TechMan GMS Alternative: Pricing and Features Comparison
Most garages looking at a TechMan alternative are not unhappy with the diary. They are tired of paying to get started, paying again to unlock the bits they actually need, and signing a minimum term to get the sensible price. Autopilot is one monthly figure with nothing to pay upfront, and the features you would expect are not held back for a higher tier.
Vehicle health checks from £99 a month. No upfront fee, no minimum term, and nothing extra per technician or per user.
TechMan pricing and terms last checked September 2026
No upfront cost
Nothing to pay to get started. Just the monthly price.
No cost per user
Reception, technicians and owners included, however many you add.
30 days on the full plan
Real jobs, real invoices, before you commit to anything.
Data moved in 48 hours
Customers, vehicles and invoice history brought across for you.
Four steps, and most of the work is ours
Account and kick off call
You sign up, we book you straight in with a UK onboarding specialist. Company details, VAT, labour rates and users get set on the call, along with your parts and accountancy integrations and your service packages built out for you.
Your data comes across
Send us an export from your old system. Customer records, vehicle history and invoice history are mapped, imported and checked back with you.
Team training, your way
We offer a range of training packages to suit different garages, whether that is remote over a call, us coming to you, or your team coming to us, with sessions as short or as thorough as you need.
Run it for real, free
Book real jobs, send real invoices, on the full plan. Support is UK based and on the end of a phone. If it does not earn its keep, cancel and pay nothing.
Side by side on the things garage owners ask about
What it costs
Upfront cost
None. You pay the monthly price and nothing else to get started.
Upfront fees of £199 to £1,300 on their 30-day rolling plans, covering onboarding, setup and data migration.
Cost per technician
None. Your price does not change as your team grows.
Pay extra on some plans
Cost per user
None. Add reception, techs and owners at no extra cost.
Pay extra on some plans
Contract
No contract. Stay because it works, not because you signed.
A minimum-term agreement to get their lower rate, or a 30-day rolling plan that costs more each month and charges upfront.
What you get
What the entry plan gives you
The full job, customer, invoicing and parts workflow, plus vehicle health checks, from £99 a month.
Their £99 Starter limits the diary to 3 columns and stock control to one user, and charges £199 upfront. Digital check sheets start at £315 a month.
Online booking
Included on AutoPilot Pro at £279 a month, with deposits, reminders and your own booking link.
Their web booking tool is on the Pro plan, from £415 a month, with up to £1,300 upfront.
Support & Development
UK support from people who know garages. You get through to a human.
Support available from their team but development work is very slow.
Data migration
Customers, vehicle history and invoice history brought across within 48 hours.
They can migrate your data depending on your current system
Trial on the full plan
Yes. Book real jobs and send real invoices before you commit.
No free trial advertised
Scroll the table sideways on a phone. Comparison based on publicly available information, last reviewed September 2026.
What actually decides it
The upfront cost is the real decision
TechMan publishes two prices for every plan. The lower one needs a minimum-term agreement. The higher one is a 30-day rolling plan, and it carries a one-off fee of between £199 and £1,300 covering onboarding, setup and data migration.
That fee is easy to overlook when comparing monthly figures, because it appears once. On the Advanced and Pro plans it is £1,300, which is more than four months of AutoPilot Pro before you have run a single job.
Autopilot has no upfront cost on any plan. You pay the monthly price and nothing else to start, which is also why we can offer 30 days on the full plan rather than a demo.
What the entry plan actually gives you
Both systems start at £99 a month, so on the headline figure there is nothing in it. What differs is what that buys.
TechMan’s Starter limits the diary to three columns and stock control to a single user licence, and charges £199 upfront. Digital check sheets, tablet access and paperless job cards begin on Advanced, at £315 a month on the minimum-term rate.
Autopilot includes vehicle health checks in the £99 plan, along with the full job, customer, invoicing and parts workflow. For a garage that wants digital checks, that is the difference between £99 and £315.
What happens when you take someone on
TechMan charges per technician and per user on some plans, so the monthly cost rises as the workshop grows.
Autopilot does not. The price is the same whether you run three technicians or fifteen, which means the gap between the two systems widens with every person you hire.
Where TechMan is strong
No system is the right answer for every garage. These are the things TechMan does well.
- ✓TechMan has been established in the UK garage trade for years, and the breadth of the system reflects that.
- ✓Four plans mean you can start on a smaller package and move up, rather than buying everything on day one.
- ✓Their Partner Plan rate is competitive if you are content to sign a minimum term to get it.
- ✓The upfront fee covers onboarding, configuration and data migration done for you, which some garages would rather pay for than handle themselves.
Built to be picked up without training
The diary
Every technician and job on one screen, colour coded, drag and drop to reassign.
Technician app
Job details, checklists and vehicle health checks on a tablet in the workshop.
Reporting
Revenue, throughput and technician efficiency, without exporting to a spreadsheet.
Switching from TechMan? Your questions answered
How much does TechMan cost?+
TechMan publish four plans, from £99 a month for Starter up to £529 a month for Pro. The lower price on each plan applies to a minimum-term agreement; their 30-day rolling plans cost more each month and carry an upfront fee of between £199 and £1,300 covering onboarding, setup and data migration. Autopilot is £99, £179 or £279 a month with nothing to pay upfront.
Does TechMan have a free trial?+
TechMan do not advertise a free trial. Autopilot gives you 30 days on the full plan, booking real jobs and sending real invoices, before you decide anything.
Is there a contract with TechMan?+
To get their lower monthly rate you sign a minimum-term agreement. Their 30-day rolling alternative costs more each month and charges the setup fee upfront. Autopilot has no contract and no minimum term.
Can I move my data from TechMan to Autopilot?+
Yes. Send us an export from TechMan and we bring your customer records, vehicle history and invoice history across within 48 hours, then check it back with you before you go live.
Is Autopilot a good TechMan alternative for a busy workshop?+
It is where Autopilot is strongest. AutoPilot Pro is £279 a month with the technician app, online booking, deposits and the full reporting suite included, and it costs the same whether you run three technicians or fifteen. The comparable TechMan plans are £415 to £529 a month, with up to £1,300 upfront, and some plans charge per technician on top.
Sources
Claims about TechMan on this page come from their own published pages. Check them yourself:
Last reviewed September 2026. Other providers change their pricing and features at any time, so check before deciding.
Ask Scott what he made us change
Scott Walsh co-owns MB Liverpool and is a partner in Autopilot. He has used most of the systems on the market, so he knows what you are living with and what you want instead. Nothing gets built here without going past him.
Every garage we have shown Autopilot to has told us the same thing: it is simpler and easier to use than what they had. Talk to Scott and judge it for yourself.
See it on your own jobs before you decide
Twenty minutes on a call is usually enough to tell whether Autopilot suits your workshop. If it does, we will bring your data across and get your team trained. If it does not, we will tell you.