Search for garage booking software and you find two very different things: portals that bring enquiries and charge per job, and scheduling tools with a monthly price. This list is for repair shops, tyre services, detailers and body shops that want to take bookings online instead of scribbling them down between two oil changes. We compared six providers using their pricing pages and public feature lists, September 2026. terminio.ai is on the list itself; weigh that as you read.
What we looked at
A workshop's appointments look nothing like a salon's. A tyre change takes half an hour and arrives in two waves a year, an inspection blocks a lift for half a day, and the customer calls while the mechanic is under the car. So we checked five things that make the difference on a workshop floor and measured every provider against them. All prices come from the providers' pricing pages, September 2026.
- Cost model: a fixed monthly price, or a fee per job, per enquiry, or a commission
- Customer account: can the customer book with a name and mobile number, or do they have to register?
- Reminders: WhatsApp, SMS or email only, and what each message costs
- Phone: does anyone answer when the whole workshop is at the lift?
- Season and no-shows: several lifts in tyre season, deposits for jobs that often fall through
1. terminio.ai: online booking with WhatsApp and phone
terminio.ai is for workshops that already have customers and want to stop managing them by phone. The customer books on your own booking page with a name and mobile number, no account and no app, and gets a confirmation and a reminder on WhatsApp from your own number. On Pro Voice an AI phone assistant with a German number picks up, checks the calendar live and books the tyre change or inspection while you are under the car. Lifts and staff get their own calendars, unlimited on every plan.
Free costs €0 for 50 bookings and five WhatsApp reminders a month, Pro €19.99 a month with unlimited bookings and reminders, Pro Voice €129.99 a month with the phone assistant, 200 call minutes included and €0.25 per minute after that. No cost per message, no commission, no setup fee, cancel monthly. Deposits run through Stripe, hosting is in the EU. What is missing: terminio.ai is a young provider focused on Germany, Austria and Switzerland, has no marketplace that brings new customers, and no till or parts stock module.
Pick terminio.ai when your problem is the phone and forgotten appointments, not utilisation. A workshop with two lifts pays €239.88 a year on Pro, however many appointments it takes. If you need new customers from a portal, combine the two: the portal for the first enquiry, your own page with WhatsApp and phone for every appointment after that.
2. FairGarage: portal that charges per booking
FairGarage is not a scheduler but a workshop portal run by DAT and ZDK, so it comes from inside the trade. Drivers who are comparing workshops find your profile on fairgarage.com and book an appointment there without registering. You get new customers without lifting a finger, and the confirmation goes out by email. For inspections, brakes and tyres that fills gaps in a quiet week.
According to the provider's pricing page, September 2026, there is no base fee, but €15 per booking and €2 per enquiry. In a quiet month you pay nothing; in a busy month there is no cap: 30 bookings a month is €450, or €5,400 a year. What is missing: a booking page under your own name, WhatsApp reminders, deposits and a phone solution are not documented on the site. Your regulars book through a profile listed next to your competitors.
Pick FairGarage when you need new customers and would rather pay per job than per month. For the regulars who come to you anyway, a fixed monthly price is cheaper. FairGarage ranks above Autobutler on this list because its prices are public and the customer needs no account. If you want both, combine the portal with a booking page of your own.
3. Autobutler: quote portal with commission
Autobutler is a quote marketplace: the car owner describes the job, workshops submit quotes, the owner picks one. The customer arrives with a concrete job and all you do is name your price. That suits workshops that can quote quickly and welcome enquiries for inspections, brakes and tyres as extra work. Here too it is a profile on autobutler.de, not a page of your own.
Pricing is where it gets vague: Autobutler's website speaks of commission and/or a subscription, and the amounts are not public. There is no free plan, and the customer needs a user profile to request quotes. Payment goes straight to the workshop, so there is no deposit through the portal. WhatsApp reminders and a phone solution are not documented on the site. Your prices sit next to those of other workshops in the same list.
Pick Autobutler when you want to win on price and can settle the commission or subscription with the provider before you sign up. If you would rather keep your customers to yourself and know the price before you commit, a scheduler is the better home. For your regulars the portal adds nothing; they already know you.
4. Terminland: low-cost garage scheduler from Germany
Terminland is an established online scheduler from Germany with no commission and no marketplace. You get a booking page of your own where customers pick their slot, and a schedule you run like a calendar. For a workshop with one lift and one person handing out appointments, that is a solid start. Reminders go out by email; SMS is an add-on.
Easy costs €14.90 a month plus VAT for one schedule and €6.90 for each further schedule, according to the provider's pricing page. There is a 30-day trial but no free plan. Deposits are an add-on from the Profi plan, the phone is answered by a VoiceBot partner as an add-on, WhatsApp is not documented on the site, nor is an app; there is calendar sync. A workshop with three lifts pays €344.40 plus VAT a year for three schedules.
Pick Terminland when you work alone with one schedule and email reminders are enough: at €14.90 it is then cheaper than terminio Pro. Once several lifts, WhatsApp and the phone come into play, the modular kit turns into an invoice with several lines. Work out beforehand which add-ons you really need and compare the total, not the entry price.
5. eTermin: scheduler with servers in Frankfurt
eTermin is a German booking system with servers in Frankfurt. If you look closely at where customer data lives, that is a clear argument. Guest booking is selectable, so the customer need not create an account, there is no commission, and you get a booking page of your own. Reminders go out by email and SMS. For a workshop with one or two calendars it is a clean, web-based system.
Lite costs €19 and Pro €29 a month plus VAT, with €5 for each further calendar, according to the provider's pricing page. There is a one-month trial and no free plan. Deposits come with Pro, the phone is handled by partners billed per use. WhatsApp is not documented on the site, nor is an app. Three calendars on Pro cost €468 plus VAT a year.
Pick eTermin when Frankfurt as a server location is a must for you, deposits from Pro are enough and you want to remind by email and SMS. If you would rather not pay per lift and want to reach customers on WhatsApp, terminio.ai costs less for the same team and brings the phone along.
6. TIMIFY: booking for chains and branches
TIMIFY is built for businesses and chains with many resources and locations. If you run five branches with four lifts each, you find a mature system here with guest booking, a booking page of your own, an app and deposits via Stripe or PayPal. No commission, no marketplace. Reminders go out by email and SMS, and taking a tyre-change appointment online is no problem.
Classic costs €0 and is genuinely free, with one resource. The team calendar starts with Premium at €25 a month plus VAT, according to the provider's pricing page. A phone solution exists only via partners, and WhatsApp is not documented on the site. For a small workshop that means: as soon as the second lift needs a calendar you are on Premium, and three people cost €300 plus VAT a year.
Pick TIMIFY when you have several locations, or when you start alone with one lift and want the free plan. For a workshop with two to four lifts that needs WhatsApp and the phone, the cut does not fit: sized for locations, short on reminders. A test on the Classic plan costs nothing and quickly shows whether the cut fits your shop.
Verdict: which provider for whom
Six providers, two categories, no winner for everyone. The short version:
- terminio.ai: workshops with regulars who want WhatsApp and a phone assistant at a fixed price
- FairGarage: workshops that need new customers and prefer €15 per job to a monthly fee
- Autobutler: workshops that win on price and can quote fast
- Terminland: one-person shops with a single schedule for whom email reminders are enough
- eTermin: businesses for which servers in Frankfurt are a must
- TIMIFY: chains with several locations, or a solo start on the free plan
