BORIS vs BigChange

At a Glance

Factor	BORIS	BigChange
Founded	2006	2015
Headquarters	UK (independent)	UK (SimPRO Group, acquired Oct 2024)
Pricing Start	£29.99/user/month (Lite)	Quote required
Free Tier	Yes (Freemium)	No
Mobile App	iOS, Android (offline capable)	iOS, Android
Key Strength	Compliance + Live Drawing	Vehicle tracking hardware + phone support
Setup Fee	£0	£0
Cloud Storage	£0 included	Varies

Feature Comparison

Feature	BORIS	BigChange
Live Drawing (floor plan markup)	Yes—colour-coded pins, multi-service, unique	No
PAS 79 Fire Risk Assessment	Yes—PAS 79-1 and 79-2 compliant	General FRA (not PAS 79-specific)
Pricing Engine	Yes—matrix-based, pro rata/chunked costing	No
NFC/QR Asset Tagging	Yes—with PAT reminders, handover tracking	Limited
Freemium Tier	Yes—free mobile capture, 100 admin views/month	No
Bespoke Templates	3 included free in Professional plan	Extra cost
Client Portal	Yes—secure login, released reports, asset registers	Yes
Fleet Management	Yes—MOT, service, insurance reminders automated	Yes—hardware-based GPS tracking
Job Scheduling	Yes—Resource Planner with skill/certification matching	Yes
Mobile App	Yes—iOS, Android, full offline capability	Yes—iOS, Android
CRM	Yes—visual board (Professional); full lead-to-job (Enterprise)	Yes
GPS Tracking	Yes—every form submission GPS-tagged	Yes—dedicated hardware trackers
PPM (Planned Maintenance)	Yes—automated scheduling, job generation	Varies by package
Stock Control	Yes—live stock list, app check in/out	Varies by package
Offline Mode	Yes—full offline operation, sync on reconnect	Limited

Where BORIS Wins

Compliance Is the Foundation, Not an Add-On

BORIS was built for compliance-first teams in 2006. The entire platform is architected around evidence capture, audit trails, and regulatory requirements. Every field form is GPS-tagged, timestamp-locked, and signature-verified. Every asset movement is logged. Every risk assessment generates a trackable action list.

BigChange excels at job scheduling. BORIS excels at proving you did the job correctly.

In regulated industries, that difference matters. A fire safety engineer doesn’t just need to complete inspections—they need PAS 79-1:2021 and PAS 79-2:2021 compliance baked in. An asbestos surveyor needs chain-of-custody documentation. A facilities manager needs statutory maintenance proof. BORIS handles all of this natively. BigChange offers general fire risk assessment workflows, while BORIS provides PAS 79-specific FRA with dedicated action tracking, deficiency identification, and compliance dashboards.

Live Drawing: Your Biggest Differentiator

Live Drawing is BORIS’s most distinctive feature—and frankly, no competitor has built anything equivalent.

Here’s how it works: upload a site floor plan, job photo, or asset diagram. Your team marks up the drawing in the field using colour-coded pins. Green pins = completed work. Amber pins = in progress. Red pins = awaiting sign-off. Instantly filter the live view by status, team member, or service category. Share the live, updating drawing with clients in real time.

For fire protection, HVAC, utilities, or any site-based service, this is transformative. Clients see exactly where work stands. Inspectors verify coverage. Disputes vanish because the evidence is visual and immediate. BigChange has no equivalent feature. Competitors offer basic photo galleries or notes. BORIS offers spatial intelligence that turns job sites into collaborative, auditable workspaces.

Freemium Model: Prove Before You Pay

BORIS’s freemium tier removes the biggest objection to field service software: “We don’t know if this will work for us.”

Field teams get unlimited free access to mobile capture: photos, GPS data, signatures, voice notes, form completion. No limits. No clock ticking. The paywall appears only when teams need to generate client reports, access admin dashboards, or export data. Most small teams never hit the ceiling.

BigChange requires a quote and commitment before you’ve kicked the tyres. BORIS says: prove it yourself, at no cost, and upgrade when you’re ready. This model resonates with growing businesses, NHS trusts evaluating new platforms, and facilities teams piloting solutions.

Pricing Transparency and Volume Discounts

BORIS publishes its full pricing structure:

• Freemium: £0/month (unlimited mobile capture)
• Lite: £29.99/user/month (single team, basic reporting)
• Professional: £59.99/user/month, dropping to £49.99 at 10+ users, £29.99 at 51+, £22.49 at 101+, £14.99 at 250+ users
• Enterprise: Bespoke, contact sales

No setup fees. No cloud storage fees. No surprise add-ons. Teams scaling from 5 to 250 users see their per-user cost fall by 75%. BigChange pricing is always “request a quote,” which means no budget planning, no competitive benchmarking, and no easy cost comparison.

15 Modules Included in Professional

When you subscribe to BORIS Professional, you’re not paying à la carte for features. This comes included:

1. Live Drawing
2. Fire Risk Assessment (PAS 79 compliant)
3. Fleet Management
4. Asset Management (with NFC/QR tagging)
5. CRM (visual board, lead tracking)
6. Resource Planner (scheduling with skill matching)
7. PPM (preventative maintenance automation)
8. Pest Control templates
9. Multi-Utilities module
10. Timesheets
11. Health & Safety (accident reporting, near miss, manual handling risk assessments, pregnancy risk assessments)
12. Stock Control
13. Pricing Configuration
14. Client Portal
15. Document Management

BigChange structures pricing so that features are often behind higher-tier plans. BORIS bundles them together.

Where BigChange Wins

BigChange has genuine strengths that BORIS doesn’t match:

Dedicated Vehicle Tracking Hardware

BigChange offers GPS hardware trackers integrated with their platform. If your business runs a fleet of vans and wants hardware-based GPS tracking independent of driver phones, BigChange’s approach is purpose-built for this use case. BORIS captures GPS on every form submission via the mobile app, which works well for proof of attendance but isn’t a dedicated fleet tracking solution.

24/7 UK-Based Phone Support

BigChange operates a dedicated support team with 24/7 phone availability. If your team culture prioritises voice support and you value the ability to call someone at 10 PM when a system issue is blocking work, BigChange delivers that service level. BORIS offers email, in-app support, and training, with standard business-hours responsiveness.

Larger Brand Footprint

BigChange has been running longer, has more name recognition in the field service market, and serves a larger customer base. If you’re evaluating platforms based on “How many others use this?”, BigChange will score higher.

The Elephant in the Room: The SimPRO Acquisition

In October 2024, BigChange was acquired by SimPRO Group, which is backed by private equity investors. This is material information for any evaluation.

What this means:

• Pricing pressure: PE-backed acquisitions typically follow a consolidation model. Pricing often increases post-acquisition as the acquirer seeks to meet return targets.
• Product roadmap risk: SimPRO has its own product direction, customer base, and priorities. BigChange customers may see feature development slow, product requirements change, or platform migration eventually happen as SimPRO consolidates the technology.
• Support continuity: Dedicated support teams are often first to face redundancy in PE acquisitions. 24/7 support may be gradually wound down.
• Long-term independence: BigChange is no longer an independent vendor. Your roadmap is now subject to SimPRO’s strategic decisions, not BigChange’s product vision.

BORIS is independently operated. No PE backing. No acquisition risk. Direct access to the product team. Your roadmap isn’t subject to private equity return thresholds or acquisition synergies. You’re not betting on someone else’s consolidation strategy.

Bottom Line on Pricing

BORIS is radically transparent. BigChange requires sales conversations. If you’re building a 50-person team, BORIS will cost significantly less at scale (£29.99/user/month vs. a quote you’ll need to negotiate). If you need flexibility and want to pilot, BORIS freemium removes the barrier. If you need predictable budgeting, BORIS’s published pricing wins.

Who Should Choose BORIS?

• You operate in regulated industries: Fire safety, HVAC, utilities, asbestos, pest control, facilities management, healthcare, or construction. Compliance is non-negotiable.
• You need PAS 79 compliance: Fire risk assessments, statutory maintenance tracking, or audit-trail evidence gathering.
• You want to try before you buy: Freemium tier lets teams prove ROI with zero investment.
• You need floor plan markup and visual evidence: Live Drawing is unique to BORIS and invaluable for site-based services.
• You’re scaling and need cost predictability: Volume discounts built in. Growing from 10 to 250 users? Your per-user cost drops by 75%.
• You want independent support: Direct access to the product team, no PE ownership, no acquisition risk.
• You need bespoke templates included: 3 free templates in Professional. BigChange charges extra.

Who Should Choose BigChange?

• You need dedicated vehicle tracking hardware: If hardware-based fleet GPS is essential, BigChange’s trackers are purpose-built for this.
• You prioritise 24/7 phone support: Call centre availability is a business requirement for your team.
• Your compliance needs are minimal: You’re job-scheduling focused, not audit-trail focused.
• You operate in less regulated sectors: General field service, cleaning, maintenance that doesn’t require statutory compliance proof.

Real Results with BORIS

Bradford Royal Infirmary NHS Trust—a 1,000-bed acute teaching hospital—implemented BORIS’s Fire Risk Assessment module to meet statutory fire safety obligations.

The challenge: Manual fire risk assessments took 5 days per floor, generated 200+ pages of printouts, and left no audit trail for inspectors.

The solution: PAS 79-1:2021 compliant FRA workflows in BORIS, with automatic action tracking and client portal visibility.

The result: Fire risk assessments completed in 1 day per floor. Full audit trail and evidence capture. Inspectors verify compliance in minutes, not days. Statutory maintenance tracked automatically. Accident and incident reporting built in.

This is typical of BORIS customer outcomes: not just faster operations, but proof of compliance that auditors and regulators actually value.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is BORIS better than BigChange?

Not always. BORIS is better if you need compliance depth, price transparency, and freemium evaluation. BigChange is better if you need dedicated vehicle tracking hardware and 24/7 phone support. The right choice depends on your industry, team size, and regulatory requirements.

Can I switch from BigChange to BORIS?

Yes. BORIS’s implementation team supports data migration from most field service platforms. Depending on your data structure and customisations, migration typically takes 2–4 weeks for Professional setups. The BORIS team will guide you through the process and offer migration support.

Does BORIS have vehicle tracking like BigChange?

BORIS captures GPS location on every form submission via the mobile app. This proves where work was completed and when. BigChange offers dedicated GPS hardware trackers for continuous fleet tracking. BORIS’s GPS is sufficient for attendance proof; BigChange’s hardware is better for real-time fleet dispatch and routing.

Is there a free version of BORIS?

Yes—BORIS Freemium is free forever. Field teams get unlimited mobile capture (photos, signatures, GPS, voice notes) and 100 admin report views per month. No credit card required, no time limit. Upgrade to Lite or Professional when you need reporting, exports, or advanced features.

How long does BORIS take to set up?

• Lite: Instant. Login and start capturing. Basic report templates pre-configured.
• Professional: 14 days. Includes custom templates, workflow design, integrations configuration, and team onboarding. A dedicated implementation consultant guides the setup.

Ready to Evaluate BORIS?

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Your field service team deserves a platform built for the work you actually do. BORIS was designed by people who understand compliance, field operations, and the reality of regulated industries. Start today, with zero risk.