Hoist is cloud-based workshop-management software built specifically for New Zealand automotive businesses. It brings job cards, vehicle and customer records, invoicing, payments and reminders into one system, accessible from a phone, tablet or desktop, and works alongside Xero for accounting and Carjam for vehicle lookups.
The platform serves a wide range of workshop types, from general repairers and WoF stations to tyre shops, fleet operators, mobile mechanics, and specialists in diesel, hybrid, EV, transmission and marine work. It’s priced at $140 a month plus GST for three users, and offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required to start.
Auto Channel asked the team at Hoist how the platform came about, what sets it apart, and where it is headed next.
Auto Channel: Tell us about the people behind Hoist. What are your respective backgrounds, and how did your experience in technology, business, and the automotive sector shape the product you’re building?
Alex is a self-proclaimed nerd with a background in software engineering for the defence force and medical sectors, work that demanded precision and reliability, which carried straight over into how he approaches Hoist. When he’s not coding, you’ll find him off-roading, usually covered in mud by the end of it. When we first started dating, we skipped the romance and jumped straight to his garage to engine-swap his Patrol. Jess has a background in healthcare and admin: two very different worlds, but both taught us the same thing: good systems make good businesses. That’s the lens we bring to Hoist.
What convinced you there was room for another workshop-management platform in New Zealand? What were you hearing from mechanics and workshop owners about the shortcomings of existing systems that made you think, ‘We can do this better’?
Before Hoist, we had a side hustle hosting websites for friends in the automotive industry. Through those conversations, we kept hearing how few options were built specifically for how Kiwi workshops actually operate. Curious, Alex started researching and began building Hoist after work as a personal project. Word spread, and emails started coming in, one after another, from workshop owners who saw the same gap. That’s when we realised Hoist had real potential. Earlier this year, we both took the leap to pursue Hoist full time, and since then we’ve developed so much passion and drive for helping Kiwi workshop owners who’ve taken that same leap themselves.
Hoist is entering a market with established workshop-software providers already serving New Zealand. What is your genuine point of difference? Beyond being newer or easier to use, what can a workshop do with Hoist that it can’t do as effectively with the alternatives?
We had a lot planned for Hoist, but first we had to lay the foundation, and that meant not just building something that looked like what’s already out there, but something genuinely better and worth moving across to.
That came from countless hours of conversations with workshop owners and techs, battle-testing different ways of doing the same things until we cracked it. Deferred work is one example: a customer declines something on the day, and instead of it becoming a note nobody sees again, it stays against the vehicle, priced and ready to go, so it’s front of mind next time they’re in. That means more jobs out the door. Custom reminders are another; you can set one for anything you want. And our online bookings can confirm themselves, which means less admin.
We’re also competitively priced with full feature access, so you’re getting premium software without paying extra to unlock the parts you actually need. What’s great is we’re only just getting started. There are some things in the pipeline we can’t share yet, but they’ll build directly on this foundation, and we think they’ll be a genuine step change for the industry.
You’ve taken a deliberately NZ-focused approach, including integrations such as Carjam and Xero, and support for the way Kiwi workshops operate. How important is that local focus to your strategy? And do you see Hoist remaining primarily a New Zealand product, or is there international ambition?
We’re a homegrown Kiwi company, and our main goal is to serve Aotearoa first. For years, the software available to workshops here was built for someone else’s market first: different compliance requirements, different customer behaviour, different tools. Our mission is to help Kiwi owners make a real difference, in their own business and in New Zealand’s economy. Expanding overseas is something we’ve considered, but for now our focus stays firmly at home, making sure Kiwi businesses are served properly.
For a busy workshop owner, the big question is: ‘What’s in it for me?’ Where do you believe Hoist can deliver the biggest practical gains — saving admin time, improving technician productivity, increasing bay utilisation, lifting margins, improving customer retention, or something else?
Saving time is a good start, but it’s not where the real upside is. The bigger opportunity sits in the data a workshop’s system is already collecting every day: every job, every declined repair, every customer who hasn’t been back in eighteen months. It’s all there; it just never gets turned into anything an owner can act on.
That’s what we’re building toward. Beyond the basic functionality of workshop software, our mission is to put that data to work for owners, so they get a real read on their business and can make decisions on numbers instead of gut feel. We researched the automotive industry extensively — owners, technicians, and their customers — and paired that with what’s already sitting in a workshop’s own system. That’s where we think owners will see the biggest difference in customer satisfaction, job optimisation, and revenue growth.
Switching workshop-management systems can be a major headache. How have you approached migration and onboarding, and what would you say to a workshop owner who is interested in Hoist but reluctant to disrupt a system they’ve used for years?
We get it — changing systems you’ve relied on for years brings real uncertainty. So we’ve taken a hands-on approach: free data migration, live demos and training, and an open-door policy. Our support is local too, and usually responds within minutes, so we do everything we can to make the transition smooth. We’re also proud to partner with Blackfern, which shares our mission of supporting Kiwis. To make things more exciting, any Blackfern member who signs up with Hoist in October is entered into the draw for 10,000 Blackfern points.
You’re still early in the company’s journey. What’s next for Hoist? Which capabilities, integrations, or developments are you prioritising over the next 12–24 months?
In a way, we’re lucky to be at this stage. We get to start with a blank canvas and reinvent software for the future of automotive workshops. Our team is lean and energetic, which means we move fast and keep improving continuously. Our mobile app launches this month, alongside partnerships with major New Zealand suppliers and some new technologies we’re genuinely excited about. Hoist is a real passion for us, and the industry keeps evolving, so we don’t think it’ll ever be ‘finished’. We’ll keep listening to workshops and building what they need next.
Finally, what do you think the automotive workshop of the future looks like, and what role do you want Hoist to play in getting New Zealand’s independent repairers there?
It’s hard to predict exactly what the sector looks like in ten years, but for us it’s about giving workshops the tools to be resilient for whatever comes. As the next generation of techs comes through, digital is more native to how they work, so we expect to see less paper and more automation over time. For now, though, we’ve left that choice up to workshops and support both digital and paper job cards.
For a free trial, visit hoist.nz
