VanlyAsk a UK trade Facebook group what software to use and these two names come back within minutes. Both are proper products with years behind them. Both will quote, invoice and schedule. And they are built with different instincts, which means one of them fits your business noticeably better than the other. This is the comparison done properly: verified prices, real differences, and a straight verdict for each type of firm.
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The short version
Tradify is the slicker scheduler. Powered Now is the more British accountant. If certificates and VAT returns run your life, Powered Now earns its keep at £32. If juggling a diary of jobs, subbies and quotes is the daily battle, Tradify is the cleaner tool for it. Prices within a tenner of each other, so pick on fit, not cost.
Now the detail.
Pricing, verified against both UK sites
Checked September 2026, straight from the Tradify pricing page and the Powered Now pricing page. Both charge per user and exclude VAT.
| Tradify | Powered Now | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | Lite, £34 per user per month | Business, £28 per user per month |
| Mid plan | Professional, £32 per user per month | |
| Top plan | Plus, £44 per user per month | Premium, £40 per user per month |
| Free trial | 14 days, all features | Trial available |
| Annual discount | Two months free on annual billing | |
| Text messages | 10p per message extra | Unlimited on Professional and up |
| Website add on | £10 a month |
Two things jump out. Powered Now undercuts Tradify at every rung and throws in unlimited texts from £32, where Tradify meters every message at 10p. But Tradify's free trial gives you every feature for 14 days, which is the better way to find out what you actually need.
What Tradify does better
Scheduling and the daily running of jobs. The calendar syncs with Google Calendar, subcontractors can be assigned work and seen on the same scheduler, and timesheets feed job costs. For a firm whose problem is orchestrating people and days, this is the stronger half.
Quoting flow. Quote options let the customer pick extras, online acceptance is smooth, and email tracking shows you exactly when the customer opened the quote and how many times. If you have ever wanted proof a customer is ignoring you, there it is. Pair that with the timing playbook in how to write a quote as a tradesman and the quoting side is properly covered.
Accounting reach. Xero, Sage and QuickBooks all sync. Powered Now integrates Xero on Professional and up, but Tradify covers more of the field.
The interface. Subjective, but the consensus in trade groups is that Tradify is the cleanest of the UK job apps and the quickest to learn. There is a reason it is the default recommendation.
What Powered Now does better
Certificates. This is the big one. Gas Safe certificates, electrical certs, forms and compliance documents are built in from the Professional plan. For gas engineers and electricians this single row decides the comparison. Tradify added compliance certificates to its Plus plan at £44, but Powered Now has lived and breathed UK certificates for years and does them at £32.
The taxman. Making Tax Digital compliance is in every plan, and you can submit VAT returns from inside the product on Professional. It is the most British piece of trade software there is, built around HMRC rather than adapted to it.
Chasing. Automatic invoice and quote chasing arrives on Premium at £40: quotes and invoices that nag the customer so you do not have to. On Tradify, reminders arrive with the Plus plan at £44. Both work, Powered Now's is cheaper.
Texts. Unlimited customer texts from £32 against 10p a message is a real difference for a firm that confirms every appointment by SMS.
The verdict by type of business
Gas engineer or electrician, certificates every week. Powered Now Professional, £32. The certificates and VAT tools are the job, and nothing on the Tradify side matches them at that money.
Builder or multi trade firm running subbies. Tradify Plus, £44. Subcontractor scheduling, timesheets and job costing are the daily tools, and the diary is the best in class.
Solo trade wanting the cheapest proper tool. Powered Now Business at £28 edges Tradify Lite at £34, and you can move up a rung later without changing product.
Whoever emails quotes and waits. Tradify, for the email tracking and online acceptance alone.
We have written longer honest pieces on each individually: the Tradify comparison and the Powered Now comparison go deeper on where each one grates. If these two are not the only names on your list, the best job management software for UK trades puts all six against each other.
Where both stop, and it is the same place
Here is the thing neither pricing page mentions. Both products assume the work already found you. Somebody rang, you answered, the job went in the system, and from there both tools do their job well.
But the expensive minutes in a small trade business happen before any of that. The customer messages three firms from Checkatrade at nine in the morning. Whoever answers first usually wins, and if you are mid job, that is not you. No dashboard fixes it, because the dashboard cannot answer a phone.
That gap is what Vanly is for. It lives in WhatsApp rather than a dashboard, answers new enquiries within 30 seconds, turns your voice note into the quote, sends the invoice and chases it. It is £39 flat, it does not do certificates or subbie scheduling, and it is not trying to. Different shape for a different problem: the enquiry side rather than the job admin side.
FAQ
Is Tradify or Powered Now cheaper?
Powered Now, at every tier. Business is £28 per user against Tradify Lite at £34, and top plans are £40 against £44. Both exclude VAT and charge per user. Powered Now also gives two months free on annual billing.
Which is better for Gas Safe certificates?
Powered Now. Forms and certificates are included from the £32 Professional plan and are a core part of the product. Tradify offers compliance certificates on its £44 Plus plan.
Can both do VAT and Making Tax Digital?
Powered Now has Making Tax Digital compliance in every plan and VAT return submission from Professional. Tradify handles VAT on invoices and syncs to Xero, Sage or QuickBooks, where your returns would be filed.
Do both have free trials?
Tradify gives 14 days with every feature included. Powered Now offers a trial and sells monthly or annual, with two months free if you pay annually.
Can I switch between them later without losing everything?
Mostly, with some friction. Customers and outstanding invoices move over via CSV export and import, and both sides will help you in. What does not travel cleanly is history: old job records, notes, photos and certificate archives tend to stay behind in the old system, readable but not migrated. The practical approach most firms take is to move active customers and open jobs across, keep the old login alive for a few months as a reference, and let the archive retire quietly. It is a weekend of faff rather than a disaster, but it is a reason to spend the trial period properly before committing either way.
Does either answer new customer enquiries for you?
No. Both automate reminders and chasing on their upper plans, but neither replies to a brand new enquiry while you are on the tools. That first reply gap is a different category of tool, an AI receptionist, which is the half Vanly covers.
The bottom line
Two good products, one honest split. Certificates and the taxman: Powered Now. Diary, subbies and quoting flow: Tradify. Either way you get a solid UK tool for under £45 a user, and the sensible move is to run the Tradify trial and a Powered Now month side by side on one real week of jobs, then keep whichever one you stopped noticing. Software you stop noticing is software that fits.
And if what is actually drowning you is enquiries going unanswered and evenings lost to paperwork, that is not a job management problem at all. Try Vanly free for 14 days. No card needed to start.