Side-by-side comparison
The cap comparison
What happens on the fifty-first car
| Feature | Autera | Workauto |
|---|---|---|
| Free planWIN | Solo, free forever, one mechanic | None; 14-day trial |
| Trial without a cardCredit where due: Workauto asks for no card and no setup fee either. | Free plan, no card, no clock | 14-day trial, no card required |
| Monthly priceA pound apart. This is not the deciding number and we will not pretend it is. | £29 / month | £30 / month |
| Annual priceWINTen pounds a year. Also not the deciding number. | £290 / year (Starter) | £300 / year |
| Vehicle registration lookupsWINThis IS a deciding number. A garage doing eighty jobs a month runs out before month end, and every lookup after that is typed by hand or paid for. | Unlimited, on every plan including free | 50 a month; 100 for an added fee |
| InvoicingWINWorkauto’s site advertises job cards and appraisals but no invoicing. Worth asking them directly, because a garage that cannot invoice from its system will be invoicing somewhere else. | VAT invoices, branded PDF, Stripe pay-by-link | Not advertised |
| Card payments / pay-by-linkWIN | Stripe pay-by-link on invoices | Not advertised |
| Customer-facing online bookingWIN | Workshop+ (£79) | Not advertised |
| Customer job tracking linkWIN | Workshop+, no app or login for the customer | Not advertised |
| Vehicle health checksWorkauto wins this at the entry price, as several of the cheap systems do. Autera’s are Workshop-tier, with photo and video evidence the customer approves. | Workshop+ (£79) | Included at £30, with shareable reports |
| Visual drag-and-drop plannerTheirs is the headline feature and it is well done for a small shop. | Calendar and board views | Daily and weekly drag-and-drop planner |
| MOT and service reminders | Email and text, Workshop+ | Included at £30 |
| Native iPhone & Android appsWIN | Mobile "Tech View" (web) | |
| ADAS calibration certificates (PAS 1880)WIN | Workshop+ | Not advertised |
| Xero / QuickBooks / SageWIN | Xero + QuickBooks sync, Sage 50 export | Not advertised |
| Best fit | Garages that invoice from the system, look up a lot of plates, or want room to grow | A one- or two-person garage wanting a simple planner and health checks, invoicing elsewhere |
Comparison reviewed August 2026. Pricing and feature sets change frequently, check workauto.co.uk for the latest from Workauto.
Why UK garages choose Autera
No counting your own lookups
Workauto includes fifty vehicle lookups a month and sells a hundred for more. Autera’s are unlimited on every plan, free one included. Nobody should be rationing the fastest thing in the product, or doing mental arithmetic about whether this car is worth a lookup.
Invoice from the same place you did the work
Workauto’s site advertises job cards and digital appraisals, but no invoicing. Autera turns a finished job into a VAT invoice with the parts you fitted and the hours your technician actually clocked already on it, with a Stripe payment link in the email. If you would otherwise be retyping that into Xero or a Word template, that is the whole gap.
Free has no end date
Both of us let you try without a card, which is to Workauto’s credit. The difference is the floor: their cheapest plan is £30, ours is nothing. A one-mechanic garage can run on Autera Solo indefinitely and only start paying when the work justifies it.
Apps, not a mobile view
Workauto offers a mobile "Tech View" in the browser. Autera has native iPhone and Android apps carrying the full product, so a technician can photograph a worn disc, attach it to the job and send the customer an approval request without going near the office computer.
Where Workauto is genuinely better
Vehicle health checks with shareable reports are in their £30, where Autera puts health checks on Workshop at £79. Their drag-and-drop planner is also the nicest thing on their site and squarely aimed at a small shop. If you want a simple planner with health checks and you invoice elsewhere, Workauto is a fair £30.
Respect for a real competitor
Workauto is honest about what it is: simple software for a very small garage, no contract, no setup fee, no card to try, and a clear price. That is more than a lot of this market manages. Autera wins on the lookup cap, on invoicing and payments, and on having somewhere to grow into.
Common questions
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