Hoist vs Mechanic Desk

Two popular options for NZ workshops. Both Hoist and Mechanic Desk are workshop management systems available to New Zealand workshops. Mechanic Desk is an established Melbourne-built platform sold here through a New Zealand reseller, on four NZD price tiers. Hoist is built and supported in New Zealand and sells one plan with everything switched on, including two-way customer texting, a connected mailbox and deferred work tracking. Straight up: Mechanic Desk's tiers can come in under our monthly price, and their texts are 2c cheaper. The question this page tries to answer is not who is cheapest, it is what each price actually includes and where the extras land.

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A Hoist work order: the customer, their Hilux with its WoF expired, and a pending front brake job with its labour and parts

Feature comparison

FeatureHoistMechanic Desk
Two-way customer textingIncluded. Replies land in a thread against the customerOutbound only. Inbound replies not advertised
Connected mailboxIncluded. The email about a job lands beside the job. One mailbox is in the plan, then $10/month each afterNot advertised
Deferred work trackingDeclined work stays on the vehicle, ready to quote next visitNot advertised
Support channelsLive chat, phone and email for every customer, from our own team in Upper Hutt on NZ timeChat, email and phone (NZ 0800 number) from their Melbourne team, plus a local reseller
Data migrationWe do it for you. Customers, vehicles and service historyFree, from their Excel template: up to 3 years of vehicle history, typically 1-3 days
Vehicle Rego Lookups5c cached / 24c live, publishedThrough a third-party service. Rate not published
Xero IntegrationTwo-way sync: customers, invoices, payments and credit notes
Pricing structureOne plan, every feature, 3 users includedFour published NZ tiers, 1 / 3 / 6 / 15 users
SMS12c per message sent10c per message
Additional Users$10/month (3 included)$15/month on every NZ tier
Job cards and estimatesEstimates approved from a link, then the card becomes the GST invoice in one click
Customer and vehicle historyEvery visit, spend and balance on one file, with WoF and CoF dates per vehicle
Stock and partsParts held for the job, counts adjust themselves, purchase orders drafted from low stock
Technician schedulingBays and techs on one calendar, drag to reschedule
ReportingSales, receivables, stock and team reports, over any date range
WoF/CoF remindersThe WoF date comes back with the rego lookup, the CoF date is entered when it is renewed, then the reminder goes out on its own
Built & supported fromNew Zealand (Upper Hutt)Australia (Melbourne), NZ reseller
Mobile AccessHoist mobile app for iOS and Android, plus the browser, on the one planResponsive web app + mobile app
  • Included
  • Partly
  • Not published

Questions worth asking any vendor

What will I pay for my whole team, with everything I use switched on?
Hoist: $140 + GST a month with 3 users, then $10 a month for each extra person. Every feature is on, so there is no tier to climb.
When a customer replies to a text, where does the reply go?
Hoist: Into a thread against that customer in Hoist, not onto somebody’s personal phone.
Where does the email about a job end up?
Hoist: Beside the job. One connected mailbox is included, then $10 a month for each one after.
What happens to the work a customer says no to?
Hoist: It stays on the vehicle as deferred work, already priced, and comes up next time it is in the bay.
What does a rego lookup cost, and does the WoF date come back with it?
Hoist: 5c cached or 24c live, published. The WoF date comes back on the lookup; the CoF date is entered when it is renewed.
Who moves my data across?
Hoist: We do it for you: customers, vehicles and service history.
Who picks up when I need help, and where are they?
Hoist: Our own team in Upper Hutt, by live chat, phone or email, on New Zealand time.
Can my techs use it on their phones, on the plan I am buying?
Hoist: Yes. The Hoist mobile app for iOS and Android is on the one plan.

Pricing comparison

Hoist

$140/month + GST

  • One flat rate, no tiers and no per-feature upsells
  • Every feature included, 3 users included
  • Additional users $10/month; SMS 12c; lookups 5c cached / 24c live

See Hoist pricing

Mechanic Desk

$85-$250/month NZD

  • Four published NZ tiers: Starter $85 (1 user), Small $115 (3), Team $150 (6), Large $250 (15)
  • Additional users $15/month on every NZ tier
  • SMS charged at 10c per message, 2c under ours
  • Published on their own NZ site; the NZ price list does not say whether GST is on top

Key highlights

Hoist

  • One plan, every feature on, 3 users included. No tier to upgrade to
  • Two-way texting, connected mailbox and deferred work all included
  • Live chat and phone support from New Zealand, in your time zone
  • Try it without a card, and cancel any month without a penalty

Mechanic Desk

  • Long-established platform with a large user base, priced in NZD
  • Entry tiers and 10c texts both come in under our rates
  • Barcode scanning, multi-site, and BNT and Autolign parts ordering
  • Chat, email and phone support, plus an NZ reseller for local setup

In their words

Automotive businesses across New Zealand run their day on Hoist. This is what they say about it.

  • Best workshop software product and team. If there's an issue, or like me sometimes you don't know where to click, flick them a message and you get a reply, unlike some other software providers who take days or never get back to you. The software is easy to use, straightforward, and constantly improving.
    KirstineAdvance Automotive, Palmerston North

Frequently asked questions

What are the main differences between Hoist and Mechanic Desk?
Hoist is built and supported in New Zealand and sells one flat plan with every feature switched on. Mechanic Desk is a longer-established Australian platform, sold here through a New Zealand reseller, on four price tiers. The features Hoist includes as standard that you should check the price of on any tier elsewhere: two-way customer texting with replies threaded against the customer, a connected mailbox so workshop email sits beside the job, and deferred work tracking so the thing a customer declined in March is waiting on the vehicle in September. Mechanic Desk has barcode scanning, multi-site management and parts ordering with BNT and Autolign. Both have a native mobile app and cover work orders, scheduling, invoicing and NZ reminder scheduling.
Can I migrate from Mechanic Desk to Hoist?
Yes. Customers, vehicles and service history come across and we do it for you rather than handing you an import template. Worth being straight here: Mechanic Desk also imports your data for you, and says so on their features page, so this is not a reason to pick one over the other. Talk to whoever you choose early, so there is time to take a clean export.
What are the pricing differences?
Hoist is $140/month + GST, with 3 users included and $10/month per extra user. Mechanic Desk publishes four NZ tiers: $85 for 1 user, $115 for 3, $150 for 6 and $250 for 15, with extra users at $15/month and texts at 10c. We will say the obvious thing rather than bury it: on the monthly line alone Mechanic Desk often comes in under us, and their texts are 2c cheaper. Two places the gap closes. Extra users are $15 there against $10 here, a third less for every person past the included count, so the two subscriptions meet at ten users, $210 a month each. And two-way customer texting, a connected mailbox and deferred work tracking are in our one price, so if you want those, price them on their side before you compare the headline numbers. If the lowest possible monthly figure is what decides it, take a good look at their Starter tier. If you would rather have everything switched on and know the bill will not move as you grow, that is the case for us.
What support do I get?
Live chat, phone and email, included for every Hoist customer at no extra cost, from our own team in Upper Hutt working your hours. Mechanic Desk offers chat, email and phone too, with an NZ 0800 number, from their team in Melbourne, plus a New Zealand reseller for hands-on setup. Worth asking either of us the same three questions: who picks up, where are they, and what time do the phones open in New Zealand.

Related resources

Other comparisons

Mechanic Desk pricing and features were checked against their own published material, October 2026. Rates and plans change, so confirm anything that matters directly with them. If you notice an inaccuracy, please contact us and we'll correct it.

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