MechanicDesk vs Hoist: Which Fits Your NZ Workshop?

MechanicDesk has been around for over a decade and plenty of NZ workshops run on it. If you’re weighing it against Hoist, this is the side-by-side: pricing in NZ dollars, features, NZ-specific details, mobile, support and switching.

Full disclosure: we built Hoist, so we’re biased. We’ve still written down where MechanicDesk is ahead, because if it’s the better fit for your workshop you should use it. Everything about MechanicDesk below comes from their own published material as at August 2026; where their own site genuinely does not say, we tell you that rather than guess - and we say so where they beat us.

The Quick Verdict

Who’s Behind Each Product

MechanicDesk

MechanicDesk is an Australian company and one of the most recognised workshop platforms on both sides of the Tasman. It has been in market for over a decade. NZ customers get direct phone and email support on an 0800 number, and there’s an NZ partner that offers hands-on setup, training and Xero help if you want local implementation support. The partner is optional, not a gate.

Hoist

Hoist is built in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, by a small team, for the NZ market from day one. We’re newer, so we don’t have MechanicDesk’s feature depth yet. The trade-off is a modern product with less to learn, and support from the people who wrote it.

Pricing in NZD

MechanicDesk Pricing

MechanicDesk publishes NZ pricing in NZ dollars: four tiers at $85, $115, $150 and $250 a month (Starter, Small, Team, Large). Extra users are $15 a month on the lower tiers and $10 on the upper tiers, and SMS messages are charged at 10c each. Which tier you land on depends on your user count and the features you need, so price it on their site for your actual headcount. They offer a free trial without a credit card.

Hoist Pricing

Hoist is $140 + GST a month, with 3 users included and $10 a month per extra user. SMS messages are charged per message as well (12c each at the time of writing; current rates are on our pricing page). The 14-day trial needs no card.

A Worked Example: Three-Person Workshop, First Year

• Hoist: 12 months at $140 = $1,680 + GST for the year, 3 users included.
• MechanicDesk: if the Starter tier covers three users, 12 × $85 = $1,020 for the year; if you need a higher tier or extra users, add accordingly. Their site states whether GST is included.

Neither price is the reason to choose. Both are small next to the labour hours they save; pick on which workflow fits your shop, then check the per-user and per-SMS charges for your actual team.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Where MechanicDesk Wins

• Mobile apps: dedicated native apps for iOS and Android. If your techs live on their phones, that’s a real edge.
• Accounting integrations: MYOB and QuickBooks as well as Xero.
• Parts supplier connections: Repco, Burson, NAPA and Autopro, with BNT and Autolign for New Zealand; Hoist’s are on the roadmap.
• Vehicle Visuals: animated diagrams showing how parts work and fail. Good for explaining a repair at the counter.
• Maturity: more years means more edge cases handled and more settings to tune.

Where Hoist Wins

• Rego lookup built in: enter a plate and Hoist pulls make, model, year, VIN and WoF expiry from official NZ vehicle records. We haven’t found the equivalent advertised on MechanicDesk’s NZ features page; ask them.
• Published NZD price with 3 users included: $140 + GST, $10 a month per extra user. No tier to pick.
• Less to learn: fewer screens and settings. There’s no training course to sit.
• NZ support from the builders: the people answering are the people who wrote the code, in your timezone.

NZ-Specific Details

Rego Lookup

WoF and Service Reminders

Both platforms send WoF and service reminders by text and email. The differences are in the details: how easy it is to set up, whether you can edit the template, whether you can switch auto-send on or off per rule. Test both trials and send yourself a reminder.

GST and Xero

Both handle GST correctly. If you’re on Xero, either will work. Hoist’s sync is two-way and covers customers, invoices, payments and credit notes, with an option to push invoices across as drafts; Xero is optional, not required.

Mobile

MechanicDesk has dedicated native apps for iOS and Android. If your technicians work heavily from their phones, that’s more polished than a browser tab.

Hoist runs in the browser on any phone or tablet. There’s nothing to install and it works well on a phone, but it isn’t a native app and it needs a connection. If mobile is your top priority, MechanicDesk has the advantage today.

Support and Switching

Support

MechanicDesk provides direct NZ support on an 0800 number, plus documentation and video tutorials. An NZ partner offers optional hands-on implementation and training.

With Hoist you get live chat, phone and email, included for every customer, and you deal directly with the small team that builds the software in the NZ timezone. Being small cuts both ways: you’ll often talk to the person who wrote the feature, which is not something a larger company can offer.

Switching

MechanicDesk offers data migration assistance, importing customers, vehicles, suppliers, stock and up to three years of vehicle history, typically at no extra cost.

Hoist migrates your customers, vehicles and service history for free, and we do it for you rather than handing you an import template. The specifics depend on what your current system can export, so ask us what we can take before you start the trial.

Either way, switching workshop software has a learning curve and a few weeks of “where’s that button?”. The question is whether your current software is holding you back enough to be worth it.