Best Quoting App for Tilers in the UK 2026: Top 5 Compared
Tiling is one of the most detail-intensive trades when it comes to quoting accurately. A floor tiling quote for a single bathroom can involve half a dozen line items — m2 tile rate, adhesive and grout cost, board preparation, waste allowance, waterproofing membrane for wet rooms, and silicone finishing. Get any one of those wrong and you eat the difference on the job. Generic invoicing tools like FreshBooks or Wave were never built to handle that level of trade-specific detail, and most office-facing CRMs make you wrestle with line items that don't map to how tilers actually price work.
The UK tiling market has also changed. With large format tiles — 600x1200mm and above — becoming standard in kitchens and open-plan living spaces, labour rates have shifted upward and material handling costs have increased significantly. A quoting app that doesn't give you the flexibility to price large format tiles separately from standard wall tiles, or to factor in the additional adhesive coverage required for rectified porcelain, is going to leave money on the table on every other job.
This guide compares the five most-used quoting apps among UK tilers in 2026 — covering pricing, trade-specific features, UK compliance (VAT and CIS), and which type of tiling business each tool suits best. Whether you're a sole trader quoting domestic bathrooms or running a small tiling crew on commercial projects, there's an option here that fits.
What Tilers Need in Quoting App Software
Before comparing apps, it's worth being specific about what separates a good tiling quote from a bad one — and therefore what a quoting app actually needs to support:
- M2 tile rate pricing: Labour should be priced per m2 with the ability to set different rates for wall tiling, floor tiling, and specialist work like herringbone or brick bond patterns. A fixed day-rate field doesn't cut it — you need m2-based line items as standard.
- Adhesive and grout cost: Material costs for adhesive (typically 3–4kg per m2 for standard tiles, more for large format) and grout need to be calculated per job, not estimated globally. Apps that support custom material line items with quantity and unit price handle this properly.
- Tile waste allowance: Standard practice is 10% waste on straight cuts, 15–20% on diagonal or pattern lays. Your quoting app should let you either build this into a materials line item or apply a percentage uplift to the tile supply cost.
- Large format tile surcharges: 600x1200mm and larger tiles require spot-bonding or full-bed adhesive, specialist cutting equipment, and more careful handling. The ability to add a large format tile surcharge as a separate line item is essential on modern domestic and commercial jobs.
- Wet room waterproofing: Wet room and shower enclosure jobs require a tanking or waterproofing membrane stage. This should appear as a distinct line item — labour and materials — rather than being absorbed into a generic tiling rate.
- UK VAT and CIS compliance: Most tiling work is subject to 20% VAT. Larger commercial and domestic refurbishment contracts may fall under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), requiring the app to handle reverse charge VAT correctly and support CIS deduction tracking.
- Mobile-first job management: Tilers are on-site, not at a desk. The app needs to work on a phone — ideally with offline capability — so you can pull up a quote, add a variation, or send an invoice from the job without waiting until you get home.
Top 5 Quoting Apps for Tilers
| App | Free Plan | Paid From | Best For | UK Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sleepless Tradesman | Yes — full free tier | Free / Pro tier available | Sole-trader UK tilers | Built for UK (VAT, CIS) |
| Tradify | 14-day trial only | £29/user/month | Small tiling teams | Strong UK focus |
| ServiceM8 | Free up to 20 jobs/month | £29/month | Dispatch-heavy tiling firms | Moderate (AUS-focused) |
| Jobber | 14-day trial only | £49/month | Client communication focus | Moderate (US-focused) |
| QuickBooks | 30-day trial only | £14/month | Accounting integration | Strong (MTD VAT, CIS) |
1. Sleepless Tradesman — Best Free Option for UK Tilers
Sleepless Tradesman was built from the ground up for UK tradespeople, which means the quoting workflow reflects how tilers actually price work rather than how accountants think tradespeople should price work. The AI-powered quote builder lets you describe a job — "bathroom floor tiling, 12m2, large format porcelain, wet room prep required" — and generates a structured quote with trade-appropriate line items that you can then edit before sending.
For a floor tiling quote, you can separate out m2 labour rate, adhesive and grout cost, board preparation, waterproofing membrane, and waste uplift as individual line items. VAT is applied at 20% as standard, and CIS reverse charge is supported for eligible contracts. Quotes are sent as professional PDFs directly from the app, and customers can approve them online — which triggers automatic job creation and scheduling.
The free tier covers unlimited quotes and invoices with no monthly fee — a significant advantage for sole-trader tilers who don't want another subscription eating into margins on smaller jobs. The mobile app works well on-site, and job history means repeat customers get consistent pricing without you having to rebuild quotes from scratch each time.
Pros for Tilers
- Genuinely free tier — no monthly subscription
- AI quote builder understands tiling line items
- Built-in UK VAT and CIS support
- Mobile-first, works well on-site
- Customer quote approval online
Cons for Tilers
- Newer platform — smaller user community
- No built-in accounting integration yet
- Advanced team scheduling on Pro tier
2. Tradify — Best Paid Option for UK Tradespeople
Tradify is a well-established job management platform with strong traction among UK tradespeople. At £29/user/month it sits at the affordable end of paid platforms, and it covers the full job lifecycle from initial enquiry through to invoice and payment. The quoting tool supports custom line items, so you can set up template items for m2 tile rate, adhesive and grout cost, and large format tile surcharges that populate automatically when you start a new quote — a significant time-saver on repetitive domestic jobs.
Tradify integrates with Xero and QuickBooks for accounting, and its UK-focused feature set includes MTD VAT handling and CIS support. The scheduling and dispatch tools make it practical for tiling businesses running a small team — you can assign jobs to specific tilers, track their location, and manage job sheets from a single dashboard.
Pros for Tilers
- Strong UK focus with CIS and MTD VAT
- Quote templates save time on repeat jobs
- Full job management from enquiry to invoice
- Good Xero and QuickBooks integration
- Reasonable price for small teams
Cons for Tilers
- No free tier — £29/user/month minimum
- Cost scales quickly with larger teams
- Mobile app less polished than desktop
- No AI quote generation
3. ServiceM8 — Best for Field Service Dispatch
ServiceM8 originated in Australia and is primarily iOS-based, which makes it an unusual choice in a UK market that skews Android — but it has a genuine following among UK tradespeople who work with Apple devices. Its standout feature is the dispatch board: a real-time map view showing all active jobs and staff locations, making it the strongest option for tiling businesses that run multiple crews across a city or region.
The quoting and invoicing tools are solid, with support for custom line items that work well for wall tiling, floor tiling, and wet room jobs. The free tier covers up to 20 jobs per month, which suits a sole trader testing the platform, but growing businesses will move to the £29/month starter plan quickly. UK VAT is supported, though CIS handling is less polished than Tradify or Sleepless Tradesman.
Pros for Tilers
- Best dispatch and crew scheduling tools
- Polished iOS app — fast on-site
- Limited free tier for testing
- Strong job photo and checklist features
Cons for Tilers
- iOS-first — Android app is inferior
- Australian focus means weaker UK CIS support
- Pricing increases sharply above starter tier
- Less suited to sole traders
4. Jobber — Best for Client Communication
Jobber is the most polished platform in this list from a customer-facing perspective. Its client portal lets homeowners view quotes, approve work, pay invoices, and communicate with you through a branded interface — which can meaningfully improve conversion on higher-value tiling jobs like full bathroom refits or kitchen floor installations where customers are comparing multiple contractors.
The automated follow-up tools are genuinely useful: Jobber can automatically chase customers who haven't responded to a quote after a set number of days, which reduces the admin overhead of chasing leads manually. Starting at £49/month, it's the most expensive platform in this comparison, and its US origins mean UK-specific features like CIS and MTD VAT are less mature than on Tradify or Sleepless Tradesman.
Pros for Tilers
- Best client portal in the market
- Automated quote follow-ups
- Strong online payment collection
- Good for premium domestic tiling work
Cons for Tilers
- Expensive — £49+/month
- US-focused, weaker UK CIS and MTD VAT
- Overkill for sole-trader tilers
- No free tier
5. QuickBooks — Best for Accounting Integration
QuickBooks is primarily an accounting platform, not a field service or quoting tool — but it earns a place in this comparison because many UK tilers already use it for MTD VAT submissions and CIS deduction tracking. Its estimate (quote) feature is functional, supporting custom line items that can map to tiling-specific costs like adhesive and grout, and its invoicing is tightly integrated with bank reconciliation.
The limitation is that QuickBooks was not designed for field work. There is no job scheduling, no mobile job card, no GPS dispatch, and no customer approval workflow. If you're generating quotes in the field or need to manage multiple jobs simultaneously, you will quickly feel the constraint. It works best as a back-office tool for tilers who use a separate app for on-site quoting and want everything to sync into a single accounting ledger.
Pros for Tilers
- Best MTD VAT and CIS support
- Strong bank reconciliation and P&L reporting
- Affordable — from £14/month
- Familiar to accountants
Cons for Tilers
- Not built for field quoting or job management
- No job scheduling or dispatch
- No mobile job card or on-site workflow
- Quote tool is basic compared to trade apps
Which App Is Right for Your Tiling Business?
Sole-trader tilers: If you're working alone and quoting domestic bathrooms, kitchens, or conservatory floors, Sleepless Tradesman is the clear first choice. The free tier covers everything you need — AI-assisted quote building, VAT-compliant invoicing, and online customer approval — without any monthly subscription. The trade-specific line items mean you can separate out m2 tile rate, adhesive and grout cost, and wet room waterproofing without hacking generic accounting fields to fit.
Small tiling teams (2–5 people): Tradify is the best paid option at this scale. The £29/user/month cost becomes worthwhile once you're managing job allocation across multiple tilers, scheduling back-to-back site visits, and need a shared view of the job pipeline. Its UK-first design means CIS and VAT handling work correctly out of the box, which reduces the risk of compliance errors as your business grows.
Tilers prioritising accounting compliance: If you're registered for CIS as a subcontractor and your accountant lives in QuickBooks, using QuickBooks for estimates alongside its accounting features makes sense — particularly if you're dealing with main contractors who require CIS deduction statements. Just be prepared to manage job scheduling separately.
Multi-crew dispatch operations: If you're running three or four tiling teams across a city and the primary operational challenge is knowing where everyone is and which job they're on, ServiceM8's dispatch board is genuinely superior to the competition — provided you can commit to iOS devices across the team. For mixed Android/iOS teams, Tradify is the more practical choice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best quoting app for Tilers in the UK?
Sleepless Tradesman is the top free option for Tilers — no monthly subscription on the free tier, AI-powered quoting, and UK VAT/CIS support built in. For teams needing full job management, Tradify at £29/month is the best UK-focused paid option. ServiceM8 suits field-service-heavy workflows with multiple crews, while QuickBooks works best for Tilers who need deeply integrated accounting and CIS compliance.
Is there a free quoting app for Tilers?
Yes. Sleepless Tradesman offers a free tier with no monthly fee covering AI-powered quoting, invoice sending, and job tracking — well-suited to sole-trader Tilers. ServiceM8 also has a limited free tier for up to 20 jobs per month, which works for testing the platform. Other apps like Tradify and Jobber offer time-limited trials only and require a paid subscription for ongoing use.
What features should Tilers look for in quoting app software?
Tilers should look for software that handles m2 tile rate and floor tiling quote line items, adhesive and grout cost as separate materials entries, UK VAT and CIS compliance, tile waste allowance, and mobile-friendly job cards for on-site use. Trade-specific line items for large format tiles, wet room waterproofing, and wall tiling — rather than forcing everything into generic line items — save significant time and reduce quoting errors on every job.