Hnry vs Smoko: the real 5-year cost

Hnry's pricing is 1% of every payment, capped at $1,500/year. They auto-deduct PAYE, ACC, KiwiSaver from each invoice. It's a great service if you hate everything tax-related.

But for a tradie who's comfortable handling their own GST, here's the maths.

Year 1

A sparky doing $80,000 of invoiced work pays Hnry $800 (1%). Smoko: $249, once.

After year 1, Hnry's already $551 ahead of Smoko. So far, so close.

Year 5

Year 5 cumulative cost:

• Hnry: $4,000 ($800 × 5)
• Smoko: $249

That's a $3,751 difference. Roughly the cost of a decent set of tools, a weekend in Queenstown, or 8 weeks of mortgage payments.

When Hnry is worth it

If GST and tax genuinely stress you out, Hnry's worth the fee — they handle everything. Pay-as-you-go simplicity.

If you're confident with GST (and Smoko's designed to make that confidence cheap), the fee is a tax on hating paperwork.

The catch with subscriptions

Even Solo at $204/year costs $1,020 over 5 years. The maths for any tool that depends on you continually paying always works out worse than a one-off price.

That's why Smoko's $249 lifetime. Pay once, own the tool.