ARI (Auto Repair Software)

Pros: System is loved by our IT clientele.
Easy to use from the owners side using the computer app
Love the features for labor guides and how easy it is to look up needed information like different torque specs
Easy to track reports

Cons: Clients want an app for their profiles on a phone for apple phones not just a web link
Noticing a few main service items are needing to be added by customizing
Owners app on apple phones changed and got harder to use for some applications

Overall: Overall we as owners love the software and our clients love the convenience of it. We love that this system has everything in one package compared to other systems that had missing features. We’ll definitely keep using this system.

Pros: I love the repair assistant AI, it has always been pretty accurate and helps narrow down things when troubleshooting and doing diagnostics. The inspection features are amazing! The integration of labor guides and being able to build an estimate from them is a life saver! The absolute best thing about ARI is the price point! For a small one man show like me, being able to have professional shop management software at a fraction the cost is a life saver.

Cons: There isn’t really anything that I don’t like about ARI. I have used other big name brand shop management software and in my opinion, ARI is the best bang for the buck.

Overall: ARI is intuitive, easy to use, easy to navigate, and a huge time saver. I absolutely love this software and will continue to use it and support it.

Pros: Im very pleased with the whole software and employees that has responded right away before. Very good software would recommend to anyone.

Cons: No cons for the price. Very happy with the overall experience.

Overall: Very good software. Very happy with the overall experience i have with the software. Will definitely recommend.

Pros: The amount of features for the price is unmatched. The ease of converting job cards to estimates and to invoices is super helpful. and the way it integrates with partstech.

Cons: The AI Labor guides can be hit or miss, sometimes it doesn't work at all and sometimes it's a little off.

Overall: Overall I have enjoyed this software and will be continuing to use it, you can't beat the value that ARI offers in comparison to other shop software.

Pros: * Very easy to learn and navigate.
* Professional looking estimates, invoices, inspections, and customer communication.
* Online booking and customer portal work well.
* Digital vehicle inspections are clean and easy for customers to understand.
* Good CRM features with reminders and follow ups.
* Makes it easy to keep all customer and vehicle history organized.
* Mobile app is useful when I’m away from my computer.
* Has helped me present work more professionally and build customer trust.
* Integrates well with parts suppliers and other services.

Cons: * Mobile app still has room for improvement and doesn’t have every desktop feature.
* Reporting and customization could be more advanced.
* A few small workflow quirks that take extra clicks.
* Some third party integrations could be deeper.

Overall: I’ve used a lot of automotive software over the years, and ARI has been one of the best values for an independent shop. It has everything I need to run my business professionally without feeling overly complicated. My customers love the digital inspections and online approval process, and it’s made my workflow much more organized. There are a few areas I’d like to see improved, but the development team is constantly adding features and listening to feedback. I would absolutely recommend it to any mobile mechanic or independent repair shop looking for an affordable, modern shop management system.

Pros: Number one would be the price and number two would be the simplicity of using this. Number three would be how I can send an email or text message to the client, which makes it super fast.

Cons: The only thing I don’t like about this is how I have to buy credits and I use alldata and alldata isn’t the feature

Overall: Overall, I bought this system over a year ago and it’s worked out pretty well, my customers like it and I like it cause it’s fast and simple. I get a quote out the door in three minutes. Sometimes I don’t even have to see the customer in person because all of it I can do through email or phone number.

Pros: There is A LOT of features here. The client portal is one of my absolute favorites. With so many brick and mortar shops a client portal is not typical so having this feature AND as a mobile mechanic makes my business look that much better.

Cons: The receiving and returns for parts could be better, it’s very difficult to track.

Overall: Very happy with this app and it is very user friendly, over all experience with this over the past 10 months have been positive.

Pros: I like how it help me keep my business in order and i was able go keep all my work on one platform

Cons: There are no concerns or any flaws. Product, this platform was made for automotive. Industry.

Overall: The greatest ever product to ever use as a platform i'm very easy to use.I'm very happy I chose this product to use on my business platform

Pros: I’m the owner-operator of one man mobile mechanic business with 10 years of dealer mechanic experience prior. I’ve been using paper invoices for a couple years now, and find myself not filling them out at the job site, putting them off until later, finding it inconvenient/outdated having to fill out each estimate/invoice/multi-point inspection by hand.

ARI was the best bang for my buck as far as checking all the boxes. This industry requires tons of tools, subscriptions, and overheads in general. The price was within my budget, it integrated our Square account for card payments and gave us an avenue for pre-payments / pre-authorizations on estimates before leaving for a repair.

If you have a question or concern, the help staff gets back to you extremely quickly. They listen to shop concerns and integrate improvements periodically. And on top of that, there is a parts pricing matrix that can be adjusted to auto-apply markups, which makes it harder to undercut yourself and sell inventory at cost.

The Quickbooks integration makes it very convenient once tax time comes around. If you make a point to input the cost and sale price of each item you invoice, it will calculate profits on your parts/sales tax/labor. Extremely useful and saves a lot of time when taxes come around.

Cons: So far I enjoy most of it. I initially thought each part and labor line you recommend had to be declined or approved one line at a time for a customer, so each part/labor line I would mark as “Job ‘x’” in the title to make it easier for the customer to pick and choose.

But shortly after, I found there is an option to group certain labor/part lines into a “group” where you can label that group as the job name. I believe this appears on the customer side in a traditional “Line A - B - C” format you would see on most dealership recommendation softwares.

So overall, no cons really. Just me learning how the software works.

Overall: Overall, I love this application so far. It has made pre-approvals and payments much easier for me and helps me keep track of customers information much more easily. The price compared to competitors is the main reason I went with them. We just flat out could not afford most of the bigger name brand softwares.

Pros: It all eventually makes sense however alot of steps to just make a estimate, send it to someone, get approval, order parts and get a job going is a taaaaask and doesnt always seem like I am making the right move. Other systems are much easier to navigate and have less issues just making an basic estimate. Mids most but cost is great.

Cons: The price

Overall: Complicated

Pros: i love the program easy to use even for a person with little experience on auto repair will continue using ari

Cons: sometimes slow loading but overall is good no major issues

Overall: happy with the program will continue using ari will love to merge with google reviews to make the experience better

Pros: Amazon app that give you the idea of what goes on the vehicle.
Lovely app. Love it and use it on every day

Cons: Price

Overall: Good

Pros: - Easy to create and manage invoices
- Customer database is well-organized
- Mobile-friendly interface for on-the-go use
- Affordable compared to similar tools

Cons: - Reporting features could be more customizable
- Occasional lag when handling large datasets

Overall: ARI has streamlined my auto repair business operations by simplifying invoicing, tracking repairs, and managing customer records. The software is intuitive, and even staff with minimal technical skills can use it effectively. While there’s room for improvement in analytics and reporting, the core functionality is solid and dependable.

Pros: A lot of features are included where they will be an add-on for most other software. Integration of AI helps a lot with writing up reports and looking; a time saver. Integration of payment options is a real bonus. Fairly easy to learn work with.

Cons: Need more robust accounting and QBO sync integration compatibility; errors occur fairly often. Calculation of cents is sometimes off by a penny in QBO. Fields sometimes are not synced because either they are not compatible or their details are not accepted. Need better inventory, customer, inputs and category, taxes applications variations within the same invoice or work orders. Some items may be taxable and some may not, or only one tax instead of two taxes to apply.

Overall: Very good value for what you get, and the software is improving continuously. For smaller shops or those just starting, I think it's an excellent choice. The price will not break the bank and the cons are workable vs the price because of the low volume of invoices that one may have to work through the kinks. The amount of features it offers vs the big boys softwares are unmatched for the price. I would recommend.

Pros: The vin decoding, text/email feature, Parts matrix being customizable, labor time guide mixed with On Demand being accessible (although not complete it is still helpful), text/email of estimates and invoices. You can use it from a computer anywhere or your phone for on the go.

Cons: On demand labor is limited to just a window of year/model of vehicle. I am still unable to use my own email to send estimates/invoices to customers. Little control over various shop info/features.

Overall: I like this shop manager. I have used several high priced managers that are a lot more complicated to use, most with less features than this shop manager. This is a great product for a start up shop as well as a shop that has been in business for years.

Pros: I like everything the program offers the price is great for everything you get. The text to customer makes everything so easy to keep in touch with your customers

Cons: That you cant print the conversation with the bot.

Overall: Will keep using the program for years to come. Still working on how to run the system smoothly theres a lot but its the best system i have ever used

Pros: I like everything about it very simple to use keeps track of everything it's very easy and efficient to make estimates and invoices also keep track of vehicles and clients as well as inventory if I need to order parts easily synced with parts tech to do so and also I use square for credit card purchases which makes it easy for my customers to pay online with the invoice

Cons: I haven't found one yet anything wrong with this app yet customer support is amazing if that does everything that I needed to do and more

Overall: My overall experience is amazing this is definitely a top notch app to have run your business from with highly recommend this app to anybody for the sake of your business please give it a try and it's way cheaper than any other shop software

Pros: ARI has everything you need to manage your shop. I can log and communicate with customers, create estimates and invoices, order parts, and track job progress. I can also send reminders to clients, utilize the labor guide for estimates and repair help, and collect payments, all in one place. The price for this is excellent!

Cons: ARI does not have the most polished user interface in my opinion. I cannot say specifically why this but it just feels a little clunky to me. The labor guide is AI so can be inconsistent sometimes, and also you will need to verify the information to ensure its accuracy, but it is generally very helpful to have if you don't have access to the more expensive guides. They do offer an integration with Mitchell1 if you choose.

Overall: In the 6 months that I have been using ARI, the product has improved immensely and continues to do so. They are responsive to inquiries and suggestions, and the price point is fantastic for small businesses and startups. I would recommend ARI overall as it has all the needed features to help you manage your customers, operations, and inventory.

Pros: I am a one man shop right now so overhead is key for me. This product is affordable and has features that the big names in the game offer

Cons: Some of the templates are confusing to figure out at first. I wish the online inspection sheets were better

Overall: Love it! It works great as a dms and the invoicing and estimate features work flawlessly. I am very happy so far.

Pros: I just started my repair business in April of 2026 and I needed a reliable shop manager that had amenities similar to Mitchell 1 and AllData when I found ARI and reviewed their pricing platforms I was all in. Not only can you keep accounting records for tax time all in one widget, you also have almost all the tools needed to price out many jobs from big to small. When they updated the version to 16.1 you got another level of professional layouts such as wiring diagrams, OEM/Local/National pricing, more options on point of sales, and much more. You can use their .csv file to transfer your parts inventory, create repair bundles, create job cards for your team to make sure your shop is in lockstep with the job card, communication between customer and your shop couldn't be easier you can email/ text a estimate/invoice without jumping from one screen to another, take deposits or payments directly through ARI (if you use one of their POS systems or you can sign up with one of there options), you can now also order parts directly from ARI which is an added feature that will save you time waiting on the phone to speak with a parts representative. I would definitely recommend ARI to new shop owners who need a shop manager that has a ton of features at a fraction of the cost. Also, you can use a code reader within ARI to find codes and use the diagnostic function to guide you toward you diagnostic findings.

Cons: I have no complaints. My only recommended suggestion would be to add features for small engine repairs like mowers, trimmers, etc.

Overall: 8 out of 10 very happy with how ARI's interface is designed. A bit of a learning curve at first but once you get used to the interface it becomes a breeze