The three systems at a glance
- TechMan — a purpose-built garage management system, known for technical-data integrations and electronic vehicle health checks, sold in feature tiers.
- Garage Hive — garage workflows built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, bringing ERP-grade accounting and reporting depth.
- Dragon2000 — a dealer management system (DragonDMS) with workshop management alongside vehicle sales.
TechMan in brief
TechMan positions itself as an all-in-one GMS built by garage owners, aimed primarily at independent workshops. Its advertised strengths are electronic vehicle health checks, paperless job cards, integrations with Autodata, Haynes Pro and parts suppliers, booking and scheduling tools, and business reporting. It publishes tiered plans — Lite, Advanced and Pro at the time of writing — with unlimited users on each tier, which suits bigger front-desk teams; the flip side is that specific features sit in specific tiers, so the price of the features you want is the number that matters. One thing to test on a demo: how invoices actually reach your accounts package. The TechMan garages we've migrated were invoicing in TechMan and exporting to Xero by CSV rather than a live API sync — verify the current position for yourself. Buyers should also confirm current tier contents, contract length and any onboarding costs directly with TechMan.
Garage Hive in brief
Garage Hive's defining choice is its foundation: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, a full ERP platform. That gives it accounting and reporting depth most standalone garage systems can't match, and it's often chosen by systemised, ambitious workshops and multi-site operations. Its website lists a broad feature set — estimates, jobsheets, scheduling, reminders, online booking and authorisation, parts stock, accountancy integrations — from £145/month on a one-month rolling contract. The trade-off is the ERP itself: more concepts, more configuration, more training. Buyers should ask how Microsoft per-user licensing applies to their team size and budget realistic time for setup. Our Garage Hive alternatives guide goes deeper.
Dragon2000 in brief
Dragon2000 has been serving the UK motor trade for three decades, and DragonDMS reflects that heritage: it's a dealer management system first — vehicle stock, sales invoicing, dealer websites, advertiser feeds — with workshop management, VHC mobile apps, parts stock and workshop clocking alongside. For a garage that buys and sells cars as well as fixing them, having sales and workshop in one system is a genuine advantage. A workshop-only independent should ask the opposite question: how much of the system would we actually use? Pricing is on enquiry.
Side-by-side comparison
| TechMan | Garage Hive | Dragon2000 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | Purpose-built garage GMS | Garage workflows on an ERP (Business Central) | Dealer management + workshop |
| Often chosen by | Workshops that lean on technical data | Process-driven & multi-site operations | Garages that also sell vehicles |
| Technical data integrations | Autodata & Haynes Pro advertised | Via platform/app ecosystem — check scope | Check current integrations |
| Vehicle health checks | EVHC advertised | VHC advertised | VHC via mobile app advertised |
| Accounting approach | Xero integration advertised — switchers we've onboarded used CSV export; confirm on a demo | ERP-grade ledger built in; Xero/Sage/QuickBooks integrations | Accounts integrations (e.g. Sage) advertised |
| Pricing model | Feature tiers, unlimited users | From £145/mo + check per-user Microsoft licensing | On enquiry |
| Contract style | Check current terms | One-month rolling advertised | Check current terms |
| Setup & learning curve | Vendor onboarding & training advertised | ERP foundation — allow more time | Same-day activation advertised; scope varies |
Want a fourth column in that table?
Clarity-GMS: one flat monthly plan, everything included, no setup fee, free migration. See the full feature-by-feature comparison or put us through the same demo script.
Which suits which garage?
- TechMan may suit workshops that lean heavily on technical data and repair times, want EVHC embedded in job cards, and have a bigger team that benefits from unlimited users — provided the tier that includes their must-have features fits the budget.
- Garage Hive may suit process-driven garages and multi-site groups that want ERP-grade financial control and reporting inside the system, and are prepared to invest in setup and training to get it.
- Dragon2000 may suit garages whose business is genuinely split between selling and servicing vehicles, where one system covering both outweighs specialisation.
- None of the above may suit a small independent that mostly wants the phone to stop ringing, the diary to fill itself and the invoicing to take one click — which is the gap flat-price cloud systems like Clarity-GMS aim at.
What to ask on a demo (all three — and us)
- Book an MOT online right now — show me it landing in the diary with a bay and tester.
- Move that job to another ramp and tomorrow. How many clicks?
- Show me the reminder that goes out for last year's MOTs — who sets it up?
- Send me a quote as if I were the customer. What do I see on my phone?
- Finish a job and get the invoice into Xero/QuickBooks/your ledger. Time it — and ask whether that's a live two-way API sync or a batch export you'll be running every VAT quarter.
- What exactly is in the price I'd pay, all-in, for my team — and what's extra?
- What's the contract term and notice period? What happens if I add features mid-term?
- Who migrates my data, how long does it take, and what does it cost?
Where Clarity-GMS fits
Clarity-GMS is the option built specifically for independent UK garages and MOT stations that want everything — online booking, workshop diary, MOT slot control, video DVI, AI assistants, WhatsApp, a branded customer website, live Xero/QuickBooks sync — in one flat monthly plan with no setup fee, no long contract and free done-for-you migration. We don't try to be an ERP or a dealer system; if you need those, one of the three above may genuinely fit better. If you need your workshop to run itself a bit more every week, that's our lane — and a 30-minute demo will show you quickly.
