Nule vs Tradify: Which App Is Best for Tradespeople?

Both are built for tradespeople. Both do quotes, jobs, customers, scheduling and invoices. Both can tell you what a job cost against what you quoted.

So the feature lists look much the same, and a comparison that prints two of them side by side is no help.

Nine apps, sorted by what they are for: Best Apps for Self-Employed Tradespeople — if you are still working out which category you need.

The difference is one thing: where your books live.

Tradify: jobs here, books somewhere else

Tradify organises the work. Quotes out, jobs booked in, customer history, job costing that sets what you predicted against what the job cost, then an invoice at the end.

It does not do your accounting. It connects to Xero, Sage or QuickBooks and hands the invoices, bills and payments across. Your books live there. The Xero link works both ways; the other two go one way, as far as Tradify says.

Tradify's help pages say it is not recognised by HMRC for CIS invoices, so you cannot raise one unless you are connected to Xero or Sage. It has no Making Tax Digital function of its own. It puts VAT on your documents, but it does not file anything. That is the accounting package's job.

So a Tradify setup is two apps: Tradify for the work, an accounting package for the money, and a link between them.

That is a normal way to run a business. Plenty of firms do it, and if your accountant already works in Xero, it may be the smallest change you can make.

Nule: jobs and books in one app

Nule does the same work as Tradify: quotes, jobs, clients, scheduling, invoices. The difference is what happens next.

You price the job: a labour price in hours or days at your own day rate, then materials, outside costs and a buffer. The customer accepts and it becomes a live job, with the price you set still attached to it.

You log the hours. You photograph the receipt at the merchant. The mileage goes on the job. Then you invoice from the job, and the invoice already knows what the job cost you.

In Tradify, that invoice now goes to Xero. In Nule it stays where it is, next to the receipts, the mileage, and the expenses that are not supplier bills. Those are the same records your accountant logs into.

Because the money is in the same place as the work, Nule can tell you how the price held up. Such as a line saying the materials came in £140 over what you quoted, or that the job ran £230 over budget. Then it looks across all your jobs and tells you which lost money, where the expenses went, and which kind of work you keep underquoting.

Five main numbers sit on the home screen of Nule: what is safe to spend, how much tax is put aside, VAT to save (if registered), income and profit. Tax is forecast as you go. Making Tax Digital submissions are in beta.

It works offline on site. One plan, £35 a month plus VAT, everything in it.

Side by side

When Tradify is the better answer

You already run Xero, Sage or QuickBooks and it works. Your accountant knows it, the VAT returns go out on time, and you only want the job side fixed. Adding Tradify solves the problem you have.

You are VAT registered, or on CIS. Both Tradify and Nule support traders in this position. The difference is where the accounting happens. Tradify relies on Xero, Sage or QuickBooks to handle the accounting side, while Nule keeps the job records, expenses and financial tracking together in one place. If your accountant already works inside Xero or Sage, Tradify may fit your setup. If you want your quotes, jobs, costs and tax tracking connected from the start, Nule is built for that.

You have staff. Timesheets, job assignment with notifications, and staff locations on a map. Nule has none of that. It is built for one person, not a crew.

If that is you, Fergus is worth a look too — it is built around running a team: Nule vs Fergus: Which App Is Best for Tradespeople?

When Nule is the better answer

You work on your own, or nearly. One person doing quotes, work, invoices, receipts and a tax return does not need two systems and a sync between them.

You do not have accounting software. Your records are a pile of receipts and a bank app, sorted out in January. There is nothing for Tradify to connect to, so "integrates with Xero" means buying and learning Xero as well.

Not every cost is a supplier bill. Tradify has no general expense tracking, and its help pages say it cannot track mileage automatically. So the fuel, the parking, the phone and the odd tool go into your accounting software instead. That is another reason you end up with two.

Making Tax Digital applies to you, or soon will. Quarterly updates and VAT records are easier when the financial information is captured as you work, rather than trying to rebuild your numbers afterwards.

Which one

If your accounting is sorted and your jobs are a mess, buy Tradify. If you have a crew, buy Tradify.

If both are a mess, or you are one person doing all of it, the alternative is running two apps and paying for both. That is the case for Nule.

Neither is a bad answer. They answer different questions, and the question is not which app is best. It is whether you want your books somewhere else.

Tradify's features, plan tiers and integrations are as published by Tradify on 4 August 2026, and change. Check the current details with them before you buy.