How we make money
Some of the software companies on this site pay us a commission when you sign up through our link. Here is exactly which ones, how much, and what we do about it.
Who pays us
| Vendor | What they pay us | What you pay |
|---|---|---|
| ServiceM8 | 80% of a referred subscriber's first 12 months of subscription fees (via PartnerStack) | The same price as on servicem8.com |
| Tradify | A flat A$390 per paid Australian customer (via PartnerStack) | The same price as on tradifyhq.com |
| Xero | A one-off referral fee per new subscription; Xero does not publish the amount and we will list it here once we know it | The same price as on xero.com |
| BizCover (insurance, where linked) | 8% of the base premium on a new policy, 5% on renewals | The same premium |
| simPRO | Nothing | Whatever they quote you |
| Fergus | Nothing | The same price as on fergus.com |
| QuoteMate | Nothing | The same price as on quotemateapp.au |
These are the program terms as published on 13 September 2026. Where a vendor is listed as paying us, that is what its program pays its partners; until our own application to that program is accepted, the links on this site go to the vendor's plain website and we earn nothing from them. If a program changes, or we join a new one, this table changes the same week.
What that means in practice
A tradie who signs up to ServiceM8's A$79 Growing plan through our link makes us about A$63 a month for a year. A tradie who takes ServiceM8's free plan makes us nothing. A tradie who takes Tradify makes us A$390 once. So we have a financial reason to steer you towards a paid ServiceM8 plan or towards Tradify, and away from free plans, Fergus, simPRO and QuoteMate.
We recommend ServiceM8 Free to a solo iPhone tradie on the solo sparkie page, QuoteMate Free on the solo plumber page, and tell most people not to move to simPRO on the simPRO page. Read those and decide for yourself whether the money moved the verdict.
The rules we hold ourselves to
- The disclosure sits near the top of every page with an outbound link, not in a footer nobody reads.
- Every price carries the date we checked it and a link to the vendor page we read it from.
- If we could not verify a number, the page says "not verified". We do not fill gaps with guesses.
- Every comparison has a "who should not buy this" section for every tool on it, including the ones that pay us.
- No fake reviews, no invented customers, no "we tested this for six months" unless we did.
- Affiliate links are marked as sponsored in the page code, which is what search engines ask for.
Why this is required, not just nice
Australian Consumer Law prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct. A comparison site that hides that it is paid by the companies it compares is the textbook case. Disclosure is the minimum; the honest verdicts are the point.
Who runs this
Tradie Software Picks is a small Australian side project, built by someone who makes websites for tradies and got asked "Tradify or ServiceM8?" one too many times. It is not owned by, funded by or affiliated with any software vendor. Contact details will be added here once the site has a permanent address.