Best builder software in NZ, compared honestly

Last reviewed 2 November 2026. Competitor details come from their public information and change often — check their current sites.

Best builder software in NZ: quick picks

What to compare

• NZ code knowledge: does it know NZS 3604, H1, Healthy Homes, CCA 2002 retentions and LBP paperwork, or is that bolted on by hand?
• Pricing model: per user, per job, per employee, setup fees and contract terms, or one flat price for the crew.
• Quoting depth: a real take-off from a description or plan, or a blank template you fill in.
• The rest of the job: scheduling, timesheets, invoicing, Xero or MYOB, health and safety, a client portal.
• On site: does it work offline, and is support in NZ hours?

How to choose builder software in New Zealand

There's no single best tool — it depends on what you build and how big your crew is. Most of the popular options are generic trade or job-management apps that do admin well but don't know the NZ Building Code. Toolie is the opposite: built around NZS 3604, the H1 6th edition, Healthy Homes and CCA 2002, for one flat price. Here's an honest read on the main alternatives and who each suits.

NZ-built job & quoting tools

• Tradify — the most widely used NZ trade app; a great all-rounder for job admin across all trades, billed per user.
• Fergus — NZ-built, strong on job costing and workflow for larger jobs, with a flat core plan plus paid timesheet and contractor seats.
• NextMinute — NZ-owned, builder-focused job management with Xero; a common WorkflowMax replacement.
• GeoOp — NZ-born job management for service trades; bought by The Access Group in 2025 and now joined with Tradify.

Estimating-led tools

• Buildxact — estimating and take-off with a supplier price feed; generic to AU/US/NZ.

Larger & field-service platforms

• simPRO — a deep platform for larger, complex trade and field-service businesses; a setup fee and multi-year terms are commonly reported.
• ServiceM8 — a fast, mobile-first app for small service trades, on iPhone and Android; priced by the number of jobs you do each month.
• AroFlo — full job-lifecycle field-service software across many trades; per user, with an onboarding setup fee.

Mid-market & ERP

• MYOB Acumatica Construction — a powerful construction ERP for larger builders; per-user licensing plus an implementation project.

Health & safety

• HazardCo — NZ's leading dedicated builder H&S system; guided templates and support, priced per employee. Toolie builds core H&S into the job instead.

US & legacy options

• Buildertrend — a comprehensive US residential platform; priced in USD around US codes and practices.
• WorkflowMax — the original Xero product was retired in 2024 and now continues under BlueRock; a generic job/time/invoicing tool.

Where Toolie fits

If you're a New Zealand residential builder who wants quoting, jobs and compliance in one place — with automatic NZS 3604 take-off, H1 and Healthy Homes, CCA 2002 retentions, NZ contracts and 17 builder calculators — Toolie is purpose-built for you, at one flat price for the whole crew. The bigger and more generic the alternative, the more you pay to bolt the NZ building knowledge back on by hand.

AI in Toolie: it fills in the boxes and explains, it never sets the price

Toolie uses AI for two things: reading what you say or photograph into the right inputs, and putting figures Toolie has already worked out into plain words. Toolie’s own code works out every price, total and margin, and nothing goes to a client until you’ve checked it and sent it yourself.

• Voice to quote. Record a voice note (it waits on your phone until you have signal), type your notes, or add a photo. Toolie reads the job type and sizes into the Quote Builder’s own spec checklist, marks each input “from your note” or “assumed”, and asks about anything it couldn’t tell. Any price you say out loud is ignored. You confirm the inputs, then Toolie’s quote engine prices the job from the price book — the same total as ticking the boxes by hand — and you review the quote before it goes anywhere.
• “Why is this job losing money?” On a job that’s under way or finished, Toolie compares the quote (plus approved variations) with the timesheets, bills and receipts logged against it and ranks what’s over budget in dollars: labour, materials, subbies, and extras bought without a variation. Tap “Explain this in plain English” and the AI writes it up from those figures; if its write-up uses a number Toolie didn’t work out, it’s hidden. Anything not yet logged is flagged as missing, not counted as a saving.
• Supplier bill matching. Snap a supplier invoice and the AI reads the supplier, date, total, GST and lines into a draft bill. Toolie checks that the lines add up to the total and that the GST is 3/23 of it, then suggests which job the bill belongs to — from the order reference, delivery address, dates and lines that match the quote — with a confidence score and its reasons. It never assigns the job: you pick it and save. Lines that confidently match your price book can update your own trade price for that item, only within a sensible range of the price-book figure and never over a price you’ve recently set by hand; the price book keeps the source and the previous price.
• Ask Toolie (beta). An in-app assistant you ask in plain words. It answers from Toolie’s cited NZ reference library, your own jobs and invoices, and the price book; quantity sums such as concrete or GIB sheets are worked out by Toolie’s calculators, not the AI; ask “why is the Smith job losing money?” or “which jobs are over budget?” and it answers from the same job figures. It can also draft an email, variation or scope for you to edit and send yourself. You can switch it off in Settings.

AI features need a connection to run. Software changes quickly, so check the current feature list of each tool you’re weighing up for anything similar before you compare.