Vento vs BigChange
BigChange is a job management, scheduling and mobile-workforce platform. BigChange is strong on scheduling, vehicle tracking and managing a mobile field workforce. Vento focuses on the technical front end of the air-con job — heat-load, system design and proposals — rather than fleet and workforce logistics.
The comparison below is at a category level: both handle the day-to-day admin of running a trade business, but only Vento is built around air-conditioning design and engineering. BigChange's exact features vary by plan and change over time — confirm current details on BigChange's website.
| Capability | Vento | BigChange |
|---|---|---|
| Air-conditioning design & engineering | ||
| Built specifically for air conditioning | The entire workflow | No |
| Room-by-room heat-load (Manual J) | Built in, instant | No |
| Split & multi-split system design | Scaled, construction-issue drawings | No |
| Unit capacity matching | From a SEER/SCOP catalogue | No |
| Condenser placement & pipe routing | On the drawing | No |
| F-Gas register, CO₂e & leak-check scheduling | Built in | Varies |
| Running-cost estimates on proposals (SEER/SCOP) | Automatic | No |
| Running your business | ||
| Jobs, scheduling & CRM | Yes | Yes |
| Quotes & invoicing | Yes | Yes |
| Branded proposals with e-signature | Good/Better/Best options | Varies |
| Online payments & deposits | Card, Klarna, DD, transfer | Yes |
| Service & maintenance plans | Recurring, with certificates | Yes |
| Mobile app for on-site work | Full workflow on a phone | Yes |
| Running the operation | ||
| Dispatch board | Drag-and-drop, per engineer | Yes |
| Route planning | From Professional | Varies |
| Van & store stock | Ledger-backed levels | Varies |
| Purchase orders & invoice matching | Yes | Varies |
| Subcontractor job access | Per-job link, no account | Varies |
| Lone-worker check-ins | Office alerted if missed | Varies |
| Customer portal | Emailed link, no password | Varies |
| Schedule of Rates pricing | Import NHF, PSA or your own | Varies |
| Batch billing for maintenance contracts | Draft, review, commit | Varies |
"Varies" means the capability exists in some form or depends on plan/integration. General field-service platforms cover many trades; air-con-specific engineering like room-by-room heat-load and refrigerant system design is not something they set out to do. We don't speak for BigChange's product — verify current capabilities directly.
Built for moving a workforce around
BigChange is a job management, scheduling and mobile-workforce platform, and its centre of gravity is logistics: where the vehicles are, who is nearest, what the engineer did on site, and how that flows back to the office. For a business running a sizeable fleet across a wide area, that is a genuinely hard problem and BigChange is built to solve it.
It is part of the Simpro Group, so you are looking at an established commercial platform rather than a small-team app.
A dispatch problem and a design problem are not the same problem
If your bottleneck is co-ordinating fifteen engineers across three counties, that is a scheduling problem and you should weigh BigChange seriously.
If your bottleneck is that every quote needs someone to work out the heat load, pick the kit and draw the system before it can be priced, that is a different problem and scheduling software does not touch it. Air-conditioning sizing and system design are not what BigChange advertises — confirm it with them.
Vento does the second and enough of the first: a dispatch board, route planning from the Professional plan, van and store stock, and purchase orders. Not a fleet telematics platform, and not pretending to be. See everything Vento includes.
Questions worth asking before signing anything
On a platform of this type, the contract matters as much as the product. Ask what the minimum term is, what happens if you want to leave before it ends, and get both in writing rather than on a call.
Ask what it costs to get your own data out, in what format, and how long it takes. Ask what the implementation actually involves — who does the work, over how many weeks, and what it costs on top of the licence.
None of that is an accusation about any supplier. They are the questions you would ask of a lease, and software on a multi-year term is a lease.
Vento’s pricing is published and flat: plans start at £49 a month, with the Professional plan at £149 a month including 3 seats and extra seats at £25. Every plan has a 14-day free trial and there is no multi-year term to sign. See the full pricing for what each plan includes.
Frequently asked questions
Does BigChange do air-conditioning heat-load calculations?
Room-by-room heat load and refrigerant system design are not part of what BigChange advertises — it is a job management, scheduling and mobile-workforce platform. Confirm the current position with them directly.
Is Vento a fleet management system?
No, and it does not claim to be. It has a dispatch board, route planning from the Professional plan, stock and purchase orders. If you need live vehicle telematics across a large fleet, that is a different category of product.
What is Vento's contract length?
There is no multi-year term. Plans are monthly or annual, every plan has a 14-day free trial, and annual billing is a discount rather than a lock-in. Pricing starts at £49 a month — [see the full pricing](/pricing).
Where Vento wins for air-con installers
- The engineering is built in — Room-by-room heat load, capacity matching and scaled system drawings are part of the workflow — not a separate CAD seat, spreadsheet or add-on a general tool can't provide.
- Purpose-built, not adapted — Vento only does air conditioning, so surveying, sizing, drawings and F-Gas fit how your jobs actually run — where BigChange is built to serve many trades at once.
- Win the job on the visit — Survey, design, proposal, e-sign and deposit happen in one visit, so you leave with a signed job and money in the bank.
If you run several trades, a broad platform like BigChange may suit you. If air conditioning is your business, Vento is built for exactly that.
See why installers switch to Vento
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