Powered Now is one of the most established UK trade management platforms - particularly strong for regulated trades that need a broad library of statutory compliance certificates, CIS deductions, and Making Tax Digital. HiveSuite is the newer alternative with its own compliance certificate builder, AI analytics, a full customer portal, and flat-fee pricing that doesn't scale per user. This page gives you an honest comparison to help you decide which is the better fit.
The short version: HiveSuite now has a compliance certificate builder with UK-standard templates - the main gap with Powered Now is now CIS and direct MTD VAT filing, plus the breadth of Powered Now's 50+ pre-built statutory forms. For most other trades, HiveSuite gives you more - AI analytics, a customer portal, inventory management, and predictable flat-fee pricing.
The Quick Summary
| Category | HiveSuite | Powered Now |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Contractors wanting AI analytics, customer portal, inventory, and flat-fee pricing | Regulated trades needing statutory compliance certificates, CIS, and MTD VAT |
| Pricing Model | Flat fee by team size. From £34.99/month (VAT included). All features. WINNER | Per-user. ~£28-£40/user/month (plus VAT). Frequent promotions make true cost unclear. |
| AI Features | HiveIntel - natural language queries, dashboards, scheduled reports WINNER | AI Text (writing assistance) - Premium plan only |
| Customer Portal | Full branded portal on ALL plans - approve quotes, pay, view jobs, message WINNER | Available on Premium plan only (~£40/user/month + VAT) |
| Inventory | Stock-level tracking, purchase orders, supplier directory WINNER | Supplier invoices and purchase orders (no stock-level tracking) |
| Compliance Certificates | Certificate builder with preloaded UK-standard templates, numbered PDF output, issue/expiry date tracking, customer portal sharing | 50+ pre-built statutory forms (gas, electrical, fire alarm, oil) WINNER (breadth) |
| CIS / Domestic Reverse Charge | - | CIS deductions + Domestic Reverse Charge built in WINNER |
| Making Tax Digital | - | Direct MTD VAT submission to HMRC WINNER |
| 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 promotional discounts. Always confirm current pricing directly - the above rates are standard and may not reflect active offers.
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.
Where Powered Now Has a Genuine Advantage
For regulated trades, Powered Now's compliance features are a real differentiator - not just marketing copy.
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 and plumbing service records
- Pest control forms
- Many more trade-specific certificates
Combined with CIS deductions, Domestic Reverse Charge support, and direct MTD VAT submission to HMRC, this makes Powered Now a particularly strong choice for gas engineers, electricians, and other regulated trades.
HiveSuite has now launched a compliance certificate builder that directly addresses this. It ships with preloaded UK-standard certificate templates and lets you save workspace-specific definitions for repeat use. Certificates are numbered, track issue and expiry dates, support conditional field logic, and can be shared through the customer portal's document library. For most contractors, this covers the core certificate workflow. The remaining gap is breadth: Powered Now's 50+ pre-populated statutory forms require less initial setup for gas engineers, NICEIC electricians, and other regulated trades issuing specialist certificates at high volume.
Where HiveSuite Has the Advantage
For trades that aren't in regulated industries, HiveSuite's advantages are significant.
| Feature | HiveSuite | Powered Now |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance Certificates | Certificate builder with UK-standard preloaded templates, numbered PDFs, issue/expiry dates, conditional fields, portal sharing | 50+ pre-built statutory certificates WINNER (breadth) |
| AI Analytics | HiveIntel: ask questions about your business in plain English, build custom dashboards, schedule automated reports | AI Text (writing assistance) on Premium only |
| Customer Portal | Full branded portal on ALL plans - clients can approve quotes, pay invoices, view job history, message, and upload files | Available on Premium plan only (~£40/user/month + VAT) |
| Inventory | Stock-level tracking, low-stock alerts, purchase orders, supplier directory, auto-deduct on job | Supplier invoices and purchase orders (no stock-level tracking) |
| Pricing | Flat fee - 5 users costs £89.99/month (inc. VAT) | Per user - 5 users at Business tier costs ~£168/month before VAT |
| Custom Fields | Custom fields on customers, quotes, invoices, and jobs | Limited |
| Recurring Invoices | Automated recurring invoices on all plans | Available |
| Mobile App | iOS PWA + native Android app | Native iOS + Android apps, works offline WINNER |
| Accounting | QuickBooks | Xero + QuickBooks |
Which One Is Right for You?
Choose HiveSuite if...
- AI analytics and business intelligence matter to you
- You want a Customer Portal for clients to approve quotes and pay
- Inventory management is part of your workflow
- You have a team and want predictable flat-fee pricing
- Custom fields across jobs, quotes, and customers are important
- You want transparent, stable pricing without promotional uncertainty
- Compliance certificates with portal sharing and expiry date tracking are part of your workflow
Choose Powered Now if...
- You need the broadest library of pre-built UK statutory certificates (gas, electrical, fire alarm) with minimal setup
- CIS deductions and Domestic Reverse Charge are part of your billing
- You need direct MTD VAT submission to HMRC
- Native iOS/Android apps with offline support are critical
- Xero is your accounting software
The Bottom Line
Powered Now retains genuine advantages for regulated trades - CIS, direct MTD VAT submission to HMRC, and the broadest library of pre-built statutory forms (50+) are all exclusive to Powered Now. For gas engineers or NICEIC electricians issuing specialist certificates at volume, that breadth saves real time.
But HiveSuite has significantly closed the compliance gap with its new certificate builder, and for most trade businesses, HiveSuite gives you more in 2026. Compliance certificates, 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 predictable - what you see is what you pay.
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