Tekmetric vs. Shopmonkey: The Seat Count Changes the Answer
Third Gear Shop Team · 2026-09-13 · 16 min read
Switching · Comparison · Getting Started
Tekmetric and Shopmonkey are the two names you cannot avoid when you start shopping for auto repair software. Both are cloud-native, both are modern, both publish their pricing, and both are large: Shopmonkey states "over 8,000 shops trust Shopmonkey" on its homepage and Tekmetric states it is "trusted by more than 15,000 shops nationwide" on its own (both checked 2026-09-13).
Most comparisons of the two get stuck on feature checklists, which mostly rhyme. The thing that actually separates them on your invoice is simpler and almost never mentioned:
Tekmetric does not charge per user. Shopmonkey does.
Tekmetric states "Unlimited users, unlimited RO's" on every tier. Shopmonkey includes 3 user licenses on Basic, 4 on Clever and 5 on Genius, and charges "+$20 / month" for each additional user. Both are on the vendors' own pricing pages, checked 2026-09-13, and both are linked below.
For a shop with three people in the system, that difference is nothing. For a shop with ten, it is over a hundred dollars a month, and it flips which product is cheaper.
Disclosure, before the numbers. We build Third Gear Shop, which competes with both of these. You have probably never heard of us, and reading a comparison written by a rival you have never heard of, the correct instinct is suspicion.
So: every price and feature claim below links to Tekmetric's or Shopmonkey's own live page with the date we read it. No aggregators, no forums. Where one beats the other, we name which. Most of this post does not mention our product, and the part that does is labelled so you can skip it and keep the comparison.
We have no customer logos, case studies, review scores or shop count to show you. Assume we are small and new, because we are. Telling a stranger the truth about two better-known products is the only thing we can offer on a first visit, so that is what this is.
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Published Pricing, Both Vendors
From tekmetric.com/pricing, checked 2026-09-13:
| Tekmetric tier | Monthly | Annual | Users | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | $199 | $179/mo | Unlimited | Inventory and vendor management, digital vehicle inspections, Smart Jobs, digital authorizations and invoicing |
| Grow | $349 | $309/mo | Unlimited | Labor Guide, maintenance schedule, time and job clocks, parts, inventory and marketing reports |
| Scale | $439 | $409/mo | Unlimited | Two-way texting, real-time shop dashboard, technician board, employee performance analytics |
| Enterprise | Quoted | Quoted | Unlimited | Integrated payments, dedicated account manager, quarterly business reviews |
Add-ons: multi-shop at $70/month per shop, tire suite at $39/month per shop, marketing at $345/month per shop.
From shopmonkey.io/pricing, checked 2026-09-13:
| Shopmonkey tier | Monthly | Annual | Included users | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $239 | $215/mo | 3 | Two-way text and email, unlimited estimates and invoices, calendar with automated reminders, 2 digital vehicle inspection templates, electronic signatures, integrated payments, parts lookup, mobile app, VIN decode, 30+ reports |
| Clever | $399 | $359/mo | 4 | Unlimited digital vehicle inspections, customizable workflow, purchase orders, time clock tracking, inventory management, MOTOR parts and labor integration |
| Genius | $499 | $449/mo | 5 | Coupons manager, automated estimate followups, inactive work orders, Google Reviews Manager, MOTOR diagrams and procedures |
| Multi-Shop | Quoted | Quoted | Bulk licenses | Cross-shop reporting |
Additional users are "+$20 / month" each on Basic, Clever and Genius. Card readers are $299 plus $10/month per device, with cellular at another $10/month per device (same page and date).
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Do the Seat Math Before Anything Else
Count everyone who needs a login. Owner, service advisors, every technician who clocks time or completes an inspection on the mobile app, the bookkeeper. That number decides more of this comparison than any feature does.
All prices below use the annual rates from the tables above, because that is the fairer comparison and it is what most shops end up on.
Three people, no texting required. Shopmonkey Basic at $215/month covers all three. Tekmetric Start at $179/month covers all three. Tekmetric is $36/month cheaper, though Shopmonkey Basic includes texting and payments that Tekmetric Start does not.
Three people, texting required. Shopmonkey Basic at $215/month includes two-way text and email. Tekmetric puts two-way texting on Scale at $409/month. Shopmonkey is $194/month cheaper, which is not a close call.
Eight people, texting required. Shopmonkey Basic at $215 plus 5 extra seats at $20 is $315/month. Tekmetric Scale at $409/month. Shopmonkey is still $94/month cheaper.
Eight people, labor guide required, texting not. Shopmonkey Clever at $359 plus 4 extra seats is $439/month. Tekmetric Grow at $309/month. Tekmetric is $130/month cheaper, which is $1,560 a year.
Fifteen people, labor guide required. Shopmonkey Clever at $359 plus 11 extra seats at $20 is $579/month. Tekmetric Grow at $309/month. Tekmetric is $270/month cheaper, and the gap widens with every hire.
The pattern is consistent and it is worth stating plainly. Shopmonkey is cheaper for small headcounts, especially if you want texting. Tekmetric is cheaper for larger headcounts, and the crossover point moves depending on which features you need. Neither vendor is being sneaky about this. Both publish it. It just takes a spreadsheet to see.
One caveat before you take the arithmetic as gospel: the seat cost only bites if you actually give everyone a login. Some shops run four technicians through two shared logins. That is cheaper and it also destroys per-technician time tracking and inspection attribution, which is one of the main reasons to buy the software. Decide which you want before you price it.
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What Tekmetric Does Well
Unlimited Users on Every Tier
This is the structural advantage and it is worth naming first because everything above flows from it. Every Tekmetric tier states "Unlimited users, unlimited RO's, unlimited support, no hidden fees" (tekmetric.com/pricing, checked 2026-09-13). Hiring a technician does not change your software bill.
Integrations
Tekmetric advertises "70+ integrations" with a browsable directory covering marketing and communication, parts and inventory, payments and accounting, lookups and labor guides, and diagnostic and vehicle information. Named partners include Advance Auto Parts, PartsTech and ALLDATA (tekmetric.com/integrations, checked 2026-09-13).
Shopmonkey's integrations page lists five categories, accounting and bookkeeping, inspections, lookups and labor guides, parts procurement, and webhooks and API, but does not publish a total count or a named partner list that we could read on the same date. Shopmonkey plainly has integrations, including MOTOR on the Clever tier. We simply cannot compare a count against a count, so if a specific partner decides your purchase, ask Shopmonkey for a straight yes or no on that partner by name.
Digital Inspections With No Template Limit at the Bottom
Tekmetric's DVI is on every tier and its DVI page describes being able to "take and markup photos, record videos, and add detailed findings" and "Create custom multi-point inspections for any type of work" (checked 2026-09-13).
Shopmonkey's Basic tier caps you at "2 Digital Vehicle Inspection Templates", with unlimited inspections arriving on Clever at $359/month (shopmonkey.io/pricing, checked 2026-09-13). Two templates is workable for a shop that runs one standard inspection and one tire check. It is a real ceiling for a shop that wants a different inspection for a state safety check, a pre-purchase inspection and a used-car intake.
A Published Migration Path
Tekmetric's FAQ states: "Tekmetric offers data migration services from over 150+ Shop Management Systems" (tekmetric.com/faq, checked 2026-09-13).
Shopmonkey advertises migration too, in less specific terms. Its homepage names "Advanced Data Migration" and says "We will help you export data from your existing system" (shopmonkey.io, checked 2026-09-13). Both will move you. Tekmetric names a number of source systems and Shopmonkey does not.
You Can Look Without Booking
Tekmetric's FAQ says: "Tekmetric offers free demos but not free trials. However, you can test drive Tekmetric 24/7 with our self-guided tours" (tekmetric.com/faq, checked 2026-09-13). Shopmonkey does not advertise a free trial on its pricing page or homepage that we could find on the same date, and does not advertise a self-guided tour either.
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What Shopmonkey Does Well
Texting and Payments Are on the Cheapest Tier
Shopmonkey Basic at $239/month, or $215 annually, includes two-way text and email plus integrated payments (shopmonkey.io/pricing, checked 2026-09-13). Its customer communication page describes two-way text and email, digital estimate approvals with e-signatures, online payments, automated appointment reminders, message templates and notifications when a customer replies (same date).
Tekmetric puts two-way texting on Scale at $439 and lists integrated payments under Enterprise, which is quote-only. For a small shop that texts customers all day, this is the whole ballgame and Shopmonkey wins it by nearly $200/month.
On payments, ask both for the card processing rate in writing. Neither publishes one, and the rate usually matters more than the monthly subscription. Note also that Shopmonkey's card readers are a separate line: $299 per device plus $10/month, with cellular another $10/month.
Reporting Is Not Held Back
Shopmonkey lists "30+ reports" on Basic at $215 annually. Tekmetric's parts, inventory and marketing reports arrive on Grow at $309 (both pricing pages, checked 2026-09-13). If you want numbers out of the system without climbing a tier, Shopmonkey gives them to you earlier.
Automated Follow-Up and Reviews
Shopmonkey's marketing product documents automatic reminders for previously declined services plus targeted email and text campaigns, and the Genius tier adds automated estimate followups and a Google Reviews Manager (checked 2026-09-13).
Tekmetric sells marketing as an add-on at $345/month per shop on top of your tier. For a shop that wants declined-work follow-up, Shopmonkey has it inside the subscription and Tekmetric has it as a separate, larger line item.
The Onboarding Reputation Is Earned
Shopmonkey's product is built to get a shop running quickly rather than through a multi-week configuration project, and it advertises "Enterprise Onboarding" for the harder cases (shopmonkey.io, checked 2026-09-13). This one is not a feature you can read off a pricing table, so treat it as a reason to ask both vendors what week one actually looks like for a shop your size, and to ask for a reference.
The Inspection Experience Itself
Shopmonkey's digital vehicle inspection page describes creating "inspection templates that match how your shop operates", capturing "photos, videos, and notes", sending "customers an inspection link where they can review findings" and approve services from it, with inspection history tied to the customer and vehicle (checked 2026-09-13). Once you are past the two-template cap on Basic, the capability is comparable to Tekmetric's.
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Head to Head
Every cell comes from the linked vendor page, checked 2026-09-13. "Not on the pricing page" means we could not find the item stated on the vendor's own pages, which is not the same as the vendor saying it does not exist.
| Tekmetric | Shopmonkey | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price, monthly | $199 | $239 |
| Entry price, annual | $179/mo | $215/mo |
| Users included | Unlimited, every tier | 3 on Basic, 4 on Clever, 5 on Genius |
| Extra users | No charge | +$20/month each |
| Top published tier | $439 (Scale) | $499 (Genius) |
| Two-way texting | Scale, $439 | Basic, $239 |
| Integrated payments | Enterprise, quoted | Basic, $239 |
| Card reader hardware | Not on the pricing page | $299 plus $10/mo per device |
| Digital inspections | Every tier, custom multi-point | 2 templates on Basic, unlimited from Clever |
| Labor guide | Grow, $349 | MOTOR on Clever, $399 |
| Reports | Grow, $349 | 30+ on Basic, $239 |
| Time clocks | Grow, $349 | Clever, $399 |
| Inventory management | Start, $199 | Clever, $399 |
| Purchase orders | Not named on the pricing page | Clever, $399 |
| Marketing and campaigns | Add-on, $345/mo per shop | Inside Clever and Genius |
| Google Reviews manager | Not on the pricing page | Genius, $499 |
| Multi-location | $70/mo per shop | Multi-Shop tier, quoted |
| Integration count | "70+ integrations" | Not published |
| Data migration | "over 150+ Shop Management Systems" | "We will help you export data from your existing system" |
| Free trial | No. Demos and self-guided tours | Not advertised |
| Shops claimed | "more than 15,000 shops nationwide" | "over 8,000 shops" |
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Who Should Choose Tekmetric
- You have more than about six people who need a login. Unlimited users is worth real money at that headcount and it keeps being worth money every time you hire.
- You need a named integration. Tekmetric publishes a directory. Shopmonkey publishes categories.
- You run several different inspection types. No template cap at any tier.
- You are migrating off an older system and want a vendor who names the systems it has moved shops from.
- Inventory and vendor management matter from day one. It is on Tekmetric's entry tier and on Shopmonkey's middle tier.
Who Should Choose Shopmonkey
- You have three to five people and you text customers constantly. Basic at $215 annually beats anything Tekmetric can quote for a texting shop by a wide margin.
- You want payments included without an Enterprise conversation.
- You want reporting on the cheap tier rather than after an upgrade.
- You want declined-work follow-up and review requests inside the subscription rather than as a $345/month add-on.
- Your headcount is stable. The per-seat model is fine when it is not growing.
The Question That Decides It
If you are genuinely torn, ask yourself one thing: is your headcount going up in the next two years?
If yes, Tekmetric's unlimited-user model gets better every time you hire and Shopmonkey's gets worse. If no, and especially if you are a three or four person shop that lives in text messages, Shopmonkey is cheaper today and will stay cheaper.
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A Third Option, Clearly Labelled
You have your answer above. This section exists because we build a competing product and pretending otherwise would be worse than saying it.
Third Gear Shop is much cheaper than either and does much less than either. Both halves matter. The longer version of each matchup is written up on its own: Tekmetric vs. Third Gear Shop and the Shopmonkey comparison for small shops.
What it does not have. No digital vehicle inspection workflow: no templates, no per-point pass or fail, no photo markup, no video. No two-way texting. No MOTOR, Mitchell or ALLDATA labor guide. No marketing automation, review requests or declined-work follow-up. No parts-vendor ordering and no accounting integration. No multi-location support. No bulk import of your existing customers and vehicles, so switching means entering them by hand or as they come back in, and no bulk export either. If any of that is a requirement, buy Tekmetric or Shopmonkey.
What it is. $79/month for up to 5 technicians or $149/month for unlimited technicians, month to month, no per-seat charge at any headcount and no annual contract.
The $79 tier: a drag-and-drop job board that flags a job on its own when a part has not arrived or nobody is assigned. Jobs that stay open as long as the work takes and carry their own parts with an order status (pending, ordered, arrived, installed), their services with the date each one was performed, time logged per job and per technician, phone-camera photos, a task list and a record of what you told the customer. Estimates a customer approves or declines from a link by typing their name. Invoicing with PDF export. Parts inventory. A lookup that returns book-time estimates from the Open Labor Project, an open data source, plus NHTSA VIN decode and recall checks and a reference panel for lug torque, fluid capacities and tire fitment, each fact carrying its source and the date it was checked. That is not a licensed labor guide and it is not sold as one.
The $149 tier adds your logo and colors on invoices and estimates, card payment by link straight into your own Stripe account, a private status page each customer can check on their own vehicle, expense tracking by category, and reporting on revenue by technician, margin per job and profit and loss.
It fits a small independent shop where the software bill is itself the constraint, and it fits a performance or build shop where a job stays open for six weeks and what you need is one record holding the whole build rather than a fast repair-order pipeline.
Do not buy it if this is you. You run six or more technicians with a parts counter and a service advisor. You sell work through digital inspections and your close rate depends on the photos going out. You want declined-service follow-up and review requests running on their own. You price off book times daily. You have a second location, or you want one. In any of those cases the answer is Tekmetric or Shopmonkey, and the seat arithmetic higher up this page tells you which.
Two Doors, Both Free, Neither Asks for a Card
The free Garage plan is $0 with no expiry, capped at 3 vehicles, and it opens in about a minute. What it shows you is the job record itself, which is the core of the product: parts with an order status, services with the date each was done, tasks, photos and the reference panel. What it does not show you is the job board, invoices, estimates or time tracking, because those are shop features and this plan is for tracking your own cars. If what you want to know is whether the way this thing records a job matches how you think about a job, ten minutes answers it and it costs nothing.
The 14-day trial opens the shop half: job board, invoices, estimates, time tracking, parts inventory. Also no card. Worth noting that neither product compared above offers a trial at all.
Open the free plan or start the 14-day trial.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Tekmetric or Shopmonkey cheaper?
It depends on your headcount and on whether you need texting. Tekmetric bills unlimited users on every tier. Shopmonkey includes 3 user licenses on Basic, 4 on Clever and 5 on Genius, and charges "+$20 / month" per additional user. A three-person shop that needs texting pays $215/month on Shopmonkey Basic against $409/month on Tekmetric Scale. An eight-person shop that needs a labor guide pays $439/month on Shopmonkey Clever against $309/month on Tekmetric Grow. All figures are annual rates from tekmetric.com/pricing and shopmonkey.io/pricing, checked 2026-09-13.
Does Shopmonkey charge per user?
Yes. Its pricing page lists included user licenses of 3, 4 and 5 on Basic, Clever and Genius, with additional users at "+$20 / month" each (shopmonkey.io/pricing, checked 2026-09-13). Tekmetric does not: every tier states "Unlimited users, unlimited RO's" (tekmetric.com/pricing, same date).
Which one has two-way texting on the cheapest plan?
Shopmonkey. Two-way text and email is included on Basic at $239/month, or $215 annually. Tekmetric's two-way texting is on Scale at $439/month, or $409 annually (both checked 2026-09-13).
How many digital inspection templates does Shopmonkey Basic include?
Two. Its pricing page lists "2 Digital Vehicle Inspection Templates" on Basic, with "Unlimited Digital Vehicle Inspections" from Clever up (shopmonkey.io/pricing, checked 2026-09-13). Tekmetric does not publish a template cap on any tier and its DVI page describes creating "custom multi-point inspections for any type of work" (tekmetric.com/feature/digital-vehicle-inspection, same date).
Does either one offer a free trial?
Neither advertises one. Tekmetric's FAQ states "Tekmetric offers free demos but not free trials" and points to self-guided tours available around the clock (tekmetric.com/faq, checked 2026-09-13). Shopmonkey does not advertise a free trial on its pricing page or homepage as of the same date. Ask both what an evaluation looks like before you assume you cannot get hands on the product.
Which one is bigger?
Tekmetric states "trusted by more than 15,000 shops nationwide" (tekmetric.com) and Shopmonkey states "over 8,000 shops trust Shopmonkey" (shopmonkey.io), both checked 2026-09-13. These are vendor self-reported numbers on marketing pages and neither is audited, so treat them as an indication of scale and not as a measurement.
Is there a cheaper alternative to both?
Yes, with real tradeoffs. Third Gear Shop is $79/month for up to 5 technicians and $149/month for unlimited technicians, with no per-seat fee at any headcount. It has no digital inspection workflow, no texting, no licensed labor guide, no marketing automation and no parts or accounting integrations. It suits a small independent shop, or a performance and build shop, that needs a job board, long-running job records and invoicing at a much lower monthly number. It does not suit a high-volume general repair shop that sells work through inspections, or a multi-location operation. There is a free plan capped at 3 vehicles and a 14-day trial, and neither asks for a credit card, which is more than either product on this page offers.