Autera vs TechMan

The TechMan alternative
with real apps in your pocket.

TechMan is the UK’s most established garage management system, web-based and trusted by thousands of workshops. Autera is the modern alternative: native iPhone, iPad and Android apps alongside the web portal, public pricing, and a garage running its first job within half an hour.

Autera is best for garages that want a modern mobile-first system with a free tier and no per-user pricing.

TechMan is best for garages that want deep parts-factor and technical-data integrations, with migration and one-to-one training handled for them as part of onboarding, whether coming off paper or running several sites.

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FEATURE COMPARISON

Side-by-side comparison

8 clear winsAutera leads on 8 features TechMan doesn’t match
FeatureAuteraTechMan
Free planWINAutera Solo is free forever; TechMan does not advertise a free plan or trial.
Public, transparent pricing onlineWINTechMan lists its plan names without prices and asks you to book a call. Autera publishes every plan and price.
Pricing modelAutera admins, front-of-house and the owner are free; only technicians count. TechMan says it does not charge per user either, apart from its Starter Flexi plan.Per workshop + per technicianPer workshop
Starting priceWINTechMan lists plan names without prices and asks you to book a call. Autera publishes every price.£29 / monthNot published
No long-term contractAutera is rolling monthly on every plan, cancelled from billing settings. TechMan offers a 30-day rolling Flexi plan with an onboarding and implementation fee, alongside a minimum-term Partner plan.Rolling option available
Native iPhone appWINTechMan is web-based; its site mentions no native mobile apps. Autera ships real iOS and Android apps.
Native Android appWIN
Works from a phone in the workshopWINDesigned for itBrowser only
Setup time to first jobWINUnder 30 minutes, self-serveDemo, migration and training led
Mobile camera direct photo upload to jobStarter+Photos and videos from the device, Advanced plan and up
Live UK reg lookupDVLA, built in
Electronic vehicle health checksBoth products treat VHC as a core workflow and both gate it: Autera from Workshop, TechMan from Advanced. TechMan’s EVHC (TechView) is mature and includes customer-facing video; its pricing page lists digital check sheets, tablet access and images/videos only from Advanced, not on its Starter or Lite plans.Workshop+Advanced plan+
Quote → invoice → payment in one tool
Online customer paymentsTechMan advertises card-terminal integration for taking payment in the shop, plus a Payment Assist finance connection so customers can spread the cost. Its Customer Portal covers viewing a job and authorising an estimate, with no pay step. Autera takes card payment online through Stripe.Stripe built-inIn-shop card terminals + Payment Assist
MOT reminder workflowWorkshop+
ADAS calibration certificates (PAS 1880)WINWorkshop+Not advertised
Customer quote-acceptance & pay-by-link portalAuthorisations supported
CSV import for customers + vehiclesTechMan offers supported data migration as part of onboarding; Autera lets you do it yourself in minutes or hand it to us.Self-serve, or we do it freeAssisted migration
Parts supplier & technical data integrationsThis is TechMan’s strongest card and we say so: deep AutoData / Haynes Pro / factor integrations. On the Autera roadmap; manual entry until then.RoadmapAutoData, Haynes Pro, parts suppliers
Xero syncTechMan’s invoicing page says invoices push directly to Xero, QuickBooks and Sage; its accounting page frames Xero as an export beside a direct QuickBooks integration. Autera syncs Xero and QuickBooks and produces Sage 50 import packs.Starter+
QuickBooks syncStarter+
Best fitIndependents who live on their phones, single sites through multi-site groupsGarages that want factor integrations and assisted onboarding, from first system to multi-site

Comparison reviewed August 2026. Pricing and feature sets change frequently, check techmangms.com for the latest from TechMan.

WHY AUTERA

Why UK garages choose Autera

Real apps, not a browser tab

TechMan is web-based. Autera ships native iPhone, iPad and Android apps built for a technician standing at the ramp with oily hands: photos straight onto the job, statuses updated in two taps, and the owner invoicing from the sofa at ten at night. The web portal is there for the office.

Pricing you can see before you talk to anyone

TechMan is demo-and-quote led: its pricing page names four plans and shows no prices. Autera publishes everything: Solo free, Starter £29, Workshop £79 covering 6 technicians, and only technicians count — admins and front-of-house are free.

Live in 30 minutes

No demo call required, no onboarding project. Sign up, type a registration, and DVLA fills in the vehicle. Most garages run their first real job through Autera the same half hour.

A genuine free plan

Autera Solo is free forever, no card. Run real jobs through it before deciding anything. TechMan advertises no free plan or trial.

ADAS certificates built in

PAS 1880-compliant ADAS calibration certificates are part of the £79 Workshop plan, with technician IMI numbers on each cert. TechMan does not advertise ADAS certification.

No lock-in, ever

Export your customers, vehicles, jobs and invoices any time. No contract minimum stated, cancel from billing in under a minute, and your data stays exportable for 60 days after.

QUESTIONS

Common questions

Yes. Export your customers and vehicles from TechMan as CSV and either import them yourself with Autera’s built-in importer, which auto-maps common column names, or send the file to [email protected] and we will load it for you, free. Most garages start new jobs in Autera from day one and keep TechMan available for historical lookups during the first month.

TechMan does not publish pricing. Its pricing page lists four plans by name and asks you to book a call, so we cannot tell you what it would cost you and neither can their website. Autera publishes everything: Solo £0, Starter £29/month, Workshop £79/month covering up to 6 technicians, Multi-Bay £149/month. Only technicians count as seats — office staff are free.

Not a native one. TechMan is web-based and advertises no App Store or Play Store app, though its own site does sell mobile working: its health-check sheets are sold as working on Android, iOS and Microsoft devices, its paperless job cards are completed on any tablet or mobile device, and Tablet Access for Techs sits on its Advanced plan. Autera ships native iPhone, iPad and Android apps alongside the web portal, and they are not cut-down companions: jobs, photos, quotes, invoicing and payments all work from the phone.

Honestly: parts and technical-data integrations. TechMan integrates AutoData, Haynes Pro and UK parts factors deeply, and it has a fifteen-year installed base. If live factor pricing inside the job card is your one non-negotiable, TechMan earns that column today — supplier integrations are on Autera’s roadmap, with manual entry until then.

Yes. Solo is free forever with no card, and paid plans carry a 14-day no-card trial. Run Autera alongside TechMan for a fortnight and let the two compete on your actual workload.

Autera is newer than TechMan and says so plainly. What you get for that: native apps, public pricing, modern architecture and same-day support from the people who build it. Your data is exportable at any time, UK and EU hosted, and the company is UK-registered (FrameLogic Limited) and ICO-registered — so trying it risks half an hour, not your records.

Comparing other UK garage software too?

vs ServiceM8vs Garage Hivevs Garage Assistantvs MAM Autoworkvs LaunchControl

Or explore Autera by feature:

Garage management softwareMOT remindersInvoicingVehicle health checks
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