Shopmonkey vs Tekmetric

Shopmonkey and Tekmetric are the two most-compared cloud shop management systems. Tekmetric is cheaper to start ($179/mo billed annually) and includes unlimited users; Shopmonkey starts at $215 with metered users. The deciding factor is two-way texting: Shopmonkey includes it at every tier, while Tekmetric gates it to its $409 top tier — which reverses the price advantage for any shop that needs it.

Shopmonkey vs Tekmetric: how do they compare?

Figures marked (est.) are third-party estimates, not vendor rate cards.
DimensionShopmonkeyTekmetric
Entry price (annual)$215$179
Top published tier$449$409
Users3 / 4 / 5, then +$20 eachUnlimited at every tier
Publishes pricingFull rate cardFull rate card

What is the core difference?

Both are mature, cloud-native shop management systems covering estimates, repair orders, digital vehicle inspections, invoicing and payments. They diverge on two structural choices that decide the real bill: how they price users, and where they gate two-way customer texting.

Tekmetric prices flat per shop with unlimited users at every tier — a six-person shop pays the same as a one-person shop. Shopmonkey meters users (three on Basic, then $20 each), but publishes the most complete tier chart in the category and includes two-way texting everywhere.

Pricing: Shopmonkey vs Tekmetric

On headline entry price, Tekmetric wins: $179/mo billed annually against Shopmonkey's $215. Tekmetric also includes unlimited users, so for a shop with several staff needing logins the gap widens. But headline price rarely survives contact with the workflow.

The single biggest swing is two-way texting. Tekmetric restricts it to Scale at $409; Start and Grow are one-way only. Shopmonkey includes two-way texting on the $215 Basic plan. For a shop whose main need is customer communication, the effective comparison is Tekmetric at $409 versus Shopmonkey at $215 — the reverse of the headline. Shopmonkey's counter-catch: unlimited digital inspections start at Clever ($359), where Tekmetric includes them from Start.

Who should choose Tekmetric?

Shops with several people needing simultaneous access, where unlimited users is a real saving; multi-location owners who want per-shop pricing they can model before a sales call; and shops that already have inspections as their priority and can live with one-way messaging until they scale. See the full Tekmetric profile.

Who should choose Shopmonkey?

Shops whose primary need is two-way customer texting on a tight budget, and established multi-bay shops that will use the breadth of integrations and reporting and don't have many metered users working against them. Shopmonkey is also the only one of the two that publishes payment-processing rates. See the full Shopmonkey profile.

The third option: Autograff ShopOS

On the two axes this comparison turns on, Autograff ShopOS offers both: unlimited users like Tekmetric, and two-way texting at every tier like Shopmonkey — from $90 to $300, with no per-seat metering and no texting tier. Its AI receptionist sits on the Pro tier at $300. It also connects the shop to fleet repair work. ShopOS is newer than both, with a smaller installed base and fewer third-party integrations than Shopmonkey's catalogue. See the shop management comparison and the pricing index for worked totals.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shopmonkey or Tekmetric cheaper?
Tekmetric is cheaper to start ($179/mo vs $215/mo billed annually) and includes unlimited users. But for a shop that needs two-way texting, Tekmetric requires its $409 Scale tier, while Shopmonkey includes texting from its $215 entry plan — so which is cheaper depends entirely on whether you need texting.
Which has unlimited users, Shopmonkey or Tekmetric?
Tekmetric includes unlimited users at every tier. Shopmonkey meters users — three on Basic, four on Clever, five on Genius, then $20 per additional user per month.
Does Shopmonkey or Tekmetric include two-way texting?
Shopmonkey includes two-way texting on every tier, starting at $215. Tekmetric restricts two-way texting to its top Scale tier at $409; Start and Grow are one-way messaging only.