Joinery Core vs Tradify — Built for Trades, Not for Joiners
Tradify is popular with plumbers, electricians, and HVAC engineers — tradespeople who work on-site, one job at a time, with a van full of parts. It handles quoting, invoicing, and job scheduling well for that world. But joinery workshops operate differently. You're running multiple projects simultaneously in a fixed location, managing production phases, tracking timber stock, and coordinating a team across overlapping jobs. That's where Tradify falls short.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Joinery Core | Tradify |
|---|---|---|
| Production Gantt chart | ✓ Multi-project timeline | ✗ No production view |
| Joinery-specific phases | ✓ Cutting, spraying, glazing... | ✗ Generic jobs |
| Stock / timber control | ✓ With low-stock alerts | ✗ No stock management |
| Quoting | ~ Coming soon | ✓ Built-in |
| Invoicing | ~ Coming soon | ✓ Built-in |
| Team scheduling | ✓ Per-worker Gantt view | ✓ Calendar based |
| Timesheets & wages | ✓ Monthly & weekly | ✓ Basic timesheets |
| Project financials | ✓ Per project P&L | ~ Job costing |
| Client management | ✓ Linked to projects | ✓ Customer database |
| Multi-project workshop view | ✓ All projects, one screen | ✗ One job at a time |
| Price | From £49/month | From £39/user/month |
The Fundamental Difference
Tradify thinks in jobs: one tradesperson goes to one site, does one job, sends one invoice. Joinery Core thinks in projects: eight projects in the workshop at once, each with ten phases, three workers overlapping, timber shared between jobs, and deadlines that depend on each other.
If your business is primarily on-site installation work — fitting kitchens, hanging doors — Tradify might suit you. If your business is workshop production with on-site installation at the end, Joinery Core is built for your workflow.
Where Tradify Wins
Tradify has stronger quoting and invoicing features today. If your primary pain point is getting quotes out fast and invoices paid, Tradify handles that well. It also has a polished mobile app for on-site work — great if your team spends most of their time away from the workshop.
Choose Joinery Core if
- You run a workshop with multiple projects in production
- You need to track timber and materials stock
- You want to see all production on a Gantt timeline
- Your team works primarily from the workshop
- You want flat-rate pricing, not per-user
Price Reality
Tradify charges per user. A 10-person team costs £390/month minimum. Joinery Core's Professional plan covers unlimited users for £249/month — with stock control, Gantt planning, and financial tracking included. For workshops, the maths is clear.
The Bottom Line
Tradify is excellent software for field service trades. Joinery Core is purpose-built for workshop production. The question isn't which is better — it's which matches how your business actually works. If you build things in a workshop, you need workshop software.
Built for the workshop, not the van
Try Joinery Core free for 14 days. See your production, stock, and team in one place.