Comparison · checked 8 November 2026
BayAutomate vs Meckly
Meckly is a Melbourne-built workshop platform with a customer portal for bookings and quote approval, a staff app for time tracking, rostering and leave, fleet tools, Stripe card payments, SparesIN parts ordering, stock reorder triggers and 37+ reports. BayAutomate covers the core workshop flow and focuses on automating each handoff, from inspection to quote to parts, supplier bill, invoice and follow-up. It is in early access, so where Meckly has live integrations or a longer track record, we say so below.
Early access: BayAutomate is onboarding Australian workshops now. Anything marked Coming soon or Planned isn't available yet. Everything else is included on every plan.
| Area | Meckly from the vendor's public pages, checked 8 November 2026 | BayAutomate |
|---|---|---|
| Booking diary and online bookings | Yes: customer portal bookings | IncludedTechnician and bay diary, service durations, clash warnings, online booking requests, booking to job with no retyping. |
| Digital inspections with photos | Not publicly confirmed | IncludedPhone inspections with photos, measurements and traffic-light findings that turn straight into quote lines. |
| Inspection findings become quote lines | Not publicly confirmed | IncludedPhone inspections with photos, measurements and traffic-light findings that turn straight into quote lines. |
| Online quote approval, line by line | Quote approval in customer portal | IncludedQuote lines with margin shown, a secure link for the customer, line-by-line approval, declined work kept for later. |
| Approved work reserves stock and drafts POs | Reorder triggers | IncludedApproved work reserves stock and drafts purchase orders for shortfalls. Partial receipts and backorders tracked. |
| Supplier invoice capture and PO matching | Not publicly confirmed | IncludedBills and credit notes read by AI, matched to purchase orders and deliveries, duplicates blocked, price changes held. Review, automatic-draft or autopilot mode. |
| Actual job cost (FIFO parts + loaded labour) | Profit and loss and wages reports | IncludedQuoted vs committed vs actual cost per job, using real receipt costs and each technician's loaded labour rate. |
| Customer timeline / CRM | Customer portal and records | IncludedEvery booking, quote, approval, job, invoice, payment, message and note on one customer and vehicle history. |
| Follow-ups, win-back and campaigns | SMS (included allowance) | IncludedService reminders, quote chasing, declined-work follow-ups, win-back journeys, campaigns and attribution. Real SMS/email delivery is coming soon (see Email and SMS). |
| Warranty and comeback tracking | Not publicly confirmed | IncludedComebacks linked to the original job, true cost of $0 warranty work, supplier warranty claims. |
| Trade accounts, credit holds, statements | Fleet service planning | IncludedCredit limits, automatic credit holds with owner override, oldest-first payment allocation, monthly statements, account portal. |
| Counter sales / POS | Not publicly confirmed | IncludedBarcode counter sales, split payments, refunds and end-of-day cash-up. Card payments are taken on your own EFTPOS terminal. |
| Accounting integration | Yes: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks | Coming soonQueued, retry-safe posting of invoices and payments is built and tested against the Xero sandbox. Not yet connected to live Xero files. |
| Parts supplier ordering | Yes: SparesIN | PlannedAwaiting provider agreements. No partnership exists today. Purchase orders are prepared inside BayAutomate. |
| Online card payments | Yes: Stripe (card, Apple Pay, Google Pay) | PlannedPay-by-link for invoices. Today BayAutomate records payments you take on your own terminal. |
| Data migration | Import available for a small fee | IncludedFree with a 6-month subscription. Scope confirmed from what your current software can export. |
| Published pricing | Published launch pricing: Small $89, Medium $169, Large $259 per month + GST, unlimited users, with included SMS. Legacy data import has a small fee. | $79 / $129 / $179 per month + GST. Every feature on every plan. Pricing |
| Market maturity | Live with workshops | Early access |
Where Meckly is stronger today
- Live Stripe payments and SparesIN ordering.
- Rostering and leave in the staff app, and a 30-day free trial.
- Published pricing with unlimited users.
Where BayAutomate goes further
- Inspection findings that become quote lines.
- Approved work reserving stock and drafting POs, plus supplier bill matching.
- Automated win-back, declined-work and quote-chaser journeys.
- Migration free (not a fee) with a 6-month subscription.
Sources: meckly.com/, meckly.com/workshop-software-pricing (checked 8 November 2026). "Not publicly confirmed" means we couldn't find it on their public pages, not that it is missing. Meckly is a trademark of its owner. BayAutomate is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meckly. Corrections welcome via our contact page.
Questions
Is BayAutomate cheaper than Meckly?
BayAutomate is $79, $129 or $179 per month + GST, with every feature on every plan. Published launch pricing: Small $89, Medium $169, Large $259 per month + GST, unlimited users, with included SMS. Legacy data import has a small fee.
Can I move from Meckly to BayAutomate?
Yes. Data migration is free with a 6-month subscription, with the scope confirmed from your export.