Best construction software for sole traders in the UK

When you work on your own, you're the estimator, the site manager, the credit controller and the bookkeeper. The software that suits you isn't the one with the longest feature list. It's the one that gets a quote out from the van, gets the money in, and keeps the tax side tidy without a second evening at the kitchen table.

Short answer: for a sole-trader builder who quotes everything from a garden wall to a single-storey extension, EstiMate's £15.99 plan covers quotes, contracts, invoices and the accounts figures for one price, and the free plan lets you price up to 3 jobs a month while you try it. If you're a call-out trade, ServiceM8's free plan is generous for one person. If you want your job app to handle Making Tax Digital, Powered Now's single-user Business plan includes MTD for Income Tax, and its Professional plan sends VAT returns to HMRC.

What a one-person firm actually needs

• Speed on site. Measure, photograph, talk it through and price it before you've left the drive.
• Money in. A quote the client can accept on their phone, a deposit, an invoice with a pay button, and something that chases late payers so you don't have to.
• Tax kept tidy. Income and costs in one place, VAT and CIS figures ready, and a clean export for your accountant.

What one person pays

Prices checked October 2026: ServiceM8, FreeAgent, Powered Now, YourTradebase, Tradify and Invoice Simple (shown in US dollars; it says prices may vary by local currency). We couldn't confirm the VAT basis of Tradify's or Invoice Simple's prices. EstiMate's prices are what you pay, with a VAT receipt for every payment.

1. EstiMate: best for sole-trader builders who quote proper jobs

The phone app handles walk-rounds, voice notes and photos, even on the free plan. Every quote carries a material and labour breakdown. If you're still deciding how to charge, read day rate vs fixed price quotes. On the £15.99 plan you get branded PDFs, a quote link the client can accept with optional extras, a contract they sign online, and invoices with a pay-online link paid into your own Stripe account. Overdue invoices get chased automatically if you switch it on. Receipts, supplier invoices and bank statement imports feed the Accounts tab: a P&L, a VAT return helper, CIS, aged debtors and year-end exports for your accountant.

Pro, at £39.99, makes sense once the AI saves you real hours. Describe the job or upload the drawings and it drafts the scope, materials, labour and programme for you to check. Construction Copilot gives you a morning brief of what to chase today.

The honest limits: it doesn't file anything to HMRC, so most sole traders will still want an accountant or filing software for the tax return. There's an iPhone app, and on Android it runs in the browser.

2. ServiceM8: best for one-person call-out trades

The free plan gives one user 30 jobs a month, with quotes, invoices, clients and scheduling. If you do more, Starter is £25 a month ex VAT for 50 jobs. Its Auto-Quote drafts quotes from your past invoices but needs at least 100 completed jobs to give reasonable results (Auto-Quote help), so it gets better the longer you use it. We couldn't find CIS. See ServiceM8 vs EstiMate.

3. Powered Now: best for sole traders who want MTD in the job app

Powered Now's Business plan is for one user only, at £28 a month ex VAT or £280 a year. It covers quotes, invoices, customers and jobs, a diary, expenses, supplier invoices and purchase orders, plus MTD for Income Tax. If you're VAT registered and want to send VAT returns from the same app, that's the Professional plan at £32. CIS and reverse charge are native. This is a genuine strength over EstiMate, which prepares figures but doesn't file. We compare the two in EstiMate vs Powered Now.

4. FreeAgent: best for the accounts side

FreeAgent is UK accounting software, £19 a month ex VAT for sole traders (half price for the first six months), and free if you have a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland or Ulster Bank business current account, or use Mettle with at least one transaction a month (free with your bank). It files MTD VAT returns and handles CIS for subcontractors. Its estimates are basic: we couldn't find a link for the client to accept online. Many sole traders would pair it with a quoting app. Read FreeAgent for builders.

5. YourTradebase: best for a simple UK app with CIS on the invoice

At £29 a month ex VAT, or £290 a year, YourTradebase gives you quotes the client accepts online (with a signature if you want one), job sheets, scheduling and invoices with CIS deductions and reverse-charge VAT built in. There's a 30-day trial with no card. We couldn't find any AI features, and accounting goes through Xero or QuickBooks. See YourTradebase vs EstiMate.

6. Tradify: best if you want a well-reviewed app and expect to grow

Tradify's Lite plan is £34 a month for one user, and Pro is £37. If you want clients to accept quotes online and tick options, that's Pro, because quote options and online acceptance aren't on Lite. It has a big following: 4.8 from about 2,700 ratings on the UK App Store (App Store). CIS and reverse-charge invoices need Xero or Sage connected, per Tradify's own help centre. Our review, is Tradify good for builders, goes further.

7. Invoice Simple: best if all you need is an invoice

Invoice Simple is a general invoicing app, not a trade one. Plans run from US$6.99 to US$21.99 a month, and the two lower plans cap you at 3 and 10 invoices a month. Its help centre says the client signature "is intended for presentation purposes only and should not be considered a legally binding contract" (Invoice Simple help), so don't rely on it for a building contract. More in Invoice Simple vs EstiMate.

8. Builder Buddy and BuildScope: listed but unreviewed

Two other UK names appear on Capterra UK. Builder Buddy describes itself as quoting and job management "built exclusively for UK sole trader tradespeople" (Capterra UK), and BuildScope as AI software for UK builders and trades to create quotes and invoices (Capterra UK). Both had 0 reviews when we checked, so we can't tell you more than that.

A sensible one-person setup

• Builder quoting projects: EstiMate for the job and the figures, plus an accountant who files your returns.
• Call-out trade: ServiceM8 Free for jobs, plus FreeAgent if your bank makes it free.
• Want MTD in one app: Powered Now, and accept a plainer quote.

Whichever you pick, give it a fortnight on real jobs before you judge it. Our free quoting apps roundup has more on what each free plan allows.

For a one-person firm, it costs nothing to try: start free and price your next job tonight.