Best Quoting App for Builders UK 2026: Fast Quotes for Extensions, Renovations and New Build

Written by Tom Ellis · Senior Trades Editor

Last updated: September 2026

Quick Answer

Sleepless Tradesman is the best quoting app for UK builders in 2026 for its phased building templates, labour and materials line items, and instant PDF quotes. Tradify suits sole traders wanting simplicity; JobLogic fits larger building firms with complex workflows; Commusoft works well for builders who also run service contracts.

Why quoting software matters for builders

Building quotes are the most complex in the trades. A properly structured quote for a single-storey extension in Birmingham or a full house renovation in Leeds needs to capture materials, labour by phase (groundworks, structure, first fix, second fix, finishes), plant hire, skip costs, subcontractor packages, provisional sums for unforeseen items, and often a separate preliminaries section covering site set-up, welfare facilities and insurance.

Getting a quote wrong on a £40,000 extension can wipe out months of profit. Under-price materials because prices have moved since your last job, forget to include scaffold hire at £800 per week, or miss the VAT implications of a listed building and the margin evaporates fast. Federation of Master Builders (FMB) data from 2025 shows that pricing errors are one of the top three reasons small building firms fail within five years.

The right quoting app for builders does three things: it structures the quote so nothing gets missed, it stores your labour rates and material prices so you can build costs from the bottom up rather than guessing, and it produces a professional PDF that a homeowner or architect in London, Manchester or Edinburgh is happy to receive and approve.

Speed matters too. Homeowners often request three quotes before committing. If a competitor sends their quote within 24 hours and yours takes a week, you lose work before price is even compared. A good quoting app lets you build a new estimate from a saved template in under an hour.

"The AI tool that actually saves me hours is the one that scopes a job before I ever quote it. I feed in bedroom and bathroom count and it spits out the task list and a rough time estimate for that unit, instead of me eyeballing it from memory. That alone probably cuts about four hours off my week, mostly in back and forth on pricing."

Carolyn Vasquez, Founder, Ready Rental Cleaning (source: Connectively, August 2026)

What builders actually need in a quoting app

Generic invoicing tools and basic job management apps often fall short for builders because the trade has requirements that plumbers, electricians and other specialist trades do not share. Here is what a quoting app genuinely needs to handle for UK building work:

Multi-trade job breakdowns
A kitchen extension typically involves groundworks, brickwork, steelwork, roofing, windows, first-fix carpentry, plumbing rough-in, electrical rough-in, plastering, second-fix joinery, tiling, decorating and a kitchen fit-out. Each discipline has different labour rates and materials. The quoting app must let you build these as separate sections or cost centres rather than a flat list, so the client can see exactly where their money goes and you can track margin by trade.
Material cost and markup
Materials on a large extension can account for 40 to 60% of the total job value. The app should let you record your net cost from the merchant, apply a markup percentage (typically 15 to 25% for builders), and show the client only the sell price. A central price list that you update when merchant prices change — rather than hunting through old quotes to update them one by one — is essential for anyone doing more than a handful of jobs a year.
Labour rates: day rate vs fixed price
Builders quote in different ways depending on the job type. Day-rate work (common for renovation or repair work where scope is uncertain) requires the app to track hours and upscale to a cost quickly. Fixed-price work requires a detailed activity breakdown. The best quoting apps support both models and let you store your standard day rate and activity rates (e.g. brickwork per thousand, render per square metre) as reusable items so every new quote starts from accurate numbers rather than memory.
VAT handling, especially for CIS contractors
The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) adds a layer of complexity that most generic trade apps ignore. Under CIS, the contractor (the builder hiring subcontractors) must deduct tax at source from subcontractor payments — 20% for registered subs, 30% for unregistered ones. A quoting app with CIS support handles these deductions automatically so your quotes to main contractors and your subcontractor cost lines both reflect the correct net and gross figures. Separately, VAT rates on building work vary: 20% on most repairs and improvements, 5% on qualifying residential conversions, 0% on new builds. The app must support per-line VAT rate selection to handle mixed-rate projects correctly.
PDF quote with company branding
Homeowners and commercial clients in the UK increasingly expect a professional branded document, not a handwritten note or a plain email. The PDF should carry your company logo, registered address, VAT number, payment terms, quote expiry date and a clear breakdown of what is and is not included. A well-formatted quote from a smaller builder competing against a larger firm often wins on professionalism alone when the price is similar.
Customer e-signature
E-signature on quotes is increasingly standard across the UK trades. It creates a clear record of when the client accepted your price, provides a paper trail if a dispute arises, and removes the friction of printing, signing and scanning documents. Under the Electronic Communications Act 2000, an electronic signature is legally valid in the UK when it is attached to, or logically associated with, the document it signs.

What to look for in a building quoting app

Not every job management app handles the complexity that building work demands. Here are the key features to evaluate before choosing software:

Phased or sectioned quotes so you can separate groundworks, structure, first fix and finishes into distinct cost centres.
Labour and materials as separate line items so you can apply different markup rates and see gross margin clearly.
Saved items and price lists so you are not re-entering common materials or your day rate on every job.
Subcontractor cost allocation so specialist packages (electrical, plumbing, plastering) are captured within the overall quote.
Variations and provisional sums to handle unforeseen works without rewriting the whole document.
Professional branded PDF output with your company logo, contact details and payment terms.
Mobile-friendly so you can produce or update a quote on site, not just at a desk.
VAT handling including the 5% reduced rate for residential conversions and zero-rating for new builds, which often catches builders out.
Convert quote to invoice so accepted jobs move straight to billing without re-entering data.

It is also worth checking whether the app integrates with accounting software. If you use Xero or QuickBooks for your bookkeeping, a quoting app that syncs invoices directly saves significant admin time at month end. From April 2026, builders with turnover above £50,000 must also comply with Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax, so software that records income and expenses digitally has an additional compliance benefit.

Quick wins

Build one master template for your most common job type (for example, a single-storey kitchen extension) and clone it for each new enquiry instead of starting from scratch.
Add a separate preliminaries section to every quote covering scaffold, skips, welfare and site protection so these costs are never forgotten.
Store your subcontractor rates in a price list so you can insert a plastering or electrical package with one click and update pricing centrally when rates change.
Include a provisional sum line item for unforeseen works (typically 5 to 10% of the total) to manage client expectations and protect your margin on hidden defects.
Send the quote as a PDF with an expiry date (21 days is standard in the UK building trade) to create urgency and protect yourself from material price movements.

Comparison: top quoting apps for UK builders 2026

The table below compares the leading options on the features that matter most to UK builders. Prices shown are the lowest paid monthly plan as of September 2026.

App	Price/month	Free trial	Quote templates	CIS support	iOS/Android
Sleepless Tradesman	Free–£19	Yes (free tier)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tradify	£35	14 days	Yes	No	Yes
ServiceM8	£9–£89	14 days	Yes	No	Yes
Jobber	£35–£139	14 days	Yes	No	Yes
QuoteOnSite	£25	30 days	Yes	No	Yes
JobLogic	From £39	On request	Yes	No	Yes
Commusoft	From £49	On request	Yes	No	Yes

Prices as of September 2026. Feature availability may vary by plan tier.

Pricing breakdown and hidden costs to watch for

The headline price is rarely the full story. Here is what each plan typically includes and what you may find costs extra:

Sleepless Tradesman — Free to £19/mo

The free tier covers basic quoting and invoicing with no job or quote limits. The paid plan at £19/mo adds CIS handling, branded PDF output, e-signature, price lists, and Xero/QuickBooks sync. No per-job fees or PDF export charges. All features included at the plan price.

Tradify — £35/mo per user

Includes unlimited quoting, job management and scheduling. Note the per-user pricing: a two-person team pays £70/mo. No charge for PDF exports. The 14-day trial does not require a credit card.

ServiceM8 — £9–£89/mo

Priced by number of jobs per month rather than per user, which suits smaller operations but can become expensive if job volume grows. The Starter plan at £9/mo covers 15 jobs; growing beyond that moves you up the pricing tiers quickly. Watch for the per-job model when estimating annual costs.

Jobber — £35–£139/mo

The Core plan at £35/mo covers one user and basic quoting and invoicing. Client hub and two-way client messaging require the Connect plan (£89/mo). The Grow plan at £139/mo adds automated follow-ups and online booking. PDF export is included across all plans.

QuoteOnSite — £25/mo

A quoting-focused tool rather than a full job management platform. Strong on presentation and branded PDFs. E-signature is included. Not suited to builders who want scheduling, purchase ordering, or accounting integration in the same platform. Good value for builders who only need a quoting tool and manage everything else separately.

Hidden costs to watch for

Per-job fees — ServiceM8 charges per job logged, not per user or per month. High-volume builders should model their annual job count before committing.
PDF exports behind a paywall — some apps include basic quote sending but charge extra or require a higher plan tier for branded PDF output. Verify before signing up.
Accounting sync on higher tiers only — Xero or QuickBooks integration is often a premium feature. If MTD compliance matters to you, check this is included at the plan you intend to buy.
Per-user pricing for teams — Tradify, JobLogic and Commusoft all charge per user. A five-person team can easily see costs of £175–£245/mo before any add-ons.
E-signature add-ons — some platforms include e-signature on all plans; others restrict it to higher tiers or charge per signed document. Check if this is included or bolt-on.

Real-world use cases for builders

Different job types place different demands on a quoting app. Here is how a UK builder would use quoting software across four common project types:

Quoting a single-storey kitchen extension (£40,000–£65,000)

A builder quoting a kitchen extension would need separate sections for groundworks and foundations, superstructure (blockwork, beam and block floor, roof structure), roofing (tiles or flat roof membrane), windows and bi-fold doors, first-fix plumbing and electrical, plastering, second-fix carpentry, tiling, decoration, and a preliminaries section for scaffold and skips. Materials typically account for 45–55% of the total. The quoting app should let the builder pull from a saved price list for common materials (concrete blocks, insulation, plasterboard), apply their markup, and add subcontractor packages for the electrical and plumbing. A provisional sum of 5–8% for unforeseen works (hidden drainage, structural surprises) should be included as a standard line item.

Quoting a full house renovation (£80,000–£200,000)

A full renovation quote requires the most complex structure of any domestic building job. Phased quoting is essential: strip out and enabling works, structural alterations (RSJs, lintels, wall removals), first fix for all trades, building fabric (external walls, roof repairs, windows), internal fit-out phase, and finishes. VAT rate selection matters here: if the property is being converted from commercial to residential, the 5% reduced rate applies to certain elements. A quoting app with full UK VAT handling prevents this becoming a manual calculation. The builder also needs to track subcontractor packages for electrical, plumbing, plastering and specialist trades, and ideally raise purchase orders directly from the quote for materials deliveries to site.

Quoting as a CIS subcontractor (day-rate or fixed price)

A self-employed bricklayer or groundworker registered under CIS quoting to a main contractor needs the app to present costs net of the CIS deduction (20% for verified subs). The quote to the main contractor should show gross labour, the CIS deduction amount, and the net payment the subcontractor will receive. Without CIS support in the quoting app, this must be calculated manually and added as notes, which is error-prone and unprofessional. Sleepless Tradesman handles this natively; most other apps in this comparison do not.

Quoting a loft conversion (£35,000–£65,000)

Loft conversions require quotes covering structural alterations (ridge beam, floor beams, dormer structure if applicable), roofing, velux or dormer windows, insulation, first and second fix carpentry, staircase, plasterboarding and plastering, and decoration. The app should allow the builder to save a loft conversion template that captures all these sections, so a new quote for a similar job in a different postcode can be produced by adjusting quantities rather than rebuilding from scratch. Saving a well-structured loft template in Sleepless Tradesman can reduce quoting time from three hours to under 45 minutes for comparable jobs.

Sleepless Tradesman

Sleepless Tradesman was built specifically for UK tradespeople, and it shows. For builders, the quoting module handles the complexity of a full construction job rather than treating every quote like a straightforward one-line service call. You can structure quotes in phases (groundworks, superstructure, first fix, second fix, decoration) and assign separate labour and materials costs to each phase, giving you clear visibility of where your margin sits before you send anything to the client.

The price list feature lets you store materials at your current buying price, apply a markup percentage, and have that calculate automatically on every new quote. If the cost of concrete blocks rises after a Buildbase or Travis Perkins price update, you change it once in the price list and every template that includes that item updates automatically. The same applies to your labour rates, whether you bill by day rate or by activity.

VAT handling covers the full range of UK rates including the 5% reduced rate for certain residential conversions and the zero rate for new builds, which is particularly relevant for builders working across different project types. Quotes convert to invoices with a single click, and the platform integrates with Xero and QuickBooks. Mobile access is strong, so you can produce or adjust a quote on site from a phone or tablet without needing to be back at the office.

Pricing starts at £19 per month with a free trial available. For a small building firm in Sheffield, Bristol or Cardiff that sends 10 to 20 quotes per month, the time saving alone justifies the cost many times over.

Tradify

Tradify is a popular choice among sole-trader builders and small two or three-person teams. Originating in New Zealand, it has grown its UK user base substantially since 2022 and now has dedicated UK support. The quoting interface is clean and quick to learn, making it a good option for builders who have previously managed on spreadsheets or paper and want a straightforward upgrade without a steep learning curve.

The platform handles standard line-item quotes well and includes a price list, client database and basic scheduling. However, its handling of complex phased building jobs is more limited than some competitors. Builders working on large extensions or new build projects may find they need to work around the structure to capture all the cost categories they need. VAT is handled at the standard 20% rate only within the core plan, which is a gap for builders doing residential conversion work that qualifies for the 5% reduced rate.

At £29 per month per user, Tradify is mid-range on price. For a sole-trader builder in Leeds or Nottingham doing straightforward domestic extension and renovation work, it is a solid and reliable choice. For more complex jobs or growing firms, the limitations around phased quoting become a meaningful constraint.

JobLogic

JobLogic is a Birmingham-based field service management platform with a strong UK presence and a broad feature set that suits larger building contractors and firms with multiple engineers or operatives in the field. It covers quoting, job management, scheduling, purchase ordering, and compliance documentation in one platform, making it attractive to building companies that have outgrown simpler tools.

The quoting module supports detailed, phased quotations with separate labour and materials sections, and full UK VAT rate handling including the reduced and zero rates relevant to building work. It also has a strong purchase order workflow, which is particularly useful for builders who need to raise orders with merchants and track deliveries against jobs in progress.

The platform does require more setup time and carries a steeper learning curve than simpler tools. At £39 per month per user (before any enterprise pricing negotiation), it is the most expensive option on a per-user basis for small teams. For a two-person sole-trader operation it is likely over-engineered. For a building firm with five or more operatives and a dedicated office manager in a city like Liverpool or Glasgow, the additional capability justifies the cost.

Commusoft

Commusoft is a UK-based platform founded in London and originally built for heating and plumbing businesses, though it has expanded to cover a broader range of building trades. Its strengths lie in customer communication, service history and maintenance contract management. For builders who also run planned maintenance contracts alongside their project work, it offers a genuinely integrated solution.

For project-based quoting, Commusoft performs adequately. It supports line-item quotes, a price list, and professional PDF output. However, its phased quoting capability is less developed than Sleepless Tradesman or JobLogic, and the platform is more naturally oriented towards repeat-visit service work than one-off construction projects. Builders doing a high volume of extension and renovation work may find the quoting workflow requires more manual structuring than they would like.

Pricing starts at £49 per month per user, making it the most expensive entry point in this comparison. The cost is easier to justify when builders are also using the service contract and customer history features heavily. For purely project-based building work without maintenance contracts, it is harder to make the numbers stack up compared to lower-cost alternatives.

Verdict: which app is right for you?

For most UK builders in 2026, Sleepless Tradesman is the strongest all-round choice. It handles the complexity of phased building quotes from the ground up, covers all relevant UK VAT rates, and is priced accessibly for sole traders and small firms alike. The mobile-first design is a genuine practical advantage when you are on site in Cheltenham, Newcastle or anywhere in between.

Choose Tradify if you are a sole-trader builder doing predominantly straightforward domestic work and want to be up and running quickly without a detailed setup process.

Choose JobLogic if you run a larger building firm with five or more employees and need integrated purchase ordering, scheduling and compliance management alongside quoting.

Choose Commusoft if you run maintenance and service contracts alongside your building projects and need a single platform to manage both.

If you work in related specialist trades, we also publish trade-specific guides: see the best quoting app for bathroom fitters, best quoting app for kitchen fitters, and the best quoting app for loft conversion specialists for advice tailored to those trades.

Methodology and disclosure

This comparison is based on independent research conducted in July to September 2026 including hands-on testing of free trials, review of published pricing pages, and interviews with UK builders. Sleepless Tradesman is the platform operated by the publisher of this guide. We have aimed to represent all platforms fairly. Prices are correct at the time of publication and may change. This guide does not constitute financial or commercial advice.

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Frequently asked questions

What's the best free quoting app for builders UK?

Sleepless Tradesman offers the most capable free tier for UK builders in 2026. The free plan includes basic quoting and invoicing with no job limits, making it a genuine option for sole-trader builders who want to move off spreadsheets without an immediate monthly cost. Most other apps — Tradify, Jobber, ServiceM8 — offer a time-limited free trial (14 to 30 days) but require a paid subscription after that period ends. If you need CIS handling, branded PDFs, or price lists on the free tier, Sleepless Tradesman is currently the only option that provides these without a monthly fee.

Do I need a quoting app if I'm a sole trader builder?

Yes, for any sole-trader builder producing more than three or four quotes a month, a dedicated quoting app pays for itself quickly. The typical sole-trader builder in the UK sends eight to twelve quotes monthly across extensions, bathroom renovations and smaller repair jobs. Using a template-based quoting app versus building quotes in Word or a spreadsheet typically saves one to two hours per quote on data entry, formatting and PDF creation. At even a modest day rate of £250, that is £2,000 to £4,000 worth of recovered time per month. Making Tax Digital compliance from April 2026 also makes digital record-keeping a legal requirement for builders with turnover above £50,000, which adds a compliance reason alongside the practical one.

Can quoting apps handle CIS deductions?

Most generic quoting apps do not handle CIS deductions natively. The Construction Industry Scheme requires main contractors to deduct tax at source from subcontractor payments (20% for registered subs, 30% for unregistered), and these deductions need to be reflected accurately in both quotes to clients and in payments to subs. Sleepless Tradesman is the only app in this comparison with built-in CIS support, handling gross-to-net calculations automatically so quotes to main contractors show the correct deduction amounts. If you work regularly as a CIS subcontractor or use CIS subs on your own jobs, this is a significant practical advantage over apps that require manual workarounds.

How long should a building quote take to produce?

For a straightforward domestic extension, a thorough quote should take two to four hours to build from scratch. With a saved template in a quoting app, that reduces to under an hour for similar job types. Larger new build or full renovation quotes can take a full day to cost properly. The FMB advises its members to never rush a quote on large projects since errors compound rapidly on high-value work. A good quoting app speeds up the data-entry and formatting stages, not the thinking stage.

What VAT rate applies to building work in the UK?

Most building work on existing domestic properties is subject to the standard 20% VAT rate. However, certain residential conversions (for example converting a commercial property to residential use, or increasing the number of dwellings) are subject to the 5% reduced rate. New build residential construction is zero-rated. The rules are detailed in HMRC Notice 708 and getting them wrong can result in significant underpayment or overpayment of VAT. Your quoting software should allow you to select the correct rate per line item or per project.

Should I use quoting software or just a spreadsheet?

Spreadsheets work for very simple quotes but become difficult to manage as job complexity grows. They require manual formatting, do not store price lists centrally, are easy to corrupt accidentally, and cannot send quotes directly to clients or convert them to invoices. For any builder producing more than five or six quotes per month, dedicated quoting software saves enough time and reduces enough errors to justify the cost within the first month of use.

Do I need to include a variations clause in my building quotes?

Yes. Any quote for building work on an existing property should include a variations clause explaining how additional work or unforeseen items will be priced and agreed. Including a provisional sum (typically 5 to 10% of the project value on older properties) sets clear expectations with the client and gives you a mechanism to recover additional costs without a dispute. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires that any price changes from the original quote are communicated clearly and agreed before the work is carried out.

What is Making Tax Digital and does it affect how I quote?

Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax requires self-employed builders with turnover above £50,000 to keep digital records and submit quarterly updates to HMRC from April 2026. The threshold drops to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. While MTD affects how you record income and expenses rather than how you produce quotes directly, using a quoting app that integrates with your accounting software means accepted quotes flow through to your income records automatically, reducing the manual reconciliation work required for MTD compliance.

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