App Comparison
SparkyLog vs Tradify vs Jobber: Which App Should Electricians Use in 2026?
If you’re a self-employed electrician trying to decide between job management apps, the honest answer is that most well-known options aren’t really designed for you — they’re designed for electrical contractors with teams of five or more.
What a Sole Trader Electrician Actually Needs
Quick quotes from a phone on site, job records, professional invoices with your registration number, mileage tracking at the correct rate, expense logging feeding a year-end tax summary — and something that takes under two minutes per job. Notice what’s not on that list: dispatch boards, engineer GPS tracking, real-time team scheduling, CRM pipelines.
SparkyLog
Browser-based, no download. Free plan up to 10 jobs/month. Pro £9.99/month. Available in the UK, USA, Canada, Ireland and Australia — currency, mileage rates and tax terminology adapt automatically.
Does well: purpose-built for sole trader electricians, no setup or learning curve, works in 5 countries natively, free to start, mileage + expenses + tax report in one place.
Falls short: no team features, no photo attachments yet, no bank feed or automated reconciliation.
Price: Free / £9.99/month Pro
Tradify
NZ-built platform used widely by trades businesses in the UK, Australia and NZ. Popular with contractors running small-to-medium teams.
Does well: visual job scheduler across a team, detailed quoting with price lists, strong Xero/QuickBooks integration.
Falls short: from ~£49/month — over 4× SparkyLog Pro; built for teams, most features irrelevant for sole traders; no registration number integration; no built-in mileage tracking at local rates.
Jobber
North American field service platform, more enterprise-oriented than Tradify.
Does well: strong CRM with automated follow-ups, online booking portal, integrated payments.
Falls short: from ~£39/month; not electrician-specific; no country-specific mileage rates or tax reports; overkill for a sole trader.
Paper, Notes Apps, and Spreadsheets
Free, no learning curve — but you will miss expenses at year end, mileage almost never gets logged accurately, and quotes don’t look professional. True whether you’re in the UK, USA, Canada, Ireland or Australia.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | SparkyLog | Tradify | Jobber | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price/month | £0–£9.99 | ~£49 | ~£39+ | £0 |
| Built for sole traders | ✓ | Partial | — | ✓ (just) |
| Reg. number on invoices | ✓ Pro | — | — | Manual |
| Approved mileage rates | ✓ All countries | Partial | — | Manual |
| Local tax report | ✓ Pro | — | — | Spreadsheet |
| No download needed | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
| Free plan available | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
Which One Should You Use?
Use SparkyLog if you’re a sole trader (or with one other person), based in the UK, USA, Canada, Ireland or Australia, and don’t want to pay £40–50/month for features you’ll never use.
Use Tradify if you’re running a team of 3+ and need scheduling and dispatch, already on Xero, based primarily in the UK, Australia or NZ.
Use Jobber if you’re running a service business across trade types, primarily in North America, and automation/online booking are priorities.
The Bottom Line
Tradify and Jobber are excellent tools for electrical contractors — for a sole trader electrician, they’re expensive, complex, and built for a business structure you don’t have. The free plan makes the comparison easy: try SparkyLog on your next job. If it doesn’t save you time, it costs you nothing to stop. See the full independent write-up in SparkyLog Review 2026.
Try SparkyLog free — no card needed
10 jobs a month, mileage tracking, expense logging. Works in the UK, USA, Canada, Ireland and Australia.
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