ScopeLock vs ServiceM8
ScopeLock vs ServiceM8: two different jobs
Where each one fits, what each actually costs, and the rows where ServiceM8 beats us. Sourced from ServiceM8'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 ServiceM8 fact below comes from ServiceM8'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
If you need scheduling, dispatch, invoicing and Xero sync, use ServiceM8. It's the best-liked job management app in Australian trades for good reason, and we're not trying to replace it.
Where it leaves a gap is the variation itself. ServiceM8's Contract Variation Form is a proper feature and it works — but it needs the Forms add-on, which starts on the Growing plan at A$79 a month; it doesn't exist until you build it yourself in Settings; and on site someone has to remember to tap the form icon in the To Do tab while the customer is standing there. ScopeLock does that one moment and nothing else: nothing to build, the customer signs from a link on their own phone, and it's free under A$500 — including on ServiceM8's Free and Starter plans, where Forms isn't available at all. Most people who use us use both.
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 ServiceM8 is for
Trades who want the whole job in one app, from enquiry to paid
ServiceM8 runs the entire job: scheduling, dispatch, quotes, forms, invoicing and the client's history, all on the phone. For a small Australian trade business that wants one system rather than five, it's a genuinely strong choice — and its free plan is unusually generous at 30 jobs a month.
Credit where it's due
What ServiceM8 does better than us
These are the rows where ServiceM8 wins, and it isn't close on any of them.
- Everything to do with running the jobDispatch board, scheduling, job cards, timesheets, GPS, invoicing, card payments and Xero. We do none of this and have no plans to.
- Unlimited users on every paid planFor a crew of six that's a real cost advantage over anything charging per seat, and it's the single biggest reason people pick it.
- A genuinely free tierOne user, 30 jobs a month, A$0 — not a trial. Almost nothing else in the category offers that.
- The iOS appIt's the best in the category. If your crew is on iPhones this is the app they'll actually open.
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 | ServiceM8Job 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. You can raise a quote and have it accepted on site, but a variation isn't a separate record against the original job. |
| 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. Signature capture on the tradesperson's device, plus remote signature on emailed quotes. |
| SMS deliverySend the approval link by text, not just email | Yes. SMS and email delivery. 100 SMS segments a month included on Business. | Yes. Two-way SMS from the job card. 10c each on Free; allowances included on paid plans. |
| 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. Signed quote and invoice PDFs, and forms that carry photos — but not one variation-level pack. |
| Timestamped recordsWhen it was sent, opened and signed | Yes. Every response carries both signatures and the timestamp on each one. | Partial. The job diary keeps a full history of the job; the account activity log covers 90 days. |
| 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. Monthly plans banded by job volume. There's a free plan, but no per-transaction option. |
| Xero / QuickBooks exportGet the approved amount into the books | Yes. Xero and QuickBooks invoice-import CSV drafts. | Yes. Syncs clients, items, invoices and payments with Xero, QuickBooks Online and MYOB. |
| Automated remindersChases the customer who hasn't tapped yet | Yes. Automated follow-up on the Business plan. | Yes. Quote Follow Up Automation chases quotes that haven't been accepted. |
| Free tier for small jobsA permanently free path, not a 14-day trial | Yes. Anything under A$500 is free forever. No card. | Yes. A real free plan — 30 jobs a month, one user — not just a trial. |
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.
ServiceM8
Flat monthly price, banded by how many jobs you do. Unlimited users from Starter up.
- Free30 jobs a month · 1 userA$0/mo
- Starter50 jobs a month · unlimited usersA$29/mo
- Growing150 jobs a month · adds forms, certificates, proposalsA$79/mo
- Premium500 jobs a month · adds job costing, branded SMSA$149/mo
- Premium Plus1,500+ jobs a monthA$349/mo
Priced on job volume, not on variations. SMS is 10c each on Free, with allowances included from Starter up.
Pricing checked 5 August 2026. Verify on ServiceM8'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
Three honest situations. Only one of them is "use both", and it's the common one.
ServiceM8 on its own
High-volume, short, well-defined callouts. If the price rarely moves once you're on site, there's no variation to sign and nothing here for us to add.
ServiceM8 and ScopeLock together
Renos, fitouts, maintenance on old buildings — anything where extra work turns up mid-job. Particularly if you're on Free or Starter, where the Forms add-on that carries the variation form isn't available at all.
ScopeLock on its own
You're a sole trader running off a diary and a notes app, and the thing costing you money is extra work you never got agreed — not scheduling.
Straight answers
Questions people actually ask
Is ScopeLock a replacement for ServiceM8?
No. ServiceM8 handles scheduling, dispatch, invoicing and accounting sync, and ScopeLock does none of that. ScopeLock covers the moment extra work comes up and needs to be priced and signed. They solve different problems and are commonly used together.
Doesn't ServiceM8 already have a variation form?
Yes, and it's a good feature. It needs 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 trigger it manually from the To Do tab on the job. It records an agreed variation well.
So why would I use ScopeLock as well?
Three reasons. It works on ServiceM8's Free and Starter plans, where Forms isn't available. There's nothing to build before your first one. And the customer can sign from a link on their own phone rather than needing to be standing next to you.
What does ServiceM8 do better than ScopeLock?
Everything to do with running the job: scheduling, dispatch board, timesheets, GPS, invoicing, card payments and Xero integration, plus unlimited users on paid plans and a genuinely free tier. We don't compete on any of it.
Can I use both?
Yes, and that's the intended setup. Run the job in ServiceM8, and when extra work comes up, price and sign it in ScopeLock. The signed PDF is yours to attach to the job or send with the invoice.
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.