guide
Does free construction quote software really exist? The limits of free plans, contract terms and real prices, with Cobria's plans and checked market benchmarks.
By Cobria editorial team
Published on 
4 min read
Key takeaways
Yes, free quote software for builders exists: Cobria's Solo plan has no time limit, and ServiceM8 has a free plan for one user. Free plans have clear limits (one user, no planning, ads, a daily or monthly cap) that are worth knowing before you choose. Cobria's paid plans start at €24.90 per month with no fixed term, so you can cancel at any time.
Three questions come up every time a builder looks for quote software: is there a free version, do I have to sign up for a fixed term, and what does it really cost? Here are direct answers, based on Cobria's pricing and terms and on the public prices of other tools, all checked on 29 September 2026.
Yes. Cobria's Solo plan is free with no time limit. It is not a trial that expires. The limits are real and stated up front: 1 user per entity, no Planning module or product catalogue, ads in the app, about 500 MB of storage and a daily allowance of 25 Bricks. A quote costs 10 Bricks and an invoice 5, so the free plan covers about 2 quotes or 5 invoices a day.
Cobria is not the only option. ServiceM8 also has a free plan: 1 user and up to 30 jobs a month. Most other tools we checked (Tradify, Fergus, Powered Now) offer a 14-day free trial rather than a free plan. A free plan suits a builder who is starting out or whose quote volume is still low. It gets you off spreadsheets and paper quotes with no upfront spend. Two signs it is time to move to a paid plan: you need a second user, or you keep running out of your daily allowance.
Some people search for a free quote template instead, for example an Excel file. A template is fine for a first quote, but you retype every line each time, calculate VAT by hand and turn a quote into an invoice yourself. That is the gap software fills.
The Solo plan needs no subscription: it is free. Cobria's paid plans (Essential, Pro, Ultimate) are monthly subscriptions with no fixed term. According to Cobria's terms of service, the subscription renews automatically each month and can be cancelled at any time from the app. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the following monthly period, and periods already paid are not refunded. In other words, there is no 12 or 24 month contract, but it does not stop on the day you ask either.
For comparison, independent Capterra reviews of Vertuoza mention an annual payment up front and difficulty cancelling. Cobria works the opposite way. Another way to stay flexible at Cobria: one-off Bricks packs, which you can buy without any subscription to cover a busy month, without changing plan.
At Cobria the range goes from €0 (Solo) to €89.90 per user per month (Ultimate), excluding VAT. For reference on the wider market, prices we read on 29 September 2026:
In practice, a sole trader who is starting out often stays on Solo or Essential. A team of 2 to 5 people with several quotes a week usually lands on Pro, the most popular plan. Ultimate mostly makes sense if your team uses AI heavily, for example dictating quotes by voice or translating many documents, or needs custom development. A concrete example: a crew of 3 roofers sending about ten quotes a week, and dictating the odd quote by voice, would probably sit on Pro (€49.90 per user per month), so about €150 per month for the 3 accounts. A sole trader with lower volume can stay on Essential (€24.90 per month), or even on Solo as long as the daily allowance is enough.
Three things move the final bill, beyond the price per user: the number of users you connect, since each extra user is billed at the same rate on paid plans; how many Bricks you use with AI, because the more quotes you dictate or documents you translate, the more you use; and whether you need custom development, which is reserved for the Pro and Ultimate plans.
Beyond price, a few features separate a simple document generator from a real management tool for construction: a reusable price catalogue so you do not retype the same lines, automatic VAT at the right rate, one-click conversion of an accepted quote into an invoice, e-invoicing that meets local rules (Peppol for business invoices in Belgium), and mobile access you can really use on site, not just to look things up. Cobria covers these from the free plan, except the product catalogue, which is on paid plans.
As a rule, a quote should clearly identify your business (name, address, VAT number), the client, a precise description of the work, the price before and after VAT with the rate applied, and a validity date for the offer. Requirements vary by country and by business status: check the exact rules with your accountant or the relevant authority. This section is not professional advice. Good quote software pre-fills these fields to avoid mistakes, instead of leaving them to you on every document.
Cobria's pricing was checked on cobria.com/en/pricing on 29 September 2026. The cancellation terms come from Cobria's terms of service (article 4). The prices for ServiceM8, Tradify, Fergus and Powered Now were read on each vendor's pricing page on 29 September 2026, in the currency shown to us, and can differ by country. The Vertuoza figure is Capterra's estimate, since Vertuoza does not publish a price list. This page is published by Cobria, one of the tools mentioned.
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