Software for auto repair

Auto repair shop software

Describe how your auto repair business runs, and Unstack's AI builder sets up the software for it: customers, jobs, quotes, invoices, a customer portal and the automations between them, in one workspace for your whole team.

Start free · unlimited users

From one sentence to software you run on

Describe it, or pick a template from the marketplace.
The AI builds the tables, pages and automations.
Change anything, anytime, by asking.
Bring the whole team: pricing is per workspace, not per user.

What auto repair software has to do

Repair orders & workflow

Shop workflow board. Shows every estimate and repair order as a card in status columns (estimate, in progress, waiting on parts, ready for pickup, ready for payment) with the assigned tech and a timestamp; moving a card into a set column can convert an estimate to a repair order. Built for you by the AI builder.
Technician app. Lists each tech's assigned repair orders with vehicle, due-in/due-out times, billed hours and parts status; the tech opens a service to see labor items, required parts, inspection items and vehicle specs, and records findings with photos. Built for you by the AI builder.
Internal shop chat and notes. Instant messaging and internal notes with @mentions between advisors, technicians and managers, kept off the customer's documents. Built for you by the AI builder.

Vehicle records

VIN and licence-plate scan and decode. Scans a VIN barcode or licence plate with a phone camera and fills the vehicle record (year, make, model, trim, engine, transmission, fuel), then links the vehicle to its owner so a later scan brings up the customer. Built for you by the AI builder.
CARFAX vehicle history integration. Uses CARFAX data to decode plates and pull a vehicle's prior service history into the vehicle record. Not on Unstack yet.
OBD-II diagnostics and telematics. Reads diagnostic trouble codes and live engine data from the vehicle's OBD-II port (Mitchell 1 via plug-in VOYOLink devices; ARI via its OBD scanner plus CarMD data on recalls, TSBs and upcoming maintenance). Not on Unstack yet.

Estimates & authorizations

Canned jobs. Saved packages of labor, parts, fees and set pricing for common work (brakes, oil change) that are added to an estimate in one step; Mitchell 1 turns any grouped job on an order into a canned job with one click. Built for you by the AI builder.
One-click vehicle-specific jobs. From the selected vehicle, builds a complete job in one click: job title, labor line priced by the labor matrix, the right parts, filters and fluid quantities priced by the parts matrix, an inventory check, an order prepared with preferred vendors for anything out of stock, and a locked package price. Built for you by the AI builder.
Digital estimate authorization. Sends the estimate (with the inspection) by text or email; the customer approves or declines each job separately and signs; the repair order moves to work-in-progress and a point-in-time copy of what was approved is stored as an authorization record. Install the Estimates & Quotes template.
Declined and deferred work tracking. Keeps every job the customer declined on the vehicle's history and in a declined-jobs report, so advisors can re-add it to the next estimate or follow up later; draft jobs never shown to the customer stay out of the close ratio. Built for you by the AI builder.
Parts and labor pricing matrices. Sets selling price automatically from part cost (higher markup on cheap parts) and adjusts labor by billed hours, with margin thresholds that flag low-profit lines and 'labor bump' rules by vehicle age or make; Shop-Ware's version fits the curve to the shop's own parts sales to hit a target gross-profit percentage. Built for you by the AI builder.

Digital vehicle inspections

Digital vehicle inspection with photos and video. The tech rates each inspection line (OK, may need attention soon, needs immediate attention, not applicable), adds a preset or typed finding, and attaches marked-up photos, video or PDFs; red and yellow items flow to the advisor as technician concerns. Built for you by the AI builder.
Inspection templates and checklists. Shop-defined inspection templates (check-in, multipoint, pre-purchase) attached to the repair order so every tech follows the same list; some vendors ship ready-made certified checklists. Built for you by the AI builder.
Inspection findings that build the estimate. Canned jobs are mapped to inspection tasks, so a failed item adds the recommended job to the repair order instead of the advisor building it by hand. Built for you by the AI builder.
Customer-facing inspection report. A link the customer opens to see findings with photos and video, recommendations ordered by urgency, approve work, follow status (approved, in progress, done), chat with the shop and pay. Built for you by the AI builder.

Parts, labor guides & repair data

Integrated labor guide. Looks up labor times for the vehicle on the repair order from MOTOR, Mitchell 1, ALLDATA or Epicor data inside the estimate, instead of a separate tab or book. Not on Unstack yet.
Repair information: specs, diagrams and procedures. Brings OE specs, fluid and torque specs, wiring diagrams, repair procedures, diagnostic codes and TSBs into the estimate and the technician app. Not on Unstack yet.
OEM maintenance schedules and service reminders. Adds manufacturer-recommended maintenance by mileage and interval to the vehicle, flags upcoming services, and sends reminders by time or mileage. Not on Unstack yet.
Integrated parts catalog ordering. Searches supplier catalogs (PartsTech, Nexpart, RepairLink and others) pre-filled with the vehicle's year/make/model/engine, compares price and delivery time, and pulls the chosen parts onto the job; orders are then tracked in the system. Not on Unstack yet.
Tire quoting and ordering. Quotes tires from the repair order with fitment matched from the VIN, shows several options side by side for approval, orders in-app, tracks tire stock, and registers DOT numbers with manufacturers for recalls. Not on Unstack yet.

Scheduling & bays

Appointment calendar and online booking. Customers book 24/7 from the shop's website, Google Business Profile or a shared link; bookings, check-ins and walk-ins land on one calendar with availability set by service type, business hours and a minimum notice buffer. Install the Calendar & Scheduling template.
Shop capacity by technician billed hours. Shows each tech's booked billable hours against available hours on a timeline, a daily and weekly shop-load gauge against target, and when the next tech frees up, so new jobs are slotted where there is room. Built for you by the AI builder.

Technician time & productivity

Job clocks and technician efficiency. Techs clock in to the shop and start/pause/complete a clock on each labor line; actual time is written to the repair order and compared with billed (flag) hours to report efficiency per tech and per job. Built for you by the AI builder.
Technician and service-writer performance and commissions. Reports sales, labor hours, car count and close ratio per technician and service writer, and calculates service-writer commission by payroll period. Built for you by the AI builder.

Customer communication

Two-way texting and email from the repair order. Texts and emails with customers from one inbox tied to the repair order, with message templates, a built-in shop phone number and call forwarding. Built for you by the AI builder.
Automated reminders and marketing campaigns. Sends appointment and service reminders, thank-you messages, re-engagement and drag-and-drop email campaigns to segmented customer lists. Built for you by the AI builder.
Google review requests. Asks customers for a Google review after the visit and manages reviews from inside the system. Install the Reviews & Reputation template.
AI receptionist and shop phones. An AI receptionist answers calls when the front desk is busy or closed; some products route the shop's phone line through the software. Built for you by the AI builder.

Invoicing & payments

Integrated payments, text-to-pay and financing. Takes card payments in the bay or parking lot on a reader, sends invoices by text or email to pay online, offers Buy Now Pay Later on large jobs, and links each payment to the invoice; Shopmonkey also tracks cash tills, safe drops and bank runs. Not on Unstack yet.
Fleet accounts and batch billing. Marks fleet customers on repair orders, holds several contacts per fleet account, links many vehicles to one owner, and bills fleet work in batches with an accounts-receivable report filtered to fleet. Built for you by the AI builder.

Inventory

Parts inventory with reorder suggestions. Tracks stock by part number, brand and bin, checks availability while the job is built, suggests restocking from a minimum quantity, and reports usage and dead stock. Built for you by the AI builder.
Core, parts-return and warranty tracking. Tracks core charges and core returns so credits are not missed, manages parts returns to vendors, and records warranty claims and labor chargebacks from the repair order. Built for you by the AI builder.

Reporting

Shop KPI reports. Shop performance reports and dashboards; Tekmetric's cover car count, sales, labor hours, average repair order (ARO), close ratio, month-over-month trends, parts usage and declined jobs, while Shopmonkey's include an end-of-day report, payments, customer aging and vendor summaries. Built for you by the AI builder.
Job-level profitability. Groups labor and parts into job blocks on the estimate and shows the margin of each job and the whole order against profit goals while the estimate is built. Built for you by the AI builder.

Integrations & multi-shop

QuickBooks sync or built-in accounting. Syncs invoices and payments to QuickBooks Online (Desktop for an extra fee at some vendors) or keeps a built-in general ledger, receivables and payables. Built for you by the AI builder.
Open API and webhooks. Lets other systems read and write shop data or react to events. Built for you by the AI builder.
Multi-shop management. Runs several locations in one account with shared inspections, pricing and workflows, cross-location inventory lookups and consolidated reporting. Built for you by the AI builder.

What the alternatives charge

Product	Published price	Contract
Tekmetric	Start $199 or $179/mo. Grow $349 or $309/mo. Scale $439 or $409/mo. Enterprise custom pricing. Unlimited users on all plans. Add-ons: Multi-Shop +$70/mo per shop; Tire Suite +$39/mo per shop; Marketing +$345/mo per shop; Payments not priced.	Pricing page says no long-term contracts are required; billing is month-to-month or annual. No free trial (free demos and self-guided tours instead). FAQ says support and training are included in the cost. Cancellation terms not stated.
Shopmonkey	Basic $239 or $215/mo (3 users). Clever $399 or $359/mo (4 users). Genius $499 or $449/mo (5 users). Additional users +$20/mo. Multi-Shop: custom ('Contact us for pricing'). The page says annual pricing saves up to 10%. Card reader $299 + $10/mo per device; cellular $10/mo per device; online and in-person processing rates 'Call for Pricing'. QuickBooks Desktop integration is an additional fee on Clever and above. Add-ons: CRM Essentials $314 or $349/mo; Bookkeeping $314 or $349/mo; Accounting $89 or $99/mo. A one-time $500 data migration fee applies.	Not stated on the pricing page
Shop-Ware	Startup $279/mo monthly or $251/mo billed annually. Pro $389/mo or $350/mo. Master $499/mo or $449/mo. Ultimate+ $999/mo or $899/mo. Unlimited users on all packages. Add-on CRM and Online Service Scheduler $249/mo. Data migration, Accounting Link integration and payment transaction fees apply (amounts not stated); Ultimate+ Google Ads excludes management fee and ad budget.	FAQ: 'flexible month-to-month subscription plans that do not require an annual contract'; annual billing is optional at a discounted rate. No free trial (a free 15-minute demo). Onboarding averages 30 days with a dedicated Customer Success Specialist. Cancellation policy not stated.
AutoLeap	Essentials $199/mo monthly or $179/mo billed annually. Pro $349/mo or $309/mo. Elite $449/mo or $409/mo. Enterprise custom pricing, billed annually. AutoLeap AIR (AI receptionist) $99/mo. Other add-ons not priced. One-time setup fee exists; amount not disclosed. Some repair-data items carry an 'Additional fee' footnote without saying which plans.	Not stated on the pricing page beyond monthly or annual billing. No free trial ('we custom-build the system'); personalized demo instead. One-time setup fee covers implementation, data migration, training and priority support. One device at a time per login.
Mitchell 1 Manager SE	Manager SE on its own: Not published (quote on request). The Mitchell 1 online store shows one bundle, 'Teamworks with Manager SE', at $348/mo (monthly lease price).	Mitchell 1's ordering terms (which cover subscriptions on an Order Form generally, not Manager SE by name): initial term of 12 or 24 months that cannot be cancelled by the customer, then automatic month-to-month renewal with 30 days' notice to cancel; billed monthly, due within 30 days; activation fee non-refundable once the Order Form is accepted; pricing may change on notice before each renewal period.
Protractor	Core $399/mo monthly or $359/mo billed annually. Performance $599/mo or $539/mo. Prestige $1,099/mo or $989/mo. Elite $1,299/mo or $1,169/mo. Canadian: Core CAD $449/$404; Performance CAD $669/$602; Prestige CAD $1,199/$1,079; Elite CAD $1,399/$1,259. Advanced Tools (CRM + Online Service Scheduler) $249/mo. Integrated payments: transaction fees apply. Google Ads enablement excludes management fee and ad budget. 'Prices are applicable for new customers or upgrades only.'	Not stated on the pricing page
Shop Boss	Gold $179 or $199/mo. Platinum $314 or $349/mo. Premier $404 or $449/mo. Premier Plus $584 or $649/mo. CRM + Online Service Scheduler $224 or $249/mo. Unlimited users. Data transfer: customer & vehicle data $399; customer, vehicle, repair history & inventory $899. Embedded payment processing: transaction fees apply.	Not stated on the pricing page
ARI	ARI PRO $39.99/month, or $399.99/year. Free plan: limited to 5 invoices, 5 clients, 5 vehicles and 5 car inspections, single user, no customer support. No setup fee.	Help-center pricing article: 'No contracts and no surprises'; cancel any time from ARI Settings; switch between monthly and yearly in the app; no setup fee.

Prices are each vendor's own published figures, read on 2026-10-14.

The workspace brings the rest

Automations, phone, email, a website, a customer portal, invoices and payments, banking, chat, docs, version history and apps for iPhone, Mac and Windows come standard. Start from a template in the marketplace, and bring your data in from a CSV. AI employees answer calls, book jobs and work your records alongside the team. Roles decide which pages each teammate can open.

Integrations

Keep the tools that work. Your books stay in QuickBooks or Xero, payments in Stripe, your calendar in Google.

One price for the whole crew

Priced per workspace, not per user. Start free and move up when the business needs it.

Free: $0 a month, or $0 a month billed annually.
Starter: $49 a month, or $41 a month billed annually.
Business: $149 a month, or $124 a month billed annually.

Comparing? See what Jobber, Housecall Pro and ServiceTitan cost.

Auto repair shop software questions

What is Unstack?

A workspace your business runs in: the software your team uses every day, plus a phone line, email, a website, a customer portal, payments, team chat and AI employees. Start from a template or describe how you work, and the AI builder sets it up. One price per workspace, with unlimited users.

Is there a ready-made auto repair template?

Not yet. You describe how your auto repair business runs, from how jobs come in to how you get paid, and the AI builder sets up the tables, pages and automations in your workspace. Change anything later the same way.

Can Unstack handle our existing customer and vehicle data?

Yes. You can import customers, vehicles and past work orders from CSV files exported from your current system, after the builder creates the tables to hold them.

Will our technicians actually use a new system?

That depends on what you give them. Because the builder makes the pages, a technician's view can be as simple as today's jobs, a status button and a time log, and you can change it whenever they push back.

How do we sync work orders to QuickBooks for accounting?

Connect QuickBooks Online, then have the builder set up an automation that creates the invoice in QuickBooks, with the labor and parts lines, when you mark a job complete.

Can customers really check their own repair status?

Yes. Customers sign in to the customer portal to see their vehicle's work order, its status and their invoices, and pay online through Stripe. An automation can also text them when the car is ready.

How much does Unstack cost compared to ServiceTitan?

Unstack is priced per workspace, not per user, so adding staff doesn't change the bill, and there's a free plan to start on. See the pricing page for current plans.

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