Fergus vs Jobber for UK plumbers, electricians and builders

Fergus and Jobber are both proper job management apps. Both draft quotes with AI, take card payments, schedule your team and sync with Xero or QuickBooks. The differences are where they come from, how they charge, and what they do once a job runs longer than a day.

Quick answer. If you're a plumber, electrician or builder whose jobs run over several visits, with variations and staged invoices, Fergus is the better fit of the two. If you run a home-service team that lives in its client portal and sells optional extras on most quotes, Jobber is strong. If you also need CIS, reverse charge, contracts and the accounts in one place, neither showed those in our research, so skip to the last section.

Where they come from

Fergus is from New Zealand, with offices in NZ, Australia and the UK, and sells job management to trades including plumbers, electricians and builders (Fergus for builders). Launch coverage in September 2026 put it at more than 26,000 tradespeople across Australia, New Zealand and the UK (Yahoo Finance).

Jobber is Canadian and describes itself as field service management for "home and commercial service businesses". It says it passed 100,000 customers in May 2026 (PR Newswire), and its Plus plan page says it's available in the US, Canada and the UK (Jobber Plus).

That shows in the detail. Fergus prices in pounds. Jobber's help centre says its plans are listed in US dollars (Jobber help centre).

Price: pounds per user vs dollars per band

Fergus charges per full user. Jobber charges per business in bands that include a set number of users, with extra users at $29 a month each.

Prices checked October 2026, per month: Fergus UK pricing (month to month) and Jobber pricing (billed annually). Fergus Essentials starts at £39 per full user. Jobber Core, for one user, is $29 a month billed annually, $39 on a 1-year commitment or $49 with no commitment. We couldn't find a sterling price for Jobber, and its page says prices exclude sales tax where applicable, so check whether UK VAT is added. We couldn't confirm VAT for Fergus either.

You can't compare pounds with dollars line by line, but the shape matters. Fergus rises in a straight line with every full user. Jobber's bands get cheaper per head as you grow: Grow at 15 users works out at about $26.60 a user. For a sole trader, Fergus Essentials at £39 sits against Jobber Core at $29 to $49 depending on commitment.

Fergus has a trick for site-heavy firms: timesheet users from £12 a month and contractor users at £2 per active day. One office user and eight on the tools on Fergus Pro is £45 + (8 × £12) = £141 a month. If all nine need to be in Jobber, that's the 10-user band: $229 on Connect or $299 on Grow.

Read the terms too. Jobber's FAQ says the 1-year commitment is a 12-month minimum billed monthly, annual is paid up front and non-refundable mid-year, and monthly can be cancelled any time (Jobber FAQ). Fergus says "no lock-in contracts, simply pay month-to-month per user" (Fergus scheduling).

Both get the same grumble in reviews. Jobber reviewers say cost climbs as the team grows and add-ons pile up, with the jump from Core to Connect a sore point (G2). Fergus reviewers report price changes and features moving to higher tiers (Trustpilot). Our Fergus pricing breakdown has the full sums.

Quoting and AI

Both have real AI. Fergus Assistant builds and reviews quotes, including turning a supplier's PDF into a quote, and waits for approval before changing records. Fergus AI, launched on 13 September 2026, prepares quotes, invoices and follow-ups (Fergus AI). Fergus also has price books and quote versions, and "Quote Options" (good, better, best and optional add-ons) arrived in April 2026 (release notes). We couldn't confirm whether the customer ticks those add-ons themselves.

Jobber's "Draft for me" drafts quotes, including automatically from new requests, and voice mode creates quotes in the app (Jobber AI). Clients can tick optional line items in Jobber's Client Hub and watch the total update before approving, on Grow and selected plans (optional line items). There's also an AI Receptionist add-on at $29 a month for 30 conversations (Jobber Receptionist).

Edge: Jobber for clients choosing extras. Fergus's supplier price-book integrations are a plus if you buy through merchants.

Variations and staged billing

This is where they split for anyone doing longer jobs. In Fergus, a variation is a linked child job with its own number, quoted and invoiced on its own or with the parent (Fergus variations). Progress invoices go by percentage, by remainder or by quote section, with deposits and automatic reminders (Fergus invoicing).

We couldn't find change orders in Jobber (October 2026). Editing an approved quote removes the client's signature, the suggested workaround is "Create Similar Quote", and users have asked for change orders in Jobber's community forum (Jobber community).

So on a bathroom refit where the client adds a heated towel rail on day three, Fergus records a variation against the job. On Jobber, the suggested workaround is a new quote.

Portal and signatures

Jobber's Client Hub lets clients approve quotes, request changes and pay deposits (Client Hub), and the quote carries a contract or disclaimer field the client signs on approval (Quote Approvals). Fergus gives the customer an acceptance page where they enter their name, agree your terms and pay any deposit (Fergus deposits). Edge: Jobber.

Accounts, CIS and VAT

Fergus syncs invoices, contacts and payments with Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks, and pulls in supplier invoices (Fergus integrations). Jobber integrates with QuickBooks Online and Xero, and the Xero link covers the UK on Connect and Grow (Jobber and Xero).

We couldn't find CIS deductions or the domestic reverse charge in either product's help pages (October 2026). Jobber's tax rates are configurable (Jobber tax settings), and Fergus's help centre points you to your accounting package for tax adjustments (Fergus invoicing settings).

Who should pick which

• Plumbers and electricians on mostly short jobs: either works. Fergus if you want sterling prices, supplier price books and cheap timesheet users. Jobber if you want a client portal, clients picking extras and an AI receptionist.
• Bigger service teams: Jobber's bands get cheaper per head. Fergus's per-user price keeps climbing.
• Builders: Fergus, for its variations and progress invoicing.

If you're a builder, there's a third option

EstiMate is built for UK construction rather than field service. The accepted quote becomes a contract the client signs online, variations become signed addenda, CIS deductions go on the CIS register, and reverse-charge invoices carry the required wording (our reverse charge guide explains when it applies). The Accounts tab shows your P&L and VAT return figures. It's £15.99 or £39.99 a month per business, not per user, and the free plan has no time limit.

To be fair: EstiMate isn't a dispatch or route-planning tool, the £15.99 and £39.99 plans are one office login (separate team seats with roles are on Corp, from £249), it exports to Xero and QuickBooks as files rather than syncing live, and it runs as an iPhone app or in the browser on Android.

What to do next

1. Count your full logins, site-only workers and subbie days in a normal month.
2. Run Fergus and Jobber's 14-day trials on the same two real jobs.
3. If you're a builder, price the same job in EstiMate's free plan and compare the paperwork. Our Tradify vs Jobber comparison is worth a read too.

Start free and see which one fits the way you work.