Tippa vs Consigns
In short: both cover receivers, carriers and brokers in all four UK nations, make hazardous consignment notes on each nation’s form, keep working with no signal, and are on Defra’s list of software. Consigns has phone apps, driver screens in other languages and a Xero link, and is paid for by plan or by the load. Tippa’s core tools, reporting to Defra’s Digital Waste Tracking included, are free with no limit on loads, and it builds waste returns for all four regulators. The table sets out what each says it does.
Tippa and Consigns, side by side
As each product’s own website described it on , and Defra’s list of software on GOV.UK the same day. “Not stated on its website” means we couldn’t find it there, not that Consigns doesn’t do it. Prices are as each supplier gives them. Check Consigns’s website before you buy.
| Tippa (this site) | Consigns | |
|---|---|---|
| Made for | Receiving sites, carriers, skip hire, brokers and dealers, in all four UK nations | Receivers, carriers and brokers in all four nations |
| UK nations | England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with each regulator's own forms and returns | England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with each nation's own note |
| Price | Core tools free; add-ons £5 to £25 a month each, extra sites £25 (each with an office user), extra vehicles and office users £5 (plus VAT) | From £49 a month by type of work and loads, or £1.25 a load pay as you go (plus VAT) |
| Free option | Yes: 1 office user (and another with each extra site), 1 site, 1 vehicle, unlimited drivers and loads, Defra reporting included; every add-on free for its first month, no card needed | None published; a 7-day free trial |
| Apps | Web, on any phone, tablet or computer; not yet in the App Store or Google Play | iPhone app, Android app downloaded from Consigns, web |
| Reporting waste received to Defra | Every load received, on every plan including the free one; resent every hour if Defra's service is down | Yes, on every plan; failed sends retried up to a limit |
| Carriers’ and brokers’ reporting to Defra | Not yet: Defra plans it for carriers and brokers from October 2027 | Not stated on its website |
| Hazardous waste consignment notes | Free, on the EA's, NRW's, SEPA's or NIEA's own form, filled in from the record, with each waste's hazardous properties and POPs | Yes, on every plan: England and Wales, Scotland with SEPA's code, and Northern Ireland as a PDF |
| Waste returns | EA, NRW, SEPA and NIEA waste returns, and EA and NRW hazardous waste consignee returns (add-ons) | Fills in the EA's tonnage return spreadsheet (beta) and drafts hazardous consignee returns; NRW, SEPA and NIEA not stated |
| Working with no signal | Yes: loads, weighing, collections and drop-offs are recorded with no signal and sent when it's back | Yes, in the driver app: sign and record quantities, sent later; sending to Defra needs a connection |
| Weighbridge | A weighbridge mode, with weights typed in and tares remembered; doesn't read an indicator or print tickets yet | Weights entered at the gate; a weighbridge or booking system can send loads by API |
| Invoicing and accounts software | Invoicing (add-on); invoices and payments export as CSV, with no direct link to Xero, Sage or QuickBooks yet | Draft invoices made in Xero at booking (paid plans); CSV export of completed jobs |
| On Defra’s GOV.UK list of software | Yes, listed as "TTPPA | TIPPA"; no test scenarios marked exempt | Yes; no test scenarios marked exempt |
| Defra’s test scenarios | All 14 run, none exempted; the results for each are published on this site | Says it passed Defra's tests; results for each not published |
Where Consigns is stronger
- An iPhone app, and an Android app you download from Consigns. Tippa runs in the web browser and isn’t in the app stores yet.
- Driver help screens in Polish, Romanian and Bulgarian, with the steps read aloud. Tippa’s screens are in English only.
- Draft invoices made in Xero as a collection is booked. Tippa exports CSV.
- An API, so a weighbridge, booking or CRM system can send it loads.
- You can pay by the load, with no monthly fee, if you only move a few.
- A booking form for your own website, with requests arriving as draft jobs.
Where Tippa is stronger
- The core tools are free with no limit on loads, Defra reporting included. Consigns has a free trial, not a free plan.
- Waste returns for NRW, SEPA and NIEA as well as the Environment Agency, built from your records (add-on).
- A weighbridge mode for whoever works the weighbridge, which remembers each vehicle’s tare.
- Unlimited drivers free, with daily vehicle checks, rounds and skip hire.
- The results of each of Defra’s test scenarios are published, scenario by scenario, on Defra test results.
Which suits you
Choose Consigns if…
- your drivers would rather read and hear the steps in Polish, Romanian or Bulgarian
- you want phone apps, or invoices drafted straight into Xero
- you move few loads and would rather pay for each one
- you want to keep your booking or weighbridge system and send its loads in by API
Choose Tippa if…
- you want Defra reporting and the core tools free, with no trial ending
- you need waste returns for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland
- you run skips or rounds, or have many drivers
Moving from Consigns
Consigns’ website describes a CSV export of completed jobs, so start there, with your customers as a spreadsheet if you can. Tippa’s Import Records then brings your customers, sites, vehicles and past loads across, free: download Tippa’s template, as Excel or CSV, and paste your old records in. Every row is checked, carrier registrations and permits included, before anything is saved; rows with a problem come back as a file to fix, and you can undo an import for 7 days. You choose whether past loads are sent to Defra, so loads Consigns has already reported aren’t sent twice.
The core tools are free, with no limit on loads, so you can run both side by side for as long as you like before you decide. Where your records are kept and who can see them is on Security and your data. If you’d like to check something first, ask us before you sign up: a person reads every message.
How we compared them
We read Consigns’s own website on , and nothing written about it elsewhere, and checked Defra’s list of software providers on GOV.UK the same day. Tippa’s column describes Tippa as it is today. That makes this a comparison on paper: we haven’t used Consigns, or measured how easy either is to use, how reliable it is or how good its support is, and a feature a website doesn’t mention may still exist.
We make Tippa, and we’ve tried to be fair, saying first where Consigns is stronger. Tippa isn’t affiliated with Consigns; Consigns is a trade mark of its owner. If anything here is wrong or out of date, email support@tip-pa.co.uk and we’ll check it and put it right.
Common questions
Is Tippa a Consigns alternative?
Yes: both cover receivers, carriers and brokers in all four UK nations, report received waste to Defra’s Digital Waste Tracking and make hazardous consignment notes on each nation’s form. Tippa’s core tools are free with no limit on loads; Consigns has phone apps and a Xero link.
Can I move my records from Consigns to Tippa?
Consigns’ website describes a CSV export of completed jobs, so start there, with your customers as a spreadsheet if you can. Then bring them into Tippa with Import Records, free. You choose whether past loads are sent to Defra, so loads already reported aren’t sent twice.
Is either approved by Defra?
No software is. Defra doesn’t approve or certify waste tracking software: its list on GOV.UK only confirms that a provider has connected to its service. Tippa and Consigns are both on it.
How did you compare Tippa and Consigns?
We read Consigns’s own website, and Defra’s list on GOV.UK, on the date shown at the top of this page. It’s a comparison on paper: a feature a website doesn’t mention may still exist. Tippa isn’t affiliated with Consigns.
How Tippa helps
Tippa records every load your site receives, reports it to Defra for free, and builds your waste returns from the same records.
This page compares what Tippa does with what Consigns’s own website said on the date shown. It isn’t a review of Consigns, and features and prices change. Check with Consigns before you buy.