A Tekmetric alternative for transmission shops
Tekmetric and BayStacker, side by side
Tekmetric is a general auto repair shop management system: the repair order is the record, and the plans add a labor guide, texting and dashboards as they go up. BayStacker makes the diagnosis the record and lets the work order follow it. Tekmetric's column is read from its own pricing, integrations and scheduling pages on 27 September 2026.
| Criterion | BayStacker | Tekmetric |
|---|---|---|
| Built for transmission work | ||
| What the record is built around | The diagnosis case1 | The repair 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: From Start2 |
| Customer approval links | Included: Estimate approval by link6 | Included: Digital authorizations2 |
| Digital vehicle inspections | Partial: Evidence and photos on the case; no customer-facing inspection | Included: From Start2 |
| Scheduling and online booking | Included: Appointment calendar; booking page per location | Add-on: Calendar; online booking in Marketing7 |
| Accounting | Partial: Its own ledger per location; records export as CSV3 | Not stated8 |
| Two-way texting | Not offered: Not offered1 | Included: From Scale2 |
| Supplier parts ordering | Not offered: Requests and POs recorded; ordered at the supplier1 | Included: PartsTech integration8 |
| Labor guide | Not offered: None1 | Included: From Grow2 |
| Card payments | Not offered: Recorded on the invoice, not processed1 | Add-on: Payments add-on; built in on Enterprise2 |
| Marketing and reviews | Not offered: Not offered1 | Add-on: +$345/mo per shop2 |
| Price and plan | ||
| Month to month, one location | $149 or $4995 | $199–$439; Enterprise quoted2 |
| Billed annually | Monthly only5 | $179–$4092 |
| Users | No per-user charge5 | Unlimited2 |
| Moving your history in | CSV import with a dry run; no vendor import9 | Not stated2 |
Sources for the matrix
- BayStacker: transmission shop softwarebaystacker.com
- Tekmetric pricingtekmetric.com
- 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
- Tekmetric appointment schedulingtekmetric.com
- Tekmetric integrationstekmetric.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
- Most of the money the shop loses is a rebuild or an R&R that comes back.
- The diagnosis currently lives in a technician's head, a text thread or a note on the RO.
- You want the invoice held until the road test and code recheck are recorded.
- You run more than one location and want each one's work, books and staff kept apart.
Stay on Tekmetric if
- Your service writers quote from a labor guide on every ticket.
- Parts are ordered from inside the repair order and you would miss that.
- Card payments, text-to-pay and two-way texting run the front counter.
- The work is mostly maintenance and general repair, not transmissions.
A shop in the second group can still use BayStacker's Intelligence edition for the diagnosis alone while Tekmetric keeps the repair order — see the questions below.
What each costs for one location
Published monthly prices, before payment processing, add-ons or taxes. Tekmetric's annual plans are lower; BayStacker has no annual plan.
| Plan, one location | Month to month | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Tekmetric Start | $199 | Inventory, inspections, Smart Jobs, invoicing |
| Tekmetric Grow | $349 | Labor guide, time clocks, reports |
| Tekmetric Scale | $439 | Two-way texting, shop dashboard |
| BayStacker Intelligence | $149 | The diagnosis case, Analysis A and B |
| BayStacker Full OS | $499 | Adds work orders and invoices |
Both BayStacker editions start with a 30-day free trial. The plan-by-plan detail for Tekmetric, add-ons included, is in Tekmetric pricing; BayStacker's is on the pricing page.
Moving from Tekmetric
There is no Tekmetric import. Every shop's history, whatever it runs today, comes in the same way:
- Export your repair history from Tekmetric to a spreadsheet file. We help with the export.
- In BayStacker, open Integrations, choose the location the history belongs to, and choose the CSV file — one row per past repair. Columns are matched by their headings.
- Check the import runs a dry run. Nothing is written; it reports what would be imported, skipped or refused, with a reason for each refusal.
- Import writes the rows. It is keyed on each row's own reference, so running it again after a partial failure does not double anything.
BayStacker also has a live Tekmetric connection for a shop that keeps writing work in Tekmetric, but turning it on needs an authorized partner connection that is not open to every shop today. Plan a switch around CSV. The step-by-step is in How do I import my history?
Further reading
- Tekmetric alternatives: six options, priced — Shop-Ware, Shopmonkey, AutoLeap and others
- Tekmetric vs Shopmonkey — the two general systems, side by side
- Transmission shop software — the diagnosis-first workflow, step by step
- Best transmission shop software — what to test in any demo
Common questions
What is the best Tekmetric alternative for a transmission shop?
The one that holds the diagnosis, the unit and the comeback on the record, rather than a note on a repair order. General systems such as Shopmonkey, Shop-Ware and AutoLeap replace Tekmetric like for like. 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 labor guide, parts ordering or card processing, so it suits shops where transmissions, not maintenance, decide the month.
Is BayStacker cheaper than Tekmetric?
At one location, BayStacker Intelligence is $149 a month against Tekmetric Start at $199 month to month, and Full OS is $499 against Tekmetric Scale at $439. Tekmetric's annual plans are lower ($179 to $409), and BayStacker has no annual plan. The editions do different jobs, so compare what each includes rather than the entry price.
Can I import my Tekmetric data into BayStacker?
Not directly. There is no Tekmetric import. Export the history from Tekmetric as a spreadsheet file and bring it in through the CSV import, one row per past repair; a dry run shows what would be imported, skipped or refused before anything is written.
Does BayStacker have a labor guide like Tekmetric?
No. BayStacker has no labor guide, and it does not license one. A shop that quotes every ticket from a labor guide should keep that guide, or stay on a system that includes one — Tekmetric's starts on the Grow plan.
Can BayStacker run alongside Tekmetric?
Yes. The Intelligence edition covers the diagnosis — intake, the case, Analysis A and B, the evidence — without work orders or invoices, so a shop can keep Tekmetric as its repair order system and use BayStacker for the transmissions. Nothing syncs between them unless the live Tekmetric connection is turned on, which needs an authorized partner connection not open to every shop today.
Does BayStacker take card payments?
No. BayStacker records what a customer owes and what they paid on the invoice, but it does not process cards. Take payment the way the shop does today — a card machine, cash or a check — and record it.
Sources
- Tekmetric pricing (plans, annual prices, add-ons)tekmetric.com
- Tekmetric integrations (PartsTech)tekmetric.com
- Tekmetric appointment scheduling (online booking with Tekmetric Marketing)tekmetric.com
- BayStacker pricingbaystacker.com
- BayStacker help: How do I import my history?baystacker.com
More comparisons
Shopmonkey alternative
Shopmonkey’s per-user plans against BayStacker’s per-location price, and which shop each one is built for.
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.