Honest comparison
Mech Central vs TradeCentral
This one is simple: Mech Central is TradeCentral's workshop edition. Same company, same platform, same price, same logins. The difference is that Mech Central is only for mechanical workshops, so everything from the words on the screen to the fields on an invoice is set up for cars.
| What | TradeCentral | Mech Central |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Electricians, plumbers, builders, landscapers — any trade. | Mechanical workshops only. |
| Vehicles | Not part of a tradie's workflow. | Vehicle profiles, rego search, service history, engine codes, watch items. |
| Bookings | Leads and a job pipeline. | Bookings and today's board — cars in, waiting, ready. |
| Quotes and invoices | Materials, markup, site details. | Rego, odometer and vehicle on every document; RRP pricing; photos on the invoice. |
| Reminders | Job follow-ups. | Service reminders by SMS and email, chained from the service menu. |
| Inspections | Site inspections and checklists. | Vehicle inspection reports with tyres, OBD and photos. |
| Price and login | $49.99/month, tradecentral.com.au | $49.99/month, mechcentral.com.au — one login works on both. |
The short version
If you fix cars, sign up at Mech Central: your account is a workshop account from the first login. If you already have a TradeCentral account for your workshop, just log in at mechcentral.com.au — same login, same data.
Free for a month
Put one real car through it.
Set-up takes about two minutes. Book a car, quote it, photograph it, invoice it and let the reminder bring it back. The first month is free, so it costs nothing to find out.
1 month free · No credit card · $49.99/month after · Cancel any time
What's in the box
- Bookings and today's board
- Vehicles, rego search and history
- Service reminders by SMS and email
- Quotes approved online, invoices with photos
- Inspection reports
- Unlimited team logins