PPMdesk
Updated 3 November 2026

Best job management software for UK maintenance contractors

There is no single best job management software.A 60-engineer M&E firm with a van fleet, an installer that lives on estimates and stock, and a 6-person FM contractor running PPM with subcontractors need different things. Any list that puts one product first for everyone is selling you something.

So this guide picks a winner per category, with prices, contract terms and the honest case against each. We build PPMdesk, so treat our entry with suspicion, and read the section on who we are wrong for.

At a glance

Best forProductPriceContract
Established M&E and compliance-heavy contractorsJoblogicStandard from £49 per user per month, billed annually; Premium and Enterprise quote onlyMost customers commit to 24 or 36 months; 12 months on request, per Joblogic
Firms running a large van fleetBigChangeOn request (previously from £79.95 per licence per month)Not published
Installation projects with estimating and stockSimproQuote only, per user per monthNot published
Customer-facing trade businessesCommusoftQuote only, per licence per month12-month contract, renewing annually, per Commusoft
Security and cleaning workforcesArezFrom £89.95 per licence per monthNot published
FM contractors who want the admin done for themPPMdesk£49 per office user per month; engineers and subcontractors freeMonthly or yearly, cancel any time
Best for established M&E and compliance-heavy contractors

Joblogic

Standard from £49 per user per month, billed annually; Premium and Enterprise quote only

The UK default for HVAC, fire and security, refrigeration and M&E contractors, and with good reason. Job costing, stock control, PPM contracts with SLAs, asset registers, SFG20 schedules and the widest set of UK accounting integrations (Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, KashFlow, FreeAgent). If you are a larger firm with established processes, it covers more ground than anything else here.

The case against

Read which plan you are buying. The published £49 is the Standard plan, billed annually, and PPM contracts start at Premium, which is quote only; SFG20 is a Marketplace add-on and the customer portal is Enterprise only. Field engineers count as users. Joblogic says most customers commit to 24 or 36 months.

PPMdesk vs Joblogic
Best if you run a large van fleet

BigChange

On request (previously from £79.95 per licence per month)

An all-in-one platform with vehicle tracking, GPS and routing built in alongside scheduling, dispatch, CRM and a customer self-service portal. If a big part of your day is getting vans to the right place efficiently, having tracking and jobs in one system is a real advantage.

The case against

BigChange stopped publishing prices in June 2026; before that, Standard was £79.95 and Plus £99.95 per licence per month, with tracking sold per vehicle. Contract terms are not published, so ask for both before a demo turns into a proposal.

PPMdesk vs BigChange
Best for installation projects with estimating and stock

Simpro

Quote only, per user per month

Built for trade businesses whose work is projects as much as maintenance: detailed quoting and estimating, real-time inventory, purchasing and progress invoicing. If you install systems and need to cost them properly before you win them, Simpro is designed for that.

The case against

Every plan is quote only, and digital forms and data feeds are paid additions. It is aimed at firms of ten or more staff, and its depth on estimating and stock is more than a maintenance-led contractor will use.

PPMdesk vs Simpro
Best for customer-facing trade businesses

Commusoft

Quote only, per licence per month

Strong on the customer journey: online service booking, suggested appointments, configurable asset structures and automated invoicing, with a separate sales CRM. A good fit for heating, plumbing and appliance firms that deal directly with householders and landlords.

The case against

No published prices, a 12-month contract that renews annually, and Commusoft says it is designed for businesses with six or more staff. Vehicle tracking sits on higher plans.

PPMdesk vs Commusoft
Best for security and cleaning workforces

Arez

From £89.95 per licence per month

CAFM and field service software that handles the people side well: AI-assisted scheduling to prevent overbooking, SIA licence and right-to-work checks, and live GPS tracking. If you employ security officers or cleaners on site rotas, those checks matter more than PPM depth.

The case against

From £89.95 per licence per month on software listings, and modules are priced separately. Contract terms are not published.

PPMdesk vs Arez
Best for FM contractors who want the admin done for them

PPMdesk(that’s us)

£49 per office user per month; engineers and subcontractors free

Reactive jobs, PPM, assets, RAMS, subcontractor compliance, quotes and invoicing in one place, with every feature in the one price. The AI does the admin: it reads client emails and drafts the job, drafts the reply, drafts the invoice from the signed-off job sheet, and reads contractor bills and certificates, with a person approving each one. Engineers and subcontractors work from a link in their phone's browser, offline when there is no signal, so you only pay for office users. Outlook and Xero are kept in step.

The case against

Newer, with a smaller customer base and a small team behind it. No SFG20 schedules, no stock control or purchasing, no vehicle tracking, and Xero is the only accounting package. Engineers use a browser link they can save to their home screen, not an app-store download.

Who PPMdesk is wrong for

Every vendor writes a guide like this and leaves itself out of the losing column. Here is ours.

You need SFG20 schedules built in.
PPMdesk lets you build your own PPM tasks and frequencies, but it does not include the SFG20 library. If your clients specify SFG20, look at Joblogic.
You hold stock and raise purchase orders against it.
There is no stock control or purchasing module. If van stock and stores matter, Joblogic and Simpro both handle them.
Vehicle tracking is part of how you run the business.
PPMdesk has no GPS or fleet tracking. BigChange, Commusoft and Arez include it.
Your accounts are not in Xero.
Xero is the only accounting package PPMdesk connects to. If you use Sage, QuickBooks or KashFlow, Joblogic has the widest choice.
Your engineers must have an app from the app store.
Engineers and subcontractors open jobs from a link and can save My jobs to their home screen, and it works offline. If a native app download is a hard requirement, we do not tick it.
You want a large vendor behind you.
PPMdesk is built and supported by a small UK team. You speak to the people who build it, which is an advantage, and it is also a concentration risk. Weigh both.

Six things to check before you sign

The headline price is rarely the real cost. These are the questions that change it.

How engineers are licensed
Some products charge for every engineer on the app, some only for office users. With ten engineers and two office staff, that is the difference between paying for twelve users and paying for two.
Which plan includes PPM
Planned maintenance is the core of contract work, but some products put PPM contracts on a higher, quote-only tier. Ask which plan your quote is for.
Contract length
Terms run from monthly to 36 months. A long term with an annual uplift is a different commitment from a monthly subscription, whatever the headline price.
Subcontractor compliance
Insurance, accreditations and RAMS for every subcontractor, with expiry dates. If you use subcontractors, check it is tracked, not just stored.
Offline job sheets
Plant rooms and basements have no signal. The job sheet, photos and signature must save on the phone and send when signal returns.
What the price excludes
Setup fees, onboarding, text messages, portals, forms and integrations are often extra. Ask for the full first-year cost in writing.

For yearly totals at your size, see what job management software costs; for side-by-side detail on each product, see how PPMdesk compares.

How this guide was researched, and its obvious bias

We build PPMdesk. This guide has a commercial interest and you should read it with that in mind, which is why it names a different winner in five of six categories and includes a section on who we are wrong for.

Where a vendor publishes pricing or terms, we quote them from the vendor’s own page. Where a vendor does not, we say so, and use software listings only where nothing else is available. Everything was checked on 3 November 2026; check with each vendor for a current quote.

Best job management software UK: FAQs

What is the best job management software in the UK?

There is no single best one; it depends on the work you do. Joblogic suits established M&E and compliance-heavy contractors, BigChange suits firms running large van fleets, Simpro suits installation projects with estimating and stock, Commusoft suits customer-facing trade businesses, Arez suits security and cleaning workforces, and PPMdesk suits FM contractors who want AI to do the office admin and only pay for office users.

How much does job management software cost in the UK?

Published prices start at around £49 per user per month: Joblogic's Standard plan and PPMdesk are both £49, Arez is listed from £89.95 per licence, and BigChange was £79.95 to £99.95 per licence before it stopped publishing prices. Simpro and Commusoft are quote only. The bigger differences are who counts as a user, which plan includes PPM, and contract length, which ranges from monthly to 36 months.

What is the best job management software for FM and maintenance contractors?

For contractors maintaining other people's buildings, look for PPM scheduling, asset registers, subcontractor compliance and RAMS in the plan you are quoted for, not on a higher tier. Joblogic and PPMdesk are both built for this work; Joblogic covers more, including SFG20 and stock, while PPMdesk includes everything at £49 per office user with engineers free and AI drafting jobs, replies and invoices.

Do I have to pay for every engineer?

It depends on the product. Joblogic counts field engineers as users, and BigChange, Commusoft and Arez price per licence. PPMdesk charges only for office users: engineers and subcontractors work from a link in their phone's browser at no cost.

Is there job management software without a long contract?

Yes. PPMdesk is billed monthly or yearly and can be cancelled at any time. Commusoft uses a 12-month contract, and Joblogic says most of its customers commit to 24 or 36 months, with 12 months available on request.

If you fit the last category

£49 per office user per month, every feature included, engineers and subcontractors free. Monthly or yearly, cancel any time. 14-day trial, no card needed.

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