Best quoting software for UK trades in 2026: how to choose

We make ChatQuote, one of the tools in this guide. Every other tool is described from its own website; information checked on 16 October 2026.

Quoting software takes the price you have in your head and turns it into a document a customer can accept. At its simplest it stores your rates, lays out line items and VAT, and sends a tidy PDF. At its most involved it talks to the customer before you do. This guide explains the three kinds a UK tradesperson meets, gives you a checklist, and compares the names you are likely to shortlist.

The three types of quoting software

Job-management suites with quoting built in. Tradify, Jobber, Fergus, Powered Now and YourTradebase belong here. Quoting is one part of a larger system that also handles scheduling, job tracking, invoicing and sometimes payments and timesheets. You type in the scope, pick items from your price list, and the quote becomes a job once accepted. Tradify, Jobber and Fergus can also put an enquiry form on your website that creates a record in the app.

Document and proposal tools. PandaDoc, Qwilr and Quoter are built around the document itself. They give you templates, a product catalogue, e-signature and a record of when the customer opened the proposal. They do not run your diary or raise invoices, and they assume you already know what the job involves.

AI assistants that quote from the enquiry. This is the newest group, and ChatQuote sits in it. Instead of waiting for you to type the scope, an assistant on your website or behind a chat link talks to the enquiry, asks the questions you would ask, captures contact details and drafts an itemised quote and branded PDF proposal from your own rates. You review the draft before anything is sent.

With the first two types, even with an enquiry form on your website, you still read the enquiry, ask the follow-up questions and write down what the job is. The third starts earlier, at the conversation that works out what the job is.

A buyer’s checklist

Put these questions to every tool you trial.

Itemisation. Can a quote show line items with quantities and rates, or only a single total? An itemised quote makes it far easier to agree changes later.

VAT. Does the tool show VAT clearly, let you mark lines at different rates, and cope with a business that is not VAT registered?

Templates and reuse. How quickly can you turn your last loft conversion quote into the next one? Look for a price list or catalogue you control, and for templates that carry your terms, assumptions and exclusions without retyping.

Mobile. Most trades quote from a van. Try the phone app, not the desktop screen, and check you can build and send a full quote on site.

Follow-ups. Does the tool tell you when a quote has been opened, remind you when one has gone quiet, and let the customer accept with a click?

How enquiries get in. This is the question most buyers forget. A quote request form still leaves someone to ask the follow-up questions and type the answers in. The trade-off between a form and a conversation is set out in the quote request form alternative.

Cost per month versus per seat. Some tools charge per user, which adds up once you add an office manager and two engineers. Others charge a flat monthly fee per business. Decide how many people will actually need to log in and compare on that basis. Always check current pricing on the vendor’s own site, because plans change often.

How the main options compare

What follows is a feature-level description, not a league table. Each tool suits a different kind of business, and the right choice depends on what already slows you down.

Tradify is a job-management system aimed squarely at trades. It covers quoting, scheduling, job tracking, invoicing and a mobile app, and it is widely used by electricians, plumbers and builders in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. A branded enquiry form on your website feeds its Enquiries tab. See Tradify’s pricing.

Jobber is a field service management platform with quoting, scheduling, invoicing, payments and a client hub where customers can view and approve quotes. It is broader than trades alone and leans towards service businesses with repeat visits. Its request and booking forms embed on your website, and its AI Receptionist answers calls and texts. Its prices are listed in US dollars: see Jobber’s pricing.

YourTradebase is a UK product for trades with a deliberately simple interface. Alongside quotes and invoices it covers lead tracking, job scheduling, job sheets and team management, which makes it the lightest of the job-management suites here. It suits a sole trader or small firm that wants tidy paperwork without a complicated system. See YourTradebase’s pricing.

Powered Now is a UK, mobile-first app for trades, covering quotes, invoices, scheduling and certificates. It is designed to be used from a phone on site. See Powered Now’s pricing.

Fergus is a job-management system for trades with quoting, scheduling, job costing and invoicing. It puts weight on tracking the profit of each job, and its web enquiry form turns into a job in one click. See Fergus’s pricing.

Quoter, now ScalePad Quoter, is a dedicated quoting tool built for IT managed service providers rather than for trades. It is strongest for businesses that resell products from a catalogue and want templates, approvals and integrations with their other systems, so it is rarely the right fit on a building site. See Quoter’s pricing.

PandaDoc and Qwilr are document and proposal tools. They give you polished templates, e-signature and analytics on how a customer reads the proposal, and they suit businesses, agencies among them, that send longer proposals. They expect you to arrive with the scope and the prices already decided. See the pricing of PandaDoc and Qwilr.

ChatQuote is the newest of the group, and the only tool here whose assistant holds the conversation with your website visitor and drafts an itemised, priced quote from it. An assistant on your website, added with one line of code or shared as a chat link, asks the questions you would ask, captures the customer’s details and drafts an itemised quote with line items, quantities, rates, assumptions, exclusions and VAT, plus a branded PDF proposal. It prices from rates it has learned from your website and your past quotes, and you can see what it learned and correct it in plain English. Every proposal waits for your “Approve & send” unless you switch on automatic sending, and unfinished chats still become leads with a transcript. It is AI quoting software, not a job-management or invoicing tool, so you will still need something for the diary and the bills. It is best when every job needs a few questions before you can price it. There is a 30-day free trial with no card, and plans are a flat monthly fee per workspace. See pricing.

Which to pick if...

You want one system for the whole job. Choose a job-management suite. Tradify or Fergus if you run a team and want job costing, Jobber if you have repeat service visits, Powered Now or YourTradebase if you are a small UK firm and want simplicity on a phone.

You send long, designed proposals. Choose a document tool such as PandaDoc or Qwilr, and keep your diary elsewhere.

Your bottleneck is scoping, not formatting. If you lose evenings to email tennis about size, access and timing before you can price anything, an AI assistant that quotes from the enquiry is the type to trial. ChatQuote fits builders, electricians, removals firms and agencies whose jobs are never quite the same twice. The pages for electricians, builders and marketing agencies show how the questions differ by trade.

You already have job management you like. Keep it. Add a quoting assistant only if enquiries arrive faster than you can scope them, as the front door to the system you already run.

Whatever you choose, trial it with three real enquiries from last month and see which gets the quotes out fastest with the fewest corrections. For the steps a good quote should follow regardless of software, read how to quote a job.

Frequently asked questions

Is quoting software worth it for a sole trader?

Usually, yes, once you send more than a handful of quotes a month. Even a simple tool stops you retyping terms and VAT and keeps a record of what you offered. Pick one that works well on your phone.

Can quoting software give customers a price on my website?

Most quoting tools collect the enquiry at most, through a form on your website, and Jobber’s online booking can show estimated prices for set services. Beyond that, you read the enquiry and price the job yourself. An AI assistant such as ChatQuote can talk to the visitor first and, if you allow it, give a non-binding ballpark range from your rates, or keep prices out of the chat entirely. See a website chatbot that gives a price.

Do I need to be VAT registered to use quoting software?

No. What matters is that the tool shows clearly whether VAT applies, so the customer is never confused, and copes with a business that is not VAT registered. Check both during your trial.