Buyer's guide
Choosing repair shop software without the sales pitch
An honest guide to choosing repair shop software — what to compare, when paper or a spreadsheet still wins, and the questions to ask any vendor.
- No competitor bashing
- Honest about when to stay put
- Questions to ask any vendor
What are you weighing us up against?
- Repair shop software vs spreadsheetsRunning a repair shop on spreadsheets: where it works, where it breaks, and what changes when jobs, parts and invoices share one system. An honest comparison.
- Repair shop software vs paper job sheetsPaper job tickets versus repair shop software — what you gain, what you lose, and how shops move off paper without stopping work. An honest comparison.
- Repair shop software vs a generic retail POSWhy a standard retail till struggles with repairs — no job tracking, no parts-to-ticket link, no status workflow — and what repair-specific software adds.
- Repair shop software vs general field service softwareGeneral field service platforms versus repair-specific software — where each fits, and why bench work, parts and device history need more than scheduling.
Six questions to ask any vendor
Including us. If a demo dodges any of these, that is the answer.
Does a part fitted to a repair come out of stock automatically?
If it doesn't, your inventory count will drift within weeks and no report built on it can be trusted.
Can I see margin per repair type, not just revenue?
Revenue tells you how busy you are. Margin tells you which of that work is worth doing.
Is warranty tracked against the specific part fitted?
Without it, every warranty return becomes a negotiation instead of a lookup.
What happens to my data if I leave?
Ask for the export format before you sign, not after. A vendor who hesitates has told you something.
How long is the contract, and what does onboarding cost?
Annual lock-in plus a setup fee changes the real price considerably.
Can staff have different permission levels?
Shared logins make discounts, refunds and voids untraceable.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most important feature in repair shop software?
The link between a repair ticket and inventory. Everything else — reporting, margin, warranty, invoicing — is built on parts being recorded against the job they went into. Systems that treat repairs and stock separately look fine in a demo and drift apart in practice.
Do I need repair-specific software, or will a general POS do?
If repairs are occasional and same-day, a general POS is often enough. Once jobs span days, consume parts and need approvals partway through, a retail till has no place to put any of that.
How much should repair shop software cost?
Plans for a single shop typically sit in the low tens per month. Be careful comparing headline prices — check whether setup fees, per-user charges or contract length change the real figure.
How long does switching take?
Most shops are booking jobs the same day. The genuinely slow part is a one-off stock count, not the software. Importing customers is usually straightforward.
Should I move all my history across?
Usually not. Bring customers and stock; leave old job records where they are for reference. Migrating years of historical tickets costs far more time than it saves.
Put us through the same test
Bring the list. We'll answer all six on a short call, with the software open.