Free tool
What a payment fee really costs you
See the yearly cost of an app taking a percentage of every lesson.
Some driving instructor apps take a cut of every payment you collect through them — 1.5%, 1.9%, sometimes far more. Enter your lesson numbers to see what that adds up to over a year.
That payment fee costs you
—
about — a month, on — of lesson payments run through the app.
- Percentage fee, per year
- —
- Lesson Diary subscription (12 months)
- £119.88
- Difference
- —
How this is worked out
Annual turnover through the app = lessons per week × working weeks × average lesson fee. This is the money that passes through the payment system, not your profit.
Percentage cost = that turnover × the fee rate. A card processor’s own fees (typically around 1.4% + 20p) usually sit on top of any platform percentage.
The comparison line puts that against Lesson Diary’s flat £9.99 a month (£119.88 a year), which does not change with your turnover because Lesson Diary never touches the payment.
Common questions
- Where do these percentages come from?
- Passly publishes a flat 1.5% on lesson payments taken through its app; GoRoadie publishes 1.9% on app-raised payments. Both also pass on Stripe’s card fees. Use the custom field for any other rate.
- Isn’t a percentage fairer than a flat fee?
- It depends on your turnover. A percentage costs nothing in a quiet month but scales up as you get busier — exactly when you least want a bigger bill. A flat monthly fee is the same whether you teach 10 lessons or 40.
- Does Lesson Diary take a percentage?
- No. Lesson Diary never handles pupil payments — you record who has paid and who owes you, and the money goes straight to you. The only charge is the flat £9.99 monthly subscription.
Estimate only. Percentages are each provider’s published rate for payments taken through their app and exclude the card processor’s own fees. Check current pricing on each provider’s website.
Do the maths once a year, not every lesson
Lesson Diary keeps your lesson income and expenses logged all year and exports them ready for your Self Assessment. It never takes a cut of your lesson money — a flat £9.99 a month, free for 7 days.