An honest side-by-side for UK sole trader tradespeople. Sage handles your books and MTD. Graft handles all of that plus the actual job – quotes, invoices, time, materials, photos, expenses.
If you're a sole trader laying bricks / fitting boilers / running cables, Sage Free will file your MTD return – but it can't log a job, send a quote from the van, or scan a receipt. You'd still need three more apps. Graft does everything Sage does, plus the actual job, for £9.99/mo.
Compared against Sage Free (the entry-level MTD tier most sole traders look at) and Sage Accounting Start (the lowest paid plan).
| GRAFT | Sage Free | Sage Accounting Start | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job management | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Quote on site (in 60s) | ✓ | ✗ | Basic |
| Invoice from a job | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Time tracking on site | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Materials & cost tracking | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Job photos & notes | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Mileage tracking | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| AI receipt scanning | ✓ | ✗ | Add-on |
| HMRC MTD submissions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Stripe payment links on invoices | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Built specifically for trades | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Mobile-first (designed for site use) | ✓ | Basic | Basic |
| Price | £9.99/mo | Free | £15/mo |
We're not going to pretend Sage is bad. It's good – at what it does. But it's accounting software, and you're not an accountant.
Yes. Sage Free / Sage MTD is HMRC-recognised software for sole traders earning under £85k. It will submit your quarterly MTD return. What it won't do is help you run the job that earned the money in the first place – no quoting, no time tracking, no job records.
You can – that's what most tradespeople end up doing. Sage + Tradify, or Sage + AccLoop, or Sage + paper. The downside is you're paying for two products, manually copying figures across, and you still don't have one place to see "this job earned me £X after materials". Graft folds it all into one.
For sole trader cash-basis income tax – yes. Graft's MTD ITSA submissions go through the same HMRC API Sage uses. The figures are calculated from the jobs and expenses you log. For complex setups (multiple businesses, VAT-registered limited companies, payroll), an accountant or full Sage subscription is still the right call.
Sage Free + Tradify (job management) ≈ £35–50/month. Graft alone = £9.99/month. If you only need MTD and you're happy doing jobs on paper or WhatsApp, Sage Free is genuinely free. If you want one app for everything, Graft saves you ~£400/year.
Not at launch. We're prioritising day-one usability for tradespeople starting fresh. CSV import for invoices and contacts is on the roadmap. If you've been on Sage for years and need migration help, email sam@trygraft.app.
Skip the spreadsheet. Skip the second app. Graft's out now on the App Store – download it free and your first quarter's on us.
Free on the App Store · iPhone · iOS 15+