ServiceM8 alternative UK: Fieldfare vs ServiceM8

In short

ServiceM8 counts every recurring visit as a job, so a round of 30 weekly clients already needs the £59 plan.
Fieldfare is £49 a month with no limit on visits or users, and adds UK RAMS and COSHH, spray records, holiday allowances and vans.
ServiceM8 is stronger on route optimisation and card payments. With Fieldfare you set the day's order from a map, and clients pay you directly.

Fieldfare and ServiceM8 side by side

ServiceM8 is a polished app for small service businesses of all kinds. Fieldfare is made for UK gardening, landscaping and grounds maintenance teams. For a gardening round, the biggest difference is how each one charges.

Prices and features come from each company's website and help centre in October 2026. ServiceM8's UK prices are in pounds, before VAT.

Price: Fieldfare£49 a month for the whole business, up to 99 users, with no limit on jobs; ServiceM8£0 to £269 a month by number of jobs, from 30 to 1,500 a month, with unlimited users. Each recurring visit counts as a job
Free trial: Fieldfare30 days, card needed to start; ServiceM814 days, no card needed
Clients with several sites: FieldfareYes, each site with its own access notes and visit history; ServiceM8Yes, with the Client Sites add-on, billed to a head office
Regular visits: FieldfareYes, regular jobs fill the calendar and each visit can be moved on its own; ServiceM8Yes, recurring jobs create a job for each visit, up to 12 weeks ahead
Clocking in and timesheets: FieldfareClock in and out on the phone, with timesheets and a payroll export; ServiceM8Clock on and off with GPS, with timesheets that sync to Xero or QuickBooks
Holidays: FieldfareAllowances, bookings and UK bank holidays by region; ServiceM8Staff leave on the schedule and UK public holidays. No allowance tracking found
Health and safety: FieldfareRAMS and COSHH library, site assessments, spray records and sign-offs; ServiceM8Custom forms, including risk assessments and method statements (Growing and above). No UK COSHH or spray records found
Vans: FieldfareMOT, tax, insurance and service dates; ServiceM8Not found
Card payments from clients: FieldfareNo. Clients pay you directly, with no per-payment fees; ServiceM8Yes, from 1.65% plus 20p, with tap to pay and saved cards for recurring visits
Customer messaging: FieldfareNo; ServiceM8Online booking, automatic reminders, two-way texting and arrival tracking
Route planning: FieldfareThe day's jobs on a map, with where everyone is heading; ServiceM8Automatic route optimisation on all plans

	Fieldfare	ServiceM8
Price	£49 a month for the whole business, up to 99 users, with no limit on jobs	£0 to £269 a month by number of jobs, from 30 to 1,500 a month, with unlimited users. Each recurring visit counts as a job
Free trial	30 days, card needed to start	14 days, no card needed
Clients with several sites	Yes, each site with its own access notes and visit history	Yes, with the Client Sites add-on, billed to a head office
Regular visits	Yes, regular jobs fill the calendar and each visit can be moved on its own	Yes, recurring jobs create a job for each visit, up to 12 weeks ahead
Clocking in and timesheets	Clock in and out on the phone, with timesheets and a payroll export	Clock on and off with GPS, with timesheets that sync to Xero or QuickBooks
Holidays	Allowances, bookings and UK bank holidays by region	Staff leave on the schedule and UK public holidays. No allowance tracking found
Health and safety	RAMS and COSHH library, site assessments, spray records and sign-offs	Custom forms, including risk assessments and method statements (Growing and above). No UK COSHH or spray records found
Vans	MOT, tax, insurance and service dates	Not found
Card payments from clients	No. Clients pay you directly, with no per-payment fees	Yes, from 1.65% plus 20p, with tap to pay and saved cards for recurring visits
Customer messaging	No	Online booking, automatic reminders, two-way texting and arrival tracking
Route planning	The day's jobs on a map, with where everyone is heading	Automatic route optimisation on all plans

What a busy round costs on ServiceM8

A gardener with 30 weekly clients does about 130 visits a month. On ServiceM8 that needs the Growing plan at £59. A team doing around 20 visits a day does about 430 a month, which needs Premium at £119, and past 500 a month it is Premium Plus at £269. All before VAT.

Fieldfare is £49 a month for every one of those, with no limit on visits or users. Storage is 50 GB, then £5 a month for each extra 50 GB.

If you do fewer than about 50 visits a month, ServiceM8's £25 Starter plan or its free plan will cost you less.

Fieldfare

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Health and safety, holidays and vans

ServiceM8 gives you flexible forms to build yourself, from the Growing plan up. We found no ready-made COSHH or spray records in its help centre.

Fieldfare has a RAMS and COSHH library that staff sign off on their phones, site assessments, and spray records logged against the job they belong to. Holidays come off each person's allowance, with bank holidays for your region taken off automatically, and van MOT, tax, insurance and service dates are flagged before they lapse.

Sign-offs in Fieldfare, showing RAMS and COSHH documents and how many staff have signed each one

Where ServiceM8 is stronger

ServiceM8 is very good at automation. Every plan reorders the day for you, texts clients, tracks arrivals, and can charge a saved card after each recurring visit.

Fieldfare shows the day's jobs on a map with where each person is heading, and you set the order yourself, knowing which gate is locked until ten. Clients pay into your bank or through Xero, QuickBooks or Sage, with no per-payment fees, and those payments are read back against each client.

If clients pay by saved card today, move them to bank transfer or your accounting software's payment links before you switch. Then export your client list, import it and set up your regular visits once.

Before you switch from ServiceM8

Is Fieldfare cheaper than ServiceM8?

For a busy round, yes. 130 visits a month is £59 on ServiceM8 and 430 is £119, before VAT, while Fieldfare is £49 with no limit. Under about 50 visits a month, ServiceM8 is cheaper.

Does ServiceM8 charge per user?

No. Every paid plan has unlimited users, and it charges by the number of jobs each month instead.

Can Fieldfare optimise routes like ServiceM8?

No. It shows the day's jobs on a map with where everyone is heading, and you decide the order.

Can I bring my clients across from ServiceM8?

Yes. Export your client list as a spreadsheet and use the Excel or CSV import. Compare it with others in our gardening software roundup.