Invven vs Simpro (NZ)

NZ-built jobs, invoicing and inventory in one, with cost prices hidden from customer documents

A young Auckland-built alternative to the established NZ stack, pitching the same operator-authenticity argument Fergus already owns. Founded by Shane Smale, who names himself publicly and has owned and operated a New Zealand motorhome dealership for 27 years: adjacent to the building trades rather than of them, which is worth knowing when weighing the domain-expertise claim. Published tiers from NZD $29 to $159 and a self-serve 14-day trial with no card. The real differentiator is inventory-aware invoicing: live stock levels while you build the invoice, and cost price that never reaches a customer-facing document.

Pros

• + Company independently verifiable on the NZ Companies Office register (NZBN 9429053630247), which most vendors this young are not
• + Founder named publicly and verifiably: Shane Smale, on the About page, alongside a registered NZ company number. He added his name within hours of us publishing the anonymity as a con, which is the response we would want from any vendor and the opposite of the usual one
• + Genuine self-serve purchase: sign-up works and the 14-day trial takes no credit card
• + Inventory-aware invoicing is a real differentiator: live stock levels while quoting, and cost price never appears on any customer document

Cons

• − The AI Receptionist is a paid add-on from $39 NZD+GST and is NOT included in the free trial, despite being the headline feature on the homepage and in the vendor's own submission. Verified 2026-08-31.
• − WhatsApp messaging is metered at $0.05 per message on top of the plan price
• − All billing is processed in NZD regardless of the currency displayed, so non-NZ buyers carry the FX conversion and their card issuer's rate. Note the vendor removed the contradictory US-targeting clause from its terms on 2026-09-01 after we raised it, verified the same day.
• − About 5.5 months old (domain registered 2026-03-13), so there is no track record on reliability, pricing stability or support

Heavyweight job management for mid-to-large project-based contractors

⚠ Recurring user complaints about implementation complexity, setup cost, and lock-in contracts (Capterra NZ). No scandal — a fit/onboarding caveat for small operators.

A heavyweight for mid-to-large project contractors (2–500+ staff). It sits above ServiceM8 and Tradify in depth — estimating, inventory, multi-stage projects, job costing and compliance — and has a real NZ footprint with an Auckland office and NZ support team.

Pros

• + Deepest feature set for complex/project work
• + Physical Auckland office + NZ phone support
• + A Master Plumbers NZ member benefit
• + Xero/MYOB/QuickBooks; scales 2 → 500+

Cons

• − Quote-based pricing (no public figures)
• − Steep learning curve + high setup cost
• − Reported 12-month minimum contracts (unverified)
• − Overkill for sole traders