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GarageCal vs BOOKAR
BOOKAR is the closest thing to us in the UK, and the better choice if you want one system for the whole workshop. We are the better choice if you only want the booking to work.
BOOKAR is a Manchester-based garage platform offering both a standalone online booking product and a full garage management system. Of everything in this market, it is the closest to what GarageCal does, and it is a genuinely capable piece of software.
The honest summary: BOOKAR is going wide, covering work orders, parts, inventory, payments, accounts and booking. GarageCal is going narrow, doing online booking and the bay capacity behind it. Which is right for you depends entirely on whether you already have a system you like.
At a glance
Checked 2 August 2026. Where a figure is not published, we say so rather than guess at one.
| GarageCal | BOOKAR | |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone online booking | The whole product | From £39.99/month + VAT |
| Full workshop management | Not offered, by choice | GMS: Pro, £99.99/month + VAT |
| Booking on top of their GMS | Not applicable | £30/month add-on |
| Pricing published on the website | Yes | Yes |
| Buy without talking to sales | Demo offered, not required | Enquiry form or demo booking |
| Contract | Monthly rolling | Monthly rolling |
| Registration lookup | Included | 8p per lookup |
| Text messages | Included on Workshop | 8p each |
| Free tier | Yes, one bay | None published |
| Parts and tyre catalogues | No | Yes, via supplier integrations |
| Accounts integration | No | Sage, Xero, QuickBooks |
Where BOOKAR is the better buy
- You want one system for everything. BOOKAR covers work orders, inventory, purchase orders, payments and accounts. We do not, and are not planning to.
- You are on MAM Autowork Online. BOOKAR is MAM’s official booking partner and writes bookings directly into Autowork Online. Nothing we offer matches that depth of integration today.
- You need parts and tyre ordering, OEM repair times or full technical data. Those are real products inside BOOKAR and we have no equivalent.
- You want card payments, pay-in-three and text-to-pay built into the same tool.
- They are an established business with a support team. We are one person.
Where we would pick GarageCal
- You already have a management system that works and you only want the booking part to be good.
- You want to try it on a real week of bookings before paying anything.
- You would rather not meter your own reminders. Lookups and texts are included rather than charged at 8p a go, which adds up quickly on a busy diary.
- You want bay-level capacity so the system can never sell an MOT slot while your only MOT bay is occupied.
Questions people actually ask
Is GarageCal cheaper than BOOKAR?
On the standalone booking product, yes: £29 a month against BOOKAR’s £39.99, and we include registration lookups and texts that BOOKAR charges 8p each for. But BOOKAR’s £99.99 tier is a whole workshop system, so comparing it with our £29 is not a fair fight in either direction.
Can I use GarageCal alongside another garage management system?
That is what it is designed for. GarageCal handles the booking and sends the result onward, rather than trying to replace the system you already run the workshop on.
Does BOOKAR publish its pricing?
Yes, and credit where it is due: they are one of the few in this market that do. Most competitors make you request a demo before they will tell you a number.
Sources, checked 2 August 2026: BOOKAR pricing · BOOKAR online booking · MAM Autowork Online and Bookar
Other comparisons
See it running on your own bays
Twenty minutes on a call, with your own bays and products set up as they actually are. Compare it against what you use now with something real in front of you.