Tradie software pricing: per-seat vs per-job, explained

Trade software pricing is often a maze — job caps, feature tiers, add-ons, "book a demo to find out," and a setup fee you discover late. Before you sign up to anything, it helps to understand the two main pricing models, where each one bites, and how to work out what a tool will *really* cost your business as it grows. This is a plain-English buyer's guide.

The two pricing models

Most job-management tools price one of two ways: per job (you pay based on how many jobs you run each month) or per seat (you pay per user who logs in). They sound similar but they behave very differently as your business changes.

Per-job pricing: watch the caps

Per-job pricing charges by volume of work, usually in tiers — up to X jobs a month on this plan, up to Y on the next. It can suit a business doing a small number of large jobs. The trap is a small team doing lots of small jobs: you burn through the job cap fast and get pushed up into a more expensive tier, so a busy month costs you more just when margins are already tight. Your software bill becomes unpredictable, tracking your job count rather than your capacity to pay.

Per-seat pricing: predictable, scales with headcount

Per-seat pricing charges per user. Its big advantage is predictability — you know your monthly cost because you know your headcount, and it doesn't spike in a busy month. A solo operator pays for one seat; a growing firm pays for the people using it. Some per-seat pricing also steps down as you add users, so each extra person costs less per head rather than more. The thing to watch is paying for seats you don't use — only put on the people who actually need access.

The hidden costs to check for

The headline price is rarely the whole story. Before you commit, ask:

• Feature gating. Are the features you actually need on the base plan, or does the useful stuff ("you'll want Pro for that") live on a higher tier? A cheap plan you have to upgrade twice isn't cheap.
• Setup / implementation fees. Some tools charge a one-off onboarding fee you only find out about late.
• Add-ons. Payments, extra users, integrations — check what's included versus billed separately.
• Lock-in. Is it month-to-month, or a contract? Can you get your data out if you leave?
• Payment processing. If clients pay by card, does the tool add its own fee on top of the processor's?

How to compare the true cost

Don't compare sticker prices — model your business. Take your realistic team size (or job volume) for the next year and run it through each tool's pricing, *including* the tier you'd actually need for the features you want, plus any setup and add-on fees. A plan that looks dear per seat but includes everything can easily beat a "cheap" plan you have to upgrade and bolt add-ons onto. The cheapest number on the page is rarely the cheapest tool.

Where My Apprentice sits

For transparency: My Apprentice uses per-seat pricing with every feature included at every seat, a rate that drops as your team grows, a free trial, and no lock-in or setup fee — so there's no tier to upgrade into for the features you need. Whether that suits you depends on your team shape, which is exactly the kind of thing this guide is meant to help you work out.

Common mistakes when comparing

• Comparing base-plan prices without checking which tier has the features you need.
• Ignoring setup/implementation fees.
• Forgetting that a busy month can push per-job plans up a tier.
• Overlooking lock-in and data portability.
• Missing platform fees added on top of card processing.

FAQ

See the numbers

The best way to compare is to run your own team size through each tool's real pricing.

→ See My Apprentice's pricing — per seat, every feature included.