LoadingLoadingLoadingLoadingServiceM8 nailed the mobile job-card workflow on iOS. For UK service businesses past the small-team stage, the gaps are pricing predictability, Android parity, UK-specific features and management reporting.
ServiceM8 is a craft app for a specific workflow. People move when that workflow stops being the whole job.
| Criterion | ServiceM8 | Cushty |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Mobile-first job-card workflow, small/medium iOS-heavy teams | Growing UK service businesses (10–30) running configured operations |
| Pricing model | Pay-as-you-go per job credit — unpredictable at scale | Per business, predictable, doesn't spike on busy months |
| Platform parity | iOS-polished, Android still second-class | iOS, Android and web treated as equal, first-class |
| UK features | Light — built around AU/NZ defaults | Built around UK workflows — CIS, VAT, applications for payment |
ServiceM8 has real strengths. These are the four pressures we hear most when teams decide it's time to move.
When ServiceM8 is quiet, it's cheap. When you have a busy quarter, the credit bill jumps in lockstep with success. That makes month-to-month cost planning hard — and the busier you get, the more the pricing model punishes you. Cushty's pricing is per business, so a strong month doesn't trigger a software bill spike.
ServiceM8's job-card and add-on system is opinionated. That's a strength for some, but if your business runs on multi-stage approvals, applications for payment, retentions, or variations against a quoted scope, you end up bending your process to fit the template. Cushty is configured to how your business already works — not the other way around.
ServiceM8 has historically treated iOS as the primary platform. If half your team are on Android phones, or your office runs on Windows, you're working around a tool that wasn't designed for you. Cushty's mobile and web apps are built equal from day one — no second-class platforms.
CIS deductions, reverse-charge VAT, applications for payment, retentions — common in UK service work, none of them native in ServiceM8. They have to be bolted on with workarounds. Cushty builds these in because we work with UK businesses every day.
The honest version. ServiceM8 has real wins — we don't hide them.
| Feature | ServiceM8 | Cushty |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile job-card workflow | Excellent on iOS, the original strength | Equally strong on iOS, Android and web |
| Photo and video on jobs | Strong, built into the workflow | Strong — built in, plus searchable across the full job history |
| Pricing | Per-job credits, unpredictable at scale | Per business, predictable, doesn't penalise busy months |
| Android parity | Improved, still second-class | First-class, designed in from day one |
| UK CIS, VAT and RCVAT | Workarounds and bolt-ons | Native — CIS, reverse-charge VAT, retentions, applications for payment |
| Office and management views | Limited, mobile-first design | Field, office and owner views — each built for the role |
| Reporting and analytics | Basic dashboards | Custom reports, profit-by-job, engineer profitability, cash-flow |
| Onboarding | Self-serve, help articles | Real onboarding, configured to your workflow |
We're honest about this. Sometimes ServiceM8 wins.
If everyone is on an iPhone, your monthly job count is steady and you've built a workflow around ServiceM8's job-card structure that works — its pay-as-you-go pricing is genuinely generous at that scale. Switching costs you change, not capability.
Trades where every job needs a photo trail before, during and after — ServiceM8 has spent years polishing that flow. If that's the single most important thing your tool does, the rest of the gaps may not matter to you yet.
ServiceM8's form templates and the Add-on Store represent real switching cost. If your forms are doing serious work and the add-ons are core to how you operate, account for that re-build effort honestly when comparing total cost.
A realistic version of the first 90 days. No fairy tale.
Discovery call. We map your ServiceM8 workflow to Cushty — including the things you've built with forms and add-ons. Honest report on what carries over cleanly and what needs redesigning.
Configuration. Your job statuses, custom fields, dispatch rules and templates get rebuilt in Cushty around your actual workflow. Data import for clients, job history, photos and quotes.
Cushty is your operational system. ServiceM8 wound down. The differences most teams notice: cost is predictable again, Android people aren't second-class, and the office finally has the view it needs.
Book a 30-minute walkthrough — we'll show you how Cushty fits your business. No commitment, no contract until you choose to subscribe.
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