Both run a panel shop from quote to invoice. One is installed on your machines behind a R5 000 setup fee. The other opens in a browser, with a 30-day trial and no card.
PanelDesk is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Dr Smash. Dr Smash (also written Doctor Smash) is a mark of its owner. Everything below is drawn from drsmash.co.za, checked September 2026. If anything here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
What it costs
Dr Smash sells four tiers and adds a once-off R5 000 setup fee to every one of them. PanelDesk has no setup fee, so year one is twelve months and nothing else.
Software cost for the first twelve months, as published in September 2026. Dr Smash totals include the R5 000 setup fee.
Quotes, job cards, invoicing and debtors
Dr Smash
R16 760
Business Essential, R980 a month
PanelDesk
R11 880
Core, R990 a month
You keep R4 880
Plus creditors and final costing
Dr Smash
R22 520
Business Core, R1 460 a month
PanelDesk
R17 880
Operations, R1 490 a month
You keep R4 640
Plus insurer approvals and customer SMS
Dr Smash
R27 200
Business Approved, R1 850 a month
PanelDesk
R17 880
Operations, R1 490 a month
You keep R9 320
Dr Smash prices are as published on drsmash.co.za in September 2026; their site does not say whether VAT is included. PanelDesk plan prices were checked against our public plans in September 2026 and carry no VAT. Billed annually, PanelDesk costs two months less: R9 900 for Core and R14 900 for Operations. SMS messages are charged per message on either side and are not included. What each product includes at these prices differs, so see our pricing page for exactly what you get.
See it on your own jobs
Thirty days free, no card, nothing to install. Run a couple of quotes through PanelDesk alongside Dr Smash and compare for yourself.
Seats and users
Dr Smash counts a seat as one login in use at a time, and the lower tiers come with two. PanelDesk plans include people, each with their own login, all working together.
From drsmash.co.za and their FAQ, and PanelDesk's public plans.
What a seat is
Included
Adding people
Setup fee
Trying it first
The estimator is quoting, the office is invoicing, and the floor manager wants to move a job to the next stage. On a two-seat licence, one of them waits for someone to log off. On PanelDesk, all three are in, on their own logins, and the job updates for everyone at once.
Installed, or in the browser
Dr Smash is installed on your computers over a remote session and says two working days to get you running. PanelDesk is a link you open.
Delivery model as described on drsmash.co.za and their FAQ.
Where it runs
Getting started
Keeping it running
Side by side
A dash means we could not find it stated publicly, not that it is missing. Where PanelDesk does not offer something, the table says so. If we have something wrong here, tell us and we will fix it.
| Feature | Dr Smash | PanelDesk |
|---|---|---|
| Core workshop workflow | ||
| Estimates and quoting | ||
| Job cards | ||
| Final costing | Core tier and up | |
| Invoicing and debtors | ||
| Creditors | Core tier and up | Operations plan and up |
| Parts orders on the job | Core tier and up | |
| Photos and documents on the job | ||
| Production stages board | Workshop floor monitor | Stages you define yourself |
| Staff clocking and timesheets | Time and attendance | Workforce plan, kiosk or NFC |
| Payroll from clocked hours | Payroll module | Gross, overtime, paid leave |
| Insurer and assessment work | ||
| BAMS | Approved tier and up | Operations plan and up |
| Lightstone Auto | Approved tier and up | Operations plan and up |
| AutoMX (Automatrix) | Approved tier and up | Operations plan and up |
| Audatex assessments | Pricing not published | Add-on, R950 a month |
| Talking to customers | ||
| Customer SMS updates | Approved tier and up | Every plan, prepaid, no monthly fee |
| Automatic follow-ups and reminders | Approved tier and up | Operations plan and up |
| Secure quote and invoice links | With view tracking | |
| Online accept or decline on a quote | ||
| WhatsApp send from the job | Opens with message ready | |
| Courtesy car tracking | Approved tier and up | Not offered |
| Accounting and your data | ||
| Sage accounting sync | Sage Accounting, South Africa | |
| Sage Pastel export | Module purchased separately | Not offeredSage cloud sync instead |
| Import your customer list | Free, from a Pastel CSV | |
| Bring your history across | From your export, talk to us | |
| Export everything, any time | ZIP of records and files | |
| How you buy and run it | ||
| Runs in the browser | Installed software, Android app | Installs as an app |
| Prices published online | ||
| Users included in the price | 2 to 4 concurrent seats | 3 to 8 people, by plan |
| Free trial without a card | Demo on request | 30 days |
| Month to month, cancel any time | ||
In fairness
Dr Smash has grown modules over many years that PanelDesk does not have. If your shop depends on one of these, weigh it honestly. If it does not, you would be paying for a tier you will not use.
Paint-system import
Premium tier imports from PPG, BASF, R-M, Glasurit, Axalta, Standox, Spies Hecker and more.
Courtesy car tracking
Approved tier and up. PanelDesk has no courtesy car module.
Tow-in control
Approved tier and up. PanelDesk records towing as a line on the job, not as a separate process.
Consumables and second-hand stock
Core tier and up. PanelDesk tracks parts per job, not a stores ledger.
Employee training and booking-in management
Premium tier. PanelDesk has neither as a module.
Pastel export module
Bought separately. PanelDesk syncs to Sage Accounting in the cloud instead.
Rather try it than read about it?
Sign up in a minute, import your customer list free, and quote your next job in PanelDesk.
What you get with PanelDesk
Automatic updates as a job moves: booked in, started, stage changes, completed. Or a one-off message from the job. SMS credits are prepaid, from 66c down to 48c, and WhatsApp opens with the message ready.
Quote nudges, expiry reminders and invoice payment reminders over email and SMS, with quiet hours and consent built in. Included from the Operations plan.
Runs in the browser, installs as an app on desktop or phone. No installation session, no server to buy, back up or patch, and the same job is live for everyone on the floor.
South African workshops
“We started using PanelDesk, and it has made quoting and follow-ups much easier for us. Because it is cloud-based, we can quote from anywhere and are not tied down to one location anymore. Having everything in one place - from quotes to invoices - has already saved us time.”
Brilliant Shine - Panel Beaters
Randburg, Gauteng, South Africa
“PanelDesk is straightforward, easy to use, and very user-friendly. We can handle everything inside the application, which keeps the whole process in one place and makes the day-to-day running of the workshop much simpler.”
Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa
Migrating
Moving off Dr Smash does not mean starting from zero. Your Sage Pastel customer list imports free from a CSV, and if you can export your quotes, invoices and documents from Dr Smash, we will help you bring them across. Whether a once-off fee applies depends on how much data there is, confirmed upfront.
Our Audatex integration is live: connect your Audatex account, view your assessments inside PanelDesk, and import them straight into quotes. BAMS, Lightstone Auto and AutoMX carry on as before.
Comparison FAQ
The questions panel shops ask most often when weighing the two up.
Dr Smash is South African panel beating software sold in four monthly tiers, from Business Essential to Business Premium, with a once-off setup fee. It installs on your own computers, with an Android app alongside, and counts seats as logins in use at the same time. PanelDesk covers the same quote-to-invoice job in the browser, with your team included in each plan.
If you want to skip the setup fee and the installation, give every person their own login at the same time, and get insurer approvals and customer SMS without stepping up a tier, then yes. If your shop leans on paint-system import or courtesy car tracking, Dr Smash goes further there, and we say so on this page.
As published on their site in September 2026: Business Essential R980, Business Core R1 460, Business Approved R1 850 and Business Premium R2 250 a month, plus a once-off, non-refundable R5 000 fee for installation, configuration and setup. Whether those prices include VAT is not stated. The lower tiers come with two concurrent seats, Approved with three and Premium with four; extra seats are bought once at a price they do not publish.
On their published prices, yes, for each shop type in the table above. Over the first year a shop that needs insurer approvals and customer SMS pays R27 200 on Business Approved, setup fee included, against R17 880 on PanelDesk's Operations plan, or R14 900 billed annually. PanelDesk carries no VAT. What each product includes at those prices differs, so read the feature table too.
No. PanelDesk runs in the browser on any computer, phone or tablet, and installs as an app from there. There is no server to buy or back up. Dr Smash is installed on your machines over a remote session, and their site says two working days to get you running.
A seat is one login in use at a time. You can register as many users as you like, but only that many can be logged in at once, so on a two-seat tier the third person waits. PanelDesk plans include three, five or eight people, each with their own login, all working together.
If you can export your data from Dr Smash, we will help you bring it across. Your customer list imports free from a CSV, and historical documents are assessed on request; whether a once-off fee applies depends on how much data there is, confirmed upfront. Talk to us before you cancel anything.
No. The 30-day trial needs no card, and most shops run a few live jobs alongside their current system first. If you move, your history comes with you, and you can export everything out of PanelDesk any time.
Thirty days, no credit card, and nothing to install. Run a couple of quotes through PanelDesk alongside what you use today and see how it handles your workflow.
