Shop Management Software – Links, Ratings and Reviews

[wrenchboy]

 Maxx Traxx Pro CE  I would rate it a 6.  When it was a dos based program my rating would have been more like 8.  When the program went to windows base, a lot of good features were changed (not for the better). 

[Richard Zaagman]

PACE, YES system.  7.  Not bad, but we often have issues with system locking up, strange things happening that we need to call support about.  Support is pretty responsive.  On line parts ordering is very poor, at least our experience has been.  ROW seems to have the on line parts ordering thing pretty well perfected, at least from what I hear.

[garystrans]

Maxx Traxx pro is a good solid 9 love the support and the full features included for very reasonable cost. the whole support team is super to work with also the online ordering feature is very easy to use.

[francisautomotive]

Pace, we love it. We started with Allen in 1983 and manny systems since. Glad we chose YES

[Don]

RO Writer – 8; has may great features such as Smart E Cat (see all your vendors live inventory with our price matrix at the same time on one screen) tied to labort operations.  Support is pretty good. 

[DALE]

While we struggled with RO Writer for years with it locking up & running slow. However given the new owners of MIdas, Big O tire ??? and with that RO Writer there has been renewed interest our issues. System now has been running great for the last 10 months. I give it a 8
dale

[CASEY SWAMP]

RO Writer, it’s a great program. I would have given it a 10 if the training for the diffferent modules were better. I’ve had it for 5 years and been requesting training for certain modules and have yet to be connected to the right person. everything else is awesome 

[andre remillard]

We’ve been using RO Writer for 16 years. Would give it an 8.5 .

[bilmac]

Lankar Pro 9: Been using Lankar for years. Price is reasonable and you get great service. I would rate it an 9. Why a 9 you ask. There is always room for improvement with any program

[john a zerafa]

been using invomax for about 14 yrs.would rate it a 6.not bad but not great.no system problems but not enough updates .like to see an easier way to upload vin# & being able to access my system from my ipad.

[Scott Waddle]

Protractor .Net  8

The nice thing is every week there is an update and they are improving fast.  We were using the Protractor Legacy software since 2004 and upgraded to the new version July 1st.

[J.P. Glenn]

RO Writer – 6.  It does have many great features, but is  outdated as far as software goes (in my opinion).  The reporting side is good and I do like Smart eCat (but you have to pay monthly for that feature).   ROW is very “clunky” and has tons of minor issues that can make it very frustrating on a daily basis.  Support is always good, no issues there.  Training was not a strong point to say the least.  As far as I know there hasn’t been any significant updates in many many years. ROW was in the top 3 about 10 years ago, but without any updates I do not feel it is even top 5 in todays market.  I am constantly finding myself researching other programs.  They do seem to be changing the company since being bought out though. Time will tell.

[ashcanharry2]

AUTOBIZ – RATE IT 9 – THIS SOFTWARE HAS EASE OF USE – REASONABLE PRICE – TIRE MODULE – VERY GOOD TECH SUPPORT. LET’S FACE IT – I CHECKED OUT ALOT OF THE PROGRAMS – SOME DO EVERYTHING BUT SCATCH YOUR BACK. HOW MUCH DO WE REALLY NEED & HAVE TIME TO DEAL WITH.

[richie]

We use GBMS Goodyear system.  It is about to be replaced by VAST from MAM. I would rate GBMS a 5. Does most things needed just not easily.  Reporting is terrible.

[hoauto]

We use Mitchell Management. I would give it a 7-7.5

For the most part it seems to work ok, Parts ordering is ok. Are we the only shop using Mitchell? I do not see any other shops so far rating it.

Andy

[engsamir]

hi  i need the ESI TRONIC  2014 Q1.Q2 .Q3 SOFTWARE  with kegenaret  thanks

[gzloom]

I’ve had MaxxTrax since 1992. I would rate it overall an 9 since a 10 would be incredible. – a 10 for support though.  Immediate support and results. I’ve never been down for more then moments.  A very stable system.  I have looked at other systems over the years and found them just a lot of fluff.  I need to get in and out. We use most of the features and reports. 

[Steve Fowler]

I’ve been using Genesis Four products since 1994. I have the latest version of Service Shop. The Tech Time Management and time clock are the best that I have seen. The reporting and marketing is very good. The program is solid and doesn’t crash. Although they have provided many fixes and enhancements, I would like to see updates happen more frequently.  Overall love the program and wouldn’t think of changing.  I’ve observed a lot shop programs over the years and not been overly impressed. I will say that R.O. Writer’s Smart E Cat is an awesome feature. I have met many shop owners over the years that have had a lot of issues with ROW crashing and have had some other quirks. I rate Service Shop 8.5

Steve Fowler

[Alan Ollie]

We use Mitchell Management. I would give it a 7-7.5

For the most part it seems to work ok, Parts ordering is ok. Are we the only shop using Mitchell? I do not see any other shops so far rating it.

Andy

We have been with Mitchell since 1998 too lazy to change. We also use BoltOn add on software for inspections .

[shadowoods]

We use Mitchell1.  I would rate it 7.5.  I’m learning how to pull info from the database using Excel and Word to do marketing/follow-ups.  The canned reports are not user friendly when trying to accumulate customer information.  They have a marketing arm that provides the customers with on-line access to their vehicle’s history, can add what service was done elsewhere, and recommends maintenance items based on the vehicles mileage.  Still learning.  The two services is almost $500/mth.  I’m thinking this is expensive — what are other programs costing????

[trannyman]

Currently using Winworks Auto Shop, rate it 1 since that’s the lowest score. Program has some nice features, but it is such a badly written piece of software and it has such a clunky feel to use that I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. I’ll be nice and give customer service a 3 due to they work on call back system which would sometimes be 24 hrs. On a good day it was 2-3 hrs. I gave up calling and just figure it out, which wastes a lot of time, 

Last used Mitchell ( version 5.9 & 6.4 I believe ) a little over a year ago, rate it 7-8 based on that. The newer version is probably much better from some of the upgrades I hear it got. I give customer service a 8 as it was always pretty good, just some long ( 15 -20 minutes ) hold times once and awhile.

Last used Profit Boost about 6 years ago when I had my shop, Rate it 10 based on that version. Customer service was always great also. Only draw back for some might be not having a good internet connection since it’s web based.

[str53]

Anybody using Invomax?

[cwright]

We use Mitchell but would like to find another that is not so expensive and user friendly

[Mark Bergasse]

we use Protractor .Net and i give it a “9”  we used Pace for many years, then moved over to Protractor in 2003? But they are nothing compared to .Net, we switched in April 14′ it still has some things to fix, but weekly bug fixes, upgrades and enhancements are great. I like that i can have multipul RO’s open [if need be] and add service packages from the inspection results, then estimate all jobs in one sweep, and the Oil change packages, with default MIN/MAX $ is excellent for oil sell prices

[stevejust]

we do everything in QuickBooks. if you’re using shop specific software, what do you take to your accountant at tax time?

[Tom]

Steve, most shops have management software which handles everything from inventory to marketing to parts ordering to invoicing, etc. etc. 

The same shops often have QB or some other accounting software – which they use for – accounting.

A few shops have it all in one, but that is not very common.

Much of the management software integrates with QB.

If the only software a shop has is QB for everything the shop spends huge amounts of time doing things that shop management software will handle in very little time or none because of the automation. 

[johntwhaley]

The Social CRM system works great and and integrates seamlessly with the Manager SE program for live real time interaction with customer reviews. I’ve compared the cost and it is by far the most affordable .

[grandblancauto]

Shop Boss Pro
5/10 – Not Bad Program just hard to navigate a bit and the design came off as
not being updated for a long time

Bay-Master Shop
4/10 – It was feature rich but the navigation made that a negative thing for
me.

AllData Manage
Online – 7/10 My best so far, still looking to see if Michelin or another is
better. But since we are already paying for AllDataPro it made sense to spend
the extra $80 for their system rather than another.

[Richard Ehler]

We use TireShop by FreedomSoft. Nice program. Works for our quicklube, tireshop, all services in one store. We do $2.7M a year in sales and 900 cars per month. WANTING
digital inspections and thinking of changing to RO Writer or Mitchell to integrate
with Bolt- ON. Any advice would be appreciated

[William Hill]

Mitchell is the 800Lb Gorilla in the room. They are one of the easiest to learn, Pro Demand is better than Identifx, or Alldata. Is constantly improving, And there training is second to none. If you go to a training class put on by Mitchell. You will always want to go.. First class, And the Trainers are top notch.