Guide
Job update apps for UK trades, compared
Updated
Customers want to know how their job is going, and there are several ways to tell them. This guide sets the common options side by side: what each one is for, and what each one’s own website says the customer gets to see. We make How’s the Job, so we have kept to what each product says about itself and left out anything we couldn’t check on its public site.
How we compared them
Every claim about another product here comes from that product’s own public website as of October 2026: its homepage, features pages and pricing page, using the UK version where there is one. We haven’t used reviews, forums or our own trial accounts. Products change, so treat this as a starting point and check their sites before you decide.
We looked at one question in particular: what does the customer see while the job is underway? Most of these products are full job-management suites, so the answer is usually one part of a much bigger app, and that is fine. Whether you need the rest of the suite is a separate decision.
WhatsApp and text messages
This is what most tradespeople already do: send a photo and a line when there is something to say. It costs nothing, the customer already has it, and for a short call-out it is all anyone needs. The drawbacks show on longer jobs, where photos get lost among everything else in the chat and nothing says what stage the job has reached. We go into that in a job link vs WhatsApp photos.
Tradify
Tradify’s UK site describes business management software that runs every job from start to finish in one app, with quoting, estimating, scheduling, timesheets, job tracking, invoicing, online payments, and forms and certificates. On the customer side it lists online quote acceptance, card payments for invoices, appointment details you can email to the customer, and on its Pro plan automatic email and text reminders for appointments, quotes and payments.
It is a paid subscription, charged per user per month, with a 14-day free trial. We compare it with How’s the Job in more detail in Tradify and How’s the Job.
ServiceM8
ServiceM8’s UK site describes smart job management for trades and services, with scheduling, quoting and invoicing, payments, forms, online booking and much more. Its feature overview lists several customer-facing features: on-the-way texts with an estimated arrival time, Track My Arrival, booking confirmations, online quote acceptance, and emails and texts to clients saved on the job card.
Its UK pricing page lists a free plan for one user with a monthly job limit, paid monthly plans above that, and a 14-day free trial. There is a fuller comparison in ServiceM8 and How’s the Job.
Powered Now
Powered Now describes itself as all-in-one job management software, built in the UK for UK trades. Its site lists quotes and invoices, customer and job management, scheduling, job sheets, expenses, timesheets and trade forms and certificates. On the customer side, quotes carry a signature link and invoices a payment link, and its Premium plan adds appointment reminders and a Customer Portal, where customers can see upcoming and past appointments, who is attending, their certificates, invoices and forms, and reply to messages.
It is a paid subscription in pounds, with plans for sole traders and per-user plans for teams, and a 14-day free trial on every plan.
Jobber
Jobber describes home and commercial service software for quoting, scheduling, invoicing and getting paid. Its customer communication page lists on-my-way texts, appointment reminders by email or text, quote follow-ups and follow-up emails after a job. Its client hub lets customers request work, approve quotes, pay invoices and see the details of past and upcoming appointments, along with photos of the team members assigned.
Jobber’s pricing page shows paid plans in US dollars with a 14-day free trial, and lists some features, such as card payments and two-way texting, as available in the UK.
How’s the Job
How’s the Job does one thing. You add a job, post photos and short updates from your phone, and text your customer one link. They open it in any phone browser, with no app and no account, and see a three-step progress bar in your trade’s words with every photo and update newest first. The page refreshes itself when you post.
It does not do quotes, invoices, scheduling, payments or GPS, and it doesn’t send messages for you. It is free for tradespeople and always free for customers. You can see an example job page without signing up.
Which to choose
If you need quotes, scheduling and invoicing in one place, you need a job-management suite, and the four above are all worth a trial; which suits you depends on your trade, your team and how you like to work. If your customers mainly ask when you are arriving, look closely at the suites that text arrival times.
If what you need is a tidy way to show progress on longer jobs, How’s the Job does that on its own, or alongside whichever suite you already use. And if your jobs are short and your customers are happy with a photo on WhatsApp, there is nothing wrong with carrying on.
The small print
How’s the Job is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Tradify, ServiceM8, Powered Now, Jobber, WhatsApp or Meta. Their names are trademarks of their owners. What this guide says about each product describes its public website as of October 2026; the pages we relied on are listed below.
See an example job page, or get started — it is free.
Sources
What this page says about other products comes from their own public websites, checked on .