panel beater software that writes the first draft for you
PanelGear is quoting software for panel beaters in New Zealand and Australia. Photograph the damage, and AI drafts the panels, labour and paint so you start from a quote instead of a blank page.
Most panel shops still write quotes the slow way — a spreadsheet, a template from the last similar job, or a pad in the workshop that gets typed up at night. The estimating is the easy part; it's the writing-up that eats the evenings. PanelGear removes that step. You upload the photos you were already taking, and the software comes back with a draft: which panels are damaged, whether each is a repair or a replace, and an estimate of the panel beating and paint hours involved.
You are still the estimator. The draft is a starting point you check line by line, adjust to your rates, and price the way your shop prices. What changes is that you're editing something instead of creating it, which is the difference between twenty minutes and an hour on a mid-size job.
PanelGear is not a replacement for your shop-management system. If you run an estimating suite you're happy with, keep it — most shops add PanelGear purely for the quoting and customer-facing side, where the time actually goes.
Built for the way a panel shop actually runs
- You quote from photos on your phone, standing next to the car — not from a desk.
- Insurer work and private jobs need to look equally tidy when they go out.
- More than one person touches a job, and none of them should have to wait for someone else to close the record.
- You've been burned by software that demanded you move everything over before it did anything useful.
Powerful, without the clutter
Everything you need to quote faster and run a tidier shop — and nothing you don't.
AI-drafted quotes
Upload photos of the damage and get a first-pass quote in seconds. Identify panels, estimate panel beating and paint labour, and start from a draft instead of a blank page.
Real-time collaboration
Your whole team can work on the same job at once. Everyone sees changes instantly, with no locked records or 'who has this open?' guesswork.
No save buttons
Every change is saved the moment you make it. Nothing to lose, nothing to remember.
Panel beater software questions
What is panel beater software?
Panel beater software is the system a panel and paint shop uses to quote repairs, track jobs through the workshop and communicate with customers and insurers. Some products cover the whole shop; PanelGear focuses on the quoting and customer-facing part, using AI to draft the quote from damage photos, and is designed to run alongside whatever else you already use.
Can it estimate panel beating and paint hours from a photo?
Yes. PanelGear identifies the damaged panels from your photos, suggests repair or replace for each, and estimates the labour and paint hours involved. Each suggestion comes with a confidence score so you can see where it's sure and where it's guessing. You always review and set final pricing.
Will it work for a one- or two-person shop?
Yes, and that's where the time saving is most obvious — a small shop has no admin person to hand the write-up to. There's a free plan, no credit card and no sales call, so you can quote a couple of real jobs with it before deciding.
Do I need to move my existing jobs across?
No. There's no migration. Start using PanelGear on the next job that comes in and leave your history where it is.
Is it available in New Zealand and Australia?
Yes. PanelGear is built for the New Zealand and Australian market and uses the terminology and quoting conventions panel beaters here work with. It's browser-based, so there's nothing region-specific to install.
Different word, same job
However your part of the trade describes itself, PanelGear works the same way.
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