ServiceM8 vs Tradify
ServiceM8 charges for jobs. Tradify charges for people.
That one difference decides it for most trade businesses, and it decides it hard. Below is what each actually costs across every crew size, worked out from both vendors' Australian pricing pages — then the two things that beat cost outright.
11 scenarios costed Checked 5 August 2026 Both prices in AUD, incl. GST
Where we stand: we build ScopeLock, a variation-approval tool for Australian trades. We're not a job management app and we don't compete with either product on this page — we appear once, near the bottom. Every figure comes from ServiceM8's and Tradify's own pricing pages and help centres, read on 5 August 2026, and every source is linked. Check them yourself; prices move.
01 — The short version
Count your people, then count your jobs.
Whichever number is bigger tells you which pricing model punishes you. There's no scenario where both are close except the narrow band around two people.
A crew of five doing renos? ServiceM8, comfortably. At 150 jobs a month you'd pay A$79 against about A$286 on Tradify Pro.
Sole trader smashing out 500 callouts a month? Tradify. ServiceM8's job caps push you to Premium at A$149 while Tradify stays at one seat.
ServiceM8 gets hard to recommend, and ServiceM8 says so itself. Its Android app is the deliberately reduced edition.
Tradify gets hard to recommend, and Tradify says so itself. Neither its web console nor its app works offline.
02 — The arithmetic
The cost comparison nobody publishes.
Both companies publish a pricing page. Neither publishes what it costs you, because the two models aren't comparable without doing the sums. So we did them.
| Crew | Jobs / month | ServiceM8By job volume | Tradify ProPer user | Cheaper | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person | 30 jobs | A$0Free | A$571 × Pro | ServiceM8 | A$57 |
| 1 person | 150 jobs | A$79Growing | A$571 × Pro | Tradify | A$22 |
| 1 person | 500 jobs | A$149Premium | A$571 × Pro | Tradify | A$92 |
| 2 people | 150 jobs | A$79Growing | A$1142 × Pro | ServiceM8 | A$35 |
| 2 people | 500 jobs | A$149Premium | A$1142 × Pro | Tradify | A$35 |
| 3 people | 150 jobs | A$79Growing | A$1723 × Pro | ServiceM8 | A$93 |
| 3 people | 500 jobs | A$149Premium | A$1723 × Pro | ServiceM8 | A$23 |
| 5 people | 150 jobs | A$79Growing | A$2865 × Pro | ServiceM8 | A$207 |
| 5 people | 500 jobs | A$149Premium | A$2865 × Pro | ServiceM8 | A$137 |
| 8 people | 150 jobs | A$79Growing | A$4588 × Pro | ServiceM8 | A$379 |
| 10 people | 500 jobs | A$149Premium | A$57210 × Pro | ServiceM8 | A$423 |
How these are worked out. ServiceM8 prices are from its Australian pricing page, which states they are in AUD and include GST. Tradify prices are from its Australian pricing page, which quotes AUD per user per month excluding GST; we've added GST so both columns are the amount that actually leaves your account. Tradify Pro is used rather than Lite because online quote acceptance is a Pro feature. No exchange rate is involved anywhere on this page — both figures are already in Australian dollars. Treat these as indicative rather than as quotes, and check both pages before you commit.
Tradify is cheaper in one corner of the map: a solo operator above ServiceM8's free job cap, and two people at high volume. Everywhere else — and especially once you put a third person on — ServiceM8's unlimited-user model wins, and the gap widens with every hire. At ten users on moderate volume the difference is about A$423 a month, or A$5,076 a year.
That is not on its own a reason to pick ServiceM8. It's a reason to know what you're paying for. Read the next section before deciding on price alone.
03 — What beats price
Two things that override the whole table.
Both are the vendors' own published positions, not our reading of them. Neither company hides it; people just don't check before they buy.
Android — ServiceM8's own position
ServiceM8 is an Apple-first product and doesn't pretend otherwise. Its Android app is a separate, lighter product called ServiceM8 Lite.
Offline — Tradify's own position
Tradify's help centre is direct about it, and for a lot of trades it's a non-issue. For anyone regularly working in basements, plant rooms, lift shafts, new builds before the fibre's in, or rural properties on one bar, it's a daily problem.
“ServiceM8 Lite for Android is a simple, fast & easy-to-use Android app for technicians, subcontractors & temporary workers, when it's not practical to give them an iPhone, and they don't need the full power of the iOS app.”ServiceM8, servicem8.com/apple-exclusive, read 5 August 2026
That's a fair and honest position from ServiceM8 — but read it carefully. If your crew is on Samsungs and Pixels, you are choosing the deliberately reduced version of the product, and the A$423 a month you're saving at ten users is a discount on a tool half your crew can't fully use. Tradify runs the same app on both platforms.
“Tradify does not work offline as, both the Web Console and the Mobile App are dependent on a live internet connection to operate.”Tradify Help Centre, Does Tradify Work Offline?, read 5 August 2026
No signal means you can't pull up the job, can't attach the photo to it and can't collect a signature against it. We haven't independently verified ServiceM8's offline behaviour, so we're not claiming it as a win — test it on your own worst site before deciding on this basis.
04 — Feature by feature
The rest of it, side by side.
| Feature | ServiceM8Job management | TradifyJob management |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat monthly, banded by job volume. Unlimited users on paid plans | Per user, per month |
| Entry price | A$0 (1 user, 30 jobs a month) | A$48/user/mo ex GST (Lite) |
| Free tier | Yes — a real one, not a trial | No — 14-day trial only |
| Job volume cap | Yes — 30 / 50 / 150 / 500 / 1,500+ by plan | No cap |
| iOS app | Full-featured, and the flagship | Full-featured |
| Android app | ServiceM8 Lite — a reduced app, by design | Full-featured, same as iOS |
| Works offline | Not verified here — test it yourself | No, per Tradify's help centre |
| Online quote acceptance | Proposals, from Growing (A$79) | Pro and above (A$52/user ex GST) |
| Quote revision | Yes | Yes — documented revise / approve / accept flow |
| Variation capture | Contract Variation Form via the Forms add-on, built by you | Via quote revision |
| Accounting | Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB | Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB |
| Timesheets | Yes | Pro and above |
| SMS | Included allowances on paid plans; 10c each on Free | Optional add-on, about A$0.20 a message |
| Card payment fees | 2.10% + 30c, down to 1.49% + 30c on Premium | Included; fees vary by processor |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days, no card required |
05 — The call
Pick one.
A comparison that refuses to choose is no use to anyone. Here's the choice, on the evidence above.
You've got people
- More than two on the tools and job volume under about 500 a month — the cost gap is large and grows with every hire
- Your crew is on iPhones
- You want to start free and find out whether job management software suits you at all
- You're a sole trader doing under 30 jobs a month, where it costs you nothing
You've got volume
- You're a solo operator with high job volume — the one place per-seat pricing wins outright
- Your crew is on Android and you want everyone on the same full app
- You'd rather have a predictable per-head cost than a bill that jumps in a busy month
- You don't want to think about a job cap at all
Consider neither if you've read this far comparing job management systems when the thing actually costing you money is extra work that gets done and never invoiced. That's a different category, and it's the one we work in — see below.
06 — The gap neither one closes
Both handle a change once it's on the table.
ServiceM8 has a Contract Variation Form, on the Forms add-on from the Growing plan up, which you build yourself in Settings. Tradify lets you revise a quote and resend it. Both work, and both are the right tool for a change the customer has formally asked for.
Neither does anything about the request that never reaches the table — “while you're here, can you just…” — which is where most trade businesses actually lose money. Nobody stops to revise a quote for two extra downlights. You do it, you eat it, and you tell yourself you'll be firmer next job.
That's the bit we work on, and it's the only thing we do. ScopeLock prices extra work on site, sends it to your customer for a signature on their own phone, and gives you both a signed, timestamped PDF — free under A$500, then per approved variation. It runs alongside whichever of these two you pick and replaces neither. If you're choosing job management software, choose from the table above; nothing on this page changes that decision.
07 — Straight answers
Questions people actually ask.
Is ServiceM8 or Tradify cheaper?
It depends entirely on your ratio of staff to jobs. ServiceM8 charges a flat fee by monthly job volume with unlimited users; Tradify charges per user with no job cap. For a crew of five doing 150 jobs a month, ServiceM8 works out about A$207 a month cheaper. For a sole trader doing 500 jobs a month, Tradify is about A$92 a month cheaper. Figures are GST-inclusive and taken from both vendors' Australian pricing pages on 5 August 2026.
Why do other comparisons quote much bigger Tradify prices?
Because they read Tradify's global pricing page, which is in US dollars, and convert it. Tradify publishes a separate Australian page in Australian dollars, and the AU figures are meaningfully lower than a converted USD price. Every Tradify number on this page comes from the Australian page, so there's no exchange rate involved and nothing here goes stale when the dollar moves.
Does ServiceM8 work on Android?
Yes, through ServiceM8 Lite, but it's a deliberately reduced app. ServiceM8's own site describes it as being for "technicians, subcontractors & temporary workers, when it's not practical to give them an iPhone, and they don't need the full power of the iOS app." If your whole crew is on Android, Tradify runs the same full app on both platforms.
Does Tradify work offline?
No. Tradify's help centre article "Does Tradify Work Offline?" states that neither the Web Console nor the Mobile App works offline — both depend on a live internet connection. That matters if you regularly work in basements, plant rooms, lift shafts or rural properties with poor coverage.
Does ServiceM8 have a free plan?
Yes — one user, 30 jobs a month, A$0, and it's a real plan rather than a trial. Tradify has no free tier, only a 14-day trial that doesn't require a credit card.
Can ServiceM8 handle variations?
Yes. It supports a Contract Variation Form through the Forms add-on, which ServiceM8's pricing page lists from the Growing plan (A$79/month) up. The form doesn't exist by default — you build it in Settings with a variation detail field, an estimated price, a tax question and a signature — and staff complete it on site from the job's To Do tab.
Which is better for a crew of five?
On cost, ServiceM8 by a wide margin — about A$79 a month against A$286 at 150 jobs. On platform, Tradify if your crew is on Android, because ServiceM8's Android app is the reduced edition. Work out which of those two constraints binds harder for you; the cost gap is easier to measure and the platform gap is easier to live with badly.
08 — Method
Where every figure came from.
Vendor pricing and features are taken from each product's public website on the date shown. Nothing here is sponsored, neither vendor has reviewed it, and there are no affiliate links on this page.
Re-checked quarterly. If something has changed, tell us and we'll fix it — an out-of-date comparison is worse than none.
Whichever one you picked
The extras still need signing.
ScopeLock runs alongside ServiceM8, Tradify, Fergus or a diary and a notes app. Price the extra work, they sign on their phone, you keep the PDF. Under A$500 it costs nothing, ever.
No card, no trial clock. Your customer doesn't need an account.