Elec-Mate vs Powered Now
Powered Now is one of the most respected UK trade apps — quotes, invoices, scheduling and, from its Professional tier, forms and certificates. Elec-Mate goes deeper for one trade: BS 7671 certification with AI assistance, 70+ calculators, RAMS and exam training, all at a flat £19.99/month. Here is the honest comparison.
1,000+
UK electricians
“Replaced three separate apps with Elec-Mate. Certs, quotes, and scheduling all in one place.”
Daniel Palmer — DP Electrical
Key Takeaways
- 1Powered Now is genuinely good UK trade software, and unlike most job-management tools it does include forms and certificates — but only from its Professional tier (£32/month), and without the electrical depth: no calculators, no AI test-entry, no RAMS, no training.
- 2Elec-Mate is the only UK platform where BS 7671 certification, 70+ calculators, AI site tools, RAMS and exam training live in the same subscription as quoting, invoicing and payments.
- 3Price: Elec-Mate is £19.99/month flat with everything included. Powered Now starts at £28/month, with certificates unlocked at £32/month and its full feature set at £40/month.
- 4The AI layer is where the certificate workflows diverge: photographing a board to populate the circuit schedule and speaking test readings aloud has no equivalent in Powered Now.
- 5If your business covers several trades, Powered Now’s breadth across trades is a real strength. If you are an electrician, depth beats breadth.
What Is Powered Now?
Powered Now is UK-built job management software for trade businesses — plumbers, gas engineers, builders and electricians. It covers quoting, invoicing, scheduling, expenses, Making Tax Digital VAT submission and team management, with a well-regarded mobile app.
Its three tiers are Business (£28/month), Professional (£32/month — the popular tier, adding forms and certificates, Xero integration and team features) and Premium (£40/month, adding a customer portal, automatic invoice chasing and drag-and-drop scheduling). Annual billing gives two months free, and there is a 14-day free trial with no card required.
Powered Now's strengths: UK focus (including MTD VAT built in), certificates and forms available in-app, solid team features, and a long track record with UK trades. Of the generic trade platforms, it is the closest to what an electrician needs.
What Is Elec-Mate?
Elec-Mate is built for one trade only: UK electricians. That focus is the product. Alongside quoting, invoicing, scheduling, Stripe payments and Xero sync, it covers the electrical work itself — 16 certificate types to BS 7671:2018+A4:2026, an AI suite that fills certificates from photos and voice, 70+ BS 7671 calculators, AI-generated RAMS, and 46+ training courses with mock exams for the 18th Edition, 2391 and AM2.
Pricing is £19.99/month flat for the electrician plan (7-day free trial), or £6.99/month for the apprentice training plan.
Certificates: Digital Forms vs Electrical Workflow
Powered Now's certificates are digital forms: you fill the fields, it produces the document. That works, and for a multi-trade firm it may be enough. Elec-Mate treats the certificate as an electrical workflow, not a form.
The AI Board Scanner photographs the consumer unit and populates the circuit schedule. Voice Test Entry lets you speak readings while your hands hold the leads. Defect Code AI turns a plain-English defect into a correctly coded C1/C2/C3/FI observation with the BS 7671 regulation cited. The AI Remedial Cost Estimator prices the remedial works before you leave site.
EICR → Priced Remedials → Invoice → Paid
The certificate flows into a remedial quote, the quote into a booked job, the job into an invoice with a payment link. Nothing retyped.
Try it free for 7 days
And because Elec-Mate is electrician-only, everything around the certificate is electrical too: cable sizing and Zs checks from the same app, RAMS for the commercial jobs, and training for the quals — none of which exists in Powered Now at any tier.
Try Elec-Mate free for 7 days
16 certificate types, 70+ calculators, RAMS, quoting, invoicing, AI agents, and 46+ training courses — from £6.99/mo.
Start free trialPricing Compared (UK, 2026)
Powered Now: Business £28/month, Professional £32/month (certificates start here), Premium £40/month. Two months free on annual billing; 14-day trial.
Elec-Mate: £19.99/month flat — certificates, AI tools, calculators, RAMS, training and business management all included from day one, no feature gates between tiers. 7-day free trial.
Like-for-like on certificates: £32/month (Powered Now Professional) versus £19.99/month (Elec-Mate, with the AI and training included on top).
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | Feature | Elec-Mate | Powered Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built specifically for electricians | All UK trades | ||
| Electrical certificates | From £32 tier | ||
| AI Board Scanner (photo → circuit schedule) | |||
| Voice Test Entry (speak your readings) | |||
| Defect Code AI with BS 7671 citations | |||
| AI Remedial Cost Estimator | |||
| 70+ BS 7671 calculators | |||
| AI RAMS generator | |||
| Training courses + mock exams | |||
| Quoting & invoicing | |||
| Job scheduling | |||
| Making Tax Digital / VAT tools | Via Xero sync | ||
| Customer portal | Premium tier | ||
| Apprentice learning hub |
The Verdict
Powered Now deserves its reputation. For a multi-trade business — a firm doing plumbing, gas and electrical under one roof — its trade-agnostic breadth plus in-app certificates is a strong combination, and its MTD VAT tooling is genuinely useful.
For an electrician or electrical contractor, Elec-Mate does more of the actual job for less: the certificate fills itself from a photo and your voice, the remedials price themselves, the calculators and RAMS replace two more subscriptions, and the training covers your next qualification — all at £19.99/month with no feature gates.
Both trials are free. Run one real EICR through each and compare the time from arriving on site to the invoice being paid.
What Only Elec-Mate Offers
AI Board Scanner
Photograph any consumer unit and the AI fills the circuit schedule. No equivalent in Powered Now at any tier.
Defect Code AI
Plain-English defect in, coded C1/C2/C3/FI observation out, with the BS 7671 regulation cited.
70+ BS 7671 Calculators
Cable sizing, volt drop, Zs, max demand, adiabatic checks — the electrical maths Powered Now does not attempt.
AI RAMS Generator
Site-specific risk assessments and method statements in minutes for commercial work.
Training + Mock Exams
46+ courses and 20,000+ questions for the 18th Edition, 2391, AM2 and apprentice quals — included.
Everything at £19.99 Flat
No feature gates: certificates, AI, calculators, RAMS, training and business tools in one price.
Frequently Asked Questions
Trusted by electricians across the UK
Real feedback from real sparks
“Replaced three separate apps with Elec-Mate. Certs, quotes, and scheduling all in one place.”
Daniel Palmer
Sole Trader · DP Electrical
“I've won two contracts this month because I could turn quotes around same-day with the AI cost engineer.”
Nathan Perry
Electrician · NP Electrical Services
“The study centre got me through my AM2. Mock exams and flashcards are brilliant.”
Jake Pizey
3rd Year Apprentice · Apprentice
Depth beats breadth for one trade
Run a real EICR through Elec-Mate free for 7 days — board scan, voice entry, AI-priced remedials.
“Replaced three separate apps with Elec-Mate. Certs, quotes, and scheduling all in one place.”
Daniel Palmer, DP Electrical
From £6.99/mo after trial — less than a coffee a week