MechAxis vs PitlaneHQ: choose the right workshop bundle

MechAxis gives a growing team a clear progression: Silver for core workshop records, Gold for inspections and purchasing, and Platinum for group controls and specialist owner tools. Choose it when you want inspection approvals, job costs, parts and customer history to be the centre of the system. Platinum combines fleet access, warranty cases, capacity planning and recovery in one plan, so you can evaluate those related workflows together during the 30-day trial.

PitlaneHQ publishes plans by team size with optional modules. Its core includes jobs, invoices, quotes, bookings, stock and purchase orders; the reviewed Growth plan lists ten users. MechAxis Gold also includes up to ten users, alongside digital inspections and customer portal login. Matching user counts is only the first step. Write down the exact PitlaneHQ modules you would enable and compare their combined scope and cost with the ongoing MechAxis tier.

Create a repair with two recommendations and obtain a partial customer approval. In MechAxis Gold or Platinum, selected findings become quote lines and approved repairs become tasks. Check the retained decision as well as the technician's next action. Then record parts and time and prepare the invoice. A plan comparison is useful only when the quoted package includes every step of the repair your team tested, including the customer's view.

Your owner may need to understand why one repair lost margin even when payroll is already handled elsewhere. MechAxis can allocate recorded time to a labour line and show authorised staff the job's cost basis and missing costs. Test a two-hour estimate that takes three hours, then inspect the affected task. The goal is an actionable job review. Do not confuse an attendance or payroll feature with proof that a product can explain the cost of that repair.

MechAxis Gold allows up to three locations; Platinum adds the group controls and unlimited users and locations published on its pricing page. PitlaneHQ asks workshop groups to discuss custom pricing. Use a controlled trial with staff assigned to different locations, a shared customer and a vehicle returning to another site. Check the permitted record access, the stock location and the view available to the owner. Price the arrangement you can demonstrate rather than inferring group access from a user count.

PitlaneHQ documents invoice pushes to Xero or QuickBooks Online with stated boundaries, including imported invoices. MechAxis offers a Xero connection with workshop-specific setup validation and does not promise QuickBooks integration here. Both the provider workflow and the message bill should be part of the written comparison. Choose MechAxis when its integrated repair process and Platinum tools match the team; retain a required accounting dependency until you have validated a replacement.