Run 2 shops or 20 from one platform. Complete data isolation. Per-shop branding. Dedicated phone numbers. Cross-shop reporting. Role-based access per location. No per-location fees. $0/month. Every location.
If you run multiple auto repair shop locations, you already know the software pricing problem. Most shop management platforms charge per location. Tekmetric's Scale tier is $439/month per location. Shop-Ware charges up to $999/month per location. Shopmonkey charges up to $475/month per location. Run three locations and you're looking at $1,300–3,000/month in software costs alone. That's $15,600–36,000 per year.
And the kicker? Most of these platforms don't even do multi-location well. Data bleeds between locations. Reporting is shop-by-shop with no easy way to compare. Each location needs its own separate configuration that doesn't talk to the others. You end up managing multiple independent software instances instead of one unified operation.
Shop Commander was built for multi-location from day one. The architecture is multi-tenant by design — not bolted on as an afterthought. Complete data isolation between shops. Independent settings, branding, and phone numbers per location. Centralized admin panel for owners who need oversight across all locations. Cross-shop reporting to compare performance. Role-based access so your tech at Location A never sees Location B's data.
And the price? $0/month. Per location. No matter how many locations you run. Because charging per location is just a way to punish shops for growing. We don't do that.
This is the foundation everything else is built on. In Shop Commander, each shop location is a completely isolated tenant. Location A's customers, vehicles, repair orders, inspections, inventory, tasks, tire storage records, and communications are 100% separate from Location B's. There is no accidental cross-contamination of data. Period.
This isn't just a UI separation where things look separate but share a database table with a shop_id filter that someone could accidentally break. This is architectural isolation. Every query, every API endpoint, every WebSocket connection is scoped to the authenticated user's shop. A tech at your east-side location cannot see, search, or accidentally modify data at your west-side location. It's physically impossible within the system.
Why does this matter? Because in a multi-location operation, data integrity is everything. When you pull a revenue report for Location A, you need to know it's only Location A. When a service writer searches for a customer, they should only find customers at their location. When your CRM automation sends a service reminder, it needs to come from the right location's phone number with the right location's branding. Shop Commander handles all of this by default.
Each location maintains its own independent customer database. If the same person visits both your locations, they exist as separate records with separate service histories at each shop. No confusion about which location serviced which vehicle when. Each location's CRM automation runs independently.
Parts inventory, purchase orders, vendors, and returns are all scoped per location. Location A's oil filter count doesn't affect Location B's. Low-stock alerts fire independently per shop. Each location manages its own vendor relationships and pricing. No shared inventory headaches.
Repair order numbers, task numbers, and tire storage numbers are sequential per shop. Location A has RO-1001, RO-1002, etc. Location B has its own RO-1001, RO-1002. No shared numbering confusion. Each location's number sequence is independent and clean.
Your downtown location charges different labor rates than your suburban location. Your east-side shop has 6 bays while the west-side has 4. One location does tire storage, the other doesn't. Different business hours. Different SMS templates. Different job board column configurations. Different parts markup matrices.
Shop Commander handles all of this. Every configuration option is scoped to the individual shop. Each location is a fully independent operation with its own identity, its own workflow, and its own settings. Change the labor rate at one location without affecting the others. Enable a feature at one shop without forcing it on the rest.
Each location has its own shop name, address, phone number, email, website, and logo. Customer-facing communications — SMS messages, estimate links, invoice PDFs, online booking pages, inspection reports, and customer portals — all use the correct location's branding. Customers interact with their shop, not a generic corporate identity.
Each location gets its own dedicated phone number for two-way SMS. When a customer texts their shop, it goes to the right location. When automated messages go out — status updates, estimate links, review requests — they come from the right number. No shared phone lines. No "which location is this message from?" confusion.
Tax rate, labor rates (multiple named rates per shop), parts markup matrix, business hours, bay count, appointment colors, SMS templates, job board columns, tire storage toggle, shop fee configuration, CRM module settings, and frequency limits — all independently configurable per location. One location's settings never affect another.
Each location's CRM engine runs independently. Customer lifecycle states, service reminders, declined job follow-ups, reactivation campaigns, and review requests all operate per-shop. The master CRM toggle and 10 individual module settings are configured independently per location. Each shop's CRM runs on its own schedule with its own rules.
Data isolation doesn't mean you're flying blind. As a multi-location owner, you need oversight across your entire operation. Shop Commander's admin panel gives you exactly that — a centralized view of all your shops with the ability to drill into any location's details.
Create new shop locations with initial admin users. Monitor disk usage and AI API costs per shop. Set platform-level feature flags and rate limits. View cross-shop reporting to compare performance across locations. All from one login.
Compare revenue, average repair order, technician productivity, customer retention, and other key metrics across all your locations. Side-by-side performance comparison. Identify which location is thriving and which needs attention. Custom date ranges and CSV export across the board.
Spin up a new shop location from the admin panel. Set the initial admin user. Configure basic settings. The new shop is ready to use immediately with its own isolated data space, its own numbering sequences, and its own settings. Adding a location is a 5-minute process, not a multi-week onboarding ordeal.
Track disk usage (storage consumption from photos, inspections, documents) per shop. Monitor AI API costs per shop. Platform-level configuration for feature flags and rate limits. Know exactly how much each location is using and what it's costing at the infrastructure level. Full transparency.
In a multi-location operation, access control is critical. Your tech at Location A should see Location A's repair orders, not Location B's. Your manager who oversees two locations needs access to both. Your owner account needs to see everything.
Shop Commander's role-based access control handles all of this. Six predefined roles — Owner, Manager, Service Writer, Technician, Parts, and Admin — each with appropriate permission levels. Users are assigned to specific locations with specific roles. The system enforces access boundaries at every level: API endpoints, WebSocket connections, data queries, and UI rendering.
Quick PIN login (4-10 digit PIN, bcrypt-hashed) makes it easy for techs to switch between accounts on a shared shop tablet without typing full passwords. JWT authentication with 60-minute access tokens and 30-day refresh tokens keeps sessions secure. Token revocation on logout invalidates all active tokens. Rate limiting prevents brute-force login attempts. Enterprise-grade security without enterprise pricing.
Owner sees everything across all locations. Manager has full operational access to assigned locations. Service Writer manages customers, ROs, and estimates. Technician sees assigned work, clocks time, and completes inspections. Parts handles inventory and purchase orders. Admin has platform-level configuration access. Each role sees exactly what they need.
Users are assigned to specific shop locations. A tech at your east-side shop cannot access your west-side shop's data. Period. A manager can be assigned to multiple locations to oversee several shops. Access is enforced at the database level — not just hidden in the UI. Secure by design.
JWT token-based authentication with 60-minute access tokens and 30-day refresh tokens. Quick PIN login for techs on shared tablets. Full audit trail with user attribution, IP address, and timestamp on every change. Login rate limiting (5 attempts per 60 seconds per IP). Security headers including X-Frame-Options and XSS protection. No shortcuts on security.
Let's do the math for a 3-location shop operation. This is what you'd pay per month with the top-tier plans most multi-location shops actually need:
| Platform (3 Locations) | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tekmetric Scale | $1,317/mo | $15,804/yr |
| Shopmonkey Plus | $1,425/mo | $17,100/yr |
| Shop-Ware Pro | $2,997/mo | $35,964/yr |
| Shop Commander | $0/mo | $0/yr |
That's not a typo. A 3-location operation on Shop-Ware pays almost $36,000 per year in software costs. On Tekmetric, it's almost $16,000 per year. On Shop Commander, it's $0. Every year. Every location. Every feature. Every user.
Over 5 years, a 3-location shop saves $79,000–180,000 by using Shop Commander instead of the competition. That's a new lift for every location. That's a marketing budget. That's money that should be growing your business, not paying for software that should be free.
And here's what makes it worse: the competition charges you more for less. Shop Commander includes AI features, real-time WebSocket sync, tire storage management, loaner vehicle tracking, and automated marketing — features most competitors either don't have or charge extra for on top of their already-expensive per-location pricing. See the full comparison for details.
When you add a new location in Shop Commander, it gets the complete feature set from day one. There's no "starter plan" for new locations. No gradual feature unlock. No "upgrade to get multi-location reporting." Every location gets everything:
Shop Commander supports every location you run — with complete data isolation, per-shop branding, cross-shop reporting, and role-based access — for $0/month per location. The competition charges $199–999/mo per location. The choice is obvious.
Free setup. No per-location fees. No catch.