The short version: if you're unhappy where the WorkflowMax retirement landed you, you have three options, not two: pick another subscription, stay put and patch the gaps, or own the tool outright. The third one rarely comes up. I'll go through all three, including the one I sell, with the trade-offs spelled out.
If the WorkflowMax replacement is going to be built rather than bought, the decision tree for replacing the system that runs your business sets out SharePoint list versus Dataverse with the NZ licence prices, and Tradify to Xero: what syncs is the honest read on the most common bought alternative.
How we got here
Xero retired the original WorkflowMax in June 2024, and more than 10,000 businesses, a lot of them in NZ, had to move. Some went to WorkflowMax by BlueRock, which took over the brand. Others jumped to NextMinute, Ascora, Projectworks, WorkGuru, or one of a dozen other job management tools.
Two years on, the dust hasn't settled. Reviews and industry write-ups describe firms where everyday processes take longer than they did on the old product, where support requests sit unresolved for weeks, and where exporting your own data out again is harder than it should be. Not every firm has had that experience. Plenty are doing fine. But if you're reading this, you're probably not one of them.
Your data is the real lock-in
Whatever you choose next, your ten years of job history, time entries, quotes and client records are sitting inside a system you may not control. Clean exports are rare. Most migrations lose something: custom fields, document attachments, the link between a quote and the five variations that followed it.
Before you commit to anything, get a full export of your data and open it. If the export is incomplete, that's solvable. Data extraction is well-trodden work: APIs where they exist, structured scraping where they don't, document extraction for the PDFs. But do it while you still have access, not after you've cancelled.
Your three real options
1. Another subscription. The default path, and for many firms the right one. If you're a trades business that fits the mould, NextMinute was built for NZ tradies and onboarding is free. Ascora and WorkGuru both run structured migrations. Professional services firms tend to look at Projectworks. These are good products. If one of them fits how you work, take it and move on.
2. Stay put and patch. If the pain is one specific workflow rather than the whole product, it can be cheaper to keep the subscription and automate around the rough edges. A small connector that moves data where the product won't, or a report it can't produce. Boring and low risk.
3. Own the tool. If you've now been burned once by a product being retired, and the off-the-shelf options keep almost-fitting, there's a third path: a job tracker built around how your business runs, which no vendor can retire, reprice or sell out from under you.
Not sure which of the three fits your business?
Free 30-minute call. I'll ask about your workflow and tell you which of the three fits, even if it's "just buy NextMinute".
What a custom job tracker costs
A custom build is a bigger upfront cost than a subscription. Call it a 4–8 week engagement. What you get back: no per-user monthly fee climbing every year, no feature roadmap controlled by someone else's acquisition strategy, and an exact fit to your workflow instead of a 70% fit you bend around.
I've done this for my own business. I built an overnight pipeline that finds and scores Canterbury leads while I sleep, one run turns 1,579 businesses into 355 worth calling. Yours would be scoped to your own job tracker rather than mine, but the economics are the same shape: the build pays for itself against subscription fees, usually somewhere in year two or three, and after that it's yours.
Who should not build custom
This matters more than the pitch:
- If an off-the-shelf product fits 90% of how you work, buy it. Custom is for when everything almost-fits.
- If your processes change every few months, wait until they stabilise. Custom tools fit a known shape.
- If nobody in the business will own it, don't. You need one person who cares that it keeps running, even if they never touch code.
Questions from firms leaving WorkflowMax
What happened to WorkflowMax?
Xero retired the original WorkflowMax in June 2024. Over 10,000 businesses, many in NZ, had to move to a new tool. Some went to WorkflowMax by BlueRock, which took over the brand; others moved to NextMinute, Ascora, Projectworks, WorkGuru or another job management product.
What are my options after WorkflowMax?
Three, not two: move to another subscription such as NextMinute, Ascora, WorkGuru or Projectworks; keep your current tool and automate around its gaps; or build a job tracker of your own that nobody can retire, reprice or acquire out from under you.
How much does a custom job tracker cost compared to a subscription?
A custom build costs more upfront than a subscription, typically a 4 to 8 week engagement, but carries no per-user fee climbing every year. For many businesses it pays for itself against subscription costs somewhere in year two or three.
What should I do with my WorkflowMax data before switching?
Get a full export of your job history, quotes and client records and actually open it before you cancel anything. Clean exports are the exception, not the rule, and most migrations lose something, like custom fields or document attachments.
What I'd do in your position
Export your data this week, whatever else you decide. Then run the 90% test against two or three of the alternatives above. If one passes, migrate and be done with it. If none of them do, and the monthly invoices plus workaround hours are adding up, that's the point where a custom build stops being the expensive option.
If you want a second opinion on which camp you're in, book a free call and I'll give you my take. If you'd rather have it on paper, a paid Workflow Review gets you a written plan, and if the answer is "just buy NextMinute", that's what the plan will say.