Auto repair shop software: what it costs and how to choose

What auto repair shop software does

Whether buyers search for mechanic shop software, auto repair software, or shop management software, the core product holds the repair record from the first customer call to final payment and closeout. Across most platforms, that covers seven areas:

• Customers and vehicles. One record per customer and per vehicle, with service history attached to the VIN.
• Estimates and approvals. A priced estimate the customer can review and approve before teardown or repair work begins.
• The work board. Which repair is in which phase, which technician or builder holds it, and what blocker is holding the bay.
• Inspections and diagnostic evidence. Checklists, road-test telemetry, OBD-II trouble codes, and teardown photos attached to the job.
• Parts, inventory, and cores. Parts packets, purchase orders, receiving status, core tracking, and job costing.
• Invoicing and verification. Raising the invoice, recording or processing payments, and verifying the repair before release.
• Reporting. Throughput, bottlenecks, comeback tracking by transmission family, and financial reconciliation.

What auto repair shop software costs in October 2026

The table below lists published single-location prices read from each vendor's pricing page on 22 October 2026 (except Mitchell 1, whose store was read on 27 September 2026). Annual billing discounts apply at vendors that offer annual contracts. Quotes, promotions, payment processing rates, and taxes change the final invoice, so confirm the total in writing.

Mitchell 1 publishes its TeamWorks bundle on a 12-month lease and does not publish a stand-alone Manager SE price. For deeper breakdowns of how tier pricing and setup fees work, see our guide on AutoLeap pricing and plan comparisons.

What the plan card leaves out

The entry tier on a pricing page is rarely the full monthly bill. Each of the following charges is stated on the respective vendor's pricing page as of 22 October 2026:

• Tekmetric: Multi-shop management is +$70/month per shop, the tire suite is +$39/month, and marketing is +$345/month per shop (each requiring an active plan per location).
• Shopmonkey: $20/month for each user beyond the 3 to 5 included licenses, a one-time $500 data migration fee, and payment terminals at $299 upfront plus $10/month per device.
• Shop-Ware: Data migration fees and accounting-link integration fees apply, transaction fees apply to Shop-Ware Payments, and CRM plus online scheduling is a $249/month add-on.
• AutoLeap: A one-time setup fee applies (amount not published on the pricing page), and the AutoLeap AI Receptionist is sold separately at $99/month.
• Protractor: CRM plus online scheduling (Advanced Tools) is $249/month, transaction fees apply to integrated payments, and published prices apply only to new customers or upgrades.

How to choose auto repair shop software

Ask these five questions in order during a trial or live walkthrough. The first question determines more about day-to-day shop fit than the monthly subscription price.

1. What is the primary record built around? General repair platforms center on the repair order: estimate, approval, labor lines, parts, invoice. That fits high-turn maintenance, brakes, and general mechanical work. If your highest-cost risk is a complex transmission or powertrain comeback, ask where the complaint, the decoded VIN, Analysis A/B hypotheses, and teardown findings live — and whether the system blocks invoicing until post-repair road-test verification passes.
2. What is the complete monthly bill for your headcount? Count every technician, diagnostician, builder, parts specialist, and service writer. Add per-seat overages, two-way texting or voice modules, accounting sync fees, and setup charges.
3. Can it run alongside your counter system or replace it cleanly? If your front counter already runs on Tekmetric, ask whether you have to rip and replace it on day one. Locomotion OS supports an additive two-way Tekmetric mirror: active Tekmetric work orders can be lazily adopted into a managed diagnosis case without destructive overwrites.
4. How do parts and teardown discoveries stay organized? In transmission and unit-rebuild work, parts are rarely ordered in a single pass. Look for a staged parts matrix that distinguishes required items, likely needs, and teardown discoveries.
5. How does your data move in and out? Before signing an annual contract, confirm that you can import historical repair records with a dry-run preview and export your shop records whenever you choose.

How Locomotion OS fits

Locomotion OS is built specifically for automotive transmission and specialty repair shops. Instead of treating diagnosis as a text note inside a general repair order, Locomotion makes the managed diagnosis case the primary product object — with a mandatory 17-character VIN decode gate, dual-stage advisory AI (Analysis A for initial symptom hypotheses and Analysis B for road-test and OBD-II scanner refinement), staged parts packets, and a mandatory post-repair verification gate before invoicing, delivery, and closeout.

Locomotion OS is offered in two editions per location per month: Intelligence at $149 USD (built to run alongside your existing shop system, including additive Tekmetric sync) and Full OS at $499 USD (complete diagnosis, assignments, bays, parts, estimates, invoicing, and verified delivery). Both include unlimited staff logins, unlimited stored cases, 1,000 completed Analysis A/B and refinement generations per month, and a 7-day card-on-file trial with no annual contract. Optional 24/7 AI telephone intake (Voice) is available as a separate $199 USD per location per month module.