Fergus Review 2026 — Is It Worth It for Australian Plumbers?
What Is Fergus?
Fergus is a New Zealand-built job management platform designed specifically for trade businesses. Founded in 2014 by a former plumber (Dan Pollard), it focuses heavily on helping tradies understand their true job costs and profitability. It's used by over 25,000 trade businesses across NZ, Australia, and the UK.
Fergus Pricing (June 2026)
| Plan | Price (AUD) | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $53/user/month | Quoting, invoicing, scheduling, basic reporting |
| Pro | ~$70+/user/month | + Purchase orders, advanced job costing, custom reports |
Annual cost for a sole trader: $53 × 12 = $636/year minimum. With 2 users (you + an apprentice): $1,272/year.
What Fergus Does Well
- Job costing: Tracks labour, materials, and subcontractor costs per job in real-time
- Profitability reports: Shows exactly which jobs made money and which lost money
- Purchase orders: Create and track POs to suppliers (Pro plan)
- Founded by a plumber: The interface understands trade workflows
- Progress invoicing: Bill in stages for larger jobs
- Supplier price lists: Import price files from Reece, Tradelink, etc.
What Fergus Lacks for Australian Plumbers
- No Australian compliance: No Form 7/9, no QBCC integration, no AS/NZS standards
- NZ-first: Built for NZ regulations and tax system first, AU second
- Expensive for sole traders: $53/month is a lot when you're a one-man band
- No AI features: No smart standards lookup, no photo analysis
- Overkill complexity: Purchase orders and cost reports are great for teams of 10 — unnecessary for sole traders
- No pipe sizing: No technical plumbing calculators
Fergus vs TradeDesk — The Key Difference
Fergus answers: "How much profit did I make on that job?"
TradeDesk answers: "Am I compliant? What pipe size do I need? Can I auto-generate my Form 7?"
Both are valid questions. But for a sole trader plumber in QLD, compliance paperwork is the daily pain point — not advanced cost reporting. You already know your margins because you quoted the job and bought the materials yourself.
The Bottom Line
Fergus is genuinely good software built by someone who understands trades. If you have 5+ staff and need to track profitability across multiple teams, it's worth considering.
But for sole trader plumbers in Australia, it's expensive, overly complex, and missing the compliance tools you actually need day-to-day.
Consider instead: TradeDesk.now — $59/year, purpose-built for plumbing compliance and job management. Try it free for 21 days.