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Free garage management software, with the catch written down.

Jobs, invoices, quotes, DVLA lookups and the full mobile app, free forever for one mechanic. The limit is 20 jobs a month, and we say so here rather than after you have signed up.

Free plan to start. UK-built and UK-hosted. ICO registered.

Almost nobody in UK garage software offers a free plan, and most will not publish a price at all. That leaves a small garage with no way to try anything without booking a demo and waiting for a quote. Autera Solo is free forever, needs no card, and is not a trial with a clock on it. It is capped at 20 jobs a month, which is a real limit and the first thing you should know, because a free plan that hides its ceiling is just a trial with better marketing.

WHAT YOU GET

Included on the free plan

Not a demo, not a cut-down version. The working parts of a garage system.

Jobs and a workshop diary

Book work in, assign it, track it from booked to paid. The calendar and analytics are included, not held back.

Invoices and quotes

Branded invoices and quotes with your VAT rate, sent to the customer and marked paid when the money lands.

Customers and vehicle history

Every car you have touched, with its history, so the next visit starts from what you already know.

DVLA and MOT lookups

Type the registration and the make, model, colour, fuel and MOT history fill themselves in, from the official DVLA and DVSA data rather than a third-party copy.

The full mobile app

iOS and Android, the same app paying customers use. Photograph a job, record mileage in and out, take payment at the car.

Your data, exportable

It is your customer list. Export it whenever you want, including if you leave.

Where the ceiling is

The same numbers the software enforces, not a softened version of them.

 Solo (free)StarterWorkshop
Mechanics136
Jobs a month2040Unlimited
Invoices a month20UnlimitedUnlimited
Quotes a month20UnlimitedUnlimited
New customers a month20UnlimitedUnlimited
PriceFree forever£29 / month£79 / month

MOT reminders, vehicle health checks, online booking, the customer job tracker, certificates and your own garage website are on paid plans. The pricing page says which plan each one needs, and what the rest of the market charges sets that against the alternatives.

Who it suits, and who it does not

It suits a sole-trader mechanic, a mobile tyre or diagnostic business, a new garage finding its feet, and anyone currently running on a paper diary and a carbon invoice book who wants to try something without a commitment.

It does not suit a two-bay workshop doing thirty jobs a week, because you would run out in the first fortnight, or anyone who needs MOT reminders and health checks from day one. If that is you, start on a paid plan rather than being stopped mid-month. The 14-day trial runs with the full Workshop feature set whichever plan you pick.

Actually free. The Solo plan has no time limit and no card is required to sign up. It is not a 14-day trial that turns into a bill. The limit is on volume, not on days: 20 jobs, 20 invoices, 20 quotes and 20 new customers a month, and the allowance resets at the start of each month.

You cannot create a twenty-first job until the month resets, and Autera warns you as you approach the limit rather than stopping you without notice. If you are regularly running out, that is the point to move to Starter at £29 a month for 40 jobs, or Workshop at £79 for unlimited.

Yes, the full iOS and Android app, not a cut-down version. That matters most for mobile mechanics and anyone working away from a desk, because the app is where you photograph a job, record mileage and mark an invoice paid while you are still standing at the car.

No. Your customers, vehicles, jobs and invoices are yours, and you can export them. We will not delete a free account for being free, and billing history outlives a subscription so your paper trail stays intact either way.

The free plan is one mechanic. MOT reminders, digital vehicle health checks, online booking, the customer job tracker, certificates and your own garage website are on paid plans. Those are real features being withheld, not artificial locks, and the pricing page lists exactly which plan each one needs.

Most UK garage software will not publish a price, let alone offer a free tier, so a small garage has no way to try one without a demo call and a quote. Solo exists so you can put a real week of work through it and decide. If you outgrow it, upgrading is the natural next step. If you never do, it stays free.

Put a real week through it

No card, no clock. If it does not fit the way you work, you have lost an afternoon rather than a year of licence fees.

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