Compare · Total Drive
Roadworthy vs Total Drive
Looking at Roadworthy as a Total Drive alternative? Here's the comparison written the way we'd want to read it if we were choosing — the prices, the features side by side, and an honest list of what Total Drive does that we don't. Every claim about them comes from their own published pages, checked on 3 September 2026.
The short answer
They overlap heavily. Both do the diary, pupil progress, payments and a free app for your pupils, and if Total Drive is working for you, nothing below is worth switching for on its own.
Roadworthy is built around the driving between lessons — your day ordered by pickup, a warning when two lessons are too far apart to make in time, and every free slot ranked by how little driving it adds before you accept the booking. Total Drive doesn't advertise anything like it, and we're the only one of the two that runs on CarPlay.
The honest catch: we're iPhone-only today, we're newer, and our free trial is 30 days against their 30 days.
Price, head to head
Per instructor, as published on 3 September 2026.
Roadworthy
£13.99/month
or £139.99/year · 30-day free trial
One price, every feature. We take no cut of your lesson payments — the card fee is added to the pupil's checkout, so you receive the full lesson price.
Total Drive
£18–£26/month
inc. VAT · four tiers · 30-day free trial
The most established system in the UK, and the deepest: four tiers from £18 to £26 a month, a pupil app in your own branding, an enquiry manager and 36 animated teaching scenarios.
Why an instructor moves from Total Drive
Four differences, all of them things you can check on both sites rather than take our word for.
Online booking is included, not a tier up
Total Drive puts online booking on the £23 Ultimate tier. On Roadworthy every feature is in the one £13.99 price, booking included.
The driving between lessons
Your day ordered by pickup, a warning when two lessons are too far apart to make in time, and every free slot ranked by how little driving it adds. Total Drive does not advertise anything like it.
It is in the car with you
Roadworthy runs on CarPlay — next pickup, live countdown, the pupil brief and one-tap navigation on the car's own screen. Total Drive does not advertise CarPlay.
You keep the whole lesson price
Payments settle to your own Stripe account and the card fee is added to the pupil's checkout, so you receive the full amount. Total Drive does not publish who absorbs the card fee.
Feature by feature
“Not advertised” means exactly that — we could not find it stated on their own site or App Store listing on 3 September 2026. It is not a claim that the feature is missing. If we've got something wrong, tell us and we'll correct it.
| Feature | Roadworthy | Total Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Running the day | ||
| Diary with recurring lessons, availability and time off | Yes | Yes |
| Filling a cancelled slot | Yes Ranked pupil list + one-tap offer | Yes “Lesson Gaps”, plus “Gaps Plus” on higher tiers |
| Day ordered by pickup location, on a map | Yes | No Not advertised |
| Warning when two lessons are too far apart to make in time | Yes | No Not advertised |
| Free slots ranked by how little driving they add | Yes “+4 min · best value” at the moment of booking | No Not advertised |
| Lesson route planning (your own training routes) | Yes Saved routes with map builder and skill tags | Yes Draw on satellite roads |
| CarPlay | Yes Next pickup, countdown, tight-leg warning, one-tap navigation | No Not advertised |
| Calendar sync | Partly Apple Calendar — writes lessons out, reads your commitments in for clash warnings | Yes Google Calendar and Apple iCal |
| Pupils and money | ||
| Free app for pupils | Yes Roadworthy Student — separate free app | Yes Branded with your school name, logo and colours |
| Online booking page for new pupils | Yes Included at the one price | Yes On the £23 Ultimate tier and above |
| Take card payments | Yes Straight to your own Stripe account | Yes Listed as a feature |
| Who pays the card fee | The pupil — you receive the full lesson price | Not published |
| DVSA syllabus progress and test readiness | Yes | Yes |
| Pupil-written reflective logs | No | Yes |
| Prepaid blocks of hours, drawn down automatically | Yes | Partly Payments and balances tracked; block drawdown not advertised |
| Lesson and payment reminders | Partly Free through your own Messages or Mail; automated SMS costs credits | Yes Advertised as free |
| Two-way chat with pupils inside the app | No You message from your own phone instead | Partly Not advertised as chat |
| Running the business | ||
| Income, expenses and what you actually netted | Yes Weekly and monthly, with CSV export | Yes Income, expenses and bookkeeping |
| Mileage log for tax | Yes | Yes Business and personal, MTD-ready |
| Multi-instructor school view | Yes Per instructor or the whole school | Yes Multi-car schools |
| Enquiry manager for new leads | No | Yes |
| Teaching aids (3D or animated scenarios) | No | Yes 36 scenarios, on Pro and Elite |
| Test centre pass-rate statistics | No | Partly Not advertised |
| Website builder for your school | No We list you in our directory instead | Partly Not advertised |
| AI assistant | Partly Voice notes: dictate a lesson and it writes it up and ticks the DVSA skills | No Not advertised |
| Practicalities | ||
| iPhone | Yes | Yes |
| Android | No In closed testing — not on Google Play yet | Yes |
| Free trial | 30 days | 30 days |
| How long it has been around | Launched 2026 — the newest of the three | Years; the most established in the UK |
Weighing up all three? Roadworthy vs Total Drive vs Pedal →
What Total Drive does that we don't
You searched for them, so you may already be using them — you'd spot a page that only listed our wins. Here are the honest reasons to stay where you are.
Stay on Total Drive if…
- Your branding in front of pupils. Their pupil app carries your school name, logo and colours. Ours is called Roadworthy Student and looks like ours, not yours.
- Google Calendar. They sync both Google and Apple. We only talk to Apple Calendar.
- Teaching aids. 36 animated scenarios plus on-screen road diagrams you can draw on. We have nothing like it.
- Reminders sent for you, free. Theirs are advertised as free. Ours are free when they go from your own phone, but automated SMS runs on credits.
- An enquiry manager. For new leads coming in. We do not have one.
- The safe choice. They have been at this for years and are the most used system in the industry. That is a real reason and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
And the two things we'd want you to know before you trust us
- We're iPhone-only right now. The Android app is built and in closed testing, but it isn't on Google Play yet. If your phone is Android, Roadworthy isn't ready for you.
- We're new. Fewer instructors, less road behind us, and a shorter list of things that have already been found and fixed. What you get in exchange is that we answer the emails ourselves and things you ask for tend to appear.
What we do that Total Drive doesn't advertise
One thing, really — and it's the reason Roadworthy exists. Your constraint isn't teaching hours, it's the dead miles between them.
The day ordered by pickup
Every pupil's pickup on a map, the day ordered for the shortest drive from your base, and the total distance. How it works →
Booking the cheapest slot
Every free time ranked by the extra driving it would add — so the bad detour never gets booked in the first place. How it works →
It's in the car with you
Next pickup, live countdown, the pupil brief and one-tap navigation on the car's own screen. How it works →
Already on Total Drive? Send us your export and we'll put your pupils and diary into Roadworthy by hand — trying it doesn't mean typing everyone in twice.
Frequently asked questions
Is Roadworthy a good Total Drive alternative?
It depends what you want from it. Roadworthy costs £13.99/month with every feature included, and it is the only one of the two built around the driving between lessons — your day ordered by pickup, tight-leg warnings, and free slots ranked by how little driving they add, plus CarPlay. But we are iPhone-only, we are newer than Total Drive, and our free trial is 30 days against their 30 days. The full list of what Total Drive does better is on this page.
How much does Total Drive cost compared with Roadworthy?
Total Drive is £18–£26/month (inc. VAT · four tiers · 30-day free trial). Roadworthy is £13.99/month or £139.99/year with every feature included and a 30-day free trial. Prices checked on 3 September 2026.
Can I move my pupils across from Total Drive?
Yes. Send us an export from Total Drive and we will import your pupils and diary into Roadworthy by hand, so trying it does not mean typing everyone in twice. There is a page for it at rwapp.co/import.
Do you take a cut of my lesson payments?
No. Payments settle to your own Stripe account and you are the merchant of record. The card fee is added to the pupil's checkout as a booking fee, so you receive the full lesson price. Our only charge is the subscription.
Does Roadworthy work on Android?
Not yet. The Android app is built and in closed testing, but it is not on Google Play. If you teach on an Android phone, Roadworthy is not ready for you.
Is this comparison fair?
Every claim about Total Drive comes from their own public pricing pages, feature pages and App Store listing, checked on 3 September 2026. Where we could not verify something we say "not advertised" rather than "no". If something here is wrong or out of date, email us and we will fix it — including if the fix makes them look better.
Try it on your own diary
Every feature is included in one subscription — £13.99/month after a 30-day free trial. No card commission, no per-booking charges.
Download on the App StoreOn Android? It's coming soon — join the list →