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Fergus alternatives for shops where the office is also the van.

Fergus is job management for trade businesses with an office and a field crew: job cards that collect materials, labor and supplier costs, timesheets, and invoices that flow to your accounting. If the office is you, in the van, at 9pm, something lighter may fit.

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Who uses Fergus, and what it assumes

Fergus is built for trade businesses with office and field staff: electricians, plumbers, HVAC, builders, roofers and cleaners, in the US, New Zealand, Australia and the UK. Each job has a job card that tracks materials, labor and supplier costs. Invoices are built from the job card and sync to Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks, timesheets connect to jobs, and scheduling is a drag-and-drop calendar.

Fergus's pricing page lists Essentials from $31 per user a month and Professional from $44, month to month with no lock-in contract. Field staff who only log hours can be Timesheet users, from $26 a month, and subcontractors can be Contractor users at $2.50 a day. Fergus calls its pricing tailored, so treat those as starting points. There's a 14-day trial on Essentials.

The design assumes someone in the office working the job cards and an accounting package on the other end. If you have both, it fits well. If you're a two-person plumbing shop where the owner quotes from the driveway and does the books on Sunday, a lot of that structure is overhead. Two-way comparison: Redline vs Fergus.

The office work, from the van

Log a call with Hollis. Suspects a slab leak under the kitchen, wants someone tomorrow.
Redline

Logged. Tomorrow at 3pm works, right after the water heater swap in Quincy, same town as Hollis. Book it?

Yes. Make it an estimate visit.
Redline

Booked: Hollis estimate, tomorrow 3pm in Quincy.

Example names. Logging calls and scheduling are on the Free plan.

Fergus alternatives

Redline

For the owner who is also the office: log calls, book visits and quote by chat, free. Invoices from the finished job on Solo at $29; Team covers 3 seats for $129. No timesheets, labor costing, supplier price lists or accounting sync (a QuickBooks-format CSV export instead).

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Tradify

The closest model to Fergus: per user, month to month, with timesheets and Xero and QuickBooks integrations. Its pricing page lists $47, $51 or $61 per user a month.

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ServiceM8

Unlimited users on paid plans, priced by jobs a month instead. Its pricing page lists a free plan for 30 jobs and Starter at $29 for 50.

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Housecall Pro

Users bundled into plans, with a flat-rate price book and QuickBooks sync. Essentials is listed at $149 a month billed annually with 5 users.

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Simpro

The bigger step: estimating with live supplier pricing, inventory and job costing for shops of about 5 to 50+ techs, quote-based with a setup fee.

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Side by side

Dollar figures only where the vendor's own pricing page confirmed them.

Built forPricing as publishedFree plan or trialFits a Fergus user who
RedlineContractors and home-service businesses, solo up to about 10 peopleFree; Solo $29 a month; Team $129 with 3 seats; Team+ $299 with 10 seatsFree plan, no card. Solo has a 7-day trial on the webHas no office staff and wants the admin done by chat
TradifySmall trade businesses: electrical, plumbing, HVAC, building tradesTradify's pricing page lists $47, $51 or $61 per user per month, month-to-monthNo free plan. 14-day trial, no cardWants per-user pricing with timesheets, close to Fergus
ServiceM8Trade and service businesses: electrical, plumbing, HVAC, locksmithServiceM8's pricing page lists a Free plan (1 user, 30 jobs a month), then Starter at $29 a month for 50 jobs, up to Premium Plus at $349. Unlimited users on paid plansFree planHas several people and a modest job count
Housecall ProSolo pros and growing home-service teamsHousecall Pro's pricing page lists Basic at $59 a month billed annually for 1 user ($79 monthly), Essentials $149 with 5 users, MAX $299 with 8 usersNo free plan. 14-day trial on MAX, no cardWants up to 5 users at one price with a price book
SimproElectrical, HVAC, plumbing, security and fire contractors, about 5 to 50+ techsQuote-based, tailored to team size and add-ons, plus a setup feeNo free plan or self-serve trial. Demo insteadIs growing past 5 techs and needs inventory
FergusTrade businesses with office and field staff: electrical, plumbing, HVAC, buildingFergus's pricing page lists Essentials from $31 and Professional from $44 per user a month, month to monthNo free plan. 14-day trial on EssentialsFor reference

Fergus to Redline: the trade-offs

You'd lose

  • Job cards that collect labor and supplier costs
  • Timesheets and day-rate subcontractor users
  • Accounting sync with Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks
  • Job costing that includes labor (Redline's profit per job counts materials and expenses)

You'd gain

  • A Free plan, and Solo at $29 for one person
  • 3 seats for $129 a month on Team, owner included
  • Quotes, invoices and follow-ups drafted from one chat
  • Overdue alerts at day 3, 7 and 14 (Solo)
  • Expenses filed against the job with a photo (Solo)

Questions contractors ask

What does a 3-person shop pay?

By each vendor's own pricing page: Fergus Essentials from $93 a month (3 users at $31), Professional from $132. Redline Team is $129 a month for 3 seats, owner included. A tech who only logs hours costs less on Fergus as a Timesheet user, from $26.

Does Redline sync with Xero or QuickBooks?

No. There's no accounting sync. Reports exports a QuickBooks-format CSV and a plain CSV that you or your bookkeeper import.

Can I track parts used on a job?

Partly. On Solo you file expenses against a job (vendor, amount, category, optional photo), and Reports shows profit per job after materials. There's no stock, price list or supplier catalog. See expenses and reports.

Sources

Do the office work in the truck.

Start free, log calls and book visits by chat, and add Solo when you're ready to invoice.

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