HiveSuite
Powered Now bills itself as the UK's number one job management app for trade businesses - and it has genuine strengths, particularly around statutory compliance forms, CIS, and Making Tax Digital. HiveSuite is the newer challenger with AI analytics, a full customer portal, and inventory management. Here's how they compare.
The Quick Summary
| Category | HiveSuite | Powered Now |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Contractors wanting AI analytics, customer portal, inventory, and flat-fee pricing | Trades needing compliance certificates, CIS, and Making Tax Digital VAT returns |
| Pricing Model | Flat fee by team size. From £34.99/month (inc. VAT). All features included. WINNER | Per-user. Business ~£28/user/mo, Professional ~£32/user/mo, Premium ~£40/user/mo (plus VAT) |
| Compliance Forms | Custom form builder | 50+ UK statutory forms and certificates (gas, electrical, fire alarm, oil) WINNER |
| CIS Support | - | CIS + Domestic Reverse Charge built in WINNER |
| MTD VAT | - | Direct MTD VAT submission to HMRC WINNER |
| AI Features | HiveIntel - natural language queries, dashboards, scheduled reports WINNER | AI Text (writing assistance) on Premium plan only |
| Customer Portal | Full branded portal on ALL plans WINNER | Available on Premium plan only (~£40/user/month + VAT) |
| Inventory | Stock management with stock-level tracking, purchase orders, supplier directory WINNER | Supplier invoices and purchase orders (no stock-level tracking) |
| UK Origin | Built in the UK TIE | Built in the UK TIE |
Pricing
HiveSuite Pricing (GBP, VAT included)
- Solo: £34.99/month - 1 admin + 2 team members
- Small Team: £89.99/month - 5 admins + 5 team members
- Growing Team: £149.99/month - 10 admins + 10 team members
- Professional: £249.99/month - 20 admins + unlimited team members
- All features on all plans - no feature tiers
- 30-day free trial, no credit card required
Powered Now Pricing (GBP, prices subject to VAT)
- Business: ~£28/user/month
- Professional: ~£32/user/month
- Premium: ~£40/user/month
- Annual billing available for savings
- Free trial available; limited free version available
- Note: Powered Now runs frequent promotions. Published prices vary across sources. Confirm current pricing directly.
Powered Now Pricing Instability
Powered Now has run significant promotional offers (up to 65% off) at various points, which makes it difficult to compare like-for-like. The prices above represent standard rates. If you're evaluating them, check their current pricing page directly as promotional discounts are not guaranteed to continue.
Powered Now's Compliance Advantage
This is Powered Now's most significant differentiator - and it's a genuine one. Powered Now ships with over 50 statutory UK compliance forms and certificates, including:
- Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR)
- Gas Safety Certificates
- Fire Alarm Certificates
- Oil/plumbing service records
- Pest control forms
- And many more trade-specific certificates
For gas engineers, electricians, and other regulated trades, these built-in forms can save significant time. Combined with CIS, Domestic Reverse Charge support, and direct MTD VAT submission to HMRC, Powered Now is genuinely strong on UK compliance.
HiveSuite has a powerful custom form builder that lets you create any form you need, but it doesn't ship with a pre-built library of statutory certificates.
Features Comparison
| Feature | HiveSuite | Powered Now | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job Management | Full tracking, custom status workflows, custom fields, pipeline | Job management and diary scheduling | Tie |
| Quoting & Invoicing | Recurring invoices, reminder board, Stripe, VAT, custom templates | Quotes and invoices with digital approval/signature, VAT support | Tie |
| Compliance Forms | Custom form builder (build your own) | 50+ pre-built UK statutory certificates WINNER | Powered Now |
| CIS / DRC | - | CIS deductions + Domestic Reverse Charge WINNER | Powered Now |
| Making Tax Digital | - | Direct MTD VAT submission to HMRC WINNER | Powered Now |
| Customer Portal | Full self-service portal on all plans - approve quotes, pay, view jobs, message, upload | Customer portal on Premium plan only | HiveSuite (all plans) |
| AI Analytics | HiveIntel: natural language queries, dashboards, scheduled exports | AI Text (writing assistance) on Premium only | HiveSuite |
| Inventory | Stock-level tracking, purchase orders, supplier directory, auto-deduct | Supplier invoices and purchase orders (no stock-level tracking) | HiveSuite (stock control depth) |
| Scheduling / Team | Calendar views, crew assignments, timesheets, job assignments | Central diary, team tracking, team chat | Tie |
| Mobile App | HiveCrew PWA + native Android app | Native iOS + Android apps, works offline WINNER | Powered Now |
| Accounting Integration | QuickBooks | Xero + QuickBooks WINNER | Powered Now |
Side-by-Side Summary
Choose HiveSuite if...
- AI analytics and business intelligence matter to you
- You want a Customer Portal for clients to approve and pay
- Inventory management and purchase orders are part of your workflow
- You have a growing team and want flat-fee pricing
- Custom fields and custom status workflows are important
- Predictable, transparent pricing is a priority
Choose Powered Now if...
- Your work requires UK statutory compliance certificates (gas, electrical, etc.)
- CIS deductions and Domestic Reverse Charge are part of your billing
- You need direct MTD VAT submission to HMRC
- Polished native iOS/Android with offline support is critical
- Xero is your accounting platform
The Bottom Line
Powered Now is the stronger choice for regulated trades - gas engineers, electricians, and other contractors who need statutory compliance certificates, CIS, and Making Tax Digital built in. These are genuine, meaningful advantages over HiveSuite.
But for most trade businesses that aren't in regulated industries, HiveSuite gives you more in 2026. AI analytics, a full customer portal, inventory management, and flat-fee pricing that doesn't scale per-user are all significant advantages. And unlike Powered Now, HiveSuite's pricing is stable and transparent.
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