Guide
Are Free Driving Instructor Apps Really Free?
“Free” driving instructor software is rarely free of cost — it usually means a percentage of every lesson payment, paid pupil referrals, or a trial that ends. This guide works through what free actually costs — subscriptions, transaction fees, plan limits and trials — and when a paid app works out cheaper.
Last updated: 27 August 2026
The shortlist
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1. Lesson Diary
£9.99/moFlat fee, and £0 taken from your lesson money — the sums are simple.
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2. DriveSchoolPro
Free until 31 Mar 2027, ~£22/mo expected afterGenuinely free for now, while it is in early access.
Lesson Diary vs DriveSchoolPro → -
3. GoRoadie Pro
£15/mo (free for PDIs)Free trial is long, but app payments cost 1.9% after.
Lesson Diary vs GoRoadie Pro → -
4. Passly
£14.99/mo, drops to £8.99 laterLow headline price, but 1.5% of app payments on top.
Lesson Diary vs Passly → -
5. Total Drive
£18–£26/mo (4 tiers)Paid tiers, with a card fee revealed at sign-up.
Lesson Diary vs Total Drive → -
6. MyDriveTime
£19/mo solo (free for PDIs)Paid, but free for trainee PDIs until they qualify.
Lesson Diary vs MyDriveTime →
The sums
What a transaction fee costs on a full diary
Take an instructor teaching 100 lessons a month at £35 — £3,500 of lesson money. A 1.5% platform fee on all of it is £52.50 a month; at 1.9% it is £66.50. A flat monthly subscription is cheaper than a 0.3% fee at that volume.
Free usually means the money comes from somewhere
Software that is free at the point of use is usually paid for by the lesson money that runs through it, by per-pupil referral charges, or by a trial that ends. Those costs scale with how busy you are; a flat fee does not.
The cost of a missed lesson
A single forgotten lesson is an hour you cannot sell twice. At £35 an hour, a couple of no-shows a month can cost more than a paid app — before you count the admin time.
Compare the shortlist
The rows that decide this question. For the full feature-by-feature matrix, compare all driving instructor software.
| Lesson Diary | DriveSchoolPro | GoRoadie Pro | Passly | Total Drive | MyDriveTime | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price & terms | ||||||
| Monthly price | £9.99/mo | Free until 31 Mar 2027, ~£22/mo expected after | £15/mo (free for PDIs) | £14.99/mo, drops to £8.99 later | £18–£26/mo (4 tiers) | £19/mo solo (free for PDIs) |
| Free trial | Comes with a 14-day free trial, but you can start free with limited access instead — no card, no commitment | Free early access, then a 14-day trial | 60-day free trial | 14-day free trial | 30-day free trial | 30-day trial + 6-month money-back |
| Cut of your lesson money | £0 — we never handle pupil payments | Stripe fees only, no platform cut | 1.9% on app-raised payments | 1.5% flat + Stripe fees | Card fee set at sign-up, not published | No card processing in the app |
| Everything on one plan | Yes | Solo plan; per-instructor add-on for schools | Yes | Yes | No | Per-instructor discounts for schools |
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 27 August 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: DriveSchoolPro, GoRoadie Pro, Passly, Total Drive, MyDriveTime
Flat fee. £0 taken from your lessons.
No percentage, no per-pupil charge — just £9.99 a month, and the sums stay simple. No credit card required to try it.
