Certio vs Elec-Mate: Which Electrician App Fits Your Work?

Certio is the cheaper, narrower certificate app; Elec-Mate is the wider all-in-one with training. Elec-Mate's Electrician plan costs £19.99 a month or £199.99 a year, against £4.99 or £9.99 a month for Certio (both websites, checked 5 November 2026). Elec-Mate adds 19 certificate types, a study centre and an employer hub. Certio adds a Free plan and camera reading of the Megger MFT-X1 screen. Both offer board photo scanning, voice entry and AI help with observation codes.

What is the difference between Certio and Elec-Mate?

The two overlap more than most apps we compare. Both are young, both run on iPhone, Android and the web with one account, and both were built by electricians. Elec-Mate's first App Store release came in March 2026. Certio's iPhone app arrived on the UK App Store on 23 September 2026. Neither has the long track record of an older package, which matters if you're trusting it with years of records.

The difference is scope. Elec-Mate sets out to be the one app for an electrical career: certificates, 70 calculators by its own count, quotes and invoices, RAMS, AI specialists, an apprentice study centre, a Mental Health Hub, and hubs for employers and colleges. Certio concentrates on getting certificates done on site, with quotes, invoices and RAMS on Pro. If you'd use most of Elec-Mate's range, the higher price buys a lot. If you mainly want EICRs and Minor Works finished quickly, you may pay for features you never open.

How do Certio and Elec-Mate compare feature by feature?

Sources: certio.uk (pricing and llms.txt), elec-mate.com and the Elec-Mate App Store and Google Play listings, checked 5 November 2026. "Not described" means the vendor's public pages do not mention it. It does not mean we tested the app and found it missing. Elec-Mate's own pages give differing certificate counts (8, 19 and "over 20"), so check that the type you need is included.

What does each one cost over a year?

Be careful with Elec-Mate's "from £6.99" headline. That is the Apprentice plan, and the home page lists "every certificate on A4:2026" under the Electrician plan. A qualified electrician should budget from the £19.99 figure. One third-party app listing we saw quoted £14.99 a month, but Elec-Mate's own home page says £19.99.

So Elec-Mate Electrician on annual billing costs £80.11 a year more than Certio Pro and £140.11 more than Starter. Certio's site says there is no VAT to add. We didn't find a VAT statement in the Elec-Mate pages we read, so ask if it affects you.

Compare allowances as well as prices. Certio Starter has only a small monthly AI allowance, so a busy tester will probably want Pro. Elec-Mate's pages state no AI usage cap and no per-certificate charges. Our guide to cheaper certification software and the buyer's guide cover the wider market.

Which is quicker for getting readings on site?

We can't give you a fair stopwatch answer, because we haven't timed Elec-Mate. On published features, the two take much the same route. The Amendment 4 model schedule has 31 columns, 16 of circuit details and 15 of test results, so a 12-way board can mean up to 372 boxes, though many will be N/A. Our guide on how to fill in a schedule of test results goes through them.

Both apps use a board photo to draft the circuit details, then let you dictate readings. Elec-Mate says it flags Zs values over the maximum and compares fault current with breaking capacity. It also says the board scanner needs a connection, which is worth remembering in a basement. Certio's extra route is pointing the phone at a Megger MFT-X1 so the camera reads the screen. If you carry a different instrument, that feature doesn't help you yet, and voice is your route on either app.

However the number arrives, it's still your signature. A Zs on a B32 Type B circuit has to be judged against 1.37 Ω in BS 7671 Table 41.3, and the usual rule is to compare a cold reading with 80% of that, about 1.10 Ω. An app can flag the number, but it can't tell whether you've got a poor lead connection, a real fault or a C2. Our maximum Zs tables and troubleshooting guide for high Zs readings cover that judgement.

Can you trust AI to code an observation?

Treat it as a first draft from either app. Elec-Mate says its Defect Code AI assigns C1, C2, C3 or FI with a regulation reference from your plain-English description. Certio suggests wording for you to check and edit. The classification remains the inspector's opinion, and context changes it. Missing RCD protection on a socket circuit and missing RCD protection on cables buried in a wall can be coded differently depending on what's there and who uses it.

Use Electrical Safety First Best Practice Guide 4 and IET Guidance Note 3 as your reference points, not an app's suggestion. Under the A4 model forms only C1 and C2 make a report unsatisfactory, with FI advisory. Our guides on EICR observation codes and writing observations go further.

What about scheme requirements?

Elec-Mate says its exported PDF meets NICEIC, NAPIT and ELECSA scheme requirements. We haven't verified that. Certio doesn't claim approval from any scheme. Whichever app you use, ask your own scheme what it accepts before moving your paperwork across, and keep the records it requires.

Which should you choose?

Before you commit to either, run one real board through it. Check the PDF against the IET model forms, then check how you'd get your records out if you left later.

How Certio helps

Certio produces the EICR, EIC, Minor Works certificate and PAT records on the BS 7671 model forms and turns them into branded PDFs. Photograph the consumer unit and the circuit schedule drafts itself; point the phone camera at a Megger MFT-X1 and the reading goes straight into the schedule of test results, or dictate it while your hands stay on the probes. Suggested observation wording with the regulation reference is there for you to check and confirm. The judgement stays yours; the typing goes. Starter is £4.99 a month, charged when you sign up.

Written by the Certio team. Last checked 5 November 2026.