Where we agree
Rare on a comparison pageAuto-fill, never auto-trust
Manifold's PlateScan and FlueScan read the appliance data plate and the analyser screen from a photo, and their stated principle is “auto-fill, never auto-trust”. That's the same idea behind OnPoint refusing to guess a serial number and asking the engineer to confirm every field. We haven't tested theirs and we're not claiming ours is better — on this capability, the two products think the same way.
Choose Manifold if
You're a sole trader doing gas work only — £15 an engineer against £19, with 30 days to try it rather than 14 — or you want annual billing, a read-only API, Power BI reporting or Sage.
Choose OnPoint if
You do any electrical work — 20 certificate types they don't offer — you don't want a monthly record cap, or there are two or more of you, where OnPoint becomes the cheaper of the two.
The ceilings
Three limits that decide the price
Manifold's plans are bounded on records a month, storage and engineer count. Which plan you need isn't only about team size — a busy sole trader can be pushed onto Growth by volume alone.
records a month on Starter — roughly two and a half a working day before you're pushed to Growth at £20
Card payments, accounting sync and the AI field assistant start at Growth on Manifold. On OnPoint they're on the first seat.
Manifold Starter tops out at five engineers, so the 10-seat row below has no Starter price at all.
Where Manifold is stronger · 7
Entry price, trial length, getting data out
Three of these are things OnPoint simply doesn't have. We'd rather you read them here than find out later.
Where OnPoint is stronger · 4
On coverage, on ceilings, and on whether the software checks your work
Scope: 39 types, including 20 electrical
18 gas, 20 electrical — EIC, EICR, minor works, emergency lighting, fire detection and alarm and the full PAT family — plus hot water and a custom builder. Manifold's site names the CP12, warning notices and service records, and doesn't advertise electrical, oil or hot water certificates. If you do any electrical work, this is the whole decision. See the full list.
No caps, and no engineer ceiling
Manifold limits records per month by plan — 50 on Starter, 500 on Growth, 2,500 on Scale — with storage at 5GB, 25GB and 100GB, and engineer ceilings of 5, 25 and 100. OnPoint has no record limit, no storage tier and no cap on seats.
Everything on every plan
On Manifold, card payment capture, accounting sync and the AI field assistant start at Growth; Starter gets manual CSV exports. OnPoint includes Stripe payments, Xero and QuickBooks sync and all of the AI from the first seat.
More of the business, not just the record
Spoken job reports turned into structured written ones, GC number and fault-code lookup, parts suggested from the report. Live engineer tracking with route ETA and customer ETA by email or SMS. A public booking page with slot holds, a standby list and a gap filler. Payment plans and instalments, late-payment interest, a bank feed with automatic matching, CIS and the VAT domestic reverse charge. The partner network with a subcontractor portal and hashed dispute evidence pack. Timesheets, holiday, fleet with DVLA lookup, project cost control, multi-organisation. None of these are advertised on their site.
The sharpest difference · in their words
“Manifold is a workflow and record-keeping tool; it doesn't make safety decisions or guarantee compliance.”
That's a responsible thing for them to say, and we're quoting it as a difference in what the software takes on — not as an admission of weakness. OnPoint's validation engine runs 67 rules across Gas Safe procedure and BS 7671 and blocks an invalid certificate before it's issued, telling you what's wrong, why, and how to fix it.
And to be equally plain about us: OnPoint doesn't guarantee compliance either, and it doesn't make safety decisions. It checks the contents of the certificate against rules. The engineer signs it and remains responsible for the work. The difference is whether the software checks your work — not whether it takes responsibility for it.
Price, by team size
Manifold wins at one. OnPoint wins from two.
Compare Starter to Starter carefully: the 50-records-a-month limit means a busy engineer may need Growth regardless of team size — £20 an engineer, not £15.
Manifold Starter tops out at 5 engineers. Prices from getmanifold.co.uk on 31 August 2026, per engineer and ex VAT. OnPoint is not VAT registered, so its price is the total. Check current pricing with each provider.
Side by side, as advertised
Their wins marked, same as ours
| Capability | OnPoint | Manifold |
|---|---|---|
| Price, one engineer | £19 | Manifold wins£15 |
| Price, five engineers | £55 | £75 Starter · £100 Growth |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | Manifold wins30 days, no card |
| Annual discount | Monthly only | Manifold winsTen months of twelve |
| Read-only API & webhooks | None | Manifold winsYes |
| Monthly record cap | None | 50 / 500 / 2,500 by plan |
| Storage cap | None | 5GB / 25GB / 100GB |
| Engineer cap per plan | None | 5 / 25 / 100 |
| Gas records & CP12 | 18 gas types | CP12, warning notices, service records |
| Electrical certificates | 20 types | Not advertised |
| Hot water | Yes | Not advertised |
| Custom certificate builder | Yes | Not advertised |
| Certificate validation | 67 rules, Gas Safe procedure and BS 7671 | Not advertised |
| Data plate & analyser reading | Photo, per-field confidence | PlateScan and FlueScan — the same idea |
| AI availability | Every plan, first seat | Field assistant from Growth |
| Accounts & payments | Stripe, Xero, QuickBooks — from seat one | Sage, Xero, QuickBooks — card capture from Growth |
| Contract | None, monthly | Monthly or annual |
How this page was written
Source: getmanifold.co.uk · 31 Aug 2026Every claim about Manifold comes from their own website as it stood on 31 August 2026. We have not tested their product, so where their site doesn't mention something we've written “not advertised” rather than claiming they can't do it.
Manifold is a good product built by people who clearly care about the same engineer we do, and their wins are marked as wins. If anything here is out of date, email support@onpointbusiness.co.uk and we'll correct it.
Straight answers
Including the ones where the answer isn't us.
01Which is cheaper?
Manifold at one engineer — £15 against £19 on their Starter plan. OnPoint from two upwards: £28 against £30, £37 against £45 at three, £55 against £75 at five. Watch the Starter record cap: above 50 records a month you're on Growth at £20 an engineer, and OnPoint is cheaper from the first extra seat.
02Does Manifold do electrical certificates?
Their site names gas records — CP12, warning notices and service records — and doesn't advertise electrical, oil or hot water certificates. OnPoint has 20 electrical types with BS 7671 validation behind them. If you do electrical work, that is likely the whole decision.
03What happens if I go over the record limit?
That's a question for Manifold — their plans are bounded at 50, 500 and 2,500 records a month, so volume moves you up a tier. OnPoint has no record cap, no storage tier and no seat ceiling, so the only thing that changes your bill is adding a person.
04Does OnPoint have an API?
No. Manifold has a read-only API with webhooks, plus Power BI and OData connectors and scheduled exports. OnPoint has financial summary reporting and a full data export on every plan, but no public API and no BI connector. If you need to pull data programmatically today, they can and we can't.
05Is the AI the same?
On data plate and analyser reading the two products do the same job and hold the same principle — auto-fill, never auto-trust. OnPoint adds dictated job reports turned into written ones, GC number and fault-code lookup, suggested parts and suggested project costs, and includes all of it on the first seat; Manifold's field assistant starts at Growth.
06Can I move my data across?
Yes. Migration help is free — we'll bring your customers, sites and appliance history across, and there are no setup fees. Email support@onpointbusiness.co.uk or call +44 7884 697405.
Trial both. Theirs runs 30 days, ours 14.
Neither takes a card. Put a real CP12 through both and, if you do electrical work, try issuing an EICR in each.