The test: one job, quoted six ways
Same job each time — a hot water unit swap, quoted on site, in front of the customer. What matters is the number of decisions between arriving and pressing send.
| Product | The on-site path | Where it slows down |
|---|---|---|
| ServiceM8 | Job already on the phone from the booking → add items from your saved list → photos attached → quote emailed or texted before you leave | Almost nowhere, if the job was booked in first. Quoting a cold walk-up means creating the job as you go |
| Tradify | New quote → customer → line items from your price list → send | Nothing significant on the phone; the depth is there if you want kits and templates, which takes setup time up front |
| Fergus | New quote → sections and line items → send, with the job's estimated margin visible as you build it | More structure to fill in than the lighter tools — which is the point, but it is more taps |
| simPRO | Full estimating with catalogues, labour rates and assemblies | Genuinely powerful and genuinely not a two-minute driveway quote. Built for estimating projects, not pricing a tap |
| AroFlo | Quote from the field with templates and catalogue pricing | Capable, but configured rather than picked up — the setup is a project |
| Yamate OURS | New job → say or type what you're doing → saved rates fill the lines → GST and deposit applied → send | Deliberately shallow: no assemblies, no catalogues. If you price from a supplier catalogue, this is the wrong tool |
Workflows summarised from each vendor's own published material and documentation, read 17 August 2026, and from the Yamate app itself. Products change — trial your shortlist with a real job rather than trusting any table, including this one.
What price you actually pay
Nobody sells quoting separately — you buy the platform. Same figures as the full comparison.
| Product | Published price, as at 17 Aug 2026 | Charged by |
|---|---|---|
| ServiceM8 | Free $0 (30 jobs, 1 user) · $29 · $79 · $149 · $349/month, incl GST, as at Aug 2026. Source | Monthly job volume |
| Tradify | A$48 · A$52 · A$62 per user/month, ex GST, as at Aug 2026. 14-day trial. Source | Per user |
| Fergus | From $53/month and from $77/month, as at Aug 2026. 14-day trial. Source | Page does not state whether the base is per user |
| simPRO | No price published — quote-based. Source | Quoted |
| AroFlo | No price published — "Request Pricing". Source | Quoted |
| Yamate OURS | $19/month Founder plan before 30 September 2026, then $29/month; 3 people included. Company plan $79/month for 10, $15/month per person after. Details | Per business |
The five things a quoting app has to get right
- Saved rates and reusable lines. If you retype "supply and install double GPO" every time, you will quote less often and less carefully. This is the single biggest time saver in the category.
- It works with poor signal. Half the places you quote have one bar. An app that stalls means the quote happens tonight instead — and tonight's quote is the one that never gets sent.
- It handles GST and a deposit without maths. Getting the deposit line wrong in front of a customer is a bad look, and doing the GST in your head is how a job loses ten per cent.
- Accepted quote becomes the invoice. Retyping the accepted quote into an invoice is the most pointless ten minutes in this trade, and it is where transcription errors get into your billing.
- It tells you which quotes went quiet. Most quotes are not lost, they are forgotten — by the customer and then by you. A list of unanswered quotes is worth more than any template library. The wording for the follow-up is in quote follow-up SMS templates.
Who each one suits
ServiceM8
Best when quoting is part of a dispatched job rather than a separate task — the enquiry becomes a job, the job goes to a phone, the quote comes out of it. The free tier makes it easy to test with real work.
Tradify
The most balanced quoting in the group for a small trade business — quick on the phone, with enough depth (templates, kits, price lists) to be fast on repeat work once you have set it up. The per-user price is the trade-off, not the quoting.
Fergus
Quoting with the margin visible while you build it, which changes how you price rather than just how fast you send. That is a genuinely different proposition from the others.
simPRO and AroFlo
These are estimating platforms rather than quoting apps — catalogues, assemblies, labour rates, multi-stage projects. If you tender rather than quote, that is exactly what you need. If your quotes are one page and priced from experience, it is a great deal of machinery for the job. Both are quote-only on price.
Yamate OURS — read it with that in mind
We build this. Yamate's quoting is built for one situation: standing in front of the job with a customer waiting. Your saved rates fill the lines, GST and the deposit are applied without arithmetic, and the whole thing works with no signal — sending it is the only part that needs a connection. When the customer accepts, the quote becomes the invoice without being retyped, and unanswered quotes surface on their own with the follow-up drafted for you to read and send.
What it deliberately does not do: supplier catalogues, assemblies, multi-stage estimating, or tender documents. If you price from a price book, the two platforms above are the honest answer.
Free first, if you're not ready to pay
You do not need a subscription to send a professional quote today. Each of these builds a priced, GST-aware quote in the browser and gives you the text to send — no sign-up:
They are genuinely useful on their own, and they are the fastest way to see whether a structured quote changes your win rate before you pay for anything.
Methodology
Prices were read at each vendor's own Australian pricing page on 17 August 2026 and are linked to it. ServiceM8 publishes GST-inclusive and Tradify publishes ex GST, so add 10% to the Tradify figures for a like-for-like comparison.
Not verified, as at Aug 2026: simPRO's price (page not reachable to us on the day) and AroFlo's (none published). Fergus's page does not state whether "from $53 per month" is per user or per account. Workflow descriptions are summarised from each vendor's own published material and documentation rather than from a hands-on trial of every product; the Yamate description is from the app itself, which is a difference worth knowing about when reading it.
Why these six. They are the products an Australian trade business would realistically shortlist. We have not padded the list with small or emerging apps — a longer list is easier to write and harder to choose from, and recommending a marginal tool for something a business depends on is not useful. Jobber is excluded as North-America-first and not consistently present in Australian results here.
Our conflict of interest. Yamate is ours, marked as ours, and its section says what it will not do. Every competitor figure links to the vendor's own page so you can check us.
Yamate is $19/mo on the Founder plan if you sign up before 30 September 2026, locked in — $29/mo after that, three people included. No lock-in, cancel anytime. Prices in AUD.
FAQ
What is the best quoting app for tradies in Australia?
For quoting on site as part of a dispatched job, ServiceM8. For an all-round quoting workflow with depth, Tradify. For seeing margin as you quote, Fergus. For estimating projects from catalogues, simPRO or AroFlo. For a fast solo or small-crew quote with the follow-up handled, Yamate. There is no single winner — it depends on how you quote.
Can I quote without a subscription?
Yes. The eight trade quote templates on this site build a priced, GST-aware quote in the browser and give you the text to send, with no sign-up. They are a real answer, not a teaser.
Do quoting apps work without signal?
It varies by product and by what you are doing, and the detail changes — check each vendor's current documentation rather than a table. Yamate works with no signal for building the quote; sending it needs a connection, because it has to reach the customer's phone.
How fast should a quote go out?
Same day, and ideally before you leave the driveway. The first clear quote wins a disproportionate share of jobs, because at that moment it is being compared with nothing.
Does the app matter more than the quote itself?
No. A clear scope, stated exclusions, a real expiry date and a deposit line win work regardless of what produced them — see how to quote a job. The app's job is to make doing that fast enough that you do it every time.
What about following up?
It is the half of quoting most tools ignore and most tradies skip. Two short messages over a fortnight recovers real work — the timing and the wording are in quote follow-up SMS templates.
Related
General information for Australian businesses. Yamate makes one of the products compared here and says so wherever it appears. Competitor prices and workflows were read at each vendor's own material on 17 August 2026 and are linked to source; they change without notice. Nothing here is financial or purchasing advice — trial your shortlist with a real job before deciding.