Shop management for independent repair shops

Yes. It has everything.

  • Estimates that explain themselves
  • AI phone answering
  • Two-way texting
  • Online booking
  • Factory maintenance on every RO
  • Digital inspections with photos
  • Parts ordering: PartsTech, Worldpac
  • A tech app for the shop floor
  • Mnemos, the AI assistant
  • Work orders, invoicing, customers
  • Unlimited users
  • Your history moved free

$349 a month. All of it. No tiers. No add‑ons.

your-shop.roengine.comLive

Your own live shop in minutes · nothing charges for 90 days · no sales call

A real estimate, as your customer sees it. Every recommended service explains itself.

$349a month, everything in it
54,823OEM service intervals
6,900customers migrated off Shop-Ware
90days free to try it
Why it matters

The estimate that explains itself.

Maintenance is the best money your customers will ever spend on their car, but only if they understand it. RO Engine explains it on every car: what each service is, why it's due now, and what happens if they wait, written for the customer's own vehicle and sent to their phone.

$160spark plugs, today
or
$1,000–$2,500catalytic converter, later

That's the estimate in the video, written for a real 2013 Highlander. Quick-lube chains taught customers that maintenance means an oil change and a sticker. If the shop doesn't explain the rest, nobody will.

When a customer says no because nobody explained it, nobody wins. RO Engine makes sure every customer hears why, on every car.

The advisor knowledge gap

Same car. Two advisors. $722 apart.

A car comes in for a routine oil change. Here's what gets written up, depending on who's at the counter. Or it's the same advisor on a busy Tuesday.

MV

Your veteran advisor

8+ years on the counter
✓Oil & filter$89
✓Transmission fluid — overdue$189
✓Brake fluid flush — 3 yr$95
✓Spark plugs — due at 90K$145
✓Rear diff service$120
✓Cabin + engine filters$72
✓Deferred from last visit$137
Ticket written$847
$722missed on a single car — not for lack of effort
NH

Your new hire

4 months on the counter
✓Oil & filter$89
✓Wiper blades$36
–Transmission fluidMissed
–Brake fluid flushMissed
–Spark plugsMissed
–Rear diff serviceMissed
–Deferred servicesNever surfaced
Ticket written$125

Nobody handed your new advisor twelve years of pattern recognition on day one. RO Engine does — on every RO. Illustrative example using typical labor and parts pricing, not a guaranteed result.

How it works

Write it up. It explains itself. They approve.

01 · INTAKE

Snap the door jamb. The RO fills itself.

Your tech photographs the car. RO Engine reads the VIN sticker, the odometer and the plate, and builds the record — with timestamped photos of the car's condition before you touch it.

02 · RECOMMEND

The AI writes the maintenance on every car.

Your best advisor is two hours into a cylinder head job. The 2001 Corolla in for an oil change still gets the full write-up: the factory schedule, the car's own history and what's actually due. Normal or severe service, your call.

  • Overdue and coming-due work surfaced automatically
  • Deferred work remembered from past visits
  • Plain-language reasons the customer understands
03 · APPROVE

The estimate explains it. They approve it from the couch.

Every service says what it is, why it's due now and what happens if they wait. A private link — no app, no login. Line by line, approve or decline. The answer lands on the RO, timestamped and in writing, and declines become next visit's reminders.

And scheduling rules keep the day from filling past what your counter can handle, so every car still gets the full write-up. That's what moves your ARO.

The free trial

Not a demo. Your shop, live in minutes.

Most "free trials" are a sandbox with fake data and a salesperson waiting at the end. This is the actual RO Engine — your own copy, at your own address, running your shop from the first repair order.

1

Pick your shop's address

Choose your name and get your own yourshop.roengine.com — checked and reserved on the spot.

2

Start your 90 days

Card or bank account on file. Nothing charges for 90 days, and you can cancel online in a few clicks.

3

Check your email — you're in

"Your RO Engine shop is ready." Set your password and a short setup walks you through hours, labor rates, your team and payments. Skip anything you want.

  • Real repair orders from day one
  • Everything carries forward when you stay
  • Your whole team — unlimited users
  • We move your history over, free

Texting and the AI phone switch on once your shop's number clears carrier registration — usually within two weeks. Everything else works the day you sign up.

Main Street AutoMAIN-STREET-AUTO.ROENGINE.COM
Setup
Dashboard
Schedule
Repair Orders
Customers
Settings

Welcome to your shop

Let's get the basics in — about ten minutes.
✓Shop identity
✓Your team
✓Labor rates
✓Payment methods
✓RO numbering
✓Business hours
Write your first RO

And the rest of the shop, included: work orders, invoicing, inspections with photos, parts and purchase orders, two-way texting, an AI phone that answers when the counter is buried, and Mnemos, the AI assistant that knows your shop.

Pricing

One price. Everything in it.

No tiers to upgrade into. No per-user fees. No add-on for the phone to answer itself.

$349per month
unlimited users · month to month
Founding shop pricing: join before July 1, 2027 and pay $261.75 a month — 25% less, for as long as you stay.
  • AI service recommendations on every RO
  • Mnemos, the AI assistant built on Claude
  • AI phone answering and two-way texting
  • Digital estimate approval
  • 54,000+ OEM service intervals
  • Parts ordering, POs and receiving
  • Work orders, invoicing, customers, inspections
Set up my shop — free for 90 days

Includes 300 AI phone minutes, 300 calls on your shop line and 1,500 texts a month. Past that: $0.35 a minute, 10¢ a call, 2¢ a text — most shops never get there.

The test drive is the real thing

Your own shop at yourshop.roengine.com — not a sandbox. Everything you enter carries forward when you stay.

Nothing charges for 90 days

Card or bank account on file to start. Cancel online in a few clicks — there's no one to call.

We move your history over

Customers, vehicles and repair history, migrated free. Coming off Shop-Ware? We've already done it — for ourselves. See what comes over

No sales calls. Ever.

If you want to talk, you ask — and the shop owner who built it answers.

Everything in one plan. Here’s where it lives elsewhere.

Every row in our column comes with the $349 plan. On the others, the same things are spread across higher tiers and add-ons — straight from their own price lists.

FeatureRO EngineTekmetricShop-WareShopmonkeyAutoLeapMitchell 1 SE
Price, monthly billing$349 — everything below$199 entry plan$279 entry plan$239 entry plan$199 entry planNot published
Try it first90 days free, in your own live shopDemo and self-guided tour; no free trial15-minute demoDemo; trial terms not publishedDemo only; no free trialFree demo
Factory maintenance schedulesOn every ROGrow plan, $349Maintenance BuilderNot clearly listedPro plan, $349Not listed
AI phone answering300 minutes a monthNot offeredNot listedNot listed$99/mo add-onNot listed
Online bookingIncluded$345/mo Marketing add-onUltimate+ plan, $999, or add-on$349/mo add-onAdd-on, price not listedNot listed
See the full comparison: users, texting, labor times, contracts

From each company’s own pricing page, checked September 29, 2026, at monthly billing. “Not listed” means we couldn’t find it on their pricing page — ask them, they may offer it. Mitchell 1 sells Manager SE on a 12-month lease and doesn’t publish the car-shop price. Prices change, so check theirs before you decide.

Everything in one plan. Here’s where it lives elsewhere.

Every row in our column comes with the $349 plan. On the others, the same things are spread across higher tiers and add-ons — straight from their own price lists.

FeatureRO EngineTekmetricShop-WareShopmonkeyAutoLeapMitchell 1 SE
Price, monthly billing$349 — everything below$199 entry plan$279 entry plan$239 entry plan$199 entry planNot published
Try it first90 days free, in your own live shopDemo and self-guided tour; no free trial15-minute demoDemo; trial terms not publishedDemo only; no free trialFree demo
AI phone answering300 minutes a monthNot offeredNot listedNot listed$99/mo add-onNot listed
Two-way texting1,500 texts a monthScale plan, $439Limited; unlimited on Pro, $389IncludedPro plan, $349$39/mo add-on
Online bookingIncluded$345/mo Marketing add-onUltimate+ plan, $999, or add-on$349/mo add-onAdd-on, price not listedNot listed
Factory maintenance schedulesOn every ROGrow plan, $349Maintenance BuilderNot clearly listedPro plan, $349Not listed
Digital inspections with photosIncludedIncludedIncluded2 templates on BasicIncludedOptional, price not listed
Parts orderingPartsTech, Worldpac and moreIncludedIncludedIncludedIncludedIncluded
UsersUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited3–5, then $20/userNot listed$15/mo per extra user
Contract and setupMonth to month; history moved freeNo contractNo annual; migration fee may apply$500 data migrationOne-time setup fee12-month lease

From each company’s own pricing page, checked September 29, 2026, at monthly billing. “Not listed” means we couldn’t find it on their pricing page — ask them, they may offer it. Mitchell 1 sells Manager SE on a 12-month lease and doesn’t publish the car-shop price. Prices change, so check theirs before you decide.

Built different

RO Engine wasn't built by a software company that read about auto repair. It was built by a working shop owner who still explains a $1,900 estimate to somebody every week.

13+years on the shop floor
2013built his first custom shop system
6,000repair orders carried over from Shop-Ware
1real shop running it every single day
The shop owner's fact sheet

Where does shop software really make its money?

We read the public filings. Follow the card fees.

Read it
Questions first?

Ask the shop owner who built it.

  • We migrate your customers, vehicles and history — free
  • Coming off Shop-Ware? We've already done that migration
  • A straight answer about whether it fits your shop
  • Or skip the questions — set up your shop: your own real RO Engine, live in minutes, nothing charged for 90 days

I read these myself, usually same day. No sales sequence, no drip campaign, and your email doesn't go anywhere else.

Give every advisor your best advisor's eye.

Your own RO Engine at your own address, live in minutes. Ninety days free — if it doesn't earn its keep, you walk away.