Question 1

What is GearDesk?

Accepted Answer

GearDesk is an all-in-one garage management platform for UK workshops. It covers digital job cards, estimates, VAT invoices, MOT and service reminders, DVLA and MOT history lookup, a customer self-service portal, Stripe card payments, WhatsApp re-engagement and live job tracking — in a single fast web and mobile app.

Question 2

How much does GearDesk cost?

Accepted Answer

GearDesk has four plans billed monthly in GBP: Starter £29, Lite £59, Advanced £99 and Pro £149. Quarterly, 6-month and annual cycles are available with discounts up to 20%. Every plan includes a free trial, no credit-card setup fee, and you can cancel at any time.

Question 3

Does GearDesk send MOT reminders?

Accepted Answer

Yes. GearDesk reads each vehicle's MOT expiry from DVSA and sends reminders automatically by SMS, WhatsApp or email at customer-configurable intervals (60, 30, 14 and 7 days). Each reminder contains a one-tap rebooking link.

Question 4

Can I look up vehicles by registration?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Enter a UK VRM and GearDesk auto-fills make, model, variant, year, colour, fuel, engine size, MOT status, tax status and full MOT history from DVLA and DVSA. Optional HPI checks add finance, stolen and write-off flags.

Question 5

Does GearDesk take card payments?

Accepted Answer

Yes. GearDesk uses Stripe Connect. Customers pay invoices online by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Partial payments, refunds, payment links and a full payment audit log are included.

Question 6

Is there a customer portal?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each customer has a self-service portal at /customer-portal where they can see live job status, photos and inspection reports, approve estimates, pay invoices and rebook their next service.

Question 7

Can I import data from MechanicPRO, Garage Hive or AutoFlow?

Accepted Answer

Yes. GearDesk imports customers, vehicles, jobs and invoices from CSV exports of MechanicPRO, Garage Hive, AutoFlow, Tekmetric and most other workshop systems. Onboarding support is included with every plan.

Question 8

Who is GearDesk for?

Accepted Answer

GearDesk is built for UK independent garages, MOT testing stations, mobile mechanics, performance and bodyshops, and small fleet workshops. It scales from a single mechanic up to multi-site workshops with role-based access (Owner, Admin, Reception, Mechanic).

Question 9

Is there a free trial?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every plan includes a no-credit-card free trial so you can connect a workshop, import data and run real jobs end-to-end before paying.

Question 10

Is GearDesk GDPR compliant?

Accepted Answer

Yes. GearDesk is GDPR compliant. Data is stored in the UK/EU, every workshop is isolated with row-level security, every action is audit-logged, and customers can request data export or deletion from the portal.