What you get with My Apprentice
- Quoting built on your own price book, with margins calculated automatically
- Jobs that tie quotes, shifts, materials, photos and invoices together
- Scheduling & dispatch on a board of workers × time, with attention flags for unassigned work
- Invoicing with GST, automatic reminders and Xero sync
- Card payments via your own Stripe account, reconciled automatically
- A client portal where customers accept quotes, track jobs and pay invoices — included, not an add-on
- Timesheets fed by shift clock-in/clock-out, approved and exported for payroll
- Materials & inventory with per-location stock and OCR supplier invoices
- Offline working — keep quoting and working with no reception, syncs when you're back in range
- Runs in the browser on desktop, tablet and phone — the whole team works from anywhere
Straightforward per-seat pricing
One price per seat, per month in Australian dollars — every seat gets every feature, so there is no premium tier to upgrade into for the features you need. Your first 2 months are free, annual billing saves 20%, and there is no setup fee and no lock-in contract.
| Team size | Per seat / month (AUD) |
|---|---|
| Sole trader (1 seat) | $39 |
| 2–5 seats | $36 |
| 6–10 seats | $33 |
| 11–15 seats | $30 |
| 16+ seats | $27 |
See the full pricing page.
What to check when you're comparing
The differences that actually change your week aren't feature-list length — they're these five. Our answers are below; check ServiceM8's current plans for theirs, because tiers move.
| What to compare | My Apprentice |
|---|---|
| Which features you get | All of them, at every seat. There is no premium tier to upgrade into. |
| What a seat costs | $39/seat/month for a sole trader, down to $27/seat at 16+. In AUD, published on the pricing page. |
| Working with no signal | Quote, edit jobs, take photos and write notes offline; it syncs when you're back in range. See offline mode. |
| What your customer has to do | Nothing. The client portal is a no-login link — they accept the quote, follow the job and pay from it. |
| Trying it before you commit | A live demo with sample data in your own trade, no account and no card. Then 2 months free, no lock-in. |
Where ServiceM8 might suit you better
We'd rather you found this out here than three weeks in. There are things we don't do yet:
- Accounting beyond Xero. We're Xero-only today — no MYOB or QuickBooks. If your bookkeeper is on either, that's a real blocker.
- A native Android app. We have a native iOS app; on Android the full product runs in the phone browser. Every feature works, but it isn't an app from the Play Store.
- SMS to customers. We do email and iOS push. If you text your customers job updates today, we can't replace that yet.
- A compliance module. No SWMS or certificate management — you get job photos, notes and a full audit trail, and that's it.
- Progress and staged billing. Deposits and progress claims aren't in yet, so long project work with staged payments is a poor fit right now.
All of it is on the roadmap and none of it is a promise with a date on it. If one of those is how you run your business, stay where you are — you'll be happier.
Built here, for how trades work here
My Apprentice is built in Perth for Australian trade businesses — GST on quotes and invoices, Xero for accounting and payroll, prices in AUD, and wording your clients already understand. There are two of us behind it, so when you ring, you get someone who can actually change the thing you're ringing about.
Try it before you commit
Free trial, no credit card, instant self-serve sign-up — plus a live demo you can explore without an account. Run a real quote through to an invoice and see if it fits.
Questions people ask when switching
Is My Apprentice a good ServiceM8 alternative?
It's worth a look if you want every feature included at every seat rather than unlocked by tier, transparent per-seat pricing in AUD from $39 down to $27, a no-login client portal, and an app that keeps working with no phone reception. It's a poor fit if you need MYOB or QuickBooks, a native Android app, SMS to customers, SWMS compliance or staged billing.
What does My Apprentice cost compared with ServiceM8?
$39 per seat per month for a sole trader, stepping down to $36, $33, $30 and $27 per seat as the team grows past 16. Every feature is included at every seat, annual billing saves 20%, and the first 2 months are free with no setup fee and no lock-in contract.
Does My Apprentice work offline?
Yes. You can build quotes, edit jobs, take photos and write notes with no connection, and it syncs automatically once you're back in range. Sending quotes and invoices, taking card payments and pushing to Xero queue until you're online.
Can I try it without talking to a salesperson?
Yes. Open the live demo, pick your trade and team size, and it builds you a sample workspace with your kind of jobs already in it. No account, no credit card, no discovery call.