Comparison

Orbit vs Total Drive

Total Drive is a solid calendar app. Orbit does that too - plus Making Tax Digital records, AI lesson debriefs and lead selling, free for instructors. Here's the full breakdown across 41 features.

At a glance

Free for instructors

Orbit has no subscription for instructors and no card needed to sign up. Learners pay a booking fee (the greater of £2.99 or 4%) on lessons booked or paid online. Total Drive is from £18 per month after its 30-day free trial.

Making Tax Digital built in

Total Drive handles MTD by syncing to separate accounting software. Orbit is built on HMRC's MTD for Income Tax API itself and totals your quarterly updates from your records. Live submissions open once HMRC approves Orbit.

AI lesson debriefs

Record a 30-second voice note, AI generates a structured debrief for your pupil. Total Drive doesn't list AI debriefs on its website.

Lead selling

Get found by learners on the Orbit marketplace, and sell enquiries you can't take to nearby ADIs. A one-time introduction fee applies the first time a marketplace pupil books with you. Total Drive lists its members in its free Jump Leads directory but doesn't advertise lead selling.

Business health dashboard

Monthly health reports, pass rate monitoring, revenue trends. Know exactly how your business is performing.

41 features compared, side by side

Based on publicly available information as of March 2026.

Feature
Orbit
Total Drive
Scheduling & Booking
Lesson diary
Online pupil booking portal
Automated lesson remindersOrbit sends email and push reminders; SMS isn't live yet
Availability windows & working hours
Waiting list managementPupils join when fully booked, notified when slots open. Total Drive also manages waiting lists
Block-out dates for holidays
Payments
Card payments
Pay-at-booking (prepaid lessons)Online bookings are paid by card at booking. Total Drive pupils pay or use existing credit when they book
Each instructor's own payment accountOrbit: your own Stripe account, paid out to your bank. Total Drive: each instructor can set up their own payment processing account
Per-pupil payment balance tracking
Manual payment logging (cash, bank transfer)
Next-business-day payouts
Tax & Compliance
HMRC Making Tax Digital filingOrbit is built on HMRC's MTD for Income Tax API; live submissions open once HMRC approves Orbit. Total Drive syncs your records to QuickBooks, Xero, FreeAgent, Sage or FBTC, which submit to HMRC
Awaiting HMRC approval
Via accounting software
Quarterly return submission to HMRCDirect to HMRC's API, not via a third-party package, once HMRC approves Orbit
Awaiting HMRC approval
Via accounting software
Year-end final declaration
Awaiting HMRC approval
Via accounting software
Income & expense trackingTotal Drive also exports a CSV for your accountant
HMRC expense categories (fuel, insurance, etc.)
Mileage tracking (simplified or actual cost)
Profit & loss summaries
Data export for accountants
Pupil Management
Pupil profiles & contact details
DVSA syllabus trackerTrack every pupil against official DVSA driver's record topics
Competency scoring
Pupil self-service portalOrbit portal is token-based - no password needed
AI lesson debriefs30-second voice note → structured debrief sent to pupil
Test readiness indicatorOrbit: score based on syllabus, grades and consistency. Total Drive shows pupils an overall progress percentage
Theory & practical test date tracking
Import pupils and lessons from other appsOrbit imports a Total Drive export or any CSV. Total Drive's team imports your data for you
Self-serve CSV
Done for you
Teaching Tools
Teaching aids diagram libraryManoeuvres, roundabouts, dual carriageways, crossings, and more
30+ diagrams
DVSA Standards Check preparationTrack all 17 DVSA competencies with scoring trends
PDI training logTrack Part 2 & Part 3 training hours with progress bars
Business Growth
Pupil-finding directoryOrbit: learners search by postcode and book you directly, one-time intro fee per new marketplace pupil. Total Drive: free Jump Leads directory for members
Lead selling & buyingSell excess enquiries to nearby ADIs, or buy verified leads
Pass rate monitoringOrbit: first-time pass rate, average faults, monthly trends. Total Drive: pass rate per instructor for schools
Branding & Customisation
Custom logo & branding on pupil portalOrbit: custom logo, colour, and app name for your booking page. Total Drive: branded pupil app
Branded booking page URLOrbit: orbitdriving.com/book/your-name
Platform & Schools
Android appOrbit is on Google Play and also installs from the browser on any phone
iPhone app
Coming soon
Multi-instructor school management
Enterprise portal with licence keysCentralised billing, school-wide reporting, API access
GDPR data export & account deletion

Information sourced from public websites. We update this page regularly but cannot guarantee third-party accuracy.

Pricing at a glance

Orbit

Freefor instructors

Free for instructors. Schools from £8/seat.

  • Free for instructors, no card needed
  • Pay-at-booking & cancellation fees
  • Making Tax Digital records (HMRC approval in progress)
  • AI lesson debriefs
  • Marketplace & lead selling
  • Business health dashboard
  • Standards Check prep & PDI log
  • Your own Stripe merchant account

Total Drive

From £18/mo

Their published price, checked 7 October 2026. Multi-car discounts.

  • 30-day free trial, no card needed
  • iOS & Android apps
  • 8,600+ instructors (their claim)
  • Income & expense tracking
  • MTD via QuickBooks, Xero, FreeAgent, Sage or FBTC sync
  • Free Jump Leads directory for members
  • Apple CarPlay & Android Auto

What is Total Drive?

Total Drive is a diary and business-management app for UK driving instructors, made by Total Drive Software Ltd. It costs from £18 per month (its published price, checked 7 October 2026) and the company says more than 8,600 instructors use it every week. It is not the totaldrive.com cloud-storage subscription.

Total Drive the driving app vs "Total Drive" cloud storage

Two unrelated products share this name, and a lot of people searching for one find the other. If you've spotted a "Total Drive" charge on your card and you're not a driving instructor, it will relate to the cloud-storage product at totaldrive.com, a separate company with no connection to the driving app (or to us). Cancellation queries for that product belong with totaldrive.com.

Total Drive (driving instructor app)"Total Drive" (cloud storage)
What it isLesson diary and business app for UK driving instructorsPhone cloud-storage subscription
Who makes itTotal Drive Software Ltd, UKAn unrelated company at totaldrive.com

How much does Total Drive cost?

Total Drive costs from £18 per month, with a 30-day free trial, no card details needed, and discounts for multi-car instructors. That's its own published pricing, checked 7 October 2026. Orbit is free for driving instructors, and its Making Tax Digital tools are included free inside the app, built on HMRC's MTD for Income Tax API (live submissions open once HMRC approves Orbit). Total Drive handles MTD by syncing your records to QuickBooks, Xero, FreeAgent, Sage or FBTC, which submit to HMRC, so you need one of those as well, or an accountant working from its CSV export.

Comparing more than these two? We keep the same verified-price treatment for GoRoadie and ADI Network. Orbit pricing is on the pricing page.

Which should you choose?

Choose Orbit if

  • You don't want to pay a monthly subscription for your diary app
  • You want Making Tax Digital records built in, not a separate tool
  • You want AI to handle lesson debriefs in 30 seconds
  • You want to sell excess leads to nearby instructors
  • You want monthly business health reports
  • You want to bring your Total Drive pupils and lessons over yourself from a CSV
  • You're preparing for Standards Check or still a PDI

Choose Total Drive if

  • You want an iPhone app today (Orbit's is coming soon)
  • You want Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in the car
  • Your returns are already filed via QuickBooks or Xero, which Total Drive syncs to
  • You run a multi-car school and want their multi-car discounts
  • You'd like their team to migrate your data for you
  • You're already using it and happy with the workflow
  • You want a large user community (8,600+ instructors, by their own count)

Frequently asked questions

Is Total Drive the same as the Total Drive cloud storage app?

No. Total Drive (totaldrive.co.uk) is a diary and business app for UK driving instructors, made by Total Drive Software Ltd. The 'Total Drive' cloud-storage subscription at totaldrive.com is an unrelated product from a different company. If you're checking an unexpected phone-storage charge, that's the other one.

How much is Total Drive a month?

From £18 per month, per Total Drive's published pricing (checked 7 October 2026), with a 30-day free trial that needs no card and discounts for multi-car instructors. Orbit is free for driving instructors: no subscription, no contract, no card needed, and its Making Tax Digital tools are included. Live HMRC submissions open once HMRC approves Orbit.

What's the best Total Drive alternative?

It depends on what's missing for you. Orbit is the closest like-for-like switch: it's free for instructors, adds Making Tax Digital records built on HMRC's API (live submissions open once HMRC approves Orbit) and AI lesson debriefs, and imports your pupils and lessons from a Total Drive CSV export. GoRoadie Pro and MyDriveTime are also worth a look; see our GoRoadie comparison.

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Already using Total Drive? We can help you migrate your pupil data.