Quick answer
For a 2-person Australian tradie team: Tradify is approximately $98/month at published per-user rates, ServiceM8 Starter from $79/month before add-on charges, SimPro pricing requires a sales call. Chippie costs $25/month for 2 users with unlimited jobs. Annual totals diverge sharply once add-ons are included.
Buying job management software for a trade business should be simple. It isn't.
Every major platform leads with a headline price that looks reasonable. Then you actually use the product and discover the SMS credits aren't included, the second user is extra, the advanced scheduling costs more, and the annual discount only applies if you pay upfront.
This article gives you the annualised numbers — including add-ons — for the apps most Australian tradies are comparing in 2026.
Tradify prices by the user. Their published rate is approximately $49 AUD per user per month.
For a 2-person team — a business owner and one employee — that's $98/month or $1,176/year at the monthly rate.
The Tradify pricing model is straightforward in that there are no hidden add-ons — you pay for users, and most features are included at every tier. The downside is that the cost scales linearly with headcount. A team that grows from 2 to 5 people goes from $98/month to $245/month with no corresponding change in features used.
Tradify offers an annual discount. At the time of writing, annual billing typically saves roughly 2 months' cost — check the Tradify pricing page for the current offer.
Tradify is honest about its pricing structure, which is worth noting. You know exactly what you're paying before you sign up.
ServiceM8's Starter plan begins at $79 AUD/month. This makes it look cheaper than Tradify's $98/month for 2 users — but the comparison breaks down when you read the plan details.
ServiceM8's Starter plan caps staff logins. Moving to a plan that supports a 2-person field team pushes you to Standard pricing. Add-ons then stack on top:
Tradiescaler, an independent Australian software comparison site, summarised it directly: ServiceM8's add-on model "can push monthly costs higher than expected." Multiple Capterra reviews from Australian users echo this — the effective monthly cost is consistently higher than the advertised plan price.
For a 2-person team using SMS notifications and a standard job workflow, budget for $100–160/month depending on message volume and plan tier. Annual pricing is available and reduces this.
ServiceM8's iOS-first design (covered in our ServiceM8 Android article) is a separate consideration — if your team is mixed iOS/Android, plan for that in your evaluation.
SimPro does not publish its pricing publicly. Getting a price requires a sales call or a demo request.
This is deliberate. SimPro is an enterprise-grade field service platform designed for businesses with 10–100+ staff, complex job costing, project management, multi-site operations, and detailed SWMS and compliance workflows. It is not priced for a 2-person tradie team and is not designed to be.
If you're a small trade business considering SimPro, the more important question is whether you actually need enterprise project management. In almost all cases, a tradie team under 10 people doesn't — and paying enterprise pricing for features you'll never use is waste, not investment.
For completeness: SimPro is appropriate when a business outgrows tools like Tradify and ServiceM8. That threshold is roughly when you're managing multiple concurrent projects with dedicated project managers, not when you're two tradies doing residential work.
Here's the honest annual cost comparison at 2 users, based on published pricing as at May 2026:
| App | Monthly (2 users) | Annual (2 users) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chippie Free | $0 | $0 | Capped at 20 jobs/month |
| Chippie Professional | $25 | $250 (annual billing) | Unlimited jobs, 2 users included |
| Tradify | ~$98 | ~$980 (with annual discount) | Per-user pricing, most features included |
| ServiceM8 Starter | $79+ | $948+ | Add-ons extra; Starter may limit staff logins |
| SimPro | Not published | Not published | Enterprise platform, not designed for 2-person teams |
Sources: Tradify pricing page (tradify.co.nz/pricing), ServiceM8 pricing page (servicem8.com/pricing), Chippie pricing page — all checked May 2026. Annual discount applied where available.
For a 2-person team doing standard job management — quoting, invoicing, job tracking — Chippie Professional at $25/month is $73/month cheaper than Tradify and roughly $54–135/month cheaper than ServiceM8 depending on add-on usage.
On a 5-user team, the gap is larger:
| App | Monthly (5 users) | Annual (5 users) |
|---|---|---|
| Chippie Team | $65 ($45 base + 1 extra user at $10) | $650 |
| Tradify | ~$245 | ~$2,450 |
| ServiceM8 | Higher tier + add-ons; varies | Varies |
Chippie has a permanent free tier — not a trial, not a "free for 30 days" offer.
Free plan limits:
For a tradie starting out, a part-time operator, or a sole trader doing under 20 jobs a month, the free tier covers the full core workflow: create a quote, send it to the client, accept it, track the job, send an invoice, mark it paid. No time bomb.
When you grow past 20 jobs, Professional at $25/month unlocks unlimited jobs and adds a second user. No sales call. No onboarding fee. No "starter plan" that forces an upgrade to get basic features.
Tradify is a good product at a transparent price. If you can absorb the per-user cost and want a mature, well-supported platform, it's a reasonable choice. The per-user model becomes expensive for teams of 3+.
ServiceM8 is a strong iOS product with an add-on pricing model that rewards careful budgeting. Android users should read our ServiceM8 Android article before committing.
Chippie is the lowest-cost option that covers the full workflow. It's appropriate for 1–10 person trade businesses doing quoting, invoicing, job management, and scheduling. If you're currently on Tradify or ServiceM8 and the price is a friction point, the free tier is a zero-risk way to compare.
SimPro is not for small trade businesses. If someone is pitching SimPro to your 3-person carpentry business, they are selling you more software than you need.
Tradify's pricing in Australia is per-user. At the published rate of approximately $49 AUD/user/month, a 2-person team pays around $98/month, a 3-person team around $147/month, and a 5-person team around $245/month. There is no flat-rate plan that covers multiple users at a capped price. Tradify does offer an annual discount — check their pricing page for the current annual rate.
Yes. ServiceM8's Starter plan from $79/month is a base price. SMS notifications to clients, advanced dispatch and scheduling features, and some automation add-ons are charged separately. The Tradiescaler comparison site notes that ServiceM8's add-on model 'can push monthly costs higher than expected.' Budget for actual usage when comparing ServiceM8 to flat-rate alternatives.
Chippie's free plan covers up to 20 jobs per month and 20 quotes per month, with 1 user included. There is no time limit — it is a permanent free tier, not a trial. At 20 jobs per month, it covers a part-time tradie or a business just starting out. Professional ($25 AUD/month) unlocks unlimited jobs and quotes, and includes 2 users. Team ($45 AUD/month) covers 4 users.
You can start on Chippie's free tier immediately with no payment required. If you're currently on ServiceM8 or Tradify, you can run both in parallel during a transition period — use Chippie for new jobs while completing existing ones in your current app. Chippie's Professional plan at $25/month is less than half what most teams pay for their current software.
SimPro is an enterprise-grade field service platform priced for businesses with 10–100+ staff and complex project management needs. It is not designed for 1–5 person trade businesses, and its pricing reflects that positioning. For a small tradie team, Chippie, Tradify, or ServiceM8 are all more appropriate in scope and price. Chippie at $25–45/month is a small fraction of SimPro's cost.
Chippie is free to start — quote, invoice and manage jobs from your phone.
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