Every major shop management platform. Priced side by side. No spin. Just the numbers. And one platform that costs $0.
Shop management software companies don't make it easy to compare prices. Some hide pricing behind "contact sales" buttons. Others show a low entry price but lock essential features behind premium tiers. Add-ons pile up. Per-user fees sneak in. By the time you figure out what you'll actually pay, you've already committed.
I built this page because I spent months researching every platform before I gave up and built Shop Commander. Here's every major shop management platform priced transparently, with the features that actually matter at each tier.
| Platform | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost | Two-Way SMS | Marketing/CRM | AI Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shop Commander | $0 | $0 | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Tekmetric Starter | $199 | $2,388 | ✗ | Paid add-on | ✗ |
| Tekmetric Growth | $349 | $4,188 | ✗ | Paid add-on | ✗ |
| Tekmetric Scale | $439+ | $5,268+ | ✓ | Paid add-on | ✗ |
| Shopmonkey Clever | $179 | $2,148 | ✗ Limited | ✗ | ✗ |
| Shopmonkey Genius | $475 | $5,700 | ✓ | Limited | ✗ |
| Shop-Ware (Mid) | $399–599 | $4,788–7,188 | ✓ | Paid add-on | ✗ |
| Shop-Ware (Premium) | $699–999 | $8,388–11,988 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Mitchell 1 Manager SE | $200–400* | $2,400–4,800 | Add-on | Add-on | ✗ |
| AutoFluent | $200–350* | $2,400–4,200 | Add-on | ✗ | ✗ |
| Protractor | $250–400* | $3,000–4,800 | Add-on | ✗ | ✗ |
* Pricing not publicly listed; estimates based on industry reports and user feedback. Contact vendors for current pricing.
Let that table sink in. Every other platform charges $2,000–12,000/year for shop management software. And most of them don't include SMS, marketing, CRM, or AI at those prices. Shop Commander includes everything for $0.
The monthly subscription is just the starting point. Here's what piles on top:
Most shop management platforms don't include CRM or marketing. You need a third-party tool like Steer ($200–400/mo), Shopgenie ($300–700/mo), or Mechanic Advisor ($100–200/mo) on top of your shop software. That's an additional $2,400–8,400/year. Shop Commander includes a full CRM engine with customer lifecycle automation, service reminders, declined job recovery, review requests, and reactivation campaigns — built in and free.
Tekmetric charges $439/month just to get two-way SMS (Scale tier). Shopmonkey and Mitchell lock it behind premium plans or charge extra. SMS is not optional in 2026 — 90% of customers prefer text communication. Making you pay extra for it is like charging extra for a steering wheel. Shop Commander includes two-way SMS on every account.
Tekmetric charges $39/month extra for tire management. If you do seasonal tire storage, that's $468/year for a feature that should be included. Shop Commander includes complete tire storage tracking with tread depth monitoring, QR codes, and automated seasonal swap reminders — free.
Some platforms charge for onboarding, training sessions, or data migration. This can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. Shop Commander provides free setup, free training, and free data migration from any platform.
Many platforms require annual contracts with early termination penalties. Mitchell and AutoFluent are known for multi-year agreements. If you want to switch, you might be paying for months of software you're not using. Shop Commander has no contracts. No commitments. Use it or don't.
Tekmetric is the most visible cloud-based platform in the market. Three tiers: Starter ($199), Growth ($349), Scale ($439). The problem is that essential features are gated by tier. Two-way SMS requires Scale ($439/mo). Marketing is a paid add-on at every tier. Tire management is $39/mo extra. A fully-loaded Tekmetric shop pays $500+/month.
No AI features at any tier. No offline inspections. No loaner management. No built-in CRM. Tekmetric charges premium prices for a platform that's missing features Shop Commander includes for free.
Read the full comparison: Shop Commander vs Tekmetric
Shopmonkey has a clean interface but similar tier-gating problems. The Clever plan ($179/mo) is barebones. Two-way texting, inventory management, and multi-location support require the Genius plan ($475/mo). No built-in CRM. No AI. No tire storage. No loaner management.
Read the full comparison: Shop Commander vs Shopmonkey
Shop-Ware positions itself as the premium option and prices accordingly. Mid-tier plans run $399–599/month. Premium plans hit $699–999/month. They have a decent feature set, but at those prices you're paying $8,000–12,000/year — enough to buy a lift. No AI features. No offline inspections.
Read the full comparison: Shop Commander vs Shop-Ware
Mitchell 1 is the legacy player. They don't publicly list pricing, which is never a good sign. Based on industry reports, expect $200–400/month depending on your package. Mitchell runs on local servers, not the cloud, which adds IT overhead. Their interface feels dated compared to modern cloud platforms. SMS and marketing are typically add-on modules.
Read the full comparison: Shop Commander vs Mitchell 1
AutoFluent (by Auto Profit Masters) targets Canadian and US shops. Pricing isn't published and typically requires a sales call. Desktop-based with optional cloud features. Known for solid reporting but dated UI. No AI, limited mobile features, SMS as add-on. Often requires annual contracts.
Protractor is popular in Canada and focuses heavily on business coaching integration. Pricing requires a consultation. Known for good KPI tracking but limited in modern features like mobile DVI, SMS, and AI. No tire storage. No loaner management. The coaching aspect adds value but also adds cost.
Most shops need both shop management software AND a CRM/marketing tool. Here's what that actually costs:
Read that again. Some shops are paying $10,000–20,000/year for software and CRM. That's more than a new lift. That's a tech's bonus. That's a down payment on an expansion. And Shop Commander does everything those tools do — combined — for $0.
Software costs compound. Here's what you pay over 5 years on different platforms (base subscription only, excluding add-ons and CRM):
That's $25,000–60,000 over 5 years that goes to software companies instead of back into your business. Shop Commander saves you every penny of that.
Fair question. Here's the honest answer.
I'm a shop owner who got tired of paying $400+/month for software that didn't do half of what I needed. I spent over a year building Shop Commander — 82,650+ lines of code, React 18 + FastAPI + PostgreSQL — and I built the platform I wish had existed.
Shop Commander makes money through a small commission from our payment processor when you run credit card transactions through the platform. You pay standard processing rates — we get a small referral cut from the processor. That's it. The software is free. No monthly fee. No per-user charges. No feature paywalls. No credit card required. No catch.
Read more: Pricing page | About us
Just to be crystal clear, here's what Shop Commander includes at no cost:
Every feature. Every user. Every shop. $0/month. Forever. See the full feature list or check our head-to-head comparisons: vs Tekmetric, vs Shopmonkey, vs Mitchell, vs Shop-Ware.
Want to understand how software costs affect your bottom line? Read our profit margin guide.
Every feature. Every user. Every shop. $0/month. Forever. Join the shops that stopped sending checks to software companies.
Free migration. Same-day setup. No credit card. No catch.