Best Fergus Alternative Australia
The Fergus alternative for Aussie builders and tradies
Looking for Fergus alternatives, or want to compare it with NextMinute? Read our helpful, transparent comparison of both products below.
Looking for Fergus alternatives, or want to compare it with NextMinute? Read our helpful, transparent comparison of both products below.
Short story: if you're a sparkie or plumber knocking out service calls all day, Fergus is a good option. If you're running builds, renos or landscaping jobs with stages, variations and a crew, NextMinute is built for exactly that.
Fergus does a good job for service trades running fast-turnaround work. Its own website leads with electricians, plumbers and HVAC.
But if your jobs run for weeks with multiple stages and a crew on site, a calendar and a status board only get you so far. NextMinute is designed for Aussie residential builders, carpenters, landscapers and other project-focused trades.
You get a proper drag-and-drop Gantt chart for planning stages, timesheets that flow through to payroll, variations and progress claims, purchase orders on every plan, and live actual-vs-estimate costing by job and stage.
That means you spot the blowout while there's still time to fix it, not when the accountant tells you three months later.
One package price from A$199 a month for a crew of three. No per-user maths every time you hire.
POs, variations, reporting, equipment charges. Every feature on every plan, not locked behind a top tier.
Plan every stage of a build visually. Assign the crew, and when dates shift, drag the whole timeline at once.
Track actual vs estimate on framing, fit-out, whatever the stage. Protect your margin before the job's done, not after.
Two-way sync. Supplier invoices flow through and match to jobs, so your back costing sorts itself.
A Sydney-based team (Duncan, Ryan & Tarsha) on any plan. On Fergus, phone support needs Professional.
We’ve answered the ones we hear most from builders and tradies.
No way. We keep it simple with month-to-month pricing and no lock-in contracts. You can cancel anytime if it's not working for you, but we reckon once you see the time saved on admin, you'll be sticking around.
You can grab a 10-day free trial without even putting in a credit card. If you want to see how it works for your specific business, book a quick demo with us and we'll show you the ropes and even help import some of your current project data.
Managing client variations is a breeze—you can track them separately so you don't lose money on extra work. It also handles progress claims and final invoicing, making it easy to keep the cash flowing on long-term projects.
It's built to be simple. The crew can log timesheets, snap site photos, check plans, and write site diary notes in a few taps. We say it's so easy even the apprentice can figure it out without causing a headache for the office.
It plugs straight into Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks. It’s a two-way sync, so your supplier bills pull through automatically and your timesheets push straight to payroll, saving the admin team a heap of double-handling.
NextMinute is usually the better fit for renos because it handles multi-stage project tracking and back-costing. You can track actuals vs estimates for every single stage of the job, which is a lifesaver for keeping your margins healthy on complex builds.
We won't just leave you to figure it out on your own. Our AU-based support team — real people like Tarsha or Ryan — provide personalised onboarding. We'll help you import your existing jobs and quotes and show the crew how to use the app so everyone is up to speed fast.
We sure do. Unlike Fergus which focuses more on calendar-based scheduling, NextMinute has a full drag-and-drop Gantt chart. You can map out every stage of a build, set dependencies, and if the rain holds you up, you can move the whole schedule in one go.
For most Aussie crews, yes. Fergus charges per user, from A$53 (Essentials) to A$77 (Professional) per user a month, so five full users on Professional is about A$385 before add-ons. NextMinute is one package price from A$199 a month for a crew of three, in AUD, with every feature on every plan and no sneaky add-ons. Get the full rundown on our pricing page.
Fergus is great for sparkies or plumbers doing heaps of small call-out jobs, whereas NextMinute is built specifically for residential construction. If you're doing bigger projects like new builds, renovations, or landscaping that take weeks or months, NextMinute gives you more control over job stages and long-term planning.
Reviews
Rated 4.9/5 with 100+ reviews on Google and Facebook, with local Aussie support that actually helps.
Starting from AU$199/month for 3 users, and it’s easy to adjust as your team changes.
No limits - full access to all features on all plans
Unlimited projects & jobs
Flexible, month-to-month pricing based on your crew size
No lock-in contracts
Unlimited setup, training, and ongoing support for life
Dedicated help from our local crew: Duncan, Ryan & Tarsha.
Sydney-based support team who actually understand tradie life.
Talk to a Real Person
Have a quick chat with our Sydney-based team. We’ll walk through how you run jobs and show you how NextMinute fits.
Anna-Kate
Sales Manager
From the land of Guinness, she’ll help you work out if NextMinute’s a good fit. Straight talk, no sales BS, and a good sense of humour.
Mat
Former Plumber & NextMinute Pro
Mat’s a plumber, not a software guy. He’s been on the tools and shows you how to run jobs without the admin headaches.
Tell us what you need
Let us know your requirements and how you run your jobs
No bullsh*t
Real humans with construction experience that you'll actually like talking to
Get a trial account
We'll set you up with a customised account to try out NextMinute. We can even import your jobs and quotes
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