Quote Desk is made by the Talk of the Trade team, so this comparison is our own. Every fact about another product links to that product's own page.
The short answer
For most small trade businesses, ServiceM8 is the stronger product. It quotes, schedules, invoices, takes card payments and syncs with Xero, and its Free plan for one person already includes online quote acceptance and automated quote follow-up. Quote Desk is narrower on purpose: a price list, a quote the customer accepts on their phone, three reminder emails and an inbox for enquiries. Pick ServiceM8 if you want one system to run jobs from quote to payment. Pick Quote Desk if your invoicing already lives somewhere you like, you send more quotes than ServiceM8's job allowance suits, or you would rather not learn a full job management app to get quotes out and chased.
The facts side by side
| Quote Desk | ServiceM8 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | Starter, A$39 a month, No GST (we are not registered for it). One login, 60 quotes a month | Starter, A$29 a month including GST. Unlimited users, 50 new jobs a month |
| Free plan and its condition | Free: 5 quotes and 20 enquiries a month, no follow-ups. No card, but it is paid for by a marketing consent: you agree that we and a named partner may email and phone you about business growth and advertising services | Free: 1 user, 30 jobs a month. ServiceM8 calls it "completely free for solo operators". Card payments earn extra jobs on Free |
| Trial | None. Our Free plan, with its marketing consent, is the way to try it | 14 days, no card needed |
| Customer accepts online | Every plan, from a phone-sized page | Every plan |
| Automatic quote follow-up | Starter and Crew: three emails at 2, 5 and 10 days. Wording and timing are fixed | Every plan, Free included: up to five follow-ups by email, SMS or both, timed by you |
| Text messages | None. Quote Desk never texts your customers | Starter includes 100+ a month; extra texts 10c each |
| Invoicing, deposits, payments | Not done | Included. Card payment fees are 1.89% + 30c on Free and 1.69% + 30c on Starter |
| Scheduling | Not done | Included |
| Accounting software | No integration | Xero and QuickBooks Online |
| On the phone | Works in any phone browser; nothing to install | Full app for iPhone and iPad; an Android app, ServiceM8 Lite, for field staff |
| What the monthly limit counts | Quotes sent. A draft that never goes out is not counted | New jobs. A quote is a job; an accepted quote turned into a work order does not use a second credit |
| At the limit | The send is refused with a message and an upgrade offer; nothing is charged | Seven more days of normal use, then a prompt to upgrade |
| Contract | Month to month, cancel from Billing | No lock-ins; upgrade or downgrade at any time |
| Suits | One person quoting from the ute who invoices elsewhere | Sole traders to growing teams who want one system for the whole job |
What each one counts, and what that costs you
A practical difference that changes the bill is the unit each product meters. ServiceM8 counts new jobs, and a job that starts life as a quote uses a credit the moment it is created. Quote Desk counts quotes that actually go out; a draft you abandon costs nothing.
Three worked cases, using each company's own published prices.
A sole electrician who sends 25 quotes a month and wants to invoice from the same place. ServiceM8 Free covers 30 jobs, so this costs nothing and includes invoicing. On Quote Desk, 25 quotes is well past the 5 a month that our consent-funded Free plan allows, so it is Starter at A$39, and the invoicing still has to happen somewhere else. ServiceM8 wins this one clearly.
A plumber who sends 60 quotes a month and also does around 20 call-outs a month that never needed a quote. That is about 80 new jobs in ServiceM8, past Starter's 50, which points to Growing at A$79 a month including GST for 150 jobs. Quote Desk Starter is A$39 a month for exactly 60 quotes, with follow-ups. If the plumber already invoices through accounting software, Quote Desk is A$40 a month cheaper for the quoting part. If they would move their invoicing into ServiceM8 anyway, the A$79 buys a lot more than quotes.
A two-person crew sending 120 quotes a month. Quote Desk Starter stops at 60, so it is Crew at A$99. ServiceM8 Growing at A$79 covers 150 new jobs, provided the quotes plus the other jobs stay under that. ServiceM8 is cheaper here, and both people get their own login, which Quote Desk does not offer.
How the chasing differs
Both products chase unanswered quotes (Quote Desk from Starter up), and both stop the moment the customer accepts online.
ServiceM8's Quote Follow Up automation is configurable. Its help centre describes up to five follow-ups, each sent by email, text or both, at a time you set relative to when the quote went out. They stop if the customer accepts online, replies, or the job is moved to work order, completed or unsuccessful, and your team can cancel them by hand. Each text uses one of your plan's SMS credits, and Free includes none.
Quote Desk's follow-ups are fixed. After you press Follow up automatically, three short emails go out at 2, 5 and 10 days from that press, each carrying the same accept link. The wording reads like a quick note from you and cannot be changed. When the customer presses Accept this quote or No thanks, every reminder still to go is cancelled. There is no cancel button of your own, so a customer who says yes by phone should still press accept on the link. The follow-ups page has the full wording.
If you want control over timing, channel and wording, ServiceM8 gives you that. If you want to press one button and never think about it again, Quote Desk's fixed sequence is the simpler of the two.
Where ServiceM8 is the better choice
- You want the whole job in one place. Quote, schedule, do the work, invoice, get paid and sync to Xero or QuickBooks Online. Quote Desk stops at the yes.
- You have staff. Every paid ServiceM8 plan has unlimited users. Quote Desk has one login per account.
- You want texts. ServiceM8 can send quote follow-ups by SMS, with credits included from Starter. Quote Desk sends email and nothing else.
- You quote fewer than 30 jobs a month on your own. ServiceM8 Free covers you, chasing included, at no cost.
- You want deposits, options on a quote or your own templates. ServiceM8 lists all three. Quote Desk has none of them; you state deposit terms in the note.
- You work from an iPhone. ServiceM8's full app is built for iPhone and iPad. Its Android app is a lighter one meant for technicians and subcontractors.
Where Quote Desk may suit you better
- You invoice through accounting software already and want a quoting tool that does not try to replace it.
- You send a steady 40 to 60 quotes a month and do other jobs on top, so ServiceM8's job count would push you up a plan.
- Your phone runs Android. ServiceM8 describes its Android app as a lighter one for field staff, while Quote Desk works the same in any phone browser.
- Enquiries reach you by email. Each Quote Desk account has its own forwarding address, and every enquiry has a Quote this button that fills in the customer's details. See enquiries.
Questions people ask
Does ServiceM8 Free really include automatic quote follow-ups?
Yes. ServiceM8's pricing table marks automated quote follow-ups as included on every plan, and its help centre says the automation add-on is available on all ServiceM8 plans. Free includes no text credits, so follow-ups by SMS cost extra there.
Is Quote Desk cheaper than ServiceM8?
It depends on volume. At 30 jobs or fewer a month for one person, ServiceM8 Free costs nothing, while Quote Desk costs A$39 on Starter once you pass the 5 quotes a month our Free plan gives in return for the marketing consent. Between about 50 and 150 jobs a month, ServiceM8 Growing is A$79 against Quote Desk Starter's A$39 for 60 quotes or Crew's A$99 for unlimited.
Can I move from ServiceM8 to Quote Desk?
There is no importer. You type your usual items into the price list once, which takes most trades about fifteen minutes, and start new quotes from there. Quotes already in ServiceM8 stay there.
How does GST affect each price?
ServiceM8's plan prices include GST, so A$29 is what you pay for Starter. Quote Desk adds no GST to its plans because we are not registered for it. Quote Desk also does not calculate GST on your quotes; if you are registered, put GST-inclusive prices on your list and say so in the note, as the GST help article explains.
How we checked
Every ServiceM8 fact here comes from ServiceM8's own pricing, help and app pages, read in October 2026. Its plans and job allowances can change at any time, so look at its pricing page before you decide.