Best Quoting Software for NZ Tradies — And a $399 Alternative

The Quoting Problem Every NZ Tradie Knows

You finish a site visit at 5pm. You've got notes on the back of a receipt, some measurements on your phone, and a mental list of materials. You need to get that quote out tonight because the customer is getting three quotes and the first one back usually wins.

But you're tired. You've been on your feet since 6am. So the quote goes out the next day. Or the day after. And by then, someone else has already won the job.

Sound familiar? You're not alone. NZ tradies lose an estimated 20–30% of potential jobs simply because their quotes go out too slowly.

The Big Players: What They Cost and What You Get

Fergus

Price: From ~$50/month (solo) to $250+/month (team)

What it does well:

• Job scheduling and tracking
• Quoting with materials and labour
• Invoicing and Xero integration
• GPS tracking for teams
• NZ-built, understands GST

Where it falls short:

• Monthly cost adds up ($600–$3,000/year)
• Learning curve — takes 2–4 weeks to set up properly
• Overkill if you just need quoting (you're paying for job management, scheduling, GPS, etc.)
• Template customisation is limited
• Some tradies report it's slow on mobile

Best for: Established trades businesses with 3+ staff who need full job management, not just quoting.

Tradify

Price: From ~$35/month (solo) to $50+/user/month

What it does well:

• Clean, simple interface
• Fast quoting from templates
• Good mobile app
• NZ-based, solid local support
• Integrates with Xero

Where it falls short:

• Quote formatting options are limited
• Can't easily add custom fields or calculations
• Price goes up quickly with multiple users
• Limited reporting

Best for: Solo tradies or small teams (1–3 people) who want something simple and fast.

Jobber

Price: From ~$45/month to $250+/month

What it does well:

• Excellent customer communication features
• Online quote approval
• Automated follow-ups on sent quotes
• Client hub for customers to view quotes/invoices
• Good mobile app

Where it falls short:

• Canadian-built — some NZ-specific features missing
• GST handling can be clunky
• More expensive than local alternatives
• Designed for North American trades — some workflows don't map perfectly to NZ

Best for: Trades businesses focused on customer experience who don't mind paying a premium.

Invoice Ninja / Free Tools

Price: Free or very cheap

What they do well:

• Basic quoting and invoicing
• Cost-effective

Where they fall short:

• Generic — not built for trades
• No materials database
• No job scheduling
• Limited or no mobile app
• You get what you pay for in terms of support

Best for: Tradies just starting out who need something temporary.

The Real Cost Comparison

Let's look at what you'd actually pay over 2 years:

The BestAI tool is a one-time cost. No monthly subscription. You own it.

What a $399 Custom Quoting Tool Looks Like

Let's be specific about what you get — and what you don't:

What You Get

• Quote builder on your phone or laptop — Fill in job type, measurements, materials, labour hours
• Automatic calculations — Materials cost + labour + margin + GST = total, automatically
• Your branding — Your logo, business name, contact details on every quote
• PDF generation — Professional quote PDF ready to email or text to the customer
• Quote history — All your past quotes saved and searchable
• Built for your trade — Plumber? Electrician? Builder? The tool uses your terminology, your common materials, your typical job types

What You DON'T Get

Let's be honest:

• No job scheduling or team management — If you need that, Fergus or Tradify is the better choice
• No automatic invoicing — This is a quoting tool, not an accounting system
• No GPS tracking — Again, that's a different tool
• No Xero integration at $399 — That's available as part of a larger workflow setup ($2,000–$4,000)

If you need a full job management system, a $399 tool isn't the answer. But if your main problem is getting quotes out fast — this solves it.

When Custom Beats SaaS (and When It Doesn't)

Go custom ($399 tool) when:

• You only need quoting, not full job management
• You have specific calculations that Fergus/Tradify can't handle
• You're tired of paying monthly for features you don't use
• You want something that works exactly the way you work
• You quote a lot of similar jobs and want to speed it up

Stick with Fergus/Tradify when:

• You have a team and need scheduling + tracking
• You want invoicing and Xero integration built in
• You need GPS tracking for staff
• You're already using it and it works for you

Use both when:

• You use Fergus for job management but want a faster quoting tool for initial estimates at site visits (the custom tool feeds into Fergus for won jobs)

Real Talk: What NZ Tradies Actually Do

Based on our conversations with Auckland tradies:

1. Most start with spreadsheets or Word templates — It works until you're doing more than 5 quotes a week
2. Many try Fergus or Tradify — About half love it, half find it overkill and cancel within 6 months
3. The ones who stick with SaaS are usually trades businesses with 3+ staff
4. Solo tradies and 2-person teams are the ones most frustrated — they need fast quoting but don't need (or want) a full platform

How BestAI Builds a Quoting Tool in 48 Hours

Here's the actual process:

1. You book a free 45-minute chat — We ask about your trade, your typical jobs, your current quoting process, and what drives you crazy about it
2. We build a prototype in 24 hours — You test it, tell us what to change
3. Final version delivered in 48 hours — With your branding, your materials list, your job types
4. You own it — No monthly fee. It runs on your phone's browser. We host it for you.

Optional: For $300/month ongoing support, we maintain it, add materials as your suppliers change prices, and make tweaks as your business evolves.

The Bottom Line

There's no single "best" quoting software for NZ tradies. It depends on:

• How big your team is — Solo/duo → custom or Tradify. Team of 3+ → Fergus or Jobber.
• What else you need — Just quoting → custom tool. Full job management → SaaS platform.
• Your budget — One-time $399 vs. $35–$250/month ongoing.
• How custom your quotes need to be — Standard templates work → SaaS. Unique calculations or formats → custom.

The worst option? Sticking with Word templates and losing jobs because your quotes go out too slowly.

Get Your Custom Quoting Tool

If you're an NZ tradie spending too long on quotes, book a free 45-minute chat with us. We'll look at your current process and tell you honestly whether a $399 custom tool, Fergus, Tradify, or something else is the right fit.

No sales pitch. Just practical advice from people who build tools for NZ tradies every day.

BestAI builds custom software and automation tools for NZ small businesses — including tradies, builders, and service businesses. Auckland-based, from $399, delivered in 48 hours. Book a free chat or see our trades case studies.