Free and Low-Cost Quoting Software for Tradies in Australia

A professional quote makes you look professional. A scruffy handwritten estimate or a quote bashed out in a text message does the opposite — and it often costs you the job, especially when you're competing against tradies who turn up with clean, detailed, branded quotes on the same day.

The good news is that you don't need to spend a lot of money to get quoting right. Several options are free or very affordable, and they'll produce quotes that look more professional than most of your competitors.

This guide covers the best free and low-cost quoting options for Australian tradies, from basic templates through to proper job management software.

What Good Tradie Quoting Software Should Do

Before comparing options, here's what makes a quoting tool worth using:

  • Generates a clean, professional-looking quote with your business name and logo
  • Includes your ABN and contact details automatically
  • Lets you itemise labour and materials clearly
  • Calculates GST automatically
  • Can be sent by email directly to the client
  • Lets the client accept or decline (ideally with a signature or digital confirmation)
  • Converts accepted quotes to jobs and eventually to invoices without re-entering data

Not all free options do all of this. The further down the list you go in this article, the more features you get — but also the higher the cost.

Free Options

1. Tradie Money AU Invoice & Quote Template (Word/Google Docs)

A simple, professionally formatted quote template in Word or Google Docs format. Fill in your details, save as a PDF, and email to the client. No software required, no monthly fee, no login.

Best for a sole trader doing a handful of quotes per week who doesn't want to set up an account anywhere.

Limitations: No digital acceptance, no automatic job or invoice conversion, no tracking of which quotes have been accepted or are outstanding. You manage everything manually.

Cost: Free.

2. Google Docs or Microsoft Word Template (DIY)

Create your own quote template in Google Docs or Word. Include your logo, ABN, business name, a table for labour and materials line items, and a GST calculation at the bottom.

This works fine when you're just starting out and volume is low. The limitation is that every quote is a separate document you need to track manually — which becomes unmanageable once you're doing 10+ quotes per week.

Cost: Free (assuming you already have Google or Microsoft access).

3. Canva

Canva has professionally designed quote and invoice templates you can customise with your brand. Great for making a basic quote look polished. You create the quote, download as PDF, and email to the client.

Like Word/Docs, there's no tracking, digital acceptance, or conversion to invoices. It's an aesthetic upgrade to a manual process.

Cost: Free (Canva free tier). Canva Pro ($23/month) adds more templates and features.

4. Invoice Ninja (Free Plan)

Invoice Ninja is a free invoicing and quoting platform with a surprisingly capable free tier. The free plan includes:

  • Unlimited clients
  • Up to 20 invoices per month
  • Quotes (estimates) with digital acceptance
  • Client portal where clients can view and accept quotes online
  • PDF generation
  • Basic email sending

For a sole trader doing under 20 invoices per month (which covers a lot of tradie businesses), the free plan is genuinely usable. The interface isn't as polished as paid alternatives, and there's no native integration with Australian tradie tools, but it covers the basics well.

Cost: Free (with limits). Paid plans from ~$14/month.

Low-Cost Options ($15–$35/month)

5. Rounded (~$15/month)

Rounded is an Australian-built platform for sole traders. It includes quoting, invoicing, expense tracking, and BAS preparation. The quoting feature lets you create professional quotes, send them to clients, and convert accepted quotes to invoices with one click.

It's not a full job management system — there's no scheduling, dispatching, or job tracking — but for a sole tradie who needs to quote, invoice, and track expenses, Rounded covers all of it for less than $1 per working day.

Cost: ~$15/month.

Best for: Sole traders who want a simple, affordable Australian platform that handles quotes, invoices, and bookkeeping in one place.

6. Xero with Xero Quotes (~$35–$60/month)

Xero's accounting platform includes a quotes feature in the Starter and Standard plans. You can create branded quotes, send them by email, have clients accept online, and convert accepted quotes to invoices automatically.

The quoting function in Xero isn't as sophisticated as dedicated job management tools — there's no job scheduling or site management — but the financial integration is excellent. Accepted quotes flow straight into your accounting records, making reconciliation at BAS time clean.

Cost: ~$35/month (Starter) to $60/month (Standard).

Best for: Tradies who are already using or planning to use Xero for accounting and want quoting included in the same platform.

Job Management Apps with Quoting Built In

7. ServiceM8 Starter (~$29/month)

ServiceM8 is the most popular job management app for Australian tradies. Even the Starter plan (around $29/month) includes quoting, and the quoting system is purpose-built for trade businesses.

You can create quotes with materials and labour broken down, send them from your phone on-site, have clients accept with a digital signature, and convert accepted quotes to jobs and then invoices automatically. You can also attach photos and notes to quotes, which is particularly useful for insurance work or renovation quotes where scope documentation matters.

The key advantage over the financial software options above is that quoting is integrated into job management — once the client accepts, the job is in your schedule, your team can see it, and the workflow continues without re-entering data.

Cost: ~$29/month.

Best for: Tradies who want quoting integrated with job scheduling and job management. The best entry point into proper trade business software.

8. Tradify (~$35/month per user)

Tradify is a ServiceM8 competitor with a slightly different interface. Similarly strong on quoting — create professional quotes, send by email or SMS, track acceptance status, convert to jobs and invoices.

Tradify has a cleaner job calendar and is popular with plumbers, electricians, and HVAC technicians. If you've tried ServiceM8 and found it didn't click, Tradify is worth testing.

Cost: ~$35/month per user.

9. Fergus (~$55/month)

Fergus is a NZ-origin platform popular with larger trade businesses in Australia, particularly HVAC and mechanical trades. More sophisticated quoting and job costing than ServiceM8 or Tradify, with detailed labour and material tracking against each job.

Cost: ~$55/month.

Best for: Trade businesses with employees, complex job costing needs, or higher quote volumes where detailed per-job profitability tracking is important.

What Should You Actually Use?

It depends on where you are in your business:

Just starting out, low quote volume: Start with a Google Docs template or the free Invoice Ninja plan. Get your branding sorted, learn what clients respond to, and keep costs near zero.

Established sole trader, growing admin burden: Rounded at $15/month or ServiceM8 Starter at $29/month. The time you save on admin typically pays for the software within the first week of use.

Active business with employees or complex jobs: ServiceM8 Standard or Tradify, connected to Xero. This combination automates the entire workflow from quote to invoice and is used by thousands of Australian trade businesses.

Features That Actually Matter When Comparing

Quote templates: Can you save a template so you're not starting from scratch every time? If you quote similar jobs regularly, this alone saves significant time.

Materials library: Can you save commonly used materials and labour rates so you're selecting from a list rather than typing the same things repeatedly?

Mobile access: Can you create and send a quote on your phone while still on-site? Getting a quote to the client within minutes of assessing the job dramatically improves acceptance rates.

Digital acceptance: Can the client accept the quote online without printing and scanning? Digital acceptance with a timestamp creates a clear record of when the quote was agreed.

Quote-to-job-to-invoice conversion: Does the accepted quote flow automatically through to a job and eventually an invoice? Manual re-entry at each step is wasted time and introduces errors.

Customisation: Can you add your logo, brand colours, and terms and conditions to every quote automatically?

The Hidden Cost of Not Having a Good Quoting System

Poor quoting loses you jobs you should win. Slow quoting (days later rather than same-day) loses jobs to whoever gets there first. Vague or poorly described quotes invite disputes when the final bill arrives.

The cost of a job management or quoting app is $30–$60/month. If improved quoting wins you one additional job per month that you otherwise would have lost — or prevents one invoicing dispute — the software has paid for itself many times over.

Quoting software is not a cost. It's an investment in winning more work and getting paid for it cleanly.

Tradie Money AU provides practical guidance for Australian tradies. Pricing for software products listed is indicative as of 2025–26 — always check current pricing directly with the provider, as plans and costs change.