What do UK dealer management systems actually charge?
Three vendors publish a price list. Shown including VAT at 20% (Cardealer5 and MotorDesk advertise before VAT): Cardealer5 runs from £52.80 a month for a website to £132 for a website with its DMS, with a £132 setup fee on the top package. MotorDesk runs from £94.80 a month for 5 cars for sale to £1,618.80 for 350, with vehicle data, valuations, image clean-up and messaging charged per use unless you advertise on AutoTrader. DealerSoftware runs from £99 to £299 a month for dealers and £99 for workshops, VAT included in the price shown. Click Dealer and Dragon2000 do not publish prices.
| Vendor | Entry price | Top published price | What moves you up a tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| DealerSoftware | £99 a month | £299 a month | Stock capacity (10, 20, 30 cars), users, AI tools |
| Cardealer5 | £52.80 a month | £132 a month plus a £132 setup fee | Website features, then the DMS |
| MotorDesk | £94.80 a month (5 cars) | £1,618.80 a month (350 cars) | Vehicles for sale and staff accounts, plus per-use data charges |
| Click Dealer | Not published | Not published | Bundled quote |
| Dragon2000 | Not published | Not published | Quote after a demo |
Each vendor is compared in more detail on the comparison pages.
What decides the price?
Four things, in rough order of weight:
- Stock size. Most systems tier by how many cars you hold or publish. Check which: a system that counts published cars lets you keep prep stock free; one that counts all stock does not.
- Users. One or two seats are included; extra staff usually cost £15 to £25 a month each. DealerSoftware charges £20.
- What is bundled. Website, marketplace feeds, finance integrations, a workshop module and AI tools are each either included or an add-on. The add-ons are where a £79 headline becomes £200.
- Contract and setup. Rolling monthly with no setup fee is cheaper over a year than a lower monthly price with a 12-month term and a setup charge, if there is any chance you will change your mind.
What is usually extra?
- AutoTrader itself. The advertising package is a separate AutoTrader contract on every system; software only moves your stock into it.
- Valuation data such as DealerPricing, cap hpi or Glass's. These are their own subscriptions. DealerPricing is from £70 a month and plugs into DealerSoftware; see our DealerPricing page.
- Finance and history-check providers (iVendi, Codeweavers, HPI) charge per deal or per check.
- Payment processing: Stripe takes its usual card fee on deposits and reservations.
- Custom domains and email hosting, on some systems. DealerSoftware includes the custom domain with SSL.
What should a 10, 30 or 100-car dealer budget?
| Up to 10 cars, one person | £53 to £100. DealerSoftware Website plan: £99 with website, leads and feeds. |
|---|---|
| 10 to 30 cars, two to five staff | £150 to £300. DealerSoftware Professional £199 or Premium £299, plus £20 a user beyond the included seats. |
| 30 to 100 cars, a sales team | Expect a bundled quote from the larger vendors. DealerSoftware: Premium plus extra vehicle packs, and the Workshop module at £99 if you service cars. |
| Workshop or garage only | Around £50 to £150. DealerSoftware Workshop plan: £99 with jobs, parts, online bookings and a website. |
Is a free trial really free?
Read the small print on the card. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial. Your card is taken at signup and the first charge is on day 15; cancel before then and you pay nothing. That is the same model as most software: you will not be charged if you cancel inside the trial, and you will be if you forget. Dragon2000 advertises a 30-day trial with no card; Cardealer5 and Click Dealer do not advertise a trial.
How do I keep the cost down?
- Pick the tier by the cars you actually publish, not the cars you hope to hold next year. Move up when you need to; rolling plans make that a click.
- Count the add-ons before you compare headline prices. Feeds, a website and a workshop module can be worth £100 a month on their own.
- Prefer rolling monthly with data export. The cheapest system is the one you can leave.
- Ask what happens when you stop paying. DealerSoftware keeps your public website live and drops your account to read-only for 7 days if a payment fails, so a card problem does not take your forecourt offline.