An honest comparison from the people who build the alternative — including who should stay exactly where they are.
22 September 2026 · 6 min read
If you have landed here you are either paying per user for Tradify or weighing it up, and wondering whether there is something simpler for a one-van business. Here is a straight comparison, including the cases where Tradify is the better buy and you should ignore us.
Tradify is proper job management software — scheduling and dispatch, timesheets, a customer database, quotes and invoices, and two-way sync with Xero and QuickBooks. If you have several engineers whose days get planned on a board each morning, that is precisely what it was built for.
Two things. It is priced per user, so the headline price is per person rather than per business. And it is another app — another login, another thing to open with cold hands in the van. Software you do not open is software that does not get used, which is why so many trade businesses have a half-filled job management system and a notebook they actually trust.
There is no app. You message one WhatsApp number — already open on your phone — and the admin happens in the chat. Describe a job by voice note or text and a branded PDF quote comes back; finish a tracked job and it becomes an invoice; photograph a receipt and it is read and filed; text a trip and it is logged at HMRC rates. The longer version is in WhatsApp versus a job management app.
At the time of writing (October 2026), Tradify’s UK Lite plan is £34 per user per month for one to three users. GraftG is priced per business, not per head: Solo £14, Pro £24, Team £34 covering up to five people. For a sole trader that is £14 against £34; for a three-hander it is £34 against roughly £102. Both sets of prices move, so check before you decide — see what job management software actually costs.
If your week runs off a scheduling board, if you dispatch engineers to timed appointments, if you need per-employee timesheets, or if you want deep two-way accounting sync, Tradify fits better and we would rather say so than sell you the wrong thing. GraftG is built for the van, not the control room.
Sole traders and two or three-person outfits who bought job management software, used it properly for a month, then quietly drifted back to a notebook. The reason is nearly always the same: it was more system than the business needed. Running admin through WhatsApp removes the exact step where the habit breaks.
For a small business, usually, because GraftG is priced per business rather than per user. At the time of writing Tradify’s UK Lite plan is £34 per user per month, while GraftG is £14 a month on Solo, £24 on Pro, and £34 on Team covering up to five people. Check both sites for current pricing before deciding.
There is no bulk import today. GraftG builds your customer book automatically as you go, remembering each customer the first time you quote or invoice them, so most people simply start using it and let the record build. Export your customer list from Tradify to keep as a reference.
Not a dispatch board. The Pro plan includes your own online booking page so customers can book you directly, and the Team plan lets you assign jobs to your crew, but if you need to plan multiple engineers across a timed calendar each day, Tradify is the better tool.
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