Best Apps for Tradespeople in 2026 — Tools to Run Your Business

Running a trade business in 2026 involves a lot more than being good with your hands. Between quoting, invoicing, scheduling, client communication, and keeping records, the admin side of things can easily eat into your evenings and weekends. The good news is that there are apps designed to handle almost every part of it — many of them built specifically for tradespeople.

Here is a practical roundup of the best apps available right now, organised by what they actually do for your business.

Quoting and Proposals — QuoteSmith

Writing detailed quotes is one of the most time-consuming admin tasks for tradespeople, and it is also one of the most important. A professional, well-structured proposal wins more work than a rough price sent by text — but who has an hour to spare writing one up after a long day on site?

QuoteSmith solves this by using AI to generate branded PDF proposals in minutes. You enter your job details and line items, and the AI writes the scope of work, timeline, payment terms, and conditions for you. The result is a polished, professional document that looks like it came from a much larger company. As we explore in our article on how AI is helping UK tradespeople, tools like this are levelling the playing field for sole traders and small teams who do not have office staff to handle paperwork.

Accounting — QuickBooks, Xero, and FreeAgent

Keeping your books in order is not optional, but it does not have to be painful. The three leading accounting apps for UK small businesses are QuickBooks, Xero, and FreeAgent. All three handle invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, VAT returns, and self-assessment tax preparation.

FreeAgent is particularly popular with sole traders because it is straightforward and designed for one-person businesses. QuickBooks and Xero offer more features for growing businesses with employees or subcontractors. All three integrate with your bank and can send automatic payment reminders, which saves you the awkward job of chasing clients for money. Prices start from around twelve to fifteen pounds per month.

Scheduling and Job Management — Tradify and Google Calendar

If you are still managing your diary in your head or on scraps of paper, you are asking for trouble. At the simplest level, Google Calendar is free, syncs across all your devices, and lets you set reminders so nothing slips through the cracks. For most sole traders, it does the job perfectly well.

If you need something more robust, Tradify is built specifically for trade businesses. It handles job scheduling, quoting, invoicing, timesheets, and customer management in one place. It is particularly useful if you have a small team, as you can assign jobs and track progress from your phone. Other options in this space include ServiceM8 and Jobber.

Communication — WhatsApp Business

Most tradespeople already use WhatsApp to communicate with clients, but WhatsApp Business takes it a step further. The free app lets you set up a business profile with your trade, address, and opening hours. You can create quick reply templates for common messages, set an automatic away message for out-of-hours enquiries, and organise chats with labels like "New Enquiry," "Awaiting Quote," and "Job Booked."

It is a small upgrade that makes your communication look more professional and helps you respond faster — which, as we discuss in our guide on how to write a professional building quote, is one of the simplest ways to win more work.

Mileage and Expense Tracking — MileIQ and Dext

MileIQ runs in the background on your phone and automatically logs every journey you make. At the end of each day, you simply swipe to classify trips as business or personal. Come tax time, you have a complete mileage record ready for your self-assessment — no more guessing or scribbling down odometer readings.

Dext (formerly Receipt Bank) does the same thing for expenses. Photograph a receipt, and Dext extracts the details and files it in your accounting software automatically. Between them, these two apps can save you hours of record-keeping every month and ensure you are claiming every allowable expense.

Photo Documentation — Your Phone Camera

You do not need a fancy app for this — your phone camera is more than sufficient. The important thing is to build the habit of photographing every job: before, during, and after. These photos serve multiple purposes: they showcase your work on social media and your website, they provide evidence in case of disputes, and they help you create more accurate quotes for similar jobs in future.

If you want to go a step further, apps like CompanyCam let you organise photos by job and share them with clients directly. It is particularly useful for larger projects where you want to give the client regular visual updates. Good documentation is a key part of growing your trade business and building a professional reputation.

Pick the Right Tools for Your Stage

You do not need every app on this list. If you are a sole trader just starting out, QuoteSmith for proposals, FreeAgent for accounting, and Google Calendar for scheduling will cover most of your needs without overcomplicating things. As your business grows and you take on staff or larger projects, you can add more specialised tools.

The key takeaway is this: the tradespeople who use the right technology spend less time on admin and more time on billable work. In a competitive market, that efficiency translates directly into higher earnings and a better quality of life.