Tradify vs Fergus — and where Toolie fits

Tradify vs Fergus, at a glance

Both are well-known job-management tools used by NZ trades, and both cover the same core: jobs, quotes, invoicing, timesheets and scheduling. The clearest difference is how they bill. Tradify is priced per user — at the time of writing its plans run from about $48 per user / month (ex-GST), so the bill grows with every chippie you add. Fergus uses a flatter core plan — at the time of writing from about $53/month (Basic) to $75/month (Pro) — but adds paid timesheet and contractor seats on top. Confirm current pricing with each vendor.

Where they're similar

For day-to-day admin they overlap a lot: quoting and invoicing, a job and customer database, scheduling and a calendar, timesheets, and accounting integrations. Both are mobile-first, both are used widely in New Zealand, and both are good at getting trade admin off paper.

Where they differ

• Pricing model. Tradify scales per user; Fergus has a flatter core but charges for extra seat types. For a small fixed team Tradify can be cheaper; for a larger crew the per-user maths adds up.
• Focus. Tradify leans simple and fast for sole traders and small teams; Fergus leans into workflow and financial visibility for slightly larger jobbing businesses.

Where Toolie fits — the NZ-Building-Code option

Neither tool knows the New Zealand Building Code. That's the gap Toolie fills: it does the same jobs, quotes, invoicing and scheduling, then adds automatic NZS 3604 take-off, the H1 6th edition and Healthy Homes, CCA 2002 retentions, NZ contracts and LBP Records of Work, 16 on-site calculators and a sketch-to-plan tool — for flat per-plan pricing, not per user — from $49/month (ex-GST) for a sole trader, or a flat $129/month for a crew of up to eight.

See Toolie vs Tradify, Toolie vs Fergus, or how Toolie quotes a job. Tradify and Fergus pricing is indicative and was current at the time of writing — confirm with each vendor.