AI and automation partners for UK trades: an honest comparison

Who wrote this, and how

Logica HQ wrote this. We’re a UK AI engineering firm, and we appear in the third category below, marked as ours. We’ve tried to be fair to everyone else in it, including saying plainly when you don’t need a firm like us at all.

Every product detail and price here comes from the company’s own website, checked on 1 October 2026, and every page we used is listed in the sources at the end. Prices change, so treat them as a guide and check before you buy. Where a company doesn’t publish a price, we say so rather than guess. We haven’t ranked anyone first: the right choice depends on the problem you’re trying to fix.

Three kinds of provider

Most of what gets sold as “AI for tradesmen” falls into one of three groups. The first is the job-management software you may already pay for, which has been adding AI and automation features. The second is ready-made call answering: an AI (or a person) picks up when you can’t. The third is firms that build automations and AI agents to fit how your business already works.

1. Job-management software with AI and automation built in

If you already run your jobs through one of these, start here. Much of what trades buy separately (quote chasing, appointment reminders, AI-written descriptions, even call answering) may already be in a plan you pay for, or one tier up.

• Jobber

  Scheduling, quoting and invoicing, with automated quote and invoice follow-ups and client reminders on every plan, and a custom automation builder on the Grow and Plus plans. Its AI tools include Jobber AI Voice and AI Chat, plus Receptionist, which answers calls and texts and can book jobs into your calendar; Receptionist is included on Plus and is otherwise a $29 a month add-on covering 30 conversations, then $0.79 each. Jobber publishes its prices in US dollars only: Core starts at $29 a month billed annually ($49 month to month) and Connect at $99 ($139). Two-way texting is available in the UK.

• ServiceM8

  Job management priced by how many jobs you create: free for 30 jobs a month, then £25, £59, £119 and £269 a month, excluding VAT, all with unlimited users on the paid plans. Its AI features include writing help, AI quoting and auto-invoicing, scheduling and material suggestions, and voice control. The separate ServiceM8 Phone service adds an AI Phone Agent on its £25 a month Connect Plus plan (500 call minutes) and £119 Unlimited plan, logging calls in ServiceM8 with a summary, transcript and recording.

• Tradify

  Quoting, scheduling and invoicing for trade teams, at £34, £37 or £44 per user a month, month to month with no contract. The Pro plan adds quotes and invoices that chase themselves and automatic appointment reminders; text reminders cost £0.10 a message. AI is limited to the Plus plan: SmartRead pulls costs out of supplier bills and SmartWrite helps write descriptions.

• Fergus

  Job management for trades, with Essentials from £39 a month and Professional from £45 a month on its UK pricing page (with a discount offer running when we checked) and no lock-in contracts. Its AI covers Fergus Assistant, which answers questions about your jobs and numbers and can turn a supplier’s PDF into a quote, an assistant in the Fergus Go mobile app, and Fergus AI, which prepares quotes and follow-up emails and helps book jobs. The pricing page doesn’t say which AI features come with which plan.

• Commusoft

  Field service software sold in the UK; its own site says it is designed for businesses with six or more staff. Its built-in AI, AI:den, summarises calls and emails, drafts replies and quotes, writes customer job reports, reads boiler data plates from a photo and imports supplier invoices. We couldn’t find a published price on its site.

• Simpro

  Field service and project software that Simpro pitches at firms of anywhere from five to 200 staff. Its latest release adds AI scheduling, a built-in CRM and JustAsk, an AI assistant that answers questions about your business data, but those features need its Lightning platform upgrade. Price not published.

The limit of this category: the AI only works on what’s inside the software. It can chase a quote that was sent from the system, but not one you emailed from your phone. It follows the vendor’s idea of how a trade business runs, so rules that are particular to you (which jobs you want, which areas you cover, who gets the emergency call) may not fit. And features arrive on the vendor’s timetable, often on a higher tier.

2. Off-the-shelf AI receptionists and call answering

These products answer the phone when you can’t. Most work by diverting unanswered calls from your existing number, then texting or emailing you the details. They are quick to set up and cheap to try, and several offer a free trial. Jobber’s and ServiceM8’s own receptionists are covered in the section above.

• Trade Receptionist

  An AI receptionist built only for trades: it answers while you’re on the tools, takes the job details, books work into your diary, texts you a summary and ends sales calls. It connects to Google Calendar. Plans run from £49 a month for up to 50 calls to £249 for up to 600, plus VAT, with no setup fee, no long contract and a 14-day trial.

• Powered Now Receptionist

  An AI receptionist from Powered Now, which also sells job software for trades. It answers every call, takes the details, texts them to your phone and texts back missed calls. It costs £29 a month for speech, or £39 with automatic text follow-ups, with no setup fee. When we checked, sync with Powered Now’s own job software was marked “coming soon”.

• Fasthosts AI Receptionist

  A general-purpose AI receptionist from Fasthosts, with examples aimed at sole traders out on a job. It answers 24/7, captures leads and sends email summaries; the middle plan adds appointment booking and the top plan connects to tools such as HubSpot or your own Make or n8n. Plans are £39 a month for 30 calls, £69 for 100 and £99 for unlimited calls, excluding VAT, with per-call charges above the allowance and no long-term contract.

• Team-Connect

  An AI receptionist with a page for plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers and other trades. It takes the caller’s details, can text a link asking for photos of the job, books into a Google or Outlook calendar and routes emergencies to whoever is on call. Pricing starts from £9.99 a month; webhooks and API connections are on its higher plans.

• Moneypenny

  A UK answering company that now sells an AI receptionist, which can hand calls to a human Moneypenny receptionist or to your own team. Its AI product is advertised from £25 a month, but the full price is quoted after a conversation. It doesn’t have a trades-specific offer on its UK site.

• Face For Business

  Human answering, not AI: its receptionists take the caller’s details, and higher plans add appointment booking and CRM connections. It has a page for construction and trades. Published plans start from £49, £99 and £115 a month, charged by the second, with no setup fee and no long-term contract.

• bOnline

  A UK business phone provider whose AI receptionist answers 24/7, answers common questions, takes messages, transfers calls and can book into Google Calendar. It runs on its own number rather than taking over your main line. It isn’t aimed at trades in particular, and we couldn’t find a published price for the AI receptionist.

The limit of this category: most of these take a message well, but the message then lands in a text or an email that someone still has to type into the job software. They can’t see your diary in the job app unless they connect to it, and none of those above named a ready-made connection to the trade job software in section 1. They also can’t do anything after the call: no quote follow-up, no review request, no chasing. For a lot of trades that’s fine. It stops being fine when the volume of calls means retyping becomes a job in itself.

3. Automation and AI build firms

These firms build systems to fit your business rather than selling one product. The useful ones work on top of the job software you already have. The firms below are UK-based and say on their own sites what they build for trades. We’ve described what each one publishes; we haven’t checked their client claims.

• Logica HQ (this is us)

  A UK AI engineering firm. We build automations on top of the job software trades already run, such as Jobber, ServiceM8 and Commusoft, plus custom AI agents for work no product covers. Published fixed prices: missed-call text-back £295 + £79 a month, quote follow-up £995 + £89 a month, review engine £195 + £99 a month, or the lead system bundle (speed-to-lead, missed-call text-back, review engine and quote follow-up) for £795 + £329 a month; custom agents start from £3,450. Monthly plans have no minimum term, and AI and messaging fees are passed on at cost. Full list on our pricing page.

• Fixology

  A London automation consultancy with a page for plumbers, electricians and trades: missed-call text-back, quote requests with photos, scheduling and “on our way” texts, and invoices chased automatically, built on tools such as ServiceM8, Tradify, Jobber and Xero. A single automation starts from £1,500 at a fixed price, with an ongoing retainer priced to order. It says there is no minimum contract, and it expects clients to pay platform running costs of roughly £40 to £150 a month directly.

• Antek Automation

  A Hampshire-based sole trader building AI receptionists on the Retell platform, with set-ups for plumbers, electricians and heating firms, plus workflow automation that connects to Tradify, Jobber and ServiceM8. Published prices exclude VAT: the AI receptionist starts at £97 a month (120 minutes) plus setup from £497, and workflow automation starts from £250 a project. Monthly plans roll month to month on 30 days’ notice.

• flowio

  A Scottish firm building AI agents that reply to website, Checkatrade and missed-call enquiries and book them into job software, plus AI voice agents, scheduling, service reminders and quote chasers. It lists connections to ServiceM8, Jobber, Simpro, Tradify, Fergus, Commusoft and others. Price not published.

• NexGen AI Systems

  A UK company selling packaged websites, Google Business Profile set-up, CRM and automated follow-ups to trades and field service firms. Plans run from £150 a month with a £1,000 setup fee to £400 a month with a £2,500 setup; missed-call text-back and review automation start on the £250 a month plan. A 12-month minimum contract applies to new clients. This is closer to a packaged service than a custom build.

• Softomate Solutions

  A London software house with a wide range of services, including AI voice agents and automation aimed at plumbers, electricians and heating engineers that can book into Commusoft, Jobber or Tradify. Its AI receptionist page quotes setup from £2,000 plus £99 a month and usage, excluding VAT; its trades articles quote bespoke voice agents from £8,000 plus £499 a month, and automation packages from £2,500. Ask which applies to you.

The limit of this category: you are buying people as well as software, so the firm matters as much as the build. A custom system needs looking after when your phone provider, job software or process changes. Prices are higher up front than a subscription, and some firms tie you in for a year. And if your software already does the job, paying someone to rebuild it is money wasted.

Our own limit: we can’t show you a long record of trade work yet, so judge us on what you can check before a call. Our prices are fixed and published, there are no minimum terms, we build on the job software you already run rather than replacing it, and the engineering is ours. See our trades page for how we approach it.

When your software is enough and you don’t need a build firm

Plenty of trades don’t need anyone in the third category. Before paying for a build, check whether one of these is true:

• Every quote goes out from your job software. Tradify Pro and every Jobber plan already chase quotes automatically; switching that on costs nothing extra.
• Your problem is missed calls and you use ServiceM8 or Jobber. Their own AI receptionists put the call straight into the job system, which is most of what a build would do.
• Your problem is missed calls and you’re happy to type the details in yourself. An off-the-shelf receptionist from £9.99 to £49 a month is a sensible first step, and most offer a trial.
• Your admin time goes on writing descriptions, reports and invoices. That’s exactly what the AI in ServiceM8, Fergus, Commusoft and Tradify Plus is built for.
• You don’t run job software yet. Choose that first. Automating a paper diary just moves the mess somewhere faster.

A build firm earns its fee when the work crosses systems: enquiries from your website, phone and Checkatrade landing as one job; quotes sent from somewhere the software can’t see; or rules that only your business has. See how we connect job software.

How to choose, by problem

• Calls go unanswered while you’re on a job

  Use your job software’s own receptionist if it has one. If not, try an off-the-shelf receptionist. Look at a build when the call needs to become a job in software that has no receptionist, or the call needs your own rules. See missed-call text-back and AI receptionist.

• Quotes go out and nothing comes back

  Turn on your software’s quote reminders first. A build helps when quotes go out by email or PDF outside the system, or when you want follow-ups that change with the job and the customer’s reply. See quote follow-up.

• Too few Google reviews

  Check whether your job software or one of its add-ons already sends review requests. If it doesn’t, a review request after every finished job is a small, cheap build. See review engine.

• Evenings lost to paperwork

  This is where built-in AI is strongest: drafting descriptions, job reports and invoices from what’s already on the job. You rarely need a build for it.

• Your tools don’t talk to each other

  Enquiries in one place, jobs in another, invoices in a third. This is build-firm work. See our pages on Jobber, ServiceM8 and Commusoft.

• Something no product does

  Pricing from your own rate card, reading tender documents, or triaging enquiries by your own rules. That calls for a custom agent. See custom AI agents.

Questions to ask any provider, us included

• What will I pay each month in total, including call minutes, per-call or per-message charges and VAT? Several products charge for usage above an allowance.
• Is there a minimum term, and how much notice do I give to leave? Terms on this page range from month to month to 12 months.
• Where does an enquiry end up: as a job in my software, or as a text or email I have to retype?
• What happens to my phone number if I leave? Ofcom’s number portability rules let customers keep landline and mobile numbers when they change provider, but check whether the product uses your number or one of its own.
• If I stop paying, what do I keep? Ask who owns the workflows, the accounts they run on, and any code.
• When the AI gets something wrong, how does the caller reach a person, and how quickly do I find out?
• Can I try it on my own line first? Ring it from a noisy van and try to confuse it before a customer does.
• For build firms: can I see something you’ve built running, and who looks after it when my software changes?