Available now
Customer SMS, on one bill
Automatic updates as a job moves: booked in, started, stage changes, completed. Or a one-off message from the job. Credits are prepaid, from 66c down to 48c.
Comparison
TMS Teamwork vs PanelDesk for South African panel shops.
Both run a panel shop from quote to invoice. The difference is what you pay to get there, and what you have to sign up for on the side.
- 30-day trial, no card
- Nothing to install
- Built with South African panel shops
- Founder-led support on WhatsApp
PanelDesk is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to TMS Teamwork (Pty) Ltd. TMS, Teamwork, TMS Team Work, and Teamwork Management System are marks of their respective owners. Everything below is drawn from TMS Teamwork's public website, checked July 2026, and from a quote a South African workshop received in 2026. If anything here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
What it costs your team
Per seat, or per plan
TMS Teamwork charges R465 per seat, so the bill grows with every person you add. PanelDesk plans include your team.
Monthly software cost, excluding VAT.
3 users
TMS Teamwork
R1 395
R465 per seat
PanelDesk
R990
Core plan
You keep R405
5 users
TMS Teamwork
R2 325
R465 per seat
PanelDesk
R1 490
Operations plan
You keep R835
8 users
TMS Teamwork
R3 720
R465 per seat
PanelDesk
R1 990
Workforce plan
You keep R1 730
TMS totals are the confirmed R465 per seat excluding VAT, multiplied by team size. PanelDesk plan prices were checked in July 2026 and carry no VAT; extra seats beyond a plan's included users are R90 each. What each product includes at those 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 TMS and compare for yourself.
Keeping customers updated
What it costs to SMS your customers
TMS charges R285.20 a month including VAT just to switch SMS on, then 70c a message on top, split across two suppliers. PanelDesk has no monthly SMS fee.
Monthly cost of sending customer SMS, excluding VAT.
500 SMS a month
TMS Teamwork
R598
Monthly fee plus 70c a message
PanelDesk
R330
Per message only
You keep R268
1 000 SMS a month
TMS Teamwork
R948
Monthly fee plus 70c a message
PanelDesk
R660
Per message only
You keep R288
2 000 SMS a month
TMS Teamwork
R1 648
Monthly fee plus 70c a message
PanelDesk
R1 160
Per message only
You keep R488
5 000 SMS a month
TMS Teamwork
R3 748
Monthly fee plus 70c a message
PanelDesk
R2 900
Per message only
You keep R848
TMS totals are the quoted R248 per month for the SMS function, plus 70c per message. PanelDesk totals are the per-message rate only, with no monthly fee.
How the SMS function is structured, from the written TMS quote.
Monthly fee before your first SMS
- TMS Teamwork
- R285.20 incl VAT
- PanelDesk
- None
Per message
- TMS Teamwork
- 70c ex VAT (50c provider + 20c Teamwork)
- PanelDesk
- 66c – 48c, no VAT
Suppliers to contract with
- TMS Teamwork
- Two: E-communicate, plus TMS Teamwork
- PanelDesk
- One
A prepaid bundle covers
- TMS Teamwork
- The 20c Teamwork counter only
- PanelDesk
- The whole message
Unused balance
- TMS Teamwork
- Teamwork counters carry over, the provider's do not
- PanelDesk
- Sits in your balance
To switch it on
- TMS Teamwork
- Sign a provider contract, hand over SMTP credentials
- PanelDesk
- Toggle it on, buy credits
One supplier, one invoice
The cents barely matter. What adds up is the monthly fee, the second contract, the SMTP credentials, and a bundle that only covers part of the message. With PanelDesk you buy credits and send.
PanelDesk prices carry no VAT because PanelDesk is not VAT-registered. TMS figures are shown excluding VAT, which is the fair basis for a VAT-registered workshop that claims its input VAT back.
Side by side
Feature by feature
A dash means we could not find it stated publicly, not that it is missing. If we have something wrong here, tell us and we will fix it.
| Feature | TMS Teamwork | PanelDesk |
|---|---|---|
| Core workshop workflow | ||
| Estimates and quoting | ||
| Job cards | ||
| Final costing | ||
| Invoicing | ||
| Photos and documents on the job | ||
| Production stages board | Stages you define yourself | |
| Staff clocking and timesheets | ClockIT | Kiosk or NFC |
| Payroll estimates from clocked hours | Gross, overtime, paid leave | |
| Talking to customers | ||
| Customer SMS updates | Second supplier + monthly fee | Built in, no monthly fee |
| Secure quote and invoice links | With view tracking | |
| Online accept or decline on a quote | ||
| Automatic follow-ups and reminders | Operations plan and up | |
| WhatsApp send from the job | Opens with message ready | |
| Integrations | ||
| Audatex assessments | ||
| BAMS | ||
| Lightstone Auto | ||
| AutoMX | ||
| Accounting sync | Sage Accounting, South Africa | |
| Your data | ||
| Import your TMS history | Original PDFs, stored & viewable | |
| Import a Sage Pastel customer list | Free, self-serve | |
| Export everything, any time | ZIP of records and files | |
| How you buy and run it | ||
| Runs in the browser | Installs as an app | |
| Prices published online | Mostly by quote | |
| Users included in the price | R465 per seat | 3 to 8 by plan |
| Free trial without a card | 30 days | |
AvailableIn progressNot publicly stated
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
Built to keep the job moving
Available now
Automatic follow-ups on quotes and invoices
Quote nudges, expiry reminders, and invoice payment reminders over email and SMS, with quiet hours and consent built in. Included from the Operations plan.
Available now
Nothing to install, nothing to host
Runs in the browser, installs as an app on desktop or phone. No server to buy, back up or patch, and the same job is live for everyone on the floor.
South African workshops
What shops say once they are on it
“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
Switching
Your history comes with you
Moving off TMS does not mean starting from zero. Your original quote, invoice, parts order, and attachment PDFs come across from a TMS export, stored safely and viewable inside PanelDesk, and your Sage Pastel customer list imports free.
Our Audatex integration is live: connect your Audatex account, view your assessments inside PanelDesk, and import them straight into quotes.
Comparison FAQ
TMS Teamwork vs PanelDesk FAQs
The questions panel shops ask most often when weighing the two up.
TMS Teamwork is workshop management software used by South African panel shops, sold per seat with add-ons such as an SMS module and ClockIT time tracking. PanelDesk covers the same quote-to-invoice job with users included in each plan. The tables above hold the two side by side.
If you want published pricing, your team included rather than charged per seat, customer SMS on one bill, and software you can open from any browser, then yes. Shops move to us from TMS Teamwork mostly on cost and to stop running a workshop server. PanelDesk also has a live Audatex integration, so assessment-driven insurer work comes across too.
They price by quote rather than publishing a price list, so it depends what you are quoted. The written quote we have seen puts the licence at R465 excluding VAT per seat, the SMS function at R285.20 a month including VAT, and messages at 70c excluding VAT each. PanelDesk publishes its prices, so you can hold the two side by side.
On the figures we can compare, yes. TMS is R465 per seat, so five users is R2 325 a month before a single SMS. PanelDesk's Operations plan covers five users at R1 490, with no VAT added and no monthly SMS fee. What each product includes differs, so compare the plans too.
It changes what a bundle actually buys. Of the 70c, 50c goes to E-communicate on a contract you sign yourself, and 20c to Teamwork. Their bundles buy the 20c counter only, so the provider's share is still billed separately, and the quote says those counters do not carry over. With PanelDesk, one credit sends one SMS.
Yes. Your original quote, invoice, parts order, and attachment PDFs come across from a TMS ZIP export, stored safely and viewable inside PanelDesk. Your Sage Pastel customer list imports free. Any once-off fee depends on how much data you bring, confirmed upfront.
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.
Try it on a few real jobs
Thirty days, no credit card, and no need to switch anything off while you look. Run a couple of quotes through PanelDesk and see how it handles your workflow.