Comparison
Passly vs Driving Instructor Services
Driving Instructor Services (DIS) pairs diary software with a human call-answering bureau. Passly makes the calls unnecessary: pupils book, pay and manage lessons themselves online. Two very different answers to the same admin problem, compared honestly below.
The quick verdict
Passly puts the whole job (online booking, card payments at a flat, published 1.5%, messaging, progress tracking and lesson gap filling) on one £14.99 plan, where DIS's stacked packages can reach £149 a month. Even if a person answering your phone in your trade name appeals, most of those calls stop coming once pupils can book, pay and rebook themselves.
| Feature | Passly | Driving Instructor Services |
|---|---|---|
| Diary & calendar | ||
| Online diary on web and mobile app | Yes | Yes (app from £12/mo tier) |
| Recurring lessons (weekly / fortnightly) | Yes | Not advertised |
| Working hours & unavailability | Yes | Yes |
| Double-booking / clash detection | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar feed to Google & Apple Calendar | Yes | Not advertised |
| Pick-up & drop-off locations | Yes | Not advertised |
| Lesson gap filling (offer empty slots to pupils) | Yes | — |
| Offline mode | — | Yes (app) |
| Human call answering | ||
| Calls answered in your trade name | — | Yes, £75/mo, 100 calls |
| Operators book lessons into your diary | — | Yes |
| Out-of-hours voicemail & callback alerts | — | Yes |
| Online booking & growing your diary | ||
| Pupils book online from your real availability | Yes, on every plan | Website Package 2, £65/mo |
| Embeddable booking widget for your own website | Yes | Website plug-in available |
| Free marketplace listing & public profile | Yes | — |
| Leads / enquiry inbox | Yes | Via call operators |
| Done-for-you instructor website (optional) | From £29/mo | £30 to £65/mo packages |
| Pupil records & progress | ||
| Pupil records, notes & full lesson history | Yes | Yes |
| Unlimited pupils on every plan | Yes | Yes |
| Syllabus progress tracking | Yes | Yes, lesson scoring |
| Live progress record shared with the pupil | Yes | Pupil login on £65/mo package |
| Driving test & theory test tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Reflective logs | — | Yes |
| Digital terms & conditions signing | — | Not advertised |
| Waiting list | — | Yes (multi-car & full packages) |
| CSV export of your data, any time, free | Yes | Export to tax software |
| Pupil app & portal | ||
| Free pupil portal / app | Web portal, no download, every plan | MyDrivingHub app / £65/mo pupil login |
| Pupils see lessons, progress & balances | Yes | On higher packages |
| Pupils book & manage lessons themselves | Yes | On higher packages |
| Messaging & reminders | ||
| In-app messaging with pupils | Yes | Yes, messaging centre |
| Automatic lesson reminders (included free) | Yes, email, in-app & push, every plan | SMS on £25/mo tier and up |
| SMS text reminders | — | Included from £25/mo tier |
| Lesson change / cancellation alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic payment reminders | Yes | Outstanding balance alerts |
| Payments & finances | ||
| In-app card payments from pupils | Yes, Stripe | Phone payments via operators, extra cost |
| Commission on your lesson money | 1.5% flat, published, plus standard Stripe fees | Card handling charged extra per month |
| Prepaid lesson credits & packages | Yes | Yes, product sales & balances |
| Discounts, coupons & block-booking pricing | Yes | Not advertised |
| Income & expense tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Mileage tracking | Yes | Not advertised |
| Profit & loss and financial reports | Yes | Yes |
| CSV export for your accountant | Yes | Yes |
| Driving schools & multi-instructor | ||
| Multi-instructor diaries & management | Yes | Yes, from £95/mo |
| School-wide takings & finances | Yes | Yes |
| Allocate pupils to instructors | Yes | Yes, rotations & prioritisation |
| Role-based access (instructor finances private) | Yes | Not advertised |
| Per-instructor price | £14.99 flat | £95 base + £15 per instructor |
| Pricing & contract | ||
| Monthly price (one instructor) | £14.99, one plan, everything included | £12 to £149 depending on package |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days (app) |
| Cancel any time, self-serve | Yes | 7 days' notice, ends at month-end |
| Fees refundable | No lock-in to refund | No refunds mid-month per licence |
Comparison based on publicly available information from drivinginstructorservices.com, app store listings and DIS's licence agreement, checked July 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Where DIS shines
DIS has been in driver training for over 40 years, and its call bureau is a real differentiator: trained operators answer in your school's name from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, book lessons straight into your live diary and filter out the sales calls. For a busy multi-car school that runs on phone bookings, that human layer is hard to replicate with software.
The trade-off is price and structure: the pieces are sold as separate packages, so a sole trader wanting the diary, text reminders, a website with pupil logins and the call service is looking at £149 a month, and the pupil-facing features only arrive on the dearer tiers.
Where Passly is different
Passly's bet is that most of those calls shouldn't exist. Pupils book real slots from your live availability, pay by card in-app, get automatic confirmations and reminders, and message you when something genuinely needs you. The admin a bureau would handle simply doesn't happen.
Everything is on one £14.99 plan: booking widget, marketplace profile, Stripe payments at a flat, published 1.5%, credits and discounts, progress tracking, and full multi-instructor school features at a flat per-seat price rather than a £95 base fee.
Passly vs DIS: your questions
How is Passly different from Driving Instructor Services?
DIS is really two businesses: diary software and a human call-answering bureau that picks up the phone in your school's name. If you want real people taking your calls, that's their genuine specialty and Passly doesn't offer it. Passly's approach is to remove the calls instead: pupils book, pay, message and check progress themselves online, so the admin never lands on anyone's desk.
Is Passly cheaper than DIS?
For like-for-like software, yes. Passly is £14.99 a month with online booking, payments, the pupil portal, reminders and reports all included. DIS's comparable software packages run £12 for the basic diary, £25 to add text reminders and reports, and £65 for the website package with pupil logins and online booking, features Passly includes on its single plan. DIS's full package with call answering is £149 a month.
What does DIS have that Passly doesn't?
The call-answering service is the big one: no software company replaces a human answering your phone from 8am to 8pm. DIS also offers SMS text reminders (included from the £25 tier), an offline app mode, waiting lists on multi-car packages, and extras like franchise documentation and instructor training. Passly's reminders are email, in-app and push rather than SMS.
Can I switch from DIS to Passly?
Yes. Start the free 14-day trial, bring your pupils across (we'll help with your export), and share your portal link with learners. DIS has no minimum contract either (they need 7 days' notice before month-end), so you can trial Passly alongside it without being locked in.
Try it yourself
Less phone admin, more teaching
14 days free, no card required, £14.99 a month after, with online booking and payments included so the phone stops ringing.