."
TraderInvoice creates a complete, formatted invoice with labour and materials separated, customer details populated, and due date calculated.
Typical time: Under 60 seconds
Over a year of daily invoicing, this time difference compounds. At 20 invoices per month, saving 3 minutes per invoice saves 60 minutes per month — an extra hour of billable time.
When Tradify Makes More Sense
Tradify is the better choice if:
- You have 2+ engineers to schedule and coordinate
- You need to dispatch jobs to a team and track who is working where
- You manage purchase orders across multiple suppliers for a larger operation
- You are a plumbing contractor running commercial projects with complex job tracking needs
TraderInvoice is intentionally not a full job management platform. It does one thing exceptionally well: fast, professional invoicing and quoting for the solo tradesperson. If you need to coordinate a team, Tradify is genuinely the better fit for that problem.
Try TraderInvoice free — no credit card required
Start with the free tier (5 invoices/month). Upgrade to Starter at £29/month when you are ready for unlimited invoices and quoting. Use promo code 04TI26 for a discount on your first paid month.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Tradify?
- Tradify is a job management platform designed for trade businesses — it handles job scheduling, quoting, invoicing, and timesheets. It is primarily designed for trade businesses with multiple engineers or employees. For a business with a team to coordinate, it is a strong platform. For a solo plumber working alone, many of its job management features are unnecessary overhead, and the pricing (typically £30–£40/month per user) reflects its enterprise-leaning positioning.
Is TraderInvoice free?
- Yes — TraderInvoice has a genuinely free tier covering 5 invoices per month. This is right-sized for a plumber just starting out or someone doing occasional subcontract work. The Starter plan at £29/month adds unlimited invoices, quoting with customer acceptance, and CIS-ready invoice formatting. The Pro plan at £59/month adds advanced features. There is no free trial countdown — the free tier is permanent.
Does TraderInvoice work for CIS invoices?
- Yes. TraderInvoice handles CIS invoice structure automatically — when you speak your invoice mentioning labour and materials separately, it formats them as distinct line items. You can include your UTR on the invoice and a CIS deduction note. This is essential for plumbers doing subcontract work where the 20% CIS deduction applies to labour only.
What makes TraderInvoice different from Tradify for a solo plumber?
- The core difference is focus. Tradify is built for managing a team: scheduling multiple engineers, tracking job progress across staff, and running a growing trade business. TraderInvoice is built for the solo tradesperson: create a professional invoice or quote by voice in 30 seconds, send it before you leave the site, and get paid faster. For a solo plumber who works alone and does not need to schedule other engineers, TraderInvoice is significantly simpler, faster to use day-to-day, and substantially cheaper.