Tekmetric pricing & alternatives
Tekmetric pricing: what it really costs a small shop
The plan-by-plan numbers, the add-ons reviewers end up paying for, and an honest look at when Tekmetric fits — and when a 1–5-bay shop is better off with something simpler.
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The sticker price
Three tiers, per location, per month
Tekmetric’s published pricing is $179 a month for Start, $309 for Grow, and $409 for Scale — each per location. Running more than one shop adds a multi-shop fee of $70 a month, which is why a two-location shop on the cheapest tier lands around $5,616 a year before any add-ons.
Credit where due: the pricing is public, and it bills month to month — Tekmetric’s own pricing page leads with no contracts or hidden fees. That already puts it ahead of competitors who hide the number behind a sales call.
The real cost
What the tiers don’t cover
The recurring theme in Tekmetric’s critical reviews isn’t the subscription — it’s what you pay on top, in money and in time. The built-in labor guide is the loudest example: one Capterra reviewer called it “so full of holes it is unuseable” and reported support recommending a Mitchell 1 subscription as a supplement — roughly $180 a month extra. QuickBooks sync goes through a third-party connector rather than a native connection.
Then there’s the time cost. Reviewers describe day-to-day work where “everything takes a million mouse clicks,” with one counting 30–40 clicks before even starting an estimate, and another wrote “Schedule system crazy complicated.” Several also note the trade-off of a 100% cloud system: if the shop’s internet goes down, so does the software. And more than one reviewer reports that responsive pre-sale communication dropped off after signing.
None of that makes Tekmetric a bad product. It means the $179 headline is the entry point of a system that assumes someone at the shop has time to run it.
Honest fit
When Tekmetric is the better choice
Tekmetric is a strong product for bigger operations: multi-advisor shops, multi-location groups, and anyone who wants a large integration catalog and deep reporting. Its digital vehicle inspections are widely praised as best-in-class, and month-to-month billing means trying it isn’t a trap. If that’s your shop, book their demo — you’ll be in good company.
Where it fits worse is the 1–5-bay shop where the owner is also the service writer. There, the tier ladder, the add-ons, and the click count are the product. BayDocket exists for exactly that shop: one price with everything included, estimates in 3 clicks, DVI, text approvals, and text-to-pay — and honestly, not yet the things a bigger shop needs, like QuickBooks sync, a labor guide, or parts-ordering integrations. We’re pre-launch, built with a pilot shop; the table below marks what we don’t have yet, because you’ve probably been burned by a checkmark wall before.
Tekmetric vs BayDocket at a glance
| What to compare | Tekmetric | BayDocket |
|---|---|---|
| Price model | $179 / $309 / $409 per location per month, tiered | One price, everything included |
| Contract | Month to month | Month to month |
| Digital vehicle inspections | Yes — widely praised by reviewers | Yes — photo-first, from the tech’s phone |
| Estimates | Yes — reviewers report a heavy click count | Yes — 3 clicks to start one |
| Text approvals | Yes — two-way texting | Yes — customer approves each job by text |
| Text-to-pay | Yes | Yes |
| Labor guide | Built in — reviewers report needing a Mitchell 1 supplement | Not yet — canned jobs cover your repeat work |
| QuickBooks sync | Via a third-party connector | Not yet |
| Needs an operator? | Reviewers describe a busy interface and multi-step tasks | Built so the owner runs it from a phone |
Frequently asked questions
How much does Tekmetric cost?
Tekmetric publishes three plans: Start at $179, Grow at $309, and Scale at $409 — each per location, per month. A multi-shop add-on runs another $70 a month. Reviewers also report paying for supplements the plans don’t cover, like a Mitchell 1 labor-guide subscription at around $180 a month, so the sticker price is the floor, not the total.
Does Tekmetric have a contract?
No annual contract — Tekmetric bills month to month, and its own pricing page advertises no contracts or hidden fees. That is genuinely better than annual-contract competitors like AutoLeap, and it is the same stance BayDocket takes: month to month, cancel anytime.
Tekmetric vs Shopmonkey — which is better?
Both are capable cloud platforms with tiered pricing, and both draw the same core complaint from reviewers: too many clicks for simple tasks. Tekmetric earns stronger marks for its digital vehicle inspections and bills month to month; Shopmonkey took a wave of one-star reviews after its forced v2.0 migration, and reviewers report chat-only support and a data-export trap. If you are choosing between the two, Tekmetric is the safer pick — but a 1–5-bay shop may not need either one’s tier ladder.
What is a simpler Tekmetric alternative for a small shop?
BayDocket is built for 1–5-bay shops: estimates in 3 clicks, photo-first DVI, text approvals, and text-to-pay, at one price with everything included — no tiers, no per-location math, no contract. It is pre-launch, built with a pilot shop, so the honest pitch is a 15-minute demo and a waitlist spot, not a promise that it does everything Tekmetric does today.
One price, one subscriptionNo contractYour data is yours — export anytime