Feature · Trust
AI you can trust with money documents
A quote is a promise with your name and your prices on it. So TradieCue's AI is deliberately not autonomous: Timmy drafts, asks and organises — and you review, edit and send. The guardrails aren't a disclaimer buried in settings. They're the feature.
Last updated 2026-07-11 · Reviewed by the TradieCue team
“Autonomous” is the wrong goal for quotes
The current AI pitch is agents that act for you: reply to your customers, fire off documents, close the loop while you sleep. For a newsletter, fine. For a document that commits you to scope and price with a real customer, one invented line item costs more than a year of saved typing. An AI that's right 95% of the time and sends everything is a liability; an AI that's right 95% of the time and shows you first is a tool. TradieCue is built as the second thing, on purpose.
Four rules Timmy can't break
| The rule | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Nothing auto-sends | Nothing is sent automatically. Every quote, variation and follow-up is a draft the user reviews, edits and shares themselves. Timmy has no send button of its own. |
| Prices only come from you | Prices come from the user and stay editable. Timmy structures the work and wording; it does not invent amounts. It will do the GST arithmetic on your number; it won't produce a number. |
| Ask, don't invent | When an important detail is missing (a price, a customer, a scope item), Timmy asks rather than making it up. A blank in the draft beats a plausible guess in your customer's inbox. |
| Every draft is an editable preview | You see the whole document, change any line, or bin it. The customer only ever sees the version you approved. |
What “ask, don't invent” looks like
“Quote for Priya — pull out the old electric hot water system and supply and install a new heat pump unit, same spot on the slab.”
Quote — Hot water system replacement (Priya)
“What do you want to charge for this one? You didn't mention an amount, so I've left the price open rather than guessing.”
Sample note for illustration. Your draft stays fully editable, and it isn't sent to anyone until you share it.
That dash is the point. A generic chatbot asked for a quote will cheerfully estimate the hot water system at whatever sounds right, format it beautifully, and hand you a document that's wrong where wrong is most expensive. Timmy holds the scope and waits for your number.
Honest about what the AI is
Timmy uses hosted AI and voice transcription. The app discloses this, and the user chooses what to enter. That's stated up front, not discovered in a policy. Drafts are drafts: generated documents are drafts to review — not legal, accounting or tax advice. And the review step isn't a legal fig leaf — it's ten seconds on a document you already know, because the scope came from your mouth and the price came from your head. The details on data handling live on the security page.
Review-first, not slow
None of this puts the typing back on you. You still just talk — a rough note becomes a quote draft, a “while you're here” becomes a variation, an overdue invoice becomes a follow-up message. The AI does the drafting, structuring and English; you do the ten-second read and the send. Speed where speed is safe, a human where it's your money and your name. That's the honest version of an AI agent for tradies.
Common questions
Can I make Timmy send documents automatically?
No, and that's deliberate. Every quote, variation and follow-up is a draft until you review and share it yourself. There's no auto-send setting to switch on.
Will the AI ever suggest a price?
No. Prices come from you and stay editable. If you don't give an amount, the draft holds the scope with the price left open and Timmy asks you for it.
What happens if the draft gets something wrong?
You catch it in the preview — that's what the preview is for. Every line is editable before anything is shared, and drafts aren't legal, accounting or tax advice; you stay responsible for what you send.
Where does my voice note go when Timmy processes it?
Timmy uses hosted AI and voice transcription services to turn notes into drafts, and the app discloses this. Some providers may process data outside Australia. Details and deletion options are on the security page.
How is this different from just using ChatGPT?
A general chatbot will invent plausible prices and details, and it doesn't know your jobs. Timmy is job-aware, refuses to make up amounts, and every output is a draft on the right job. Full comparison: TradieCue vs ChatGPT.
Try it on your next job
TradieCue is free to download on the App Store. Say a rough note about a real job and review the draft Timmy produces — nothing is sent until you share it yourself.
Free to download and try. TradieCue Pro is a subscription through Apple: A$24.99/month or A$239.99/year with a 30-day free trial. Apple confirms before any charge.