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By Alexis Boshoff, Founder of SpeqlyPublished Updated 9 min read

Best Quoting Software for UK Contractors in 2026 (Honest Comparison)

Sending quotes on Word docs and emailing PDFs works — until it doesn't. When you're chasing three jobs at once, quoting starts to take hours you don't have, and the clients who get a faster, more polished quote from a competitor win.

This is a practical comparison of the main quoting tools available to UK contractors. No fluff, no affiliate bias — just what each tool does well, what it doesn't, and who it's best suited to. All prices below were re-checked against each vendor's own pricing page on 27 August 2026.


What to Look for in Contractor Quoting Software

Before the comparisons: the features that actually matter.

  • Speed — how quickly can you produce a quote after a site visit?
  • Presentation — does the output look professional to a homeowner?
  • Visuals — can you include before/after images or project visualisations?
  • Mobile-friendly — can you use it on site, not just at a desk?
  • Accept workflow — can clients digitally accept and pay a deposit in one step?
  • Accounting sync — does the accepted job reach your accounts without retyping it?
  • Price — monthly cost relative to what you're getting

Most tools do some of these well. Very few do all of them.


The Main Options

Tradify

Best for: Tradespeople who want full job management, not just quoting

Tradify is one of the most popular trade management platforms in the UK and Australia. It covers the full job lifecycle — quoting, scheduling, job tracking, invoicing, and timesheet management.

Quoting specifically: Solid. You can build itemised quotes from a price list, send them to clients, and get digital acceptance. The output is clean and professional.

What it lacks: No visual element to proposals. Quotes are text and numbers — there's no way to include before/after visualisations or project renders. For clients who need to see what they're buying (kitchen renovations, extensions, landscaping), this is a gap.

Price: From £34 per user/month (Lite plan; Pro £37, Plus £44). Checked 27 August 2026.

Verdict: A good all-rounder for trade businesses that need full job management. Overkill if you just need better quotes. Missing the visual proposal angle.


Jobber

Best for: Service businesses with repeat visits and scheduling needs

Jobber is strong on scheduling, client management, and automated follow-ups. Used heavily by lawn care, cleaning, HVAC, and maintenance contractors.

Quoting specifically: Clean quote builder with digital acceptance and deposit requests. Good client communication features.

What it lacks: More US/Canada-focused. UK VAT handling exists but feels tacked on. No visual proposals. Can feel like paying for scheduling features you don't need if you just want better quotes.

Price: Jobber publishes no UK price list — plans are in US dollars, from $21/month billed annually (promotional rate at the time of checking), with extra users at $29/month. Checked 27 August 2026.

Verdict: Good platform but more suited to repeat-service businesses than project-based UK tradespeople.


Xero (Quotes module)

Best for: Businesses already using Xero for accounting

Xero has a basic quote-to-invoice workflow built in. If you're already on Xero, it's convenient to use the quotes feature and have everything sync to your accounts automatically.

Quoting specifically: Functional but basic. It's an accountancy tool that added quoting, not the other way around. No digital acceptance flow, no visual elements, limited customisation.

What it lacks: Pretty much everything that makes a quote win jobs rather than just document a price. No visuals, no design, no compelling client experience.

Price: Quotes are included in Xero UK plans from £16/month (Ignite), excluding VAT. Xero has announced UK price rises from 1 September 2026. Checked 27 August 2026.

Verdict: Fine if you're already a Xero user and just want a quick quote. Not good enough as your primary client-facing quote tool — you're better off quoting in a dedicated tool that pushes the accepted job back into Xero for you.


Houzz Pro

Best for: Kitchen and bathroom designers, interior fit-out contractors

Houzz Pro has strong visual capabilities — you can attach mood boards, inspiration images, and project photos. Solid for presenting design-led projects.

Quoting specifically: Good for premium residential projects where presentation is everything. Proposal builder is clean.

What it lacks: Expensive. The paid plan is £139/month. Overkill for most sole traders and small firms. Also more US-oriented; UK support and VAT handling isn't seamless.

Price: £139/month for the Pro plan after a 30-day free trial (a free basic directory listing exists; a Custom tier is priced by sales). Checked 27 August 2026.

Verdict: Worth it for high-end interior design contractors. Too expensive for most UK tradespeople.


Speqly

Best for: UK contractors who want visual proposals generated automatically from site photos

Speqly takes a different approach to the others. Instead of a generic quote builder, it's built specifically around the visual proposal: you take photos on site, and Speqly generates before/after AI visualisations of the finished project alongside your itemised costs and payment schedule.

The output is a branded, client-facing proposal with a one-tap accept button — clients can view and accept it on their phone without logging into anything.

What it does well:

  • AI before/after images generated from your site photos
  • Professional visual output without design skills
  • Digital accept + deposit request in one flow
  • Pushes the job's costing straight into Xero as a draft invoice (QuickBooks Online support in development)
  • Built specifically for UK residential trades
  • Fast — proposals take under 10 minutes

What it lacks: Speqly is focused on the proposal/quoting stage. It's not a full job management platform — no scheduling, no timesheets. It also doesn't replace your accounts package; it feeds it, creating the draft invoice for you to review and send from Xero. For scheduling and job tracking, you'd pair it with a separate tool.

Price: From £7 per project with credit packs that never expire (£9.99 single, £39.99 for 5, £69.99 for 10), or £79/month (Solo, 20 projects) and £149/month (Crew, 60 projects). 14-day free trial, no card required.

Verdict: The best option for contractors who want their quotes to stand out visually and convert better. Particularly strong for renovation trades (bathrooms, kitchens, extensions, driveways) where showing before/after matters most.


Head-to-Head: Which Should You Use?

TradifyJobberXeroHouzz ProSpeqly
Visual proposals
AI before/after images
Digital acceptance
Accounting syncNative
Job managementPartial
UK VAT handlingPartialPartial
Mobile-friendly
Price / month£34+/user$21+ (USD)£16+£139£7/project or £79+

Our Recommendation

If you need full job management + quoting: Tradify is the most complete UK-focused option.

If you already use Xero or QuickBooks: Use Tradify or Speqly for client-facing quotes and let your accounts package handle the books. Speqly pushes the accepted job across as a draft invoice, so the numbers only get entered once.

If your conversion rate on quotes is your biggest problem: Speqly. The visual proposal format is the single biggest upgrade you can make to your quote, and no other tool generates it automatically from site photos.

The majority of UK contractors are still sending text-based PDF quotes. Moving to a visual proposal — even on a small sample of jobs — is the fastest way to test whether presentation is costing you work.


Related guides


Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best quoting software for UK contractors?

It depends what's limiting you. If you need full job management (scheduling, timesheets), Tradify is the most complete UK option. If quote conversion is the problem, Speqly's photo-to-visual-proposal workflow is the biggest single upgrade. If you just need a basic quote inside your accounts package, Xero's built-in quotes work.

How much does quoting software cost in the UK?

From £16/month (quotes inside Xero's Ignite plan) to £139/month (Houzz Pro). Tradify starts at £34 per user/month, Jobber prices in US dollars from about $21/month, and Speqly runs from £7 per project on credits or £79/month on subscription. All prices checked 27 August 2026.

Can quoting software sync with Xero or QuickBooks?

Tradify, Jobber and Houzz Pro all offer accounting sync, and Speqly pushes an accepted job into Xero as a draft invoice — itemised lines, markup and VAT included — so the numbers are only entered once. Speqly's QuickBooks Online support is in development.

Is there quoting software without a monthly subscription?

Yes — Speqly is the only tool in this comparison with a pay-per-job option: credits from £7 per project that never expire, with no monthly fee. The others are subscription-only.


Stop Losing Jobs on Paperwork

Speqly generates professional proposals with AI before/after visuals, itemised costs, and a one-tap accept button — all from your site photos, in under 10 minutes.

Try Speqly free → speqly.com

Stop Losing Jobs on Paperwork

Speqly turns your site photos into a professional proposal in under 10 minutes. Before/after visuals, itemised costs, one-tap accept.

Try Speqly Free