By Karlis Elmanis · 30 June 2026
If you're picking a motor for a new gate or replacing a dying one, three brands will keep coming up: CAME (Italian), BFT (Italian) and Nice (Italian). They dominate UK installations between them — together they're on probably 80% of the domestic gates we service across Sussex, Surrey and Kent.
This is the honest, no-affiliate-link comparison — what a working engineer across Sussex, Surrey and Kent actually fits, services and stands behind, not a spec sheet from a shop. We work on all three brands every week. Here's how they compare on the things that matter: reliability, parts availability, ease of programming, and price.
Quick verdict
| Brand | Best for | Avoid if |
|---|---|---|
| CAME | Most domestic installations — robust, parts everywhere, sensible price | You want the lowest upfront price |
| BFT | Heavy gates, harsh environments, long driveways | You want easy DIY programming |
| Nice | Smart-home control, clean programming and a 3-year warranty — full range from light residential to heavy-duty | You want the cheapest possible motor and don't care about app or voice control |
If you want our recommendation, it's Nice. It's the brand we fit by default — for the 3-year (36-month) manufacturer warranty, the build quality, the smart-home options, and after-sales support that comes straight from the maker (more on all of that below). CAME is the other brand we're always happy to put on a typical domestic gate, and we'll fit any of the big names if you'd prefer one. The honest truth is that all three are good motors — what matters most is that whichever you pick is fitted and serviced properly.
CAME
Origin: Italy, founded 1972. Sold globally, very widely fitted in the UK.
Strengths:
- Excellent parts availability — every wholesaler stocks them, and we can usually source obsolete parts within 48 hours
- Robust mechanical engineering — we see CAME motors that are 15+ years old still running on annual servicing
- Wide range covering swing (Krono, Stylo, Ferni), sliding (BK, BX series, BKV) and barriers
- Sensible programming — clear LED feedback, well-documented learn cycles
- Decent remote ranges and reliable receivers
Weaknesses:
- Mid-range pricing — not the cheapest option upfront
- Some older boards (ZA3, ZA5) need an oscilloscope-trained eye to diagnose intermittent issues
- Out-of-the-box smart home integration is limited (better with third-party gateways)
Most common models we see in 2026: Krono swing motor (single), BX-243 / BX-78 sliding (single sliding gate up to 800kg), Ferni F1024 (heavy underground), BKV (commercial sliding).
Typical replacement cost (motor only, single gate): £450-650+VAT.
BFT
Origin: Italy, founded 1981. Common in commercial and high-end residential.
Strengths:
- Built like a tank — BFT motors handle heavy gates and continuous duty without breaking a sweat
- Excellent for harsh environments (coastal, exposed, frost-prone)
- Some of the best long-driveway range on receivers
- Phobos / Phebe / Sub series cover most domestic needs
- Dependable on commercial sliding (Deimos, Ares)
Weaknesses:
- Programming is more complex than CAME — we see DIY installers struggle with BFT control boards more often
- Slightly fewer wholesalers stock parts vs. CAME, so obsolete-part sourcing can be slower
- Older Phobos motors can be heavy on power consumption
Most common models we see: Phobos (swing), Sub (underground), Deimos (sliding), Ares (commercial sliding).
Typical replacement cost (motor only, single gate): £500-750+VAT.
Nice
Origin: Italy, founded 1993. Now one of the world's largest gate-automation makers — a group with around a billion pounds in revenue that also owns a string of other automation and smart-home brands. The range runs from light residential kits right up to heavy industrial motors.
Honestly? We used to file Nice under "value". Fitting them every week — and standing behind them — changed our mind, and Nice is now the brand we recommend and fit by default. Here's why.
Strengths:
- Smart, easy-to-service wiring — their BlueBus system runs all the safety sensors on a simple two-wire connection and gives each one its own address, so the control board can tell you exactly which device has a fault. Well-labelled, well-documented boards make a repair faster and safer.
- Best smart-home integration of the three — the MyNice app is genuinely usable, with proper Alexa, Google Home and Apple Home/Siri support when paired with their wifi gateway, including open-as-you-arrive.
- A 3-year (36-month) manufacturer warranty as standard — one of the longest in the category, and ahead of the 2-year cover still common elsewhere (more on the small print below).
- In our experience, well-built and genuinely well-supported — when we need a part or technical help, it comes straight from Nice rather than a third party, which makes problems quicker to put right.
- Easier programming than BFT, similar to CAME on the Robo / TooMax / Wingo lines
- Light, compact form factor on smaller motors
Weaknesses:
- Smart-home and remote features need their wifi gateway added — they're not built into every motor out of the box
- A few older receivers (early Inti / FloR) have shorter range than CAME or BFT on very long driveways
- Their heavy industrial motors (Run, Hyppo) are excellent but stocked by fewer UK wholesalers, so obsolete parts can take a little longer to source
Most common models we see: ROBO (sliding), TooMax (swing arm), Wingo (compact swing), Hyppo (underground), MOON (compact sliding).
Typical replacement cost (entry/residential motor only, single gate): £350-650+VAT — Nice's range goes well above this for heavy-duty and industrial models.
The other brands we service: FAAC, Roger, DEA and Beninca
These come up less often on domestic gates, but we service and repair them every week — so here's the honest read on each.
FAAC
Italian, and the one most often called the premium "connoisseur's" choice — rugged, built for heavy and high-traffic use, and a favourite on conservation-area and period properties. The trade-offs are real, though: it's the priciest of the group (roughly £600–900+VAT for the motor alone), parts usually come direct from FAAC distributors rather than every wholesaler, and the standard warranty is the shortest at 2 years. A lovely motor — you just pay for it, in money and in parts lead time.
Roger Technology
Italian, and a genuine specialist. Roger's motors are *brushless* — in plain terms, there are no carbon brushes inside to wear out, so they run very quietly, sip power, and read the gate's position thousands of times a turn for gentle, accurate obstacle detection. That makes them a strong pick for heavy or high-use sliding gates and barriers, and there's even a luxury "Black Edition" range. It's a more niche, higher-cost choice than the mainstream brands, with parts via specialist UK distributors — but the engineering is genuinely excellent.
DEA and Beninca
Both Italian, both less common here. DEA turns up on older installs and is still perfectly serviceable, with parts via specialist suppliers. Beninca is a solid mid-range maker with a lighter UK presence, so parts can be slightly more niche. We keep both running happily — they're just not what you'd typically spec for a new gate.
If you're choosing for a new install, the three big brands above will cover 95% of needs.
Warranties — and the catch nobody mentions
| Brand | Manufacturer warranty | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| CAME | 3 years | Only if you register it — and keep up the servicing |
| BFT | 3 years (up to 5) | The 5 years needs a yearly service record |
| Nice | 3 years | Counted from the date the motor was made, not the day it's fitted |
| FAAC | 2 years | The shortest of the group |
| Roger | ~2 years | Chosen for its quiet brushless motor, not its warranty |
Here's the part almost nobody tells you: every one of these warranties is void the moment you stop servicing the gate (and CAME's has to be registered in the first place). A motor with no service history is barely under warranty at all — whatever the badge on the front. It's the single biggest reason an annual service pays for itself, and why the install and service history matter far more than which brand is on the box. We wrote a whole piece on the warranty catch, or see what a service includes.
How to choose for your gate type
Single swing gate (most domestic driveways)
- Our pick: Nice TooMax (app and voice control, 3-year warranty)
- Also great: CAME Krono or Stylo
- Heavy duty: BFT Phobos
Double swing gate
- Our pick: Nice TooMax pair
- Also great: CAME Stylo (matched pair)
- Heavy duty: BFT Phobos pair
Sliding gate (rural / industrial style)
- Our pick: Nice ROBO
- Also great: CAME BX-243 (up to 400kg) or BX-78 (up to 800kg)
- Heavy commercial: BFT Deimos
Underground motor (period properties, conservation areas)
- Our pick: CAME Ferni or Nice Hyppo
- Heavy duty: BFT Sub
Long driveway (>40m from the receiver)
- Our pick: BFT (best receiver range out of the box)
- Cheaper alternative: Add a long-range receiver to any brand
Don't pick on brand alone
The most important factors when choosing a motor are:
- Gate weight and length — match the motor's spec, never undersize
- Daily duty cycle — domestic motors handle ~30 cycles/day, commercial spec for higher
- Power supply — does your gate position have a mains feed, or do you need solar / battery?
- Fitter's experience — a brilliant motor badly fitted is worse than a mid-range motor properly installed
A correctly fitted motor from any of these three will outlast a top-spec one fitted by someone winging it — the fitting matters more than the badge.
*Already got a gate that keeps breaking down? It's often not the motor at all — it's how it was wired and weatherproofed. See Is your electric gate worth repairing, or time to reinstall?*