Work orders, estimates, invoices, payments, inspections, dashboard. $99.99 once, on Android.
Search for shop management software and every result is a subscription: $39 a month at the bottom, $499 at the top, plus seats, credits, and card readers. GarageCodex is the one that isn't. You download it free, run real jobs, and when it's earned its keep you pay $99.99. Once.
Free to try·$99.99 one-time unlock·No subscription
All competitor prices below were checked on October 19, 2026 on each vendor's own pricing page, using their lowest published tier and cheapest billing. Vendors change pricing, so confirm before you decide. All product names are trademarks of their owners; GarageCodex is affiliated with none of them.
Because the vendor hosts your data. Servers cost money every month, so you pay every month. And since your records live on their servers, leaving means losing them. That's the business model, and it's why the “starting at” price never stays the price.
GarageCodex keeps the database on your device. There's no server to pay for, so there's nothing to bill you for. You own the app and you own the file. If you ever want to leave, export to CSV and go.
Lowest published tier, cheapest billing option, as of October 2026. Add-ons, seats, setup fees, and processing are extra on every one.
| Product | Published starting price | Billing | 5-year cost at that tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| GarageCodex | $99.99, once | One-time in-app purchase | $99.99 |
| ARI | $39.99/mo (Pro); $399.99/yr billed yearly | Subscription + credits | $1,999.95 |
| QuoteIQ | $29.99/mo (Essentials, 1 user); 2 months free yearly | Subscription + credits | $1,799.40 ($1,499.50 yearly) |
| Jobber | $29/mo (Core, 1 user, annual rate) | Subscription | $1,740 |
| Trackara Pro | $499.99/yr | Subscription | $2,499.95 |
| Housecall Pro | $59/mo (Basic, 1 user, billed annually) | Subscription | $3,540 |
| AutoLeap | $179/mo (Essentials, billed annually) + a one-time setup fee | Subscription | $10,740 + setup |
| Tekmetric | $179/mo (Start, billed annually) | Subscription | $10,740 |
| Shopmonkey | $215/mo (Basic, billed annually; 3 users) | Subscription + seats | $12,900 |
| Mitchell 1 Manager SE | Not published (quote only) | Subscription | n/a |
Jobber, Housecall Pro, and QuoteIQ are general field-service tools, not auto-specific (no VIN decoding, vehicle history, or inspections). Five-year figures are simple multiplication of the stated rate and assume no price increases.
A one-time price is possible because GarageCodex deliberately doesn't do some things.
There's no server. Your database is on your device, so there's no hosting bill to pass along. GarageCodex is built and supported by one developer with no investors to feed, so $99.99 once is sustainable when the app costs nothing to run.
Yes. Fixes and improvements are free. A future major version may be a separate one-time purchase. It will never be a subscription.
Size, not time: 3 customers, 3 work orders, and a watermark on PDFs. Run real jobs for as long as you like; unlock when it's earned it.
The app keeps rotating backups automatically, you can export the whole database to a file anytime, and you can turn on backup to your own Google Drive. Reinstall, restore, done. Google Play restores the purchase too.
Download it free and run real jobs today. When you're ready, one $99.99 in-app purchase unlocks the full shop. One time, forever, no subscription.
Built and supported by one independent developer. No investors, no ads, no reselling your data. Questions? support@garagecodex.app
