Fergus vs NextMinute — and where Toolie fits

Fergus vs NextMinute, at a glance

Both are New Zealand job-management tools for trades and builders, and both bill in a flatter, team-oriented way rather than strictly per user. At the time of writing, Fergus runs from about $53/month (Basic) to $75/month (Pro) for the core, with paid timesheet seats (from ~$26/mo) and contractor users (~$4/user/day) on top. NextMinute prices in crew bands — from about $199/month for 3–9 users and $349/month for 10–14 (ex-GST). Confirm current pricing with each vendor.

Where they're similar

Both cover jobs, quoting, invoicing, timesheets and scheduling, both are built for New Zealand trades, and both integrate with accounting. They're aimed at jobbing businesses with a team rather than a single sole trader.

Where they differ

• Pricing shape. Fergus has a low flat entry with paid seat add-ons, so a small team can start cheaply; NextMinute's banded pricing starts higher but bundles a 3–9 user crew.
• Focus. Fergus leans into workflow and financial visibility; NextMinute leans into project and job management for builders with crews.

Where Toolie fits — the NZ-Building-Code option

Neither knows the New Zealand Building Code. Toolie does the same jobs, quotes, invoicing and scheduling and adds automatic NZS 3604 take-off, the H1 6th edition and Healthy Homes, CCA 2002 retentions, NZ contracts and LBP Records of Work, 17 builder calculators and a sketch-to-plan tool — for flat per-plan pricing, not per user — from $49/month (ex-GST) for a sole trader, or a flat $129/month for a crew of up to eight.

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 Fergus and NextMinute for anything similar before you compare.

See Toolie vs Fergus, Toolie vs NextMinute, the Tradify vs Fergus comparison, or how Toolie quotes a job. Competitor pricing is indicative and was current at the time of writing.