HiveSuite vs Powered Now: Two UK-Built Platforms Compared

For most UK contractors, HiveSuite is the stronger choice over Powered Now. HiveSuite wins 5 of 8 comparison categories, offers flat-fee pricing from £34.99/month, and includes a customer portal, AI reporting and inventory with stock tracking on every plan. Powered Now wins on CIS/DRC compliance and offline mobile access.

Powered Now and HiveSuite are both UK-built platforms for trade businesses. Both handle VAT, both have UK support, and both include quoting and invoicing. The differences come down to compliance workflows, mobile invoicing, customer interaction, AI analytics, and pricing structure. We scored each platform to help you decide.

Also see: Powered Now Alternative for UK Contractors

What Is Powered Now?

Powered Now is a UK-built trade management platform known for its extensive library of pre-built statutory compliance forms - covering gas, electrical, fire alarm, oil, and pest control certifications. It also offers CIS deduction support, Domestic Reverse Charge invoicing, and direct MTD VAT submission to HMRC without requiring a separate accounting package. Powered Now has native iOS and Android apps that work offline, making it a popular choice for tradespeople who work in areas with poor signal. It charges per user with features gated across Business, Professional, and Premium tiers.

HiveSuite takes a different approach. Rather than shipping a library of pre-built statutory forms, it provides a flexible compliance document builder with conditional fields, AI assistance, and expiry tracking - and wraps it in flat-fee pricing, a customer portal on every plan, and AI-powered business reporting through HiveIntel. Where Powered Now wins on statutory form depth and offline mobile, HiveSuite wins on customer-facing tools, inventory management, pricing predictability, and the breadth of operational features included from day one.

How We Scored This Comparison

We evaluated both platforms across eight categories that matter most to UK contractors choosing job management software:

1. Mobile invoicing - creating and sending invoices on site, payment collection, accounting sync
2. Compliance documents - certificates, RAMS, checklists, method statements, statutory forms
3. Scheduling & dispatch - calendar, conflict detection, team assignment
4. Customer portal - self-service access, quote approval, invoice payment, messaging
5. AI & reporting - business intelligence, automated insights, natural language queries
6. Inventory - stock tracking, purchase orders, supplier management
7. Pricing & value - cost structure, feature access, transparency
8. Ease of use - setup time, onboarding, mobile experience

The Quick Summary

Overall: HiveSuite wins 5 of 8 categories, with one draw and two Powered Now wins. Powered Now's advantage is concentrated in CIS/MTD VAT compliance and offline mobile access. Compliance documents are a draw - Powered Now ships more pre-built forms, but HiveSuite's builder lets you create and save your own templates with conditional logic and AI assistance.

Mobile Invoicing Compared

This is one of the most common reasons contractors compare these platforms - the ability to invoice on site and get paid faster.

HiveSuite

• Create and send invoices from any device (mobile browser or HiveCrew app)
• Stripe payment links on every invoice - customers pay in one tap
• Convert accepted quotes to invoices in one click
• Interactive quote links with tiered options and automatic deposit invoicing
• Recurring invoices for maintenance contracts
• Invoice reminder board for overdue tracking
• Automatic sync to QuickBooks and Xero
• Customer portal where clients view and pay invoices without phone calls
• Multi-line invoices with per-item descriptions and VAT calculations

Powered Now

• Create invoices on native iOS/Android apps
• Works offline (syncs when reconnected)
• Digital signature capture on site
• CIS deduction calculations on invoices
• Direct MTD VAT submission to HMRC
• Xero + QuickBooks sync

Verdict: Powered Now has the stronger offline experience and built-in CIS/MTD workflow. HiveSuite focuses on the end-to-end quote-to-payment journey - interactive quote acceptance, integrated Stripe payments, automatic accounting sync, and a customer portal where clients pay without chasing. For many UK trade businesses, features such as integrated payments, customer self-service, and automatic accounting sync may have a greater day-to-day impact than offline invoicing.

Compliance Documents Compared

HiveSuite

• Compliance certificate generation with UK-standard templates
• RAMS (Risk Assessments and Method Statements)
• Checklists with conditional logic
• Method statements
• Conditional fields (show/hide based on previous answers)
• AI-assisted document generation
• Numbered PDF output with unique reference numbers
• Digital signature capture on site
• Issue and expiry date tracking with alerts
• Customer portal document library (clients access their certificates any time)
• Workspace templates (save your own custom document definitions)
• Included on every plan from Solo (£34.99/month)

Powered Now

• 50+ pre-built UK statutory forms
• Gas Safe certificates
• NICEIC electrical forms
• Fire alarm certificates
• Oil/plumbing service records
• Pest control forms
• Digital signature capture

Verdict: If you need dozens of pre-built statutory certificates for regulated work (gas, electrical, fire alarm) with minimal setup, Powered Now has the breadth advantage. If you need flexible compliance certificate generation across multiple document types - RAMS, checklists, method statements - with conditional fields, AI assistance, expiry tracking, and delivery through a customer portal, HiveSuite offers broader workflow flexibility and deeper integration with your job management process.

Pricing

HiveSuite (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
• Enterprise: £499.99/month - 50 admins + unlimited team members
• All features on all plans - no feature tiers, no add-on charges
• 30-day free trial, no credit card required

Powered Now (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 (up to 65% off). Published prices vary across sources. Confirm current pricing directly.

Key difference: HiveSuite includes every feature on every plan. With Powered Now, the customer portal, AI features, and advanced tools are gated behind the Premium tier. For a 5-person team on Powered Now Premium, you are looking at ~£200+/month plus VAT - compared to HiveSuite's £89.99/month including VAT with full feature access.

Full Feature Comparison

Which Platform Is Right for You?

The Bottom Line

For many UK contractors, HiveSuite is the stronger platform in 2026. It wins on mobile invoicing, payment collection, customer portal, AI analytics, inventory management, scheduling, and pricing transparency. The customer portal - included on every plan - gives customers a self-service way to approve quotes, pay invoices, and message your business.

Powered Now's advantage is narrow but real: CIS deductions, Domestic Reverse Charge, and direct MTD VAT submission are exclusive to Powered Now. It also ships with a larger library of pre-built statutory forms - though HiveSuite's certificate builder lets you create, customise, and save your own templates with conditional fields and AI assistance.

For everyone else - general contractors, mobile service businesses, maintenance teams, and growing trades - HiveSuite delivers more features at a lower and more predictable cost.