Vehiso vs Pinewood DMS
Vehiso ships a modern dealer website and a full DMS in 5 minutes from £49/month, with workshop, branded social posting, online payments, and MTD-ready Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage accounting included as standard. Here is how it compares to Pinewood DMS. Vehiso now has a free forever plan too, with paid plans from £49/month.
Vehiso is the modern, all-in-one car dealer platform: a customisable website, a full DMS, workshop management, branded social posting, AI tools, online payments, and MTD-ready Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage accounting integrations included from £49/month. It supports single-site, multi-location, used and new car dealerships - with self-serve onboarding so you can be live in 5 minutes. Pinewood, now Pinewood.AI, is a web-enabled dealer management system for car, truck, and motorcycle retailers in the UK and internationally, with manufacturer integrations, modules for sales and marketing, aftersales, book-keeping and accounts, role-based dashboards, and embedded business intelligence. It holds a large share of the UK franchise market, but it is a DMS rather than a website, is typically priced per employee, and is an implementation-led purchase built for franchise and multi-brand groups.
Pinewood DMS at a glance
Pinewood, now Pinewood.AI, is a web-enabled dealer management system for car, truck, and motorcycle retailers. It offers manufacturer integrations, modules for vehicle sales and marketing, aftersales, book-keeping and accounts, role-based dashboards, and embedded business intelligence. It holds a large share of the UK franchise market and is approved by a number of carmakers. It is a DMS rather than a website, typically priced per employee. It now also sells AI tools that work with any DMS: chat for websites and messaging apps, an assistant for staff, lead follow-up and service reminders, plus an AI agent that completes tasks inside dealer systems.
Strengths
- Deep manufacturer integrations for franchise and multi-brand groups
- Aftersales, accounts, and embedded business intelligence across departments
Where Vehiso wins
- Website and full DMS in one platform - Pinewood is a DMS only
- Free plan, then one monthly price from £49/month, not a per-employee licence
- Self-serve onboarding - live in 5 minutes, no implementation project
- Native AI vehicle descriptions
- Native AI background replacement for stock photography
- One-click branded posting to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok
- Direct Stripe, PayPal, Square, and Blink online payments with no platform fees
- A customer portal on your own website, where buyers follow their order, download documents and see MOT and service dates
- A documented public API and webhooks, so your own website, tools and partners can work with your stock, enquiries and sales
Why dealers pick Vehiso
A website and DMS in one, at one simple price
Pinewood is a dealer management system, so a website is a separate cost and provider on top. Vehiso gives you the website and the full DMS in one product on one subscription from £49/month, rather than a per-employee licence.
Self-serve, not an implementation project
Sign up, brand the site, push your stock, and go live the same day. An enterprise DMS implementation makes sense at franchise scale but is heavy going for a small independent.
AI inside the platform you already run
Vehiso's AI writes vehicle descriptions, replaces photo backgrounds, drafts replies to new enquiries and follows up leads, in the same product as your website and stock. Pinewood.AI has moved into AI too, with AI tools and an AI agent sold as products of their own and aimed at franchise and multi-brand groups.
Provenance checks that stay with the car
Connect your own MotorCheck trade account and run history, specification and condition alert checks without leaving Vehiso. Each report files itself against the car it is about and downloads as a PDF. MotorCheck bills the checks at your own trade rates and Vehiso adds nothing per check.
Bring your current look with you
Switching usually means starting from a blank page and rebuilding everything you had already got right. Point Vehiso's bespoke theme designer at your existing dealer website and it reads your pages for tone, services and selling points, then designs a theme to your brief that still sounds and looks like you. Or pick one of 18 core themes instead.
Vehiso vs Pinewood DMS side-by-side
How the two platforms compare on price, setup, and what is included.
| Feature | Vehiso | Pinewood DMS |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Independent dealers | Franchise and multi-brand groups |
| Pricing model | Free plan, then from £49/month | Typically per employee, per year |
| Website included | Yes, in every plan | No, DMS only |
| Setup time | 5 minutes, self-serve | Implementation-led |
| Free trial | Free plan + 7-day trial, no card, instant | Not a self-serve trial |
| Manufacturer integrations | Not the focus | Extensive |
| Marketplace listings | AutoTrader, Motors, eBay Motors, Cazoo, Gumtree + more | AutoTrader |
| AI vehicle descriptions | Included | Not advertised |
| AI background replacement | Included | Not advertised |
| AI assistant & daily recommendations | Included - in-app assistant + daily insights | Advertised - AI assistant for staff, plus an AI agent that completes tasks |
| AI Agents (automated customer outreach) | Included - scheduled & triggered outreach | Advertised - automated lead and service follow-up |
| AI lead replies | Included - AI-drafted replies to new enquiries, optional out-of-hours auto-send | Advertised - AI chat that answers customers on websites, WhatsApp and SMS |
| AI follow-up agent | Included - personalised email and SMS follow-up that stops when the customer replies | Advertised - automated follow-up by email, SMS and WhatsApp |
| Customer portal | Included on paid plans - orders, documents, MOT and service dates | Not advertised |
| Bespoke website design | Included - 18 core themes, or a theme designed to your brief | Not the focus |
| Branded social posting (FB/IG/TikTok) | Included - one-click or automatic | Not the focus |
| Facebook & Instagram inventory ads | Included on paid plans - a Meta vehicle catalogue feed of your stock | Via a managed ads service (SeezBoost) |
| Online payments | Stripe, PayPal, Square, Blink, no platform fees | Not advertised as native |
| Customer-facing workshop | Included - job cards, health checks, online booking | Aftersales modules |
| Workshop parts management | Included - parts cost, stock and gross profit, with no stockholding required | Part of its aftersales modules |
| Accounting & MTD | Xero, QuickBooks, Sage - all MTD-ready | Built-in book-keeping and accounts |
| Expense management | Included - overheads with receipts and VAT, sent to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage as bills on paid plans | Available - its own accounting ledger with AI invoice processing |
| Public API & webhooks | Included on paid plans - documented, for your own website and systems | Partner APIs, no public documentation |
| Mobile app for staff | The Vehiso DMS app for iPhone, iPad and Android | Available - a stock app for iOS |
| Multi-language support | 7 languages (EN, DE, FR, ES, IT, NL) | Available (international) |
Frequently asked questions
Common questions from dealers comparing Vehiso with Pinewood DMS.
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Switch to Vehiso →This comparison is based on publicly available information about Pinewood DMS at the time of writing and reflects our understanding of each platform. Features, plans, and pricing change over time, and Pinewood DMS is not affiliated with or endorsed by Vehiso. Always confirm the latest features and pricing directly with each provider before making a decision.