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PaperDrop vs Fergus
Fergus is a polished job-management product with documented strengths in mobile payment collection (Fergus Pay with Tap to Pay), a public REST API (OAS 3.0), and AI document parsing. It's NZ-primary, serving trades businesses 1–15 staff per their own marketing. PaperDrop is built UK-first — native CIS deductions and payroll-bureau export (PriceWorks), RAMS documents with scroll-and-sign lock, Gas Safe certificates, and division-level configuration.
At a glance
PaperDrop
Our pick for UK SMB- Rating
- 4.9 / 5 (Google)
- Best for
- UK contractors, 5–50 staff
- Geo focus
- United Kingdom
- Mobile
- iOS + Android, equal feature parity
- Pricing
- Lite User £15 · Mobile User £33 · Office User £59 per user/month · add-on packs separately priced
- API
- API access on Office User tier; Xero, HubSpot, Stripe and Microsoft 365 integrations
Fergus
- Rating
- 4.5 / 5 (Capterra and G2, 650+ combined reviews)
- Best for
- Trades businesses 1–15 staff primarily; largest customer 60+ (per fergus.com)
- Geo focus
- New Zealand primary, then AU / UK / US
- Mobile
- Native iOS + Android — REST API (OAS 3.0)
- Pricing
- Essentials £39/mo · Professional £45/mo · Enterprise custom (per fergus.com/uk/pricing)
- API
- REST API v1 (OAS 3.0), OAuth 2.0
Trusted by 1,500+ UK contractors
From two-person crews to 200-strong firms.
Pricing, side-by-side
Both prices ex. VAT.
Fergus pricing verified against fergus.com/uk/pricing on 2026-05-28.
PaperDrop
Read-only / light-touch user — view jobs, scheduling, customer data. Right tier for office staff or apprentices.
Field engineers — full mobile app, jobs, timesheets, photos, signatures, Gas Safe certs.
Full platform — quoting, invoicing, scheduling, reporting, API access. Plus per-tenant add-on packs (RAMS, Stock, Forms/DropForms, OCR) at separate monthly prices.
Per paperdrop.com/prices.
Fergus
Quoting, job cards, calendar, materials, recurring jobs, mobile app, accounting integrations. Flat per-business price.
Adds GPS tracking, forms, purchase orders, tiered pricing, H&S, advanced reporting, phone support.
Negotiated pricing for larger teams.
Both plans add per-user/per-use fees: Timesheet Users from £11/mo, SMS £8/100, Credit-card 1.6%+£0.20, Contractor Users £2/user/day (per fergus.com/uk/pricing).
Feature by feature
Hover or tap a row for context. Sourced from each product's own help docs and verified reviews.
| Feature | PaperDrop | Fergus |
|---|---|---|
UK CIS deductions on invoices Per Fergus's own blog ("With Fergus, you can make managing CIS payments a breeze with Xero integration"), Fergus handles CIS via Xero rather than natively. PaperDrop applies CIS deductions in-product and exports CIS payroll totals via PriceWorks. | ||
DRC (Domestic Reverse Charge) VAT for construction Neither product documents native DRC support on their site. Both rely on configured tax codes in the connected accounting package (Xero, QuickBooks) to apply DRC on invoices. | ||
CIS payroll bureau export (Sage, BrightPay, IRIS) PaperDrop's PriceWorks module exports CIS payroll totals to Sage, BrightPay, IRIS or any CIS bureau that takes a CSV (per PriceWorksFeatures). Not in Fergus's documented feature set. | ||
UK Gas Safe + electrical safety certificates Both ship UK-specific compliance certificate templates. Fergus Certificates is a free UK Add-On covering Landlord/Homeowner Gas Safety Record, Service Maintenance Record, and electrical certificates (per fergus.com/uk/features/certificates). | ||
RAMS document generation Fergus has a Health & Safety module with hazards and SWMS (Safe Work Method Statements — the AU/NZ equivalent) per fergus.com/uk/pricing Professional tier. UK-style RAMS is not separately documented. PaperDrop's RAMS adds the scroll-and-sign lock that blocks job actions until every engineer has signed. | ||
Stage payments / milestone billing Fergus's Job Phases let you split a job into phases (Rough-In, Fit-Off, etc.) and invoice each phase separately, including for deposits (per help.fergus.com). PaperDrop schedules stage payments (deposit / milestone / completion) with automated invoicing and rolling-contract billing. | ||
Configurable statuses per division PaperDrop's `tblJobStatus` is keyed per `DivisionId`, so each division defines its own status list and colours. Fergus uses a single status board across the company. | ||
Mobile payment collection (Tap to Pay) Fergus Pay with Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android is a documented Fergus strength. | ||
Public REST API with OpenAPI spec Fergus publishes a REST API v1 with an OAS 3.0 spec and OAuth 2.0 — a documented strength. PaperDrop does not publish a public API spec today. | ||
Per-user pricing that scales with headcount Per fergus.com/uk/pricing, Essentials and Professional are flat per-business prices with per-user add-on costs (Timesheet Users from £11/mo, Contractor Users £2/user/day). PaperDrop is per-user-type (Lite £15 / Mobile £33 / Office £59) plus separately-priced add-on packs. | ||
AI document parsing (supplier bills, work orders) Fergus's AI work-order import and Generic PDF Supplier parsing are documented strengths. | ||
Reporting & dashboards Fergus reporting is on the Professional tier ("Advanced reporting" per pricing page). Per public reviews on Capterra and G2, reporting is the weakest-rated sub-category for Fergus. | ||
UK-first product design Fergus is NZ-primary, operating in NZ, AU, UK and US with UK-specific pricing and a UK certificates add-on. PaperDrop is UK-only with UK CIS, RAMS and Gas Safe built into the core product. | ||
Built for teams 5+ staff Per fergus.com, primary focus is 1–15 staff (largest customer 60+). Per public reviews on Capterra and G2, multiple reviewers cite scale friction past 5–10 employees. |
Honest verdict
We'd rather lose the sale than have you on the wrong product. Here's where each one wins.
Choose PaperDrop if…
- You're a UK contractor doing CIS-eligible work and need CIS payroll-bureau export (Sage, BrightPay, IRIS) built in rather than via Xero.
- You bill at stages or run rolling maintenance contracts on a schedule.
- Your team is 5+ staff and you want a product without the scale concerns flagged in public Fergus reviews.
- You want a product designed UK-first rather than adapted to UK.
- You need configurable job statuses per division or trade.
Choose Fergus if…
- You're a New Zealand or Australian trade business — Fergus is regionally focused there and well-supported.
- Mobile payment collection at the customer's door (Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android) is central to your workflow.
- You want a published REST API with an OpenAPI spec for custom integrations.
- You want one of Fergus's documented strengths — AI work-order import or generic PDF supplier parsing.
- You're a 1–10 staff trades business and want flat per-business pricing rather than per-user pricing.
What Fergus users actually say
Synthesized from G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, iOS App Store and Google Play reviews. Praise and criticism, both sides.
Consistently praised
- +Ease of use — the #1 strength across G2, Capterra, Trustpilot
- +All-in-one platform that replaces paper and standalone tools
- +Scheduling and map/GPS features called "fantastic" in reviews
- +Customer support and onboarding consistently praised
- +Eliminates paper-based timesheets
- +Mobile payment collection (Tap to Pay) is a real differentiator
Consistently criticised
- −Invoice formatting customisation called limited in multiple reviews
- −Reporting is the weakest-rated sub-category in Capterra reviews
- −Mobile app features lag behind web for some user roles
- −Android app performance flagged in some Google Play reviews
- −Scalability concerns above 5–10 employees noted in Capterra reviews
Where PaperDrop pulls ahead
Built UK-first
PaperDrop is designed for UK contracting from day one — native CIS deductions and payroll-bureau export, RAMS documents, Gas Safe certificates. Fergus relies on the Xero integration for CIS.
CIS payroll-bureau export, native
PriceWorks exports CIS payroll totals to Sage, BrightPay, IRIS or any CIS bureau that takes a CSV — not via the accounting integration.
Stage-payment scheduling, automated
Schedule deposit, milestone and completion invoices on a job (or rolling contracts on a service plan). Fergus's Job Phases let you invoice per phase, but the scheduling is manual.
Designed to scale past 10 engineers
Configurable statuses per division, role-based permissions, multi-site customers. Per fergus.com, Fergus's primary focus is 1–15 staff and multiple public reviews flag scale friction past 5–10 employees.
See for yourself
Explore PaperDrop in depth.
“Easy software, brilliant support. Matthew was incredibly helpful through onboarding and has stayed responsive to anything we've needed since.”
Briony
Partially. Per Fergus's own blog, CIS is handled "with Xero integration" — Xero applies CIS deductions on synced invoices, but Fergus itself doesn't expose CIS as a native feature. PaperDrop applies CIS deductions in-product and adds CIS payroll-bureau export to Sage, BrightPay, IRIS or any CIS bureau that takes a CSV via the PriceWorks module.
Not today. Fergus Pay with Tap to Pay (iOS+Android) is a genuine Fergus strength. PaperDrop integrates with Stripe for online payment and bank transfer; on-doorstep mobile payment collection is on the roadmap but not at parity with Fergus.
Probably not. PaperDrop is UK-first; if you're in NZ or AU, Fergus's regional support and local compliance is the better fit.
Both publish UK pricing on their sites, but the structures differ — run the maths for your team. Fergus is flat per business: Essentials £39/mo, Professional £45/mo (plus per-user Timesheet Users from £11/mo, Contractor Users £2/user/day, SMS, credit card fees). PaperDrop is per-user-type: Lite User £15, Mobile User £33, Office User £59 — plus separately-priced add-on packs (RAMS, Stock, Forms, OCR).
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Comparison disclaimer. Competitor pricing and feature data on this page was assembled with the help of AI from each vendor's public website, help center, app-store listings and verified review platforms (G2, Capterra, Trustpilot). It may contain inaccuracies, become out of date, or differ from your specific contract or region. Fergus is a trademark of its respective owner — used here for comparative reference only. Last verified 2026-05-28. Always check fergus.com/uk/pricing for Fergus's current pricing and feature set, and paperdrop.com/prices for ours. Spot an error? Email hello@paperdrop.com and we'll fix it.