Per-user or per-job pricing?

Australian job management apps charge in one of three ways. Tradify, Ascora, Fergus and AroFlo charge for each person who logs in. ServiceM8 charges by how many new jobs you create. Fieldmagic sells a flat account with a set number of users included. None of the three is cheaper in general: which wins depends on how many jobs each person in your business turns over.

Per user: you pay for people

Tradify Lite is $48 per user ex GST and Ascora Essentials is $45 per user ex GST.^[1][5] On a per-user plan a quiet month costs the same as a flat-out one, and there's no job limit to watch. The cost moves when the crew does: every new hire who needs a login is another full seat, every month.

Per job: you pay for work

ServiceM8's paid plans allow unlimited users and are priced by new jobs a month, from 50 on Starter to 1,500 on Premium Plus.^[2] An apprentice, a labourer or an office manager can have a login for nothing. The cost moves when the work does: a busy season can push you onto the next plan, and every quote that becomes a job card counts, won or not.

Where the two cross

Here is the cheapest plan that fits, a month and before GST, for a few crews, with no extra must-have features. ServiceM8 publishes its prices with GST included, so its figures are shown with the GST taken out to match the per-user apps.^[1][2]

• One person, 10 jobs a week: ServiceM8 Starter $26, Tradify Lite $48.
• One person, 20 jobs a week: ServiceM8 Growing $72, Tradify Lite $48.
• Two people, 20 jobs a week: ServiceM8 Growing $72, Ascora $90, Tradify $96.
• Two people, 60 jobs a week: ServiceM8 Premium $135, Ascora $90, Tradify $96.
• Eight people, 25 jobs a week: ServiceM8 Growing $72, Ascora $360, Tradify $384.

The pattern is the ratio. A per-job plan wins when the crew is large for the amount of work, such as a team on long installs or renovation jobs. A per-user plan wins when a small crew turns over many short jobs, such as a two-person pest control or cleaning round. The figures above are our arithmetic from each maker's published prices; your must-haves can change them, because some features only come on higher plans.

The hybrids

Some apps sit in between. Fergus charges per user, but sells timesheet users, a cheaper login for on-site staff who need job details and time tracking without full access, from $26 a month, and contractor users at $4 a day, charged only on days they log time or are scheduled.^[3][6] For a crew of eight doing 25 jobs a week, putting everyone but the owner on timesheet seats takes Fergus from $424 to $235 a month.

Fieldmagic sells a flat account instead: Professional is $349 ex GST a month for the first five users and $69 for each one after that, and its price list sets no job limit on that plan.^[4] That is dear for two people and fairer for five, and it's built around inspection and maintenance work.

Four questions that decide it

• How many people really need a login? Count the office and the apprentices, not just the people who quote.
• How many new jobs a month, including quotes that don't go ahead? On a per-job plan those count.^[2]
• How much does it swing? A per-job plan can force an upgrade in your busiest month; a per-user plan can't.
• Are the prices on the same GST basis? Compare everything ex GST if you're registered.^[1][2]

Count your logins and your new jobs a month, then price both models on those two numbers: many jobs for each person favours a per-user plan, many people for the work favours a per-job one.