Auto repair shop software · September 20, 2026
Best auto repair shop software (2026)
A repair order, a digital inspection, and a card the customer already approved. A generic CRM will not open a bay.
By Gregory GreensteinUpdated September 20, 2026Affiliate disclosure
Independent shop software fails when the estimate is a paper RO, the inspection is a text message, and the invoice is QuickBooks three days later. The job is one repair order: vehicle, inspection, parts, approval, and payment. This page is for US general-repair and tire shops under a few locations — not a dealer DMS and not a mobile mechanic who sends two invoices a month.
Tekmetric wins on a published per-shop price with unlimited users and no long-term contract. Shopmonkey wins if two-way texting on the entry plan matters more than seat math. AutoLeap matches Tekmetric’s entry sticker and hides a setup fee. Shop-Ware publishes a higher annual floor and unlimited users, with Pro as the plan the vendor itself calls the popular start.
Contractor estimates and job costing are the siblings if you are a trades crew, not a garage. Construction payroll is the sibling if certified payroll is the leak. Home-services CRM is the sibling if you dispatch vans and do not write repair orders. We will not rank AI receptionists. AutoLeap sells one at $99/month; it is not why anyone is on this list.
Prices as of September 23, 2026 from each vendor’s pricing page. Processing rates that say “call us” stay unprinted. This is not tax advice.
The short list
Public list prices as of September 20, 2026. Promos change. Confirm on the vendor page before you buy.
| # | Product | Best for | Public starting price | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tekmetric | Single shops that want unlimited users, unlimited repair orders, and no annual contract | Start $199/month or $179/month billed annually. Grow $349 or $309 billed annually (labor guide, maintenance schedules, time clocks, parts and marketing reports). Scale $439 or $409 billed annually (two-way texting, shop dashboard, technician board). Multi-shop +$70/month per shop. Tire tools +$39/month per shop. Marketing is listed at $345. No long-term contract. Unlimited users and ROs on the public card. | 8.6 |
| 2 | Shopmonkey | Shops that text customers all day and can live inside a small user bundle | Basic $239/month or $215 billed annually (3 user licenses, two-way text, 2 DVI templates). Clever $399 or $359 (4 users, inventory, time clock, QBO, unlimited DVIs). Genius $499 or $449 (5 users). Additional users +$20/month. Multi-shop is custom. Card readers $299 plus $10/month per device. Data migration is a one-time $500 fee. CRM Essentials add-on $349/month or $314 billed annually. In-person and online processing: call for pricing. | 8.2 |
| 3 | AutoLeap | Shops that want Tekmetric-like entry pricing and will sit through a demo plus a setup fee | Essentials shows $179/month and $199/month; the comparison table labels $199 as billed monthly. Pro shows $309 and $349 billed monthly (two-way texting, inventory, time clocks, QBO, labor guides). Elite shows $449/month with no second figure on the page we read. Enterprise is a sales conversation. One-time setup fee, amount not published. AI receptionist is a separate $99/month. Maintenance schedules and diagrams are an additional fee on lower tiers. | 7.8 |
| 4 | Shop-Ware | Shops that want unlimited users and will pay the Pro tier for texting and a labor guide | Billed annually: Startup $279/month (unlimited users, limited two-way texting, payments). Pro $389/month (unlimited two-way texting, MOTOR labor guide, native parts catalog, API, batch payments). Master $499/month (analytics and coaching dashboards). A $999/month annual package adds a website, SEO, and ads enablement on top of Master. CRM plus online scheduler is listed at $249/month. Per location. Migration, accounting-link, and payment fees can be extra. Month-to-month exists; those rates were not printed. | 7.7 |
01
Tekmetric
Single shops that want unlimited users, unlimited repair orders, and no annual contract
Public pricing: Start $199/month or $179/month billed annually. Grow $349 or $309 billed annually (labor guide, maintenance schedules, time clocks, parts and marketing reports). Scale $439 or $409 billed annually (two-way texting, shop dashboard, technician board). Multi-shop +$70/month per shop. Tire tools +$39/month per shop. Marketing is listed at $345. No long-term contract. Unlimited users and ROs on the public card.
Tekmetric pricing (tekmetric.com/pricing), reviewed September 23, 2026.
Skip if
You need two-way texting on day one and will not buy Scale. Shopmonkey includes it on Basic. Or you want a vendor-run website bundle — that is Shop-Ware’s top package, not this card.
Why it ranks
- The bill does not grow because the fifth tech finally gets a login.
- Start already has inspections, inventory, digital authorization, and invoicing.
- Month-to-month is a real option. You can leave without a 60-day notice you did not read.
- QuickBooks-minded shops can see the ladder before a demo.
Watch-outs
- Labor guide and time clocks are Grow, not Start. A $179 budget that needs the guide is a $309 budget.
- Two-way texting is Scale. One-way messaging is the cheaper reality.
- Payments are “ask about intro offers.” Do not invent a 2.6% rate the page did not print.
- Marketing at $345 is a second product. Do not fold it into Start because the homepage mentions reviews.
02
Shopmonkey
Shops that text customers all day and can live inside a small user bundle
Public pricing: Basic $239/month or $215 billed annually (3 user licenses, two-way text, 2 DVI templates). Clever $399 or $359 (4 users, inventory, time clock, QBO, unlimited DVIs). Genius $499 or $449 (5 users). Additional users +$20/month. Multi-shop is custom. Card readers $299 plus $10/month per device. Data migration is a one-time $500 fee. CRM Essentials add-on $349/month or $314 billed annually. In-person and online processing: call for pricing.
Shopmonkey pricing (shopmonkey.io/pricing), reviewed September 23, 2026.
Skip if
You have eight people who all need a login. Extra seats are $20/month. Tekmetric’s unlimited users will be cheaper. Or QuickBooks Online sync is non-negotiable on day one — that is Clever, not Basic.
Why it ranks
- Two-way text and a shop phone number are on Basic. You do not wait for the top tier to talk to the customer.
- Parts lookup and ordering, estimates, and e-sign are on the entry plan.
- A published seat table. You can add the fourth login at $20 instead of guessing.
- QBO is explicit on Clever. The accounting add-on ($89) is a different product if you want books inside Shopmonkey.
Watch-outs
- Basic’s two DVI templates are a cap. Unlimited inspections are Clever.
- Processing rates are not on the card. Model them before you celebrate $215.
- QuickBooks Desktop is an additional fee even on higher plans.
- The $500 migration fee is in the footnote. Ask what “included assistance” does not cover.
03
AutoLeap
Shops that want Tekmetric-like entry pricing and will sit through a demo plus a setup fee
Public pricing: Essentials shows $179/month and $199/month; the comparison table labels $199 as billed monthly. Pro shows $309 and $349 billed monthly (two-way texting, inventory, time clocks, QBO, labor guides). Elite shows $449/month with no second figure on the page we read. Enterprise is a sales conversation. One-time setup fee, amount not published. AI receptionist is a separate $99/month. Maintenance schedules and diagrams are an additional fee on lower tiers.
AutoLeap pricing (autoleap.com/pricing), reviewed September 23, 2026. We do not assume an Elite annual discount the page did not pair.
Skip if
You want a free trial or a contract you can drop this month. AutoLeap says there is no trial, and there is a one-time setup fee the page does not price. Or several people must be logged in on their own devices at once — the FAQ says one device at a time per login.
Why it ranks
- Essentials includes unlimited ROs, canned jobs, e-sign, parts ordering, and standard DVIs.
- The entry sticker matches Tekmetric’s neighborhood if the $179 column is the annual rate you confirm on the toggle.
- Pro is where texting and QBO show up — say that in the demo, not after go-live.
- A known alternative when a shop has already been sold AutoLeap and wants the skip-if in writing.
Watch-outs
- Setup fee with no dollar amount is not a published price. Get it on the order.
- One device per login will annoy a counter that shares a writer login. Read that FAQ before you buy.
- No trial. The demo is the test.
- Do not buy the $99 AI receptionist because it is on the pricing page. Phones are a different decision.
04
Shop-Ware
Shops that want unlimited users and will pay the Pro tier for texting and a labor guide
Public pricing: Billed annually: Startup $279/month (unlimited users, limited two-way texting, payments). Pro $389/month (unlimited two-way texting, MOTOR labor guide, native parts catalog, API, batch payments). Master $499/month (analytics and coaching dashboards). A $999/month annual package adds a website, SEO, and ads enablement on top of Master. CRM plus online scheduler is listed at $249/month. Per location. Migration, accounting-link, and payment fees can be extra. Month-to-month exists; those rates were not printed.
Shop-Ware packages (shop-ware.com/packages), reviewed September 23, 2026.
Skip if
You need the cheapest month-to-month on-ramp. Tekmetric Start at $199 has no annual requirement. Shop-Ware’s month-to-month dollars are not on the annual card we read.
Why it ranks
- Unlimited users on the published plans. The FAQ says the same thing.
- Pro at $389 is the vendor’s own “most popular” description: texting, MOTOR, batch payments.
- Per-location pricing is stated. Multi-shop is a conversation, not a surprise SKU name.
- A 15-minute demo is offered. There is no claim of a free sandbox.
Watch-outs
- Startup at $279 annual is already above Tekmetric Start. Buy Pro if you need the labor guide, and budget $389.
- The $999 package is a website product. Do not confuse it with shop management.
- Accounting link and migration are extra. Ask for the number.
- Older license text elsewhere on the site still mentions per-user fees. Ask which document your order uses. We are not treating the marketing card and a legacy agreement as the same price.
How we picked
The job is a US independent repair shop: one RO from inspection to payment, a price a owner can read, and a skip-if for seats, texting, and contracts. We scored the public card, not a demo. Dealer DMS, collision estimating networks, and AI phone agents stay off the rank. QuickBooks remains the ledger unless you deliberately buy an accounting add-on and your CPA agrees.
September 23 napkin for one shop, six logins, texting required: Tekmetric Scale is $409/month annual with unlimited users. Shopmonkey Basic is $215 annual only while you stay inside 3 users; six users is Basic plus three extra seats, $215 + $60 = $275, and you still do not have unlimited DVIs or QBO. AutoLeap Pro is the texting tier ($349 monthly on the card). Shop-Ware Pro is $389 annual. The $179 headlines are Start/Essentials. They are the wrong row if the writer lives in texts.
Who should skip this page
- A mobile mechanic with a few invoices. FreshBooks or the contractor invoicing ranking.
- HVAC and plumbing vans. Home-services CRM, Jobber, and Housecall Pro.
- A new-car dealer. This is not a DMS.
- You only need payroll. Construction and general payroll pages. The shop system is not a payday.