A Shopmonkey alternative for transmission shops
Shopmonkey and BayStacker, side by side
Shopmonkey is a broad general repair platform with communication and payments built into every plan. BayStacker is narrower and deeper: a diagnosis case for transmission work, and a verification gate in front of the invoice. Shopmonkey's column is read from its pricing page on 27 September 2026.
| Criterion | BayStacker | Shopmonkey |
|---|---|---|
| Built for transmission work | ||
| What the record is built around | The diagnosis case1 | The work order2 |
| Unit and core tracking | Included: Cores tracked until the credit lands3 | Not stated2 |
| Teardown findings and build sheets | Included: Build record with each measurement3 | Not stated2 |
| Rebuild vs. reman workflow | Included: In-house rebuild, reman swap or sublet | Not stated2 |
| Comeback tied to the job’s history | Included: Reopens the original work order, same case1 | Not stated2 |
| Diagnosis with evidence | Included: Ranked hypothesis, evidence, next test; a person confirms1 | Not stated2 |
| Road test and QC before the invoice | Included: No invoice until verification passes4 | Not stated2 |
| VIN-gated diagnosis | Included: Analysis A waits for a decoded VIN1 | Not stated2 |
| General shop work | ||
| Estimates and invoices | Included: Full OS5 | Included: Every plan2 |
| Customer approval links | Included: Estimate approval by link6 | Included: Authorizations and e-signatures2 |
| Digital vehicle inspections | Partial: Evidence and photos on the case; no customer-facing inspection | Included: Every plan2 |
| Scheduling and online booking | Included: Appointment calendar; booking page per location | Included: Calendar and reminders, every plan2 |
| Accounting | Partial: Its own ledger per location; records export as CSV3 | Included: QuickBooks Online from Clever2 |
| Two-way texting | Not offered: Not offered1 | Included: Every plan2 |
| Supplier parts ordering | Not offered: Requests and POs recorded; ordered at the supplier1 | Included: PartsTech, Nexpart, RepairLink2 |
| Labor guide | Not offered: None1 | Included: MOTOR, from Clever2 |
| Card payments | Not offered: Recorded on the invoice, not processed1 | Included: Every plan2 |
| Marketing and reviews | Not offered: Not offered1 | Add-on: CRM Essentials, $349/mo2 |
| Price and plan | ||
| Month to month, one location | $149 or $4995 | $239–$499; Multi-Shop quoted2 |
| Billed annually | Monthly only5 | $215–$4492 |
| Users | No per-user charge5 | 3–5 included, then $20/mo each2 |
| Moving your history in | CSV import with a dry run; no vendor import7 | Assistance; one-time $500 fee2 |
Sources for the matrix
- BayStacker: transmission shop softwarebaystacker.com
- Shopmonkey pricingshopmonkey.io
- BayStacker product: builder bench, parts and coresbaystacker.com
- BayStacker help: Why can’t I invoice?baystacker.com
- BayStacker pricingbaystacker.com
- BayStacker solutions: what the customer seesbaystacker.com
- BayStacker help: How do I import my history?baystacker.com
On this page
BayStacker at a glance
- What it is: diagnosis-first auto repair shop management software for transmission and powertrain work. The complaint, the decoded VIN and the first finding become one diagnosis case; Analysis A returns a ranked hypothesis with the next test and the rework risk, a draft until a person confirms it; the work order, parts, build and invoice read from that case.
- What it costs: Intelligence $149 or Full OS $499 per location per month, billed monthly, with a 30-day free trial and 1,000 analysis runs a month. There is no per-user charge and no annual contract; a plan is cancelled from the billing page.
- Who it is for: transmission and rebuild shops, fleet powertrain operations, multi-location groups, and general repair shops with a transmission bay.
- What it does not do: it has no labor guide, no integrated supplier parts ordering, no two-way texting or marketing suite, and it does not process card payments — payments are recorded on the invoice.
- Moving in: history comes in as a CSV file, one row per past repair, after a dry run reports what would be imported, skipped or refused. There is no direct import from Tekmetric or any other vendor.
- Moving out: every record can be exported at any time as a zip of CSV files.
Who should switch, and who should stay
BayStacker fits if
- The shop's comebacks are transmissions, and nobody can say afterwards which test was skipped.
- The team is larger than Shopmonkey's included licenses and the per-user charge is adding up.
- Owners want the invoice to wait for the road test and code recheck.
- Each location should run its own work and books, visible only to its own staff and managers.
Stay on Shopmonkey if
- Customers approve, get texts and pay by card from their phones, and the shop depends on that.
- Parts are ordered from inside the work order.
- Technicians work from the mobile app.
- The shop is general repair or maintenance first, with the occasional transmission.
What each costs
Published monthly prices for one location, before payment processing and add-ons. Shopmonkey sells CRM Essentials ($349 a month), Bookkeeping ($349), Accounting ($99) and a Heavy Duty package (quoted) on top of any plan.
| Plan, one location | Month to month | Users included |
|---|---|---|
| Shopmonkey Basic | $239 | 3 |
| Shopmonkey Clever | $399 | 4 |
| Shopmonkey Genius | $499 | 5 |
| BayStacker Intelligence | $149 | No seat charge |
| BayStacker Full OS | $499 | No seat charge |
A shop with eight users on Shopmonkey Genius pays $499 plus three extra licenses at $20, which is $559 a month; on BayStacker Full OS it is $499. Both BayStacker editions start with a 30-day free trial. Every Shopmonkey tier and add-on is broken down in Shopmonkey pricing.
Moving from Shopmonkey
There is no Shopmonkey import. History comes in through the same CSV import every shop uses:
- Export your repair history from Shopmonkey to a spreadsheet file. We help with the export.
- In BayStacker, open Integrations, choose the location, and choose the CSV file — one row per past repair, matched by column heading.
- Check the import runs a dry run and reports what would be imported, skipped or refused. Nothing is written.
- Import writes the rows; a second run after a partial failure picks up where it stopped.
The full walk-through is in How do I import my history?
Further reading
- Tekmetric vs Shopmonkey — the two general systems, side by side
- Shopmonkey pricing — every tier, license and add-on
- Transmission shop software — what a diagnosis-first workflow looks like
- Free auto repair shop software — what the free tiers leave out
Common questions
What is a good Shopmonkey alternative for a transmission shop?
One that records the diagnosis, the unit and the comeback, not only the work order. Tekmetric, Shop-Ware and AutoLeap are like-for-like general alternatives. BayStacker is the diagnosis-first option: a case with a ranked hypothesis and the next test, and an invoice that waits for verification. It has no texting, card processing or parts ordering, so it suits shops where transmissions decide the month.
Does Shopmonkey charge per user?
Shopmonkey includes 3 user licenses on Basic, 4 on Clever and 5 on Genius, and charges $20 a month for each additional license, according to its pricing page on 27 September 2026. BayStacker is priced per location with no per-user charge.
Is BayStacker cheaper than Shopmonkey?
For one location, BayStacker Intelligence is $149 a month and Full OS is $499; Shopmonkey is $239 to $499 month to month, or $215 to $449 billed annually, plus $20 for each user beyond the plan's allowance. For a large team the per-user charge usually decides it. The products do different jobs, so compare what each includes.
Can I move my Shopmonkey history into BayStacker?
Yes, as a CSV file. There is no direct Shopmonkey import: export the history, then bring it in through the CSV import, which runs a dry run first and reports what would be imported, skipped or refused before anything is written.
Does BayStacker text customers or take card payments like Shopmonkey?
No. BayStacker has no two-way texting product and does not process card payments; payments are recorded on the invoice. A shop that runs its counter on texting and text-to-pay should keep a system that does those.
Sources
- Shopmonkey pricing (plans, user licenses, add-ons, migration fee)shopmonkey.io
- BayStacker pricingbaystacker.com
- BayStacker help: How do I import my history?baystacker.com
More comparisons
Tekmetric alternative
Where BayStacker replaces Tekmetric for a transmission shop, where it does not, and what each costs per location.
Shop-Ware alternative
Shop-Ware’s parts, texting and customer-facing polish against BayStacker’s diagnosis case and verification gate.
AutoLeap alternative
AutoLeap against BayStacker for a transmission shop, plus AutoLeap vs Tekmetric plan by plan.
Mitchell 1 alternative
Mitchell 1 Manager SE, sold with ProDemand on a lease, against BayStacker’s monthly per-location plan for transmission work.
Protractor alternative
Protractor’s Epicor labor guides, accounting and core tracking against BayStacker’s diagnosis case, at a lower monthly price.
Tekmetric vs Shopmonkey
The two best-known general systems, plan by plan: prices, users, labor guide, texting and payments — then where BayStacker fits.
Run Analysis A on the unit that came back.
Try it on your own last rework: the complaint, the decoded VIN, the ranked hypothesis and the rework risk, on a case you can read.