Tradify vs Fergus — and where Toolie fits

Tradify vs Fergus, at a glance

Both are well-known job-management tools used by NZ trades, and both cover the same core: jobs, quotes, invoicing, timesheets and scheduling. The clearest difference is how they bill. Tradify is priced per user — at the time of writing its plans run from about $48 per user / month (ex-GST), so the bill grows with every chippie you add. Fergus uses a flatter core plan — at the time of writing from about $53/month (Basic) to $75/month (Pro) — but adds paid timesheet and contractor seats on top. Confirm current pricing with each vendor.

Where they're similar

For day-to-day admin they overlap a lot: quoting and invoicing, a job and customer database, scheduling and a calendar, timesheets, and accounting integrations. Both are mobile-first, both are used widely in New Zealand, and both are good at getting trade admin off paper.

Where they differ

• Pricing model. Tradify scales per user; Fergus has a flatter core but charges for extra seat types. For a small fixed team Tradify can be cheaper; for a larger crew the per-user maths adds up.
• Focus. Tradify leans simple and fast for sole traders and small teams; Fergus leans into workflow and financial visibility for slightly larger jobbing businesses.

Where Toolie fits — the NZ-Building-Code option

Neither tool knows the New Zealand Building Code. That's the gap Toolie fills: it does the same jobs, quotes, invoicing and scheduling, then 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 Tradify and Fergus for anything similar before you compare.

See Toolie vs Tradify, Toolie vs Fergus, or how Toolie quotes a job. Tradify and Fergus pricing is indicative and was current at the time of writing — confirm with each vendor.