Passdesk vs Total Drive.
Both platforms run a UK driving school. They bill differently and cover different ground. Here’s where they differ, on figures read from both sites on 29 September 2026.
Side by side
| Passdesk | Total Drive | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | £19/mo, plus 2.5% + 20p per card payment | From £18/mo |
| How it bills | Per workspace, each plan covering a set number of instructors: Instructor £19 for just you with 60 learners, Pro £49 for you + 3, Team £99 for you + 10, Scale £199 for you + 24. Pro and Team add instructors at £10 a month each, office staff are free on every plan, and Network pricing is per instructor above 25. Solo learners £9.99. Two months free on annual. Free for PDIs until they qualify, for up to 12 months. Card payments taken through Passdesk cost the school 2.5% + 20p each (2.5% + €0.25 in Ireland), with Stripe’s processing included and nothing added to what learners pay. | Basic £18, Ultimate £23, Pro £24 and Elite £26 a month for one instructor. Online booking arrives with Ultimate. A school picks its size and every instructor pays that band’s rate: £12 (Basic) to £20 (Elite) each for 2 to 9 instructors, and £11 to £19 for 10 to 15, where the size picker stops. The pricing page says “Incl. VAT”, but its subscriber terms say fees exclude VAT. Card payments run on Adyen with a platform fee, and the account holder chooses whether they or their learners pay it. Free for PDIs until they pass Part 3, for up to 12 months. |
| Best for | Instructors and schools who want one platform that covers both | Independent instructors who want the most-used UK toolkit |
| Trial | 30 days (schools), 7 days (solo learners), no card needed | 30 days, no card required |
| Learner app | Installable web app on any phone; native iOS and Android apps are in preparation | Free instructor, learner and parent apps |
| UK test tracking | Yes — DVSA-aligned rubric, theory practice, test-centre routes | Yes — progress syllabus and reflective logs |
Read from passdesk.co.uk/pricing and totaldrive.co.uk/instructor-software-pricing on 29 September 2026.
What each is good at
Passdeskthat’s us
£19/mo, plus 2.5% + 20p per card paymentPer workspace, each plan covering a set number of instructors: Instructor £19 for just you with 60 learners, Pro £49 for you + 3, Team £99 for you + 10, Scale £199 for you + 24. Pro and Team add instructors at £10 a month each, office staff are free on every plan, and Network pricing is per instructor above 25. Solo learners £9.99. Two months free on annual. Free for PDIs until they qualify, for up to 12 months. Card payments taken through Passdesk cost the school 2.5% + 20p each (2.5% + €0.25 in Ireland), with Stripe’s processing included and nothing added to what learners pay.
Strengths
- Learners find you through the free Passdesk school directory, and Passdesk takes no commission on the lessons they book
- One platform from a single instructor to a multi-instructor group
- Recorded practice routes tied to real test centres, with manoeuvre tagging
- A waitlist that refills a cancelled slot on its own
- Card payments and Direct Debit instalment plans, including fixed-total plans on a reusable mandate
- A separate app for learners teaching themselves
- Expenses, mileage and a quarterly Making Tax Digital export
- Lessons sync to Google, Outlook or Apple calendars, and busy times in a connected Google or Outlook calendar block double-bookings
- Works with Claude and ChatGPT on every school plan, with webhooks from Team and a public API on the top tier
What it does not do
- Newer to the market than Total Drive or Driving School Office, with a smaller installed base
Read from passdesk.co.uk/pricing on 29 September 2026.
Total Drive
From £18/moBasic £18, Ultimate £23, Pro £24 and Elite £26 a month for one instructor. Online booking arrives with Ultimate. A school picks its size and every instructor pays that band’s rate: £12 (Basic) to £20 (Elite) each for 2 to 9 instructors, and £11 to £19 for 10 to 15, where the size picker stops. The pricing page says “Incl. VAT”, but its subscriber terms say fees exclude VAT. Card payments run on Adyen with a platform fee, and the account holder chooses whether they or their learners pay it. Free for PDIs until they pass Part 3, for up to 12 months.
Says 8,600 instructors and 211,000+ learners use it weekly.
Strengths
- The largest installed base in the UK market by their own published figures
- Official Driving Instructors Association partner
- 3D and 2D teaching scenarios bundled into the higher tiers
- Making Tax Digital material and a theory suite alongside the diary
What it does not do
- Online booking is held back to the £23 tier
- Built instructor-first — the multi-instructor school tooling is thinner than the solo diary
- The card payment platform fee is not published
- No published API or webhooks
Read from totaldrive.co.uk/instructor-software-pricing on 29 September 2026.
Moving your data across
Export your learners, lessons and payment history before you cancel anything — that access usually goes with the subscription. Send Passdesk the export and it gets imported for you; there is no charge for it. If the file looks nothing like a normal export, send it anyway. The importers handle a fair range of formats.
For Total Drive there is also a step-by-step migration guide covering what to export, what lands where, and how to run both diaries side by side first.
Common questions
How much do Passdesk and Total Drive cost?
Passdesk starts at £19/mo, plus 2.5% + 20p per card payment — Per workspace, each plan covering a set number of instructors: Instructor £19 for just you with 60 learners, Pro £49 for you + 3, Team £99 for you + 10, Scale £199 for you + 24. Pro and Team add instructors at £10 a month each, office staff are free on every plan, and Network pricing is per instructor above 25. Solo learners £9.99. Two months free on annual. Free for PDIs until they qualify, for up to 12 months. Card payments taken through Passdesk cost the school 2.5% + 20p each (2.5% + €0.25 in Ireland), with Stripe’s processing included and nothing added to what learners pay. Total Drive starts at From £18/mo — Basic £18, Ultimate £23, Pro £24 and Elite £26 a month for one instructor. Online booking arrives with Ultimate. A school picks its size and every instructor pays that band’s rate: £12 (Basic) to £20 (Elite) each for 2 to 9 instructors, and £11 to £19 for 10 to 15, where the size picker stops. The pricing page says “Incl. VAT”, but its subscriber terms say fees exclude VAT. Card payments run on Adyen with a platform fee, and the account holder chooses whether they or their learners pay it. Free for PDIs until they pass Part 3, for up to 12 months. Both read from the vendors' own pages on 29 September 2026.
Can I move from Total Drive to Passdesk?
Yes. Export your learners and lessons from Total Drive and Passdesk will import them — send the file over and it gets set up for you.
What does Total Drive do that Passdesk does not?
The largest installed base in the UK market by their own published figures Official Driving Instructors Association partner
What does Passdesk do that it does not?
Recorded practice routes tied to real test centres, a waitlist that refills cancelled slots on its own, Direct Debit instalment plans, and a separate app for learners teaching themselves. Learners can find the school through the free Passdesk directory, and Passdesk takes no commission on what they book. Every school plan works with AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT, webhooks come with the Team plan, and the top tier adds a public API.
Try Passdesk alongside it
Thirty days to try it, with your own diary imported before you decide.