Gearboxly vs Shop-Ware
Last updated: October 2026. Competitor details checked October 2026.
The short answer
Shop-Ware is a well-regarded cloud shop system with unlimited users, month-to-month plans from $279 a month, and its own AI parts and receptionist features. Gearboxly starts at $99, includes texting and card payments in every plan, and adds AI estimate drafting. Choose Shop-Ware for its depth and customer success; Gearboxly for price.
Side by side
Core $99/mo
Startup $279/mo ($251/mo billed yearly)
AI $249/mo (every AI feature); Growth $399/mo adds website, online booking and marketing
Ultimate+ $999/mo ($899/mo billed yearly), which adds website, SEO, ads enablement and call tracking
Unlimited on every plan
Unlimited on every plan
Month to month, cancel any time
No annual contract; month to month
Two-way texting on every plan. Customer updates are unlimited; 1,000 campaign texts per location per month (3,000 on Growth)
Limited on Startup; unlimited on Pro and up
Every plan, processed by Stripe at Stripe's standard rates; Gearboxly adds no fee
Shop-Ware Payments; transaction fees apply, amounts not listed
Labor rates and canned jobs on every plan; AI labor time lookup on the AI plan
MOTOR Labor Guide on Pro and up
Free data migration on Growth; self-service CSV import on every plan
About 30 days, with a Customer Success Specialist; migration fees may apply
A shorter list than the established vendors. Check that the parts, accounting and lookup tools you rely on are covered
MOTOR, QuickBooks, CARFAX, PartsTech and more
On the AI plan: labor time lookup, estimate drafts from the customer's concern, inspection findings to a priced estimate, Shop Brain, deferred-work follow-ups
AI Parts Matrix and an AI Receptionist are listed features
14 days of the AI plan, no card required
Free 15-minute demo; no free trial listed
What Shop-Ware does well
- Reputation: GetApp lists it at 4.8 out of 5 from 163 reviews as of October 2026.
- Guided onboarding: its site describes about 30 days of onboarding with a dedicated Customer Success Specialist.
- Depth: AI Parts Matrix, a native parts catalog, MOTOR labor guide, business analytics and coaching dashboards on higher plans.
- Its own AI receptionist and messaging, plus integrations with MOTOR, QuickBooks, CARFAX and PartsTech.
- Migration support from more than 150 shop management systems.
Who each is best for
Shop-Ware fits if
- Shops that want a hands-on, guided rollout with a named success contact.
- Shops that want deep parts pricing tooling, analytics and coaching dashboards.
- Larger or multi-shop operations that can use its higher tiers.
Gearboxly fits if
- Shops that prefer to set up on their own, with free migration on Growth.
- Shops that want a lower price: Gearboxly's top plan, Growth, is $399 a month with a website and online booking.
- Shops that want AI to draft estimates and write up inspections.
Pricing compared
Shop-Ware publishes four tiers. Prices are per location, per month, from its packages page as of October 2026.
- Shop-Ware: Startup
- $279 monthly, $251 billed yearly
- Shop-Ware: Pro
- $389 monthly, $350 billed yearly
- Shop-Ware: Master
- $499 monthly, $449 billed yearly
- Shop-Ware: Ultimate+
- $999 monthly, $899 billed yearly
- Shop-Ware: CRM + Online Service Scheduler add-on
- $249 per month
- Shop-Ware: Fees
- Payment transaction fees, data migration fees and an accounting link fee may apply
- Gearboxly
- Core $99, AI $249, Growth $399 per location per month. Month to month, unlimited users, 14-day trial of the AI plan with no card. See the pricing page or plain-text pricing.
Third-party sites list other starting prices for Shop-Ware; we use its own packages page. Gearboxly prices are on our pricing page and in our plain-text pricing file.
Switching from Shop-Ware
- Gearboxly has a self-service Import data screen (Settings, then Import data) that brings in customers, vehicles, repair order history and inventory from CSV files. It is included on every plan. You see a dry run before anything is written, nothing is sent to your customers, imported history is read-only, and every import can be undone.
- Shop-Ware's help describes a customer export (Customers tab, Export), a Closed Sales Report for invoices (Reports, Invoices, Export Report) and an Entire Inventory Database export (Parts tab). Check with Shop-Ware which reports your subscription includes.
- On the Growth plan, free data migration is included: send us the export and we import your customers, vehicles and visit history and check it for you.
- What does not come over: open repair orders are skipped by default, and we do not import parts orders, inspections and photos, appointments, labor guides and canned jobs, text message history, declined work, loyalty balances, QuickBooks links or staff accounts. Plan the move for a slow week, and keep Shop-Ware read-only for a month so you can look things up.
More on the switching page, and the step-by-step guide Move from Shop-Ware to Gearboxly. Related help: getting started, two-way texting, inspections, estimates.
When to choose Shop-Ware instead
- You want a guided onboarding with a named person, and you are willing to pay for it.
- You want deep parts-matrix pricing and business analytics on its Pro and Master tiers.
- You want one vendor for website, SEO and ads on its Ultimate+ plan.
Gearboxly vs Shop-Ware: common questions
Is Shop-Ware better than Gearboxly?
It depends on the shop. Shop-Ware is older, has a strong reputation and guided onboarding, and costs more. Gearboxly is newer, cheaper, and built around AI drafting. Run a trial of each on real jobs if you are unsure.
How much does Shop-Ware cost?
Its packages page lists Startup at $279, Pro at $389, Master at $499 and Ultimate+ at $999 a month, with lower rates on annual billing, as of October 2026. Some third-party sites show different starting prices.
Does Shop-Ware have AI?
Yes. Its site lists an AI Parts Matrix and an AI Receptionist. Gearboxly also offers an AI receptionist, included in the Growth plan with 100 call minutes, or as a $99 a month add-on with 200 call minutes on other plans, alongside AI estimate drafting on the AI plan.
Does Shop-Ware charge per user?
No. Shop-Ware lists unlimited users on every plan, and so does Gearboxly.
Can I move from Shop-Ware to Gearboxly?
Yes, from CSV files. Gearboxly imports customers, vehicles, repair order history and inventory, and import is included on every plan. Whether Shop-Ware lets you export each of those is up to Shop-Ware, so check with Shop-Ware support. On Growth we also import your customers, vehicles and visit history from the export for free and check it for you. Open repair orders are skipped by default, and parts orders are handled by hand. See the switching page for the details.
Can I try Gearboxly before leaving Shop-Ware?
Yes. Gearboxly gives 14 days of the AI plan with no credit card, so you can run real jobs side by side. Shop-Ware offers a free 15-minute demo.
Try it on your own shop
14-day free trial of the AI plan. No credit card. No contract, cancel anytime.
Start freeSources
Shop-Ware details come from the public pages above as read in October 2026, and may have changed since. Where a detail could not be verified we say so rather than guess. Shop-Ware is a trademark of its owner; Gearboxly is not affiliated with it. Spotted something out of date? Email support@gearboxly.com and we will fix it.
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