Platform Comparison
FieldHive vs Fergus
FieldHive and Fergus both help trade businesses manage customers, pricing, quotes, bookings and invoices. But they are built around different starting points.
FieldHive gives owner-managed trade businesses a focused mobile system for building reusable pricing, sending quotes, booking work and creating invoices. Fergus provides a broader job-management platform for businesses that need separate staff users, detailed job cards, team scheduling, timesheets, supplier integrations and job-cost reporting now.
Fergus currently has more total operational features. The important question is whether your business needs those wider tools today — or whether FieldHive gives you the structure you need without introducing a larger job-management setup.
Fergus
One person handles the main admin and you want a straightforward system for:
Customers
Reusable trade pricing
Fixed-price, hourly and time-and-materials quotes
Bookings
Invoices
Deposits and progress claims
Paid and unpaid invoice tracking
CIS support
Full mobile access on iPhone and Android
A focused option for getting pricing, quotes, bookings and invoices organised.
Several people need to work through the software and you require:
Separate staff access
Individual schedules
Detailed job cards
Timesheets
Job phases
Supplier invoice matching
Purchase orders
Job costing
Financial reporting
Customer payments
Accounting integrations
Desktop access
The customer is saved once. Pricing can be built once and reused. Bookings remain connected to the customer and quoted work. Invoices can continue from information already entered.
FieldHive currently operates through one main account. It can therefore suit a sole trader or a small business where the owner or administrator controls the pricing, bookings and paperwork.
A focused starting point when the main priority is getting pricing, quotes, bookings and invoices organised.
Fergus brings enquiries, quotes, staff schedules, job cards, materials, supplier costs, timesheets, invoices and payments together around each job. It also gives businesses tools for analysing job profitability and reporting across the wider company.
That makes Fergus the stronger current fit when the software needs to manage each worker, job and cost separately. FieldHive offers a more focused starting point when the main priority is getting pricing, quotes, bookings and invoices organised.
Build Your Pricing Once
Each catalogue item can hold material cost, labour fit time, markup and the final customer price — not just a description and selling price.
Items can be organised into folders, edited and reused across future quotes, so the next quote starts from pricing already worked out. That keeps pricing consistent and makes it clearer when costs, fitting times or margins need adjusting.
Quote Different Types of Work Properly
Not every job should be priced the same way. FieldHive supports fixed-price, time-and-materials and hourly-rate quotes.
Quotes can use saved catalogue items or manually entered work. Totals are calculated inside the app and the finished quote can be previewed as a PDF and sent to the customer.
AI Quote Rewrite helps improve the clarity of descriptions. It does not set prices or make commercial decisions.
Keep Customer Records Together
Each customer record holds contact details, addresses, notes, quote history and invoice history.
When a customer returns, you can see what was previously quoted and invoiced without searching through old emails or folders. The history stays with the customer rather than being rebuilt each time.
Connect Quotes, Bookings and Invoices
A quote can move into a booking that stores the customer, work details, date and time. When the work is ready to invoice, the invoice can be created from the quote rather than typed out again.
Invoices can be presented as simple, detailed or materials-and-labour breakdowns, then recorded as paid or unpaid — giving a clear record of what remains outstanding.
Use Deposits and Progress Claims
FieldHive Business supports deposit invoices, progress claims and final invoicing.
A builder may request a deposit before ordering materials; an electrician may invoice after first fix, second fix and completion; a landscaper may split preparation, installation and finishing. The invoice structure can follow how the work is delivered.
Start Without Paying
FieldHive Free costs £0 per month and includes up to five active quotes plus unlimited invoices, customers, catalogue items and bookings — with PDF documents, your company logo, CIS support, AI Quote Rewrite and 10 AI credits each month.
The limit is based on quotes that remain active, not an allowance of five per month. Once a quote is no longer active, it stops counting towards the limit.
Remove the Quote Limit Without Rebuilding
FieldHive Business costs £14.99 per month or £144 per year, adding unlimited quotes, deposit invoices, progress claims, availability indicators, automated reminders, 100 AI credits and removal of FieldHive branding.
Moving from Free to Business does not mean starting again — your customers, catalogue and previous quotes and invoices all remain in place.
Use the Full App on iPhone and Android
FieldHive is an installable mobile app for iPhone and Android, designed around phone use. Create quotes, check bookings and issue invoices from the customer’s property, a site, the van, the merchant or home.
FieldHive is currently mobile-only and does not provide desktop or browser access.
Use UK Trade Support
CIS support is included from the free plan, alongside VAT and tax settings, hourly rates, currency and regional settings, company details, company logo and document branding.
FieldHive launched first for the UK market, although the product is not positioned as UK-only.
Separate Staff Users and Scheduling
Fergus allows work to be scheduled and assigned across a team, with a visual calendar, drag-and-drop scheduling and real-time updates between the office and field workers. It also supports dedicated timesheet users and temporary contractor users.
It can assign jobs to workers, show team availability, move bookings between staff, record labour time, manage recurring work and monitor active jobs.
FieldHive does not currently provide separate staff logins, individual engineer schedules or team dispatch.
Detailed Job Cards
Fergus gives each job a central record that can contain customer details, quotes and estimates, job phases, materials, labour time, notes, photos, files, checklists, forms, purchase orders, supplier invoices and payment information.
Workers update job information through mobile devices while the office sees the same records through a computer or tablet.
FieldHive connects customers, quotes, bookings and invoices but does not yet provide the same depth of individual job-card activity.
Price Books, Templates and Quote Versions
Fergus provides reusable quoting tools — upload supplier price books, search material prices, apply markups, create favourite groups, save quote templates, adjust pricing per customer or job type, create several versions of a quote, track quote status and let customers approve quotes from an email link.
FieldHive’s current strength is holding material cost, labour fit time, markup and final customer price together within each reusable catalogue item.
Supplier Integrations and Job Costs
Fergus can connect supplier costs to the work they belong to. Supplier invoices can be imported or matched against jobs, feeding materials and expenses into the job record; Fergus says its platform connects with more than 100 supplier and accounting tools.
This helps a business compare quoted materials, actual supplier costs, estimated and recorded labour, invoice value and final job profitability.
FieldHive helps build prices from material costs, labour fit times and markup, but does not currently provide actual job-cost reporting at Fergus’s level.
Timesheets and Team Management
Fergus lets workers record their time against jobs, supporting timesheet reviews, labour-cost tracking, pay summaries, staff reporting, job profitability and comparison of estimated and actual time.
Its team tools also include tasks, noticeboards, job history and GPS-related functionality.
FieldHive does not currently provide staff timesheets, labour-cost reporting or individual team activity.
Purchase Orders and Reporting
Fergus includes purchase orders alongside wider job and cash-flow tools, with reporting across quotes, customer invoices, supplier documents, staff, timesheets, business performance and financial results.
The depth of reporting and support varies between Fergus Essentials and Professional.
FieldHive does not currently provide purchase orders or the same level of operational and financial reporting.
Accounting Connections
Fergus connects with Xero and QuickBooks, synchronising contacts, invoices, payments and job-related financial information so the same details are not entered into two systems separately.
FieldHive does not currently provide accounting integrations.
Desktop, Tablet and Mobile Access
Fergus can be used from computers, tablets, iPhones and Android devices, so the office and field team can work from different devices while accessing the same job information.
FieldHive currently provides its main product through its iPhone and Android apps.
FieldHive vs Fergus at a Glance
Area | FieldHive | Fergus |
|---|---|---|
Best fit today | Owner-managed businesses where one person handles the main admin | Businesses needing detailed job, staff and cost management |
Free plan | Five active quotes; unlimited invoices, customers, catalogue items and bookings | No permanent free plan |
Standard paid starting price | £14.99 per month | Essentials from £39 per month |
Main account structure | One main account currently | Full, timesheet and contractor user options |
Reusable pricing | Material cost, labour fit time, markup and final customer price | Price books, favourites, templates, tiered markups and quote versions |
Quote methods | Fixed price, hourly, and time and materials | Quotes, estimates, templates, versions and online approval |
Bookings and scheduling | Managed through one main account | Team calendar, assignment and recurring jobs |
Deposits and progress work | Deposits and progress claims on Business | Deposits, progress payments and wider invoicing tools |
Detailed job cards | Not currently available | Available |
Timesheets and job costing | Not currently available | Available |
Supplier and accounting integrations | Not currently available | Supplier connections, Xero and QuickBooks |
Payments and device access | Payment-status tracking; iPhone and Android app | Payment processing; desktop, tablet, iPhone and Android |
Fergus’s exact functionality depends on the plan and user type selected.
FieldHive Free — £0 per month
Includes five active quotes and unlimited invoices, customers, catalogue items and bookings.
FieldHive Business — £14.99 per month or £144 per year
Adds unlimited quotes, deposit invoices, progress claims, availability indicators and automated reminders.
FieldHive currently operates through one main account, so it does not charge separately for staff users.
Fergus’s current standard UK pricing:
Essentials — from £39 per month
Professional — from £45 per month
Enterprise 10+ — custom pricing
Its pricing page also lists add-ons:
Timesheet users — normally £12 per user per month
Contractor users — £2 per user per day
SMS messages — £8 per 100
Card payments — 1.6% plus £0.20 per transaction
The current product begins with customers, pricing, quotes, bookings and invoices.
As the workload increases, FieldHive Business removes the active-quote limit and adds deposits, progress claims, availability indicators and automated reminders. The aim is to introduce useful structure without setting up full staff, supplier and job-costing processes before they are needed.
Fergus already provides a broad range of team, job and financial-management functions.
A business that needs separate users, staff schedules, detailed job records, timesheets, purchasing, supplier-cost tracking and accounting connections can use those tools now.
A business that needs separate users, schedules, job records, timesheets, purchasing, supplier-cost tracking and accounting connections can use those tools now.
It may suit you when
One person controls the quoting and invoicing
You want reusable pricing based on material costs and fit times
You want to start free
You mainly manage admin from your phone
You need CIS support
You want deposits and progress claims
Other workers do not need separate access
You do not need actual job-cost reporting
You want a focused system at a lower starting price
FIELDHIVE APPROACH
Imagine an electrical business with four people: the owner, two electricians and one apprentice. The owner handles the customer records, pricing, quotes, bookings and invoices.
The electricians complete the work but do not need their own accounts or individual schedules inside the software. FieldHive can manage the main admin through one account.
Fergus approach
Now imagine each electrician needs to log in separately, view their own schedule, receive assigned jobs, open a detailed job card, add notes and photos, complete checklists, record working time, add materials used and update job progress.
The office also needs to match supplier invoices to jobs, issue purchase orders, compare estimated and actual costs, review job profitability, take customer payments, sync invoices into accounting software and produce staff and financial reports.
Fergus already provides that structure
Separate logins and individual schedules
Detailed job cards with materials and time
Timesheets and labour-cost tracking
Supplier invoice matching and purchase orders
Actual job costing and financial reporting
Customer payments and accounting sync
One person handles the main admin
Reusable pricing based on materials and fit times matters
You want fixed-price, hourly and time-and-materials quotes
You want unlimited invoices, customers, catalogue items and bookings on the free plan
You need CIS support
You mainly manage work from your phone
You want a lower-cost paid option
You do not need full job, staff and financial management yet
Separate staff users
Individual schedules
Detailed job cards
Timesheets
Job phases
Purchase orders
Supplier invoice matching
Actual job costing
Financial reporting
Customer payments
Accounting integrations
Desktop access
The choice comes down to what the software needs to manage today. Choose the system that fits the way your business currently works.
