Buyer’s guide · prices checked 28 July 2026

Best Carpenter Software UK — Prices Compared

Carpentry spans two quite different businesses — bench joinery in a workshop and first and second fix on site — and a lot of firms do both in the same week. That mix is what makes the software choice awkward: you need day-rate and fixed-price quoting on the same job, and somewhere sensible to keep FENSA and fire-door records. This guide compares five options with prices taken from each vendor’s own page.

Carpenters & Joiners software compared on price

Entry price is what one person pays to start. Tools marked per user charge that figure again for every extra seat, which is what makes them expensive for small outfits.

SoftwareFromFree trialUK-builtSuits
Tradify£34 / user / month14 daysNoJoinery firms running staff across multiple sites
Traddie£9.99 / month14 daysYesSole-trader carpenters and small joinery outfits
ToolTime£59 / month7 daysYesSite carpentry teams who live on detailed job sheets
YourTradebase£29 / month30 days, no card requiredYesJoiners quoting bespoke work to domestic customers
XeroSee xero.com30 daysNoBookkeeping and tax, alongside a separate workflow tool

Prices read from each vendor’s own pricing page on 28 July 2026 and quoted as they state them. Vendors change pricing without notice — check before you buy.

How to choose software for carpenters & joiners

You need day rate and fixed price on the same quote

A kitchen fit might be fixed price while the making-good afterwards is day rate, and a customer should not receive two documents for one job. The practical test during a trial is whether you can mix pricing methods on a single quote without the totals fighting you. Some tools handle it cleanly; some make you choose one and fudge the rest.

First and second fix are separate scheduling problems

On site you are working around other trades, often with weeks between your two visits, and a scheduler that cannot hold a job open across that gap is no use. If you run a team across several sites, this is the single feature most worth paying for, and it is where the heavier tools genuinely earn their per-user price.

Certification: FENSA, Certass and fire doors

Fit replacement windows or doors and you are into FENSA or Certass territory; fire doors carry their own records and are increasingly scrutinised. Keeping those documents attached to the job, rather than in an email folder, is what makes them findable when someone asks two years later. Not every tool does this, and it is worth asking directly.

Workshop stock is the gap in all of these

Worth saying plainly: none of the tools on this page is a timber-stock or cutting-list system. If you run a bench shop with real materials inventory, expect to keep that separate, and choose from this list on quoting, scheduling and invoicing rather than hoping one of them covers the workshop too.

The options, by who they suit

These are grouped by the kind of business they fit rather than ranked one to five — the right pick for a sole trader is rarely the right pick for a firm with four vans.

If you are scheduling a team across several sites

Tradify

From £34 / user / month14 days free trial

The most widely used trade job-management tool in the UK, and the strongest here on scheduling and dispatch. Pro adds job templates, timesheets, subcontractor scheduling and compliance certificates.

Plans: Lite £34 · Pro £37 · Plus £44, all per user

Strengths

  • Deepest scheduling and dispatch of any tool on this page
  • Large UK user base, so plenty of independent reviews and help material
  • Syncs with Xero, Sage and QuickBooks Online
  • Compliance certificates included from the Pro tier

Trade-offs

  • Priced per user from the first seat — a three-hander on Pro is £111 a month
  • Text messages are charged per message and the website builder is a paid add-on
  • More tool than a one-van business usually needs
Visit Tradify

If you are a sole trader watching costs

Traddie

From £9.99 / month14 days free trial

UK-built job software running quote → job → invoice in one flow, with CIS deductions and VAT threshold tracking handled directly. At £9.99 for a single user it is the cheapest option on this page.

Plans: Solo £9.99 · Pro £19.99 · Team £49.99 for 3 users, extra seats £7

Strengths

  • Lowest entry price here — a sole trader pays £9.99 where most rivals start at £28–34 per user
  • CIS deductions and VAT threshold tracking built in, not an add-on
  • Card, GoCardless and bank payments on every plan
  • Syncs to Xero and QuickBooks on Pro and above

Trade-offs

  • Newer than the established names, so there are far fewer third-party reviews to read
  • No workshop stock or materials-inventory module
  • Made by us — weigh this entry accordingly and use the free trial rather than our word
See Traddie pricing

If your job sheets matter more than your scheduling

ToolTime

From £59 / month7 days free trial

UK-focused job management with strong mobile job sheets, time tracking and quoting, split into an office licence plus cheaper field licences.

Plans: Office user £59, additional field users £29 each, on a 12-month term

Strengths

  • Strong mobile job sheets and on-site time tracking
  • Field-user licences are cheaper than office ones, so crews cost less to add

Trade-offs

  • Highest entry price on this page at £59 a month for the first user
  • Billed on a 12-month term rather than rolling monthly
  • Shortest trial here at 7 days
Visit ToolTime

If your quotes need to look the part

YourTradebase

From £29 / month30 days, no card required free trial

A UK small-business favourite with the tidiest customer-facing quote documents here, one flat base price rather than per-user from the off, and the longest trial on this page.

Plans: Flat £29 base, additional users £15 each

Strengths

  • Longest trial here at 30 days with no card up front
  • Flat base price instead of per-user from the first seat
  • Well-presented quote and job documents for the customer

Trade-offs

  • Extra users are £15 a month each, so a team catches up with per-user rivals
  • Lighter on heavy field-service features than Tradify
Visit YourTradebase

If your accountant already runs your books

Xero

From See xero.com30 days free trial

The accounting platform most UK accountants already work in. It is not job-management software and does not pretend to be — it belongs on this page because most trades end up running one of the tools above and syncing it to Xero.

Plans: Plans change often; check current UK pricing directly

Strengths

  • The default at most UK accountancy practices, so handover is painless
  • Making Tax Digital ready

Trade-offs

  • No quoting workflow, scheduling or job costing — this is books, not jobs
  • You will still be paying for a workflow tool alongside it
Visit Xero

How we put this together

Every price on this page was read off the vendor’s own pricing page on 28 July 2026 and is quoted the way they state it, including whether it is per user and whether VAT is excluded. We judged the tools against the things that decide the job for UK carpenters & joiners:

  • Quote-to-job-to-invoice workflow quality
  • Real cost for the way your business is actually staffed
  • Mobile usability for quoting and updating jobs on site
  • VAT threshold tracking and CIS deduction handling
  • Integration with Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and Sage
  • Length of the free trial, and whether it needs a card
  • Mixed day-rate and fixed-price quoting on one job
  • Storing FENSA, Certass and fire-door records against the job

Disclosure:we make Traddie, one of the tools listed here. We have tried to describe it as plainly as the others, trade-offs included, and we have not put it top of the page. Every tool here has a free trial — use them rather than taking anyone’s word, ours included.

Carpenters & Joiners software: common questions

What is the best software for a self-employed carpenter?

If you work alone, cost is usually the deciding factor and Traddie is cheapest here at £9.99 a month against £28–34 per user for most rivals and £59 for ToolTime. If you run a team across sites, Tradify's scheduling is the strongest on this page and is worth its £34–44 per user. Prices checked 28 July 2026.

Can I quote day rate and fixed price on the same job?

This is the question to ask on every trial, because carpentry needs it more than most trades and not every tool handles it gracefully. You want both pricing methods on one quote — fixed price for the fit, day rate for the making-good — producing one document and one total the customer can follow.

Where should I keep FENSA and fire-door records?

Attached to the job in whatever system you use, not in an email folder. Replacement windows and doors need FENSA or Certass certification, and fire-door installation records are under increasing scrutiny. The point of keeping them against the job is that when someone asks for the paperwork two years on, you can find it in seconds rather than searching your inbox.

Does carpentry software handle CIS?

The ones aimed at UK trades do, and it matters if you take subcontract site work — a main contractor deducts 20% before paying you (30% if you are not verified), and those deductions need recording against the right invoices to be reclaimed. Traddie and Powered Now handle CIS directly. If your work is entirely direct to homeowners, CIS does not apply to you.

Will any of these manage workshop timber stock?

No. None of the tools compared here is a materials-inventory or cutting-list system, and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise. Bench shops that need real stock control generally keep that separate and use job software for the quoting, scheduling and invoicing side.

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