Custom Software for Your Trades Business — Free Prototype in 5 Business Days
You have been paying month after month for a trades software that does not belong to you — and has never quite fit your business. krafteq builds your own business software as a working prototype within a week, and as a production-ready v1 in under 4 weeks. Fixed price €1,000–2,000, EU hosting €250/year per software (1st year included), code is yours. From Leverkusen, for tradespeople across the Rhineland and throughout Germany.
Over 1 million trades businesses in Germany — most pay more for SaaS than they would for their own solution.
Target AudienceDo any of these sound familiar?
We build for German trades businesses with 1–20 employees — owners and master craftsmen who have specific workflows or are not happy with their current SaaS tool. These five situations come up most often:
No in-house IT team — and no need for one
You are a tradesperson, not an IT manager. You want software that simply works — and a single point of contact who maintains it when something goes wrong. That is exactly what krafteq provides.
Your SaaS tool no longer fits — or never did
plancraft, ToolTime, HERO, or Bosch OfficeOn are solid software for standard businesses. If your workflows are specific, or the monthly add-on costs are running out of control, switching to your own solution makes sense.
Spreadsheet and WhatsApp chaos
Jobs via email, customer data in Excel, invoices in a third system. Hours disappear in double-entry. Custom software consolidates all of this — tailored to your workflows.
The e-invoicing mandate hits in 2026
The phased mandatory e-invoicing requirement demands structured invoice data (XRechnung, ZUGFeRD). We build this as standard into every job management module — DATEV or Lexoffice integration optional.
You want to own your code
You are paying thousands of euros per year and end up owning nothing. With krafteq, the code belongs to you from Sprint 1. If we disappear tomorrow, your software continues running on any other host.
How It WorksYour own software in three steps
No sales process, no open consulting invoice. You see working software within a week and know upfront what the finished v1 will cost.
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Submit an enquiry
Describe your business and the workflows you want to digitalise. In the form this takes 5 minutes — trade, headcount, required features, optional free text. We get back to you within 24 hours with a concrete plan.
Free and non-binding. No sales pressure, no newsletter spam.
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Prototype in 5 business days
krafteq builds a working prototype of your most important 1–2 workflows. Hosted live on Krafteq Cloud, with a login for you and 1–2 further users, with realistic sample data tailored to your trade. In a walkthrough we show everything and discuss the next version.
You see your own trades software in action — before you pay a penny.
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Your own v1 in under 4 weeks
If you wish to proceed, you receive a binding fixed-price quote between €1,000 and €2,000 for your v1 — depending on scope. We develop in 1- to 2-week sprints with demos. Source code in the client repository from Sprint 1. Krafteq Cloud Hosting €250/year per software (1st year included) — self-hosting at your own IT provider equally available.
Fixed price instead of hourly billing. Code is yours. Hosting and maintenance included.
FeaturesWhat do we typically build for trades businesses?
A trades software built by krafteq consists of standard building blocks that we adapt to your business. These eight features appear in virtually every project — exactly what you need is determined in the initial consultation and walkthrough.
Job Management
Create jobs, track status, assign employees, schedule appointments. Linked to the customer record, with photo documentation, and a material and hours list.
Quotes & Invoices (E-Invoicing)
Quotes at the click of a button, invoices with XRechnung/ZUGFeRD export, payment reminders, optional DATEV or Lexoffice integration. E-invoicing mandate fulfilled.
Mobile Time Tracking
Employees log time directly on site via smartphone. Per job, per activity, with break rules. Reports generated automatically.
Customer & Address Management
Central customer record with jobs, invoices, communications, and maintenance contracts. Searchable, filterable, with notes.
Materials & Inventory Management
Material lists per job, stock levels, reorder suggestions at minimum stock, optional interfaces to wholesalers (DATANORM, GAEB).
Maintenance Contracts & Scheduling
Plan recurring maintenance automatically, send reminders to customers and employees, log maintenance records digitally. Essential for SHK, Elektro, and heating engineers.
Photo & Site Documentation
Photos per job, geo-referenced, with comments. Handover reports, defect lists, sign-off with signature on tablet.
Mobile App for Employees
iOS and Android, optionally cross-platform. View jobs, report materials, log time, take photos — even offline on site.
What You GetFour building blocks — in every Krafteq package
Every Krafteq project delivers not just your custom software, but the complete infrastructure around it. Standardised, secure, scalable — enterprise quality at a trades price.
Your own business software
Tailor-made for your business and your real workflows. Source code from Sprint 1 in the client repository, fixed price €1,000–2,000, fully documented. Even if krafteq disappears tomorrow, your software keeps running on any host.
Krafteq Cloud — Hosting €250/year per software
Managed hosting on servers in Germany (EU fallback available), 1st year included — self-hosting at your own IT provider equally available. Included: security patches, daily backups, monitoring, Krafteq support, maintenance, GDPR-compliant operation with DPA (Data Processing Agreement — AVV), TLS, and your own domain. No subscription trap, cancellable at any time.
Client & Document Portal
A central web interface for your relationship with krafteq: project status, contracts and DPA (AVV), tickets, releases, invoices, backup status. No more scattered email threads — everything in one place.
IAM & Security from Day 1
Centralised logins, multi-factor authentication, roles, audit log, tenant separation — based on Keycloak (open source, EU-hosted). Optional single sign-on against Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
TradesWhich trades we build for
Our first marketing focus in 2026 covers these five trades. The software building blocks are proven; the specific adaptation to your workflows is created in the prototype and v1.
Sanitär, Heizung, Klima (SHK — plumbing, heating, AC)
Job management, maintenance contracts, mobile site documentation, GAEB and DATANORM interfaces, heating and plant maintenance logs — aligned to SHK workflows.
View SHK pageElectrical Installation (Elektro)
Project costing, material requirements, e-invoicing, time tracking per site, handover reports, test records for installations — built for electrical businesses.
View Electrical pagePainters & Decorators (Maler)
Measurement and quoting, job processing, interim and final invoicing, site photo documentation, material and paint purchasing — built for painting businesses.
View Painting pageJoiners & Carpenters (Tischler)
Bills of materials, measurements, material purchasing, workshop orders, delivery tracking, installation appointments — from order through to final installation at the client's premises.
View Carpentry pageRoofers (Dachdecker)
On-site measurement, material scheduling, weather-dependent planning, maintenance and repair jobs, roof photo documentation — mobile-first.
View Roofing pageOther trades and industries
Metal fabrication, timber framing, tilers, landscaping, building cleaning, automotive workshops — and beyond trades: practices, salons, restaurants, small retailers. The building blocks fit; the adaptation is done in the prototype.
Comparisonkrafteq vs. plancraft, ToolTime, HERO & Co.
The established SaaS providers are solid software — for standard businesses, with standard processes, at a standard price. For businesses with their own workflows, or who want to own their code, the calculation is different.
| krafteq Custom Software | plancraft / ToolTime / HERO | TAIFUN / Bosch OfficeOn | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Fixed price + hosting | Subscription | Subscription |
| 5-year TCO (under 10 users, with add-ons) | €2,000–3,000 | €9,000–18,000 | €9,000–18,000 |
| Code Ownership | Yes — from Sprint 1 in the client repository | No | No |
| Data Export | Any time, self-service in the portal | Restricted | Restricted |
| Adaptation to Your Workflows | 100% tailored | Standard configuration, limited customisation | Standard configuration, limited customisation |
| Location | Leverkusen (NRW), personal point of contact | Hamburg, Berlin, Hanover — remote | Various |
| EU Data Residency | Guaranteed (Germany) | Variable — partly US backend | Variable |
| Vendor Lock-in | None — standard containers, portable | High | High |
| E-Invoicing (XRechnung, ZUGFeRD) | Included in fixed price | Included (partly add-on) | Included (partly add-on) |
Want a head-to-head with a specific provider?
We've compared plancraft, ToolTime and HERO individually — strengths, weaknesses, 5-year cost. Start with the plancraft comparison; ToolTime and HERO are linked from there.
View plancraft comparisonTrustWith the diligence of a German engineering partner
krafteq is a German GmbH based in Leverkusen. We have served enterprise clients in industry and manufacturing for years — and bring those engineering standards to the trades stack.
krafteq GmbH, Leverkusen
German company headquartered in the Rhineland. A personal point of contact rather than a call centre. On-site meetings possible, fully remote equally so.
ISO 27001 in progress
Information security management system in the gap-analysis phase, target date Q1 2027. Already in place: code review on every change, secrets management with HashiCorp Vault, SBOM generation.
EU Hosting & GDPR by Design
Krafteq Cloud runs on servers in Germany (EU fallback available) — no US CLOUD Act risk. Data Processing Agreement (DPA — AVV) available as standard, encryption in transit and at rest.
Built by Senior Engineers
Every specialist brings at least 10 years of professional experience. We build no more than 3–5 prototypes per week — quality over volume.
“We build for tradespeople with the same diligence we owe enterprise clients — just at a different scale. AI-assisted development has changed the rules: custom software for a 10-person business is economically viable for the first time. We pass that advantage on to you — as a fixed price, with code ownership, without a subscription trap.”
FAQFrequently Asked Questions
Not a small business? krafteq also serves SMEs and enterprise clients.
SRE/DevOps, QA engineering, cloud cost optimisation, legacy-to-cloud, managed squads, DevSecOps, and CRA compliance — with senior engineers who have delivered in enterprise projects.
View All ServicesWould you prefer to speak first?
Book a 30- to 60-minute initial consultation. You describe your situation, we give an honest assessment — even if the answer is: SaaS X is a better fit for you. No sales call, no obligation.
- Free
- Non-binding
- 30–60 minutes