Service agreement apps for independent support workers (2026)

By Kim Matthews · runs NDIS support businesses, founder of Sparks Scribe

I run two disability support businesses, which means I have signed a lot of service agreements, and I have read plenty more that support workers sent me. So I am coming at this from a slightly different angle than most app roundups. The agreement itself has never been the hard part. The hard part is a worker who cannot produce the signed copy when a plan manager queries an invoice eight months later, or an agreement that says one rate while the invoices say another. A good app quietly removes both of those problems. A bad one just gives you another blank document to lose.

Two disclosures before we start. First, I hire support workers, so I see these tools from the provider side of the table, not just the sole-trader side. Second, I make one of the apps below. Sparks Scribe is my product, so read my verdict on it knowing that, and check every competitor claim against the vendor's own current pages. Everything I say about the other five was collected from their public websites in July 2026, and where I could not confirm something I have said so rather than filled in the gap.

Do you actually need a service agreement?

Short version: under the NDIS a written service agreement is only strictly mandatory for specialist disability accommodation (SDA). For ordinary supports it is not compulsory. But "not compulsory" and "not worth having" are very different things, and I would never take on a worker or a participant without one.

A service agreement is just a plain-English understanding between you and the participant, or their nominee: the supports you will provide, the hours, the rates, and how either of you can raise a problem or end the arrangement. It is the thing that settles a disagreement before it becomes one. If you are new to this and unsure what applies to your situation, check the current NDIS guidance, then make yourself a habit of keeping a signed copy you can find in ten seconds.

What I would look at before trusting an app with it

Most comparison lists rank apps by how many features they can stack on a page. That rewards bloat and hides the two things that actually catch a solo worker: a headline price that quietly assumes a team, and a feature that sounds automatic but still leaves you doing all the typing. So I judged these six on four plain questions:

• Does it write the agreement, or just store one? There is a real gap between an app that generates the agreement from the client and rate data you already hold, one that hands you a fill-in-the-blanks creator, and one that only files a document you typed up in Word. I say which is which for each.
• What does a single worker really pay? Not the per-seat headline, but the true monthly cost once licence minimums, seat tiers and per-signature fees are counted in.
• How does it get signed, and where does it live afterwards? Signing in the app or through an integration is handy, but so is simply having the signed copy filed somewhere you can pull it up on demand. Where signing costs extra, I flag it.
• Who is the tool really for? Something built for agencies or coordinators pulls its roadmap toward rostering, claims and provider workflows. Something built for one person stays close to the short list of documents a sole trader actually needs.

Everything below was checked against each vendor's public pages in July 2026. Prices and features move, so confirm on the vendor's own site before you decide.

1. Sparks Scribe, the agreement is generated for you

Automatic service agreements on the $20/month Vault plan (incl GST) · 14-day free trial, no card · iOS, Android and web · Data stored in Australia

Disclosure up front, because it matters most here: this is my app. Sparks Scribe was built in Australia by Sparks Support Pty Ltd for independent support workers, not agencies. There is no rostering engine for other people's staff, no payroll, no coordination caseloads. If those are what you need, this is the wrong tool, and ShiftCare or Visualcare further down carry them at agency prices.

What it does with service agreements is generate them rather than hand you a blank page. That feature sits on the Vault plan, $20 a month including GST, one tier above the $15 Essentials plan. I will be straight about the boundary, since it is the question people ask me: service agreements are not on the $15 Essentials plan, which covers AI shift notes and NDIS-coded invoicing. For the automatic agreement you want Vault. The upside of Vault is that the same $20 also brings a Document Vault to file the signed copy, a Receipt Vault, a kilometre log, tax tools and Xero sync, so the agreement, the invoices and the paperwork all sit together. If you also want incident reporting, per-client risk profiles and consent forms with in-app signing, those live on the separate Safeguards plan ($39).

The public record: a 5.0 rating on the App Store, more than 90,000 shifts booked through the platform, data stored in Australia, and a 14-day trial with every feature unlocked and no card, so you can generate an agreement before you spend anything.

My verdict: for a solo worker who wants the agreement produced rather than drafted from scratch, this is the one I would reach for, at a price built for one person ($20 a month incl GST) with no seat minimum and no per-signature charge. The honest caveat is the tier: you need Vault, not the $15 Essentials plan, to get it.

2. Astalty, an agreement feature priced for coordinators

$64/user/month standard seat · $30/user/month support-worker profile · E-signatures $1 each (DocuSign) · 14-day trial

Astalty is a platform for NDIS support coordinators and providers. Its public pages set out what the service agreement feature does: a budget is built from the participant profile using NDIS pricing, the support schedule can be auto-embedded into the agreement, and you can upload your own template with placeholders that pull in participant details. From there it tracks expiry dates with renewal reminders, holds a version history, and lets you share the agreement with participants, stakeholders or plan managers. Signing runs through a DocuSign integration, and the signed document lands back on the participant profile.

The snag for a lone worker is the maths. The standard seat is $64 per user per month and the restricted support-worker profile is $30, and e-signatures are $1 each on top through DocuSign. That is coordinator-tier pricing for a coordinator-tier feature. If your week is shifts, notes, invoices and the occasional new agreement, you are buying a lot of platform to use a corner of it.

My verdict: the service agreement feature is documented in detail on Astalty's public pages, but the product itself is built and priced for coordinators, at $30 to $64 a seat plus $1 a signature. For a solo support worker it is more machine than the job asks for. I have written up the full Sparks Scribe vs Astalty comparison if you want the detail.

3. Bugal, a free creator, but you do the filling in

Free Service Agreement Creator tool · Free plan (2 invoices/month) · Solo $35/month · 30-day trial · Web-based (no native apps listed)

Bugal is a web-based platform for Australian independents, and it publishes a free Service Agreement Creator on its site. On its public pages that creator is a tool you use to produce a customisable agreement, which is a polite way of saying you fill it in yourself rather than have it built from client and rate data you already hold. For a worker with two or three participants that may be all you need, and free is free.

Two things to know before you lean on it. Bugal calls itself web-based and mobile-first, and as of July 2026 I found no App Store or Google Play listing for it, so there is no native app to open in the car between shifts. And the paid Solo plan is $35 a month, which is more than the $20 Vault plan on which Scribe generates agreements automatically. Bugal's pages do not state whether prices include GST.

My verdict: a low-cost way to start, and the free creator is a real thing. But you build the agreement yourself rather than have it generated from your client record, it is web only, and the paid plan costs more than the tool that automates the same job.

4. ShiftCare, agreements inside an agency suite, five-licence floor

From $9/licence/month, minimum 5 licences on every plan · Invoicing needs Professional, $65 to $75/month ex GST for one person, depending on billing · Free trial available

ShiftCare is care management software built for agencies. Where service agreements are concerned, its public pages talk about pulling them into one place alongside care documentation: signed agreements are stored, linked to the shifts you deliver and to billing so a claim lines up with an active agreement, with expiry reminders and document-status dashboards on top. There is also a free downloadable NDIS service agreement template, which is a document rather than software. All of it sits inside an agency documentation suite.

The catch for anyone working alone is the pricing floor. ShiftCare charges per licence with a minimum of five licences on every plan, even when you are the only person on the account, and invoicing requires the Professional plan, which works out at $65 to $75 a month excluding GST for one worker depending on how you are billed. You pay as though you had a team of five for a team of one.

My verdict: the agreement handling is part of an agency documentation suite priced for teams, with five licences minimum on every plan. For a sole trader it is an expensive way to be one person. There is a full Sparks Scribe vs ShiftCare comparison here.

5. Visualcare, agreements inside an enterprise platform

Service agreements captured in the participant profile; roster from the agreement · Provider/enterprise care-management platform · Pricing not published (book a demo)

Visualcare is end-to-end care management software for aged care, community, disability and NDIS providers. On its public pages, the participant profile is where service agreements live, along with approved hours, planned dates and agreed services, and you roster straight off the agreement so shifts line up with a participant's funding from the outset. The company says it serves more than 550 care providers and 120,000 end-users across Australia.

That scale is exactly why it is not a solo tool. Visualcare is built for provider organisations running teams, funding management, payroll and billing, not for one worker managing a handful of clients. It does not publish pricing on its public site; you book a demo. I could not verify a price for one person from its public pages in July 2026.

My verdict: service agreements sit inside a full enterprise rostering-and-finance platform for provider organisations, with pricing only on request. Made for organisation scale, not aimed at a sole trader.

6. EasyAs, invoicing only, no agreement feature I could find

Invoicing only · $19.95/month on their website ($19.99 in-app) · GST treatment not stated · iOS + Android

EasyAs, from EasyAs Provider Invoicing Pty Ltd, sticks to one job: NDIS invoicing, with every NDIS item number pre-loaded and the price set by how many invoices you send rather than per user. Looking across its website and both app-store listings in July 2026, I did not find a service agreement feature. It is built to produce the invoice, not the agreement behind it.

On price, the Small plan is $19.95 a month on the website and $19.99 via in-app purchase, rising with invoice volume and accounting integration; the pages do not state whether prices include GST. If EasyAs is your invoicing tool, you will still need somewhere else to create and keep your service agreements.

My verdict: an invoicing tool, and I could not verify any service agreement feature from its public pages in July 2026. Treat it as a tool for the invoice, not the agreement.

The six side by side

Collected from each vendor's public pages in July 2026. "Real cost for one person" means what a sole trader actually pays, not the headline per-user rate.

All details collected from each vendor's public website in July 2026 and simplified for comparison; prices and plans change, so check the vendor's own pages before deciding. "Not verified" and "not found on public pages" mean I could not confirm the detail from official public pages and chose not to guess.

Frequently asked questions

If you are still working out your whole toolkit, here is my wider roundup of the best apps for independent support workers, and once the agreement is signed, my guide on how to write NDIS shift notes, with examples.

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