Shop Boss review
A broad shop-management system with customer tools, workflow controls, and tiered add-ons.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Shop Boss is web-based management software for independent automotive repair businesses. It brings repair order creation, vehicle lookup and history, parts ordering, inventory and vendor management, technician time tracking, payments, customer communication, reporting, and scheduling into one system. Its customer portal extends the workflow beyond the shop, covering digital inspection reports, invoices, updates, messages, and service schedules. The product is positioned for both single-location and multiple-location shops that want customer-facing tools alongside core repair operations.
Pricing is organized across four tiers. Gold costs $199 per month with monthly billing or $179 per month with annual billing and includes calendars, appointments, inventory and vendor management, embedded payment processing, time clocks, job clocks, and parts and labor guide integrations. Platinum costs $349 monthly or $314 with annual billing and adds digital vehicle inspections, a business intelligence dashboard, employee performance analytics, and AI ProNotes. Premier costs $449 monthly or $404 with annual billing and adds a responsive website, website maintenance, website design, and custom one-to-one training. Premier Plus costs $649 monthly or $584 with annual billing and adds an online service scheduler, 24/7 online booking, a marketing CRM, and automated customer communication.
The strongest fit is a shop that needs a connected customer and technician workflow rather than a narrow work-order tool. Workflow boards, work-in-progress views, text-to-pay, reporting, dashboards, and business intelligence support day-to-day coordination, while integrations with 360 Payments, Carfax, PayPal, Venmo, and AutoServe1 extend the platform’s ecosystem. The tradeoff is scope and cost: every plan is paid, the platform is web-only, and customer-facing website, booking, CRM, and automated communication features require the higher tiers. Shops seeking a lower-cost entry point or broader platform coverage should look elsewhere; shops prioritizing customer communication and layered shop operations should consider Shop Boss.
Shop Boss pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Customer portal supports inspections, invoices, updates, messages, and service schedules
- Digital inspections include photos, videos, notes, and customer reports
- Vehicle lookup, VIN scanning, license decoding, and distributor parts ordering
- Where it doesn't
- Web-only platform coverage
- No free plan
- Starting price is $179 per month with annual billing
Shop Boss fact sheet, pricing and score →
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