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Lesson Diary vs Orbit
Orbit is best known for a free app for instructors, paid for by a booking fee on the pupil. Here is how it lines up against Lesson Diary, feature by feature — checked 21 October 2026.
- Lesson Diary
- £9.99/mo
- Comes with a 14-day free trial, but you can start free with limited access instead — no card, no commitment
- Lesson money: £0 — we never handle pupil payments
- Orbit
- Free (schools £8 a seat)
- No trial needed, free to instructors
- Lesson money: Pupil pays £2.99 or 4%, whichever is greater, per card booking
| Lesson Diary | Orbit | |
|---|---|---|
| Price & terms | ||
| Monthly price | £9.99/mo | Free (schools £8 a seat) |
| Free trial | Comes with a 14-day free trial, but you can start free with limited access instead — no card, no commitment | No trial needed, free to instructors |
| Cut of your lesson money | £0 — we never handle pupil payments | Pupil pays £2.99 or 4%, whichever is greater, per card booking |
| Everything on one plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cancel yourself, anytime | Yes | Yes |
| Free data migration from your current app | Yes | Pupil import (CSV or Total Drive) |
| Diary & scheduling | ||
| Route / GPS recording | Yes — GPS route map on every lesson | Not advertised |
| Works on the web | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad app | Yes | Coming soon |
| Android app | Yes | Yes |
| Recurring lessons | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Working hours & time off | Yes | Yes |
| Double-booking flagged | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Phone calendar sync | Yes | Yes |
| Gap alerts between lessons | Yes | Partly |
| Works with no signal | Yes | Not advertised |
| Booking & getting pupils | ||
| Pupils book online themselves | Yes | Yes |
| Booking link & QR code | Yes | Not advertised |
| Booking widget for your site | Yes | Yes |
| Booking page in your colours, with your logo & reviews | Yes | Logo, colour and name |
| Connect your own booking form (Zapier, Make or API) | Yes | Not advertised |
| Draw your coverage area on a map | Yes | Town or postcode search, no map |
| Approve, defer or decline requests | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Pupils & progress | ||
| Pupil records & lesson history | Yes | Yes |
| Progress notes | Yes | Yes |
| DVSA syllabus tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Mock tests, marked DVSA-style | DL25-style, live pass/fail | Theory only, £2.99/mo for learners |
| Per-pupil pricing & packages | Yes | Lesson types |
| Pupil portal | Web, no download | Web, no password |
| Waiting list | Yes | Yes |
| Theory & practical test dates | Yes | Yes |
| Money & admin | ||
| Who has paid, who owes you | Yes | Yes |
| Sell a block of lessons upfront | Yes | Yes |
| Payment records & financials | Yes | Yes |
| Income, expenses & profit by MTD quarter | Yes — MTD quarters built in | Tax-year summary; HMRC filing awaits approval |
| Mileage log, claim worked out for you | Yes — at the HMRC simplified rate | Yes |
| Export pupils, lessons & payments | Yes | Accountant export |
| Automatic lesson reminders | Yes | Email and push, no texts |
| Multi-instructor / school mode | Focused on solo — no bloat | Yes |
A note on fairness. We build Lesson Diary, and it is one of the tools on this page — so read the comparison with that in mind. Every rival figure was checked on 21 October 2026 against each company’s own website. Prices and plans change; if you spot something out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it.
Sources: Orbit
Where Orbit is stronger
- Free for instructors, with no subscription and no card
- Pupils pay at booking, and late-cancellation fees are charged to a saved card
- A pupil marketplace that charges a one-off £30 per new pupil it sends you
- AI lesson debriefs written from a voice note
Why instructors move to Lesson Diary
- We never touch your lesson money — no percentage, no platform fee, ever
- One plan: online booking, the coverage-area map, mock tests and the pupil portal are all in it
- A booking page that looks like your business — your colours, logo and wording, with your reviews, pass photos and badges
- Record the GPS route of every lesson from the app, share the map with your pupil and add the miles to your mileage log
- Native iPhone and Android apps, not just a mobile website
- Works with no signal — add a lesson, pupil or payment offline and it syncs the moment you reconnect
- DL25-style mock tests marked the way the DVSA marks them — live pass or fail
- Sell a block of lessons upfront and we track the balance for you as pupils book
- Income, expenses and profit sorted by tax year and MTD quarter, with mileage worked out at the HMRC rate — no spreadsheet
- Free data migration — send us the export from your current app and we move your records across
- Export your pupils, lessons and payments whenever you want — the data stays yours
Free to you because your pupils pay instead: the greater of £2.99 or 4% is added to each card booking, so a £40 lesson costs the pupil £42.99. The iPhone app is not out yet, no offline mode or GPS route recording is listed, and Making Tax Digital submission still waits on HMRC approval. The company behind it was set up in June 2026.
Common questions
Can I switch from Orbit to Lesson Diary?
Yes, and moving your data is free: send us the export from Orbit and we move your records across for you. Create a free account, no card required. Subscribe whenever you're ready to unlock online booking and share your booking link. You can run both side by side while you decide — there is no contract to end.
Does Lesson Diary take a percentage of my lesson fees?
No. Lesson Diary never handles pupil payments, so there is no percentage and no platform fee. You record who has paid — cash, card or bank transfer — and keep every penny.
Can pupils pay in-app?
Not through Lesson Diary — and that's deliberate. Most solo instructors already collect fees by bank transfer, which is free, so we default new payment records to bank transfer rather than push you toward in-app card processing and the 1.5–1.9% fee that usually comes with it.
What does Orbit do that Lesson Diary does not?
Mainly: free for instructors, with no subscription and no card. The table above shows the full picture on both sides.
Still weighing it up? See all Orbit alternatives →
Free to you should not mean dearer for your pupils
Lesson Diary adds no booking fee to your pupils’ lessons. Native iPhone and Android apps, offline working, GPS route recording and DL25 mock tests — one plan at £9.99 a month. No credit card required to try it.
