TradedocComparison
TradeDoc AI vs Powered Now: the £15/month you save matters
Powered Now is full trade-admin software — quotes, invoicing, scheduling, customer management, £15–37/month per user. TradeDoc AI is documents only, with AI-generated quotes and every UK compliance cert — free for your first 100 docs a month, Pro £15/month. Here's the honest comparison.
No card required
The 30-second verdict
Pick Powered Now if…
- • You want a single tool for quotes, invoices, and diary
- • You run two or three engineers with shared scheduling
- • You need Xero, QuickBooks, or Sage sync today
- • You prefer a native mobile app (iOS/Android) over a PWA
Pick TradeDoc if…
- • You're a sole trader — no staff to schedule
- • You issue compliance certs (CP12, EIC, EICR, MW) regularly
- • You lose jobs because your quote is too slow to go out
- • You'd rather not pay £15/month up front for software that's mostly unused
Both tools are good — the question is whether you need a full admin suite or just fast, compliant documents. Most sole traders need the second.
Feature-by-feature
Pricing is taken from Powered Now's public pricing page. Features may have changed — email josh@tradedoc.co.uk if anything is out of date.
What are you actually paying for?
Powered Now is built around running a trade business. TradeDoc is built around getting the documents out the door. The price gap is mostly scope.
- Shared job diary and scheduling
- Full invoicing and payment tracking
- Customer management with job history
- Xero / QuickBooks / Sage integrations
- Team timesheets on higher tiers
- AI-generated quotes from a one-line job description
- Dedicated CP12, EIC, EICR, Minor Works, PAT builders
- CIS-compliant invoices with the correct labour/materials split
- Construction Act 1996 stage-payment schedules
- 100 documents a month at £0 — the whole reason we're listed in these comparisons
Moving from Powered Now to TradeDoc
The honest sequence most sole traders follow. Usually takes under 30 minutes including the customer list import.
- 1Export your customer list from Powered NowSettings → export customers to CSV. Names, addresses, contact details — all the data worth keeping.
- 2Download any Powered Now PDFs you'll need for recordsPast quotes, CP12s, EICRs. Save to your phone or PC. Once you cancel Powered Now, you lose dashboard access.
- 3Sign up to TradeDoc (no card required)Free from day one. Every document type unlocked from minute one.
- 4Import your customer listCSV upload takes about two minutes. No retyping.
- 5Run both in parallel for one billing cycleDon't cancel Powered Now immediately. Issue new docs from TradeDoc for a month, keep Powered Now active for invoicing continuity. Cancel Powered Now once TradeDoc is confirmed.
Frequently asked questions
Is Powered Now worth £15–37/month for a one-man band?+
Powered Now is capable software — scheduling, forms, invoicing, and customer management in one place. But if your actual pain is speed of quotes and issuing compliance certs, you're paying for the scheduling and team layers you rarely use. TradeDoc is documents only, free for the first 100 a month, so you avoid that cost unless you genuinely need the full admin suite.
What does Powered Now do that TradeDoc doesn't?+
Job scheduling with a shared diary, team timesheets on higher tiers, live Xero / QuickBooks / Sage sync, and a broader customer-management layer. If you run two or three vans and need to assign jobs across engineers, Powered Now earns its price. TradeDoc deliberately doesn't do any of that.
What does TradeDoc do that Powered Now doesn't?+
AI quote generation from a short job description, dedicated UK compliance builders (CP12, EIC, EICR, Minor Works) with every regulatory field pre-structured, CIS-compliant invoicing with the correct labour/materials split, and Construction Act 1996 stage-payment schedules. Powered Now's custom forms can be configured to resemble these, but you do the compliance lift yourself.
Does TradeDoc work offline on a job site like Powered Now's app?+
Yes. TradeDoc is a PWA (progressive web app) so once you've signed in on your phone, you can install it to the home screen and draft quotes or certs offline. The document gets generated and sent once you're back on signal. Same behaviour as a native app, no App Store download required.
Can I migrate from Powered Now to TradeDoc?+
Yes, usually in under 30 minutes. Export your customer list from Powered Now (settings → export → CSV), download any past quote or invoice PDFs you want to keep, then sign up to TradeDoc and import the CSV. If you use Powered Now forms for CP12s or EICRs, expect TradeDoc's dedicated cert builders to be faster and cleaner.
Can I use both?+
Some tradespeople do — Powered Now for scheduling and invoicing, TradeDoc for compliance documents. It's a viable setup but carries both subscription costs. Most sole traders pick one based on whether their primary need is full admin (Powered Now) or fast document generation with dedicated compliance builders (TradeDoc).
TradeDoc is free. Upgrade only if it earns it.
First 100 documents a month are free — every doc type a UK tradesman sends. Pro at £15/month adds custom branding, one-tap customer email, and unlimited docs. No card at sign-up.