ScopeLock vs Fergus
ScopeLock vs Fergus: tracked, or agreed
Where each one fits, what each actually costs, and the rows where Fergus beats us. Sourced from Fergus's own site, not from a roundup.
Straight up: we make ScopeLock, so we're not a neutral party and you shouldn't read this as if we were. Every Fergus fact below comes from Fergus's own website or help centre and was checked on 5 August 2026. The links are in the page — check them yourself, and tell us if we've got something wrong.
The short version
The short answer
Fergus is a full job management platform for trades businesses with staff — quoting, invoicing, job phases, purchase orders, health and safety, GPS on the Pro plan. If you're running a crew and want structure, it's a serious option, and the free onboarding hour is a genuine differentiator for anyone who doesn't want to self-teach software.
It's also the one product on this site with a proper Variations feature, so we'll be precise about the difference. In Fergus, a variation is an internal tracking record: extra work gets its own job number and follows through to invoicing, which is exactly what you want for costing and reporting. What it isn't is a customer-facing approval — it doesn't put the scope and the price in front of the customer and come back signed before you start. That's the bit ScopeLock does, and it's why the two sit together rather than against each other.
Who ScopeLock is for
Trades who need a variation agreed before the tool comes out
Tradespeople who need a variation priced, explained and approved on site — on a phone, in under a minute. It does one job: the moment between “while you're here, could you…” and picking the tool back up. If you need scheduling, timesheets and job costing, this isn't that.
Who Fergus is for
Plumbing and electrical outfits running bigger, longer jobs
Fergus is built around the shape of a real trade job — phases, purchase orders, job costing — and it's one of the few platforms with a first-class Variations feature, where extra work gets its own job number and tracks separately through to invoicing. For a growing team doing multi-stage work, that structure is the point.
Credit where it's due
What Fergus does better than us
Fergus is the strongest job management product here for a crew doing longer work, and the list is long.
- Structure for real jobsJob phases, checklists, purchase orders, job costing and reporting. If your work runs over weeks rather than hours, this is the shape you want.
- Health and safety built inRare at this price, and it matters a great deal in New Zealand and increasingly in Australia.
- Free onboarding, no setup feeA free one-hour session with a product specialist. For anyone who doesn't want to learn software from a help centre, that's worth more than a feature.
- Variations as a first-class recordExtra work gets its own job number and tracks separately through to the invoice. Most job management tools don't model variations at all.
Feature by feature
What each one actually does
Every mark in the right-hand column comes from the vendor's own website or help centre. Where we couldn't find a public answer we've said so rather than guessed.
- Yes
- Partial — see the note
- No
- Couldn't verify
| Feature | ScopeLockVariation approvals | FergusJob management for trades |
|---|---|---|
| On-site variation approvalPrice the extra work and get it agreed before you start it | Yes. Built for exactly this — draft, price and send from the register in under a minute. | Partial. Variations are a proper feature — but they're an internal tracking record, not something the customer approves before you start. |
| Customer signature on mobileThey sign on a phone, yours or theirs | Yes. Customer signs on their own phone from a link, or on yours. | Yes. Sign-off in Fergus Go captures the signature directly on the tradesperson's phone. |
| SMS deliverySend the approval link by text, not just email | Yes. SMS and email delivery. 100 SMS segments a month included on Business. | Partial. Not in the base plans; sold as an add-on at roughly A$15 per 100 texts. |
| Signed PDF evidence packsOne PDF holding the scope, price, photos and both signatures | Yes. Scope wording, price, time impact, your photos, both signatures and the timestamp on each. | Partial. A signed sign-off PDF you can send the customer, and it locks once signed — but it's a completion record, not a pre-approval pack. |
| Timestamped recordsWhen it was sent, opened and signed | Yes. Every response carries both signatures and the timestamp on each one. | Not verified. The signed certificate locks against editing, but a timestamp isn't documented in the help centre. |
| Pay-as-you-go pricingPay per variation instead of a monthly seat fee | Yes. A$10 or A$25 per approved variation, and nothing at all under A$500. | No. Flat monthly subscription. |
| Xero / QuickBooks exportGet the approved amount into the books | Yes. Xero and QuickBooks invoice-import CSV drafts. | Yes. Xero, QuickBooks and MYOB integrations on both plans. |
| Automated remindersChases the customer who hasn't tapped yet | Yes. Automated follow-up on the Business plan. | Not verified. We couldn't confirm automated follow-up reminders for unapproved quotes or variations. |
| Free tier for small jobsA permanently free path, not a 14-day trial | Yes. Anything under A$500 is free forever. No card. | No. 14-day trial, then a monthly subscription. |
Where these answers came from
Pricing
What you'll pay
Two different shapes of pricing. ScopeLock charges per approved variation; most job-management and e-signature tools charge a monthly seat fee whether you raise a variation that month or not.
ScopeLock
Pay-as-you-go, or A$49/month once you're doing five or more paid ones a month.
- Under A$500No card, no trial clockFree
- A$500 – A$5,000Per approved variationA$10
- Above A$5,000Per approved variationA$25
- ScopeLock BusinessPer month — unlimited approvals, 100 SMS segments, automated remindersA$49
Charged only when your customer approves. Never for a draft, never for one they knock back. Cancel Business and you drop back to pay-as-you-go — everything you've signed stays downloadable.
Fergus
Flat monthly price for the account, with extra timesheet users on top.
- BasicQuoting, job cards, timesheets, materials, accounting integrationsA$53/mo
- ProAdds job phases, purchase orders, GPS, health & safety, advanced reportingA$75/mo
- Enterprise 10+Teams of 10 or moreContact
14-day trial, no card required. Extra timesheet users from about A$26/month; SMS is an add-on at around A$15 per 100 texts. Fergus's pricing page doesn't state a currency explicitly — these figures are read from its Australian regional page, so confirm before budgeting on them.
Pricing checked 5 August 2026. Verify on Fergus's site — plans change and we don't always hear about it.
On the job
The four things that decide it on site
Most of this software was built for an office. These are the details that change whether a variation actually gets agreed while you're standing in the room.
01Your customer never makes an account
They get a link, they read a plain-English summary, they sign. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for. Every account you ask a homeowner to create is a variation that gets approved tomorrow instead of now.
02Works on whatever phone is in the room
It runs in the browser. No app store detour on a roof in the rain, no “I'll do it when I'm back at the computer”, no wondering whether their five-year-old Android is supported.
03You sign first, then they do
The variation is a two-sided record: you commit to the scope and the price, then they agree to it. Both signatures and both timestamps land in the same PDF, which is a different thing from a customer ticking a box on a quote.
04One PDF that holds the whole story
The scope wording, the price, any time impact, the photos you took standing there, both signatures and the timestamps. That's the document you want six weeks later when everyone remembers the conversation slightly differently — and you're both being honest.
Which one you actually need
Who should use what
Fergus and ScopeLock overlap more than anything else here, so it's worth being exact about where.
Fergus on its own
You need the internal tracking and costing more than the customer signature, and your customers approve extras by email or on a phase sign-off you're happy to rely on.
Fergus and ScopeLock together
You want both halves: the customer's signature on the scope and price before the work starts, and the variation tracked against the job for costing afterwards.
ScopeLock on its own
You're smaller than Fergus is built for. A flat monthly platform fee is a lot to carry if what you actually need is extras agreed in writing.
Straight answers
Questions people actually ask
Does ScopeLock replace Fergus?
No. Fergus manages jobs, crews, phases, purchase orders and invoicing. ScopeLock covers getting extra work priced and signed by the customer. They're complementary.
Fergus already has variations — what's different?
Fergus's variation is an internal record: it gives extra work its own job number and tracks it through to invoicing, which is genuinely useful for costing. It isn't a customer approval step. ScopeLock puts the scope, the price and any time impact in front of the customer and returns a signed, timestamped PDF before the work starts.
What does Fergus do better than ScopeLock?
Everything operational — job phases, checklists, purchase orders, health and safety, GPS tracking, job costing and reporting, plus free onboarding. We don't compete on any of it.
Is Fergus better for New Zealand tradies?
Fergus has strong New Zealand roots and its health and safety features suit New Zealand requirements well. ScopeLock is Australian and its wording, GST handling and evidence trail are built for Australian contractors.
How much is Fergus?
From $53 a month for Basic and $75 for Professional, with Enterprise pricing on application for teams of ten or more, plus add-on timesheet and contractor users. Fergus's pricing page doesn't print a currency symbol code, so confirm the currency with them before you budget on it.
Last verified 5 August 2026. We re-check every comparison on this site quarterly; an out-of-date comparison page is worse than none.
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Try it on the next one
Keep the job. Add the bit that's missing.
No card, no trial clock. Price the next bit of extra work, hand over your phone, and keep the signed PDF. If it's under A$500 it costs you nothing, ever.
Works in the browser on the phone already in your pocket. Your customer doesn't need an account.