Best Quoting Software for Decorators UK: 2026 Comparison

If you are a painter and decorator still writing quotes on the back of a paint tin lid — or wrestling with a Word template that takes longer to format than the job takes to measure — it is time to upgrade. The right quoting software does more than produce a tidy PDF: it tracks your margins, chases unpaid invoices, schedules follow-ups, and ultimately helps you close more work. In this guide we rank the 6 best quoting tools for UK decorators in 2026, from purpose-built trade platforms to free alternatives. We have tested each one and scored them on the criteria that matter most to a working decorator: speed, cost, UK compliance (VAT, CIS), and mobile usability on site.

Looking to boost your close rate even further? Pair your quoting software with a free AI colour visualiser — show clients a photorealistic preview of their property in the colours you have quoted, and watch indecision evaporate.

Quick Comparison: 6 Quoting Tools at a Glance

1. FacadeColorizer — Visual Quoting That Closes More Work

FacadeColorizer is not a traditional quoting platform — it is a visual selling tool that transforms the way you present quotes. Upload a photograph of the client's property, apply any colour from Dulux Trade, Farrow & Ball, Crown, Little Greene, or Sandtex, and generate a photorealistic before-and-after preview in seconds. Attach this to your PDF quote and you instantly differentiate yourself from every other decorator who sends a plain price list.

Decorators using FacadeColorizer report close rate improvements of 10–20 percentage points — because clients can see exactly what they are paying for, colour indecision evaporates, and the conversation shifts from price to vision. The free tier is generous enough for most sole traders; the paid plans (one-time top-ups from £7.90, or the Artisan subscription at £69/month) add higher-resolution exports, batch processing, and branded PDF reports you can embed in your quotations.

2. Powered Now — Best All-in-One for UK Sole Traders

Powered Now was built in the UK, for UK tradespeople — and it shows. It handles quotes, invoices, certificates, CIS deductions, and VAT out of the box, with deep integrations into Xero and QuickBooks. For a painter and decorator, the workflow is straightforward: create a customer record, build a quote from your saved price list, send it as a branded PDF, and convert it to an invoice with a single tap once the job is complete.

At from £15 per month, Powered Now is one of the most affordable all-in-one platforms on the market. The mobile app works offline — essential when you are measuring up in a basement flat with no signal. The compliance certificates (gas, electrical, EPC) are less relevant to decorators, but the quoting, invoicing, and customer-tracking features are excellent. Where it falls short is in team scheduling: if you employ more than two or three people, you may outgrow it quickly.

3. Tradify — Best for Growing Decorating Businesses

Tradify is designed for trade businesses that are scaling up — from a sole trader taking on a first apprentice to a team of eight or ten decorators running multiple jobs simultaneously. The quoting module is fast: you can build and send a professional quote from your phone in under five minutes, complete with itemised line items, photos, and terms and conditions. Tradify syncs with Xero, QuickBooks, and MYOB, handles UK VAT and CIS, and includes built-in job scheduling, time tracking, and purchase-order management.

The price — from £25 per user per month with no contract lock-in — makes it a step up from Powered Now, but the additional features justify the cost once you have a team. Tradify's onboarding is exceptionally fast: most users are quoting and invoicing within hours. The main limitation for decorators is the lack of visual tools — there is no built-in way to show clients what a colour will look like, which is where pairing it with FacadeColorizer adds real value.

4. QuoteScope — Streamlined Onboarding and Quoting

QuoteScope focuses on two things: getting new customer enquiries into your pipeline quickly and converting them into accepted quotes. Built by a UK-based development team (W.E.B.S Ltd, Northamptonshire), it offers a clean, web-based interface that emphasises speed over complexity. The customer onboarding flow is particularly strong — clients receive a branded link, fill in their details and job requirements, and you receive a structured brief that you can convert into a quote with minimal back-and-forth.

At from £20 per month, QuoteScope sits between Powered Now and Tradify on price. It supports UK VAT and integrates with popular accounting packages. The platform originally targeted the heating and plumbing sector, but its quoting and onboarding features translate well to decorating. The main trade-off is that it lacks the depth of job-management features (scheduling, time tracking, purchase orders) offered by Tradify and Fergus — so it is best suited to sole traders or small teams whose primary bottleneck is the quoting stage rather than job logistics.

5. Fergus — Best for Profitability Tracking

If you have ever finished a job and wondered whether you actually made any money on it, Fergus is designed to answer that question — in real time. Originally from New Zealand and now well established in the UK market, Fergus provides granular job costing that tracks labour hours, material costs, and margin against your original quote as the job progresses. For decorators who regularly handle larger projects — full house repaints, commercial contracts, student-let turnarounds — this visibility is invaluable.

The quoting module is robust, with customisable templates, automatic follow-up emails, and e-signature acceptance. Fergus syncs with Xero and QuickBooks, handles UK VAT and CIS, and includes scheduling, GPS tracking, and progress photo uploads. At from £30 per user per month, it is the most expensive dedicated tool on this list — but for a decorating business turning over £100,000+ per year, the margin visibility alone can pay for itself many times over.

The main downside is the learning curve. Fergus has more features than most decorators need, and initial setup — building templates, configuring margin targets, importing customer data — takes longer than with Tradify or Powered Now. Budget half a day for setup and expect a week before you are fully comfortable with the workflow.

6. Google Sheets — The Free Fallback

Let us be honest: plenty of successful decorators still quote using a Google Sheets template and it works. The cost is zero, the learning curve is minimal, and you can share a quote link with a client in seconds. For a sole trader doing fewer than ten quotes per month, a well-structured spreadsheet with your branding, itemised line items, VAT calculations, and payment terms can look perfectly professional.

The limitations become apparent as your business grows. Google Sheets cannot chase overdue invoices, track job progress, manage CIS deductions, or generate compliance certificates. There is no customer database, no scheduling, and no integration with accounting software without manual export. It also lacks any kind of follow-up automation — if a client does not respond to your quote, you have to remember to chase them yourself.

Our recommendation: use Google Sheets as a starting point, but graduate to a dedicated tool once you are consistently sending more than ten quotes per month or once you start employing staff. The time saved on admin alone will cover the subscription cost within the first month.

Which Quoting Tool Should You Choose?

The best tool depends on the size and stage of your decorating business:

• Sole trader, budget-conscious: Start with Google Sheets and FacadeColorizer (free). The spreadsheet handles the numbers; the visualiser handles the selling.
• Sole trader, ready to professionalise: Powered Now (from £15/month) gives you quotes, invoices, CIS, and VAT in a single app. Add FacadeColorizer for visual presentations.
• Small team (2–5 people): Tradify (from £25/user/month) adds scheduling, purchase orders, and team management. Its fast onboarding means minimal disruption to your working week.
• Established business (5+ people, £100k+ turnover): Fergus (from £30/user/month) delivers the job costing and profitability tracking you need to scale without leaking margin.
• Enquiry-heavy, quote-focused: QuoteScope (from £20/month) streamlines the customer onboarding and quoting pipeline — ideal if your bottleneck is converting enquiries rather than managing jobs.

Whichever platform you choose, remember that the quotation is your first impression. A clean, branded PDF with itemised costs, clear terms, and — ideally — a photorealistic colour preview of the client's property will always outperform a handwritten note on headed paper. Invest in your quoting process and you invest directly in your close rate, your profit margin, and your professional reputation.