How much auto repair shop marketing costs in 2026: published prices compared

How much does auto repair shop marketing cost in 2026?

Published monthly prices in this guide range from $99 for an AI phone answering plan to $5,295 for an agency package. The software and marketing platforms we checked list between $189 and $999 a month. Ad spend is billed separately almost everywhere, and some add-ons also need a shop software plan.

Those numbers buy very different things. A $345 add-on that your staff runs is not the same purchase as a $1,598 package where an agency builds your website and manages your ads.

Published prices, setup fees and contracts

This table shows each option’s monthly price, setup fee, contract terms and what the price includes, taken from the vendor’s own page on October 25, 2026. Where a vendor publishes no price, the cell says “Not published,” names any third-party figure with its source and date, and says how to get a quote.

The agency row uses three examples. AutogenCRM says its system is built on GoHighLevel. It lists shop setups from $299 to $1,250, then $297 or $597 a month for care, and says “Your HighLevel subscription is separate.” Two agencies selling similar bundles to shops don’t name their platform on the pages we checked: AutomateUs charges $1,497 setup and $597 a month, and Onvert charges $297 a month with no contract.

What drives the price

Four things move the price most: whether you buy software your staff runs or a service run for you, how long you commit, who owns the website, and whether ad spend sits inside the fee. Two quotes with the same monthly number can buy very different amounts of work.

Software or done for you. Tekmetric Marketing, Shopmonkey CRM Essentials, Steer, Podium and Birdeye are software. They give your team the tools, and someone at your shop still runs them. Agencies such as Shop Marketing Pros sell their own staff time, so they start higher. Broadly and Kukui mix software with services. Sapt’s team sets up the service and manages your website and Google listing.

Your shop software. Tekmetric Marketing needs a Tekmetric plan for each location. CRM Essentials is an add-on to a Shopmonkey plan. AutoLeap AIR’s calendar booking is for AutoLeap users. If your shop runs on something else, those prices only apply if you switch.

Contract length. Terms run from month to month (Broadly, HighLevel, Sapt) to Kukui’s 12-month agreement and an 18-month website agreement at Shop Marketing Pros. A long term moves the risk to you if results don’t come.

Website ownership. Kukui’s terms list “website graphics, design, source code” as Kukui property. Shop Marketing Pros says the site is yours after 18 months of payments. Onvert transfers a site it built after 12 months, or for an export fee if you leave sooner. Sapt builds the site on your own domain.

Ad spend. Nearly every price above excludes it. Tekmetric Digital Ads is $99 a month plus spend, with a $10 a day minimum and $15 a day recommended, about $450 a month. Kukui manages ads for 20% of ad spend. Shop Marketing Pros charges $999 a month to manage Google Ads, with a $2,000 monthly minimum spend. Sapt’s $297 excludes ad spend too.

Hidden costs to ask about

The monthly number is rarely the whole bill. Before you sign, ask in writing about setup fees, automatic renewal, what happens to your website and phone number when you leave, per-location pricing and usage charges. Some vendors give conflicting answers on their own pricing pages, so get the final figure on the order form.

1. Setup fees. Broadly’s plan cards show “$350 onboarding & setup” while its FAQ says it has no setup fees. AutoLeap says its shop plans carry “a one-time fee to help you get set up” without giving the amount.
2. Automatic renewal. Tekmetric’s terms renew subscriptions automatically and require notice at least 30 days before an annual term ends. Podium’s terms default to 12 months and renew unless you give written notice 30 days before the term ends. Kukui’s agreement “shall automatically renew as long as Kukui provides Services.” Write down the date you must cancel by.
3. Refunds and cancellation timing. Tekmetric’s terms say “all payments are non-refundable and non-cancellable.” Steer keeps a cancelled plan active for 30 days after your next billing date, with no prorated refunds.
4. Website and phone number handover. Ask who owns the domain, design, content and any tracking number when you leave, and how long the handover takes. Kukui’s terms don’t mention domain names.
5. Per-location pricing. Tekmetric Marketing is priced per shop, AutoOps Pro per location, and CostBench lists Birdeye per location. A second location can double the bill.
6. Usage charges. HighLevel bills Voice AI by usage, and AutogenCRM says SMS, calls, email and AI features are “billed on top of the plan.” AI phone tools charge past their limit: AutoLeap AIR charges $0.75 for each extra call.

How to judge cost per booked job

Divide everything you pay in a month, including ad spend and usage, by the completed jobs that service brought in. Then compare that number with the gross profit on those jobs from your shop software. It uses your shop’s own numbers, so it tells you more than any price table.

1. Add up the real monthly cost. Include the fee, any required add-on, ad spend and usage.
2. Count completed jobs, not leads. Match booking alerts, tracked calls and online bookings to repair orders. A booking that never arrives doesn’t count.
3. Divide. Monthly cost divided by completed jobs is your cost per completed job.
4. Compare with gross profit per job. Your shop software reports it. If a job earns less than it cost to get, that channel loses money on first visits.
5. Count first-time customers separately. A review text to a regular customer is not new business.

Break-even is simple arithmetic. A $297 service pays for itself in a month when the completed jobs it brought in earn more than $297 in gross profit. Use the full cost from step one, not the advertised fee. Check again at 30, 60 and 90 days. Our missed-call guide shows how to count recovered jobs without inflating them. Sapt refunds your payment in the first 30 days if it isn’t worth it to you; see pricing.

Prices checked October 25, 2026

We checked every price in this guide on October 25, 2026. Every price except Birdeye’s comes from the company’s own live pricing or product page. Birdeye publishes no prices, so its figures are attributed to CostBench and the date CostBench checked them. Contract terms come from each vendor’s pricing page or terms of service.

Vendors change prices and plan contents without notice. Confirm the price, setup fee and contract wording before you sign. Sapt publishes this guide and appears in the table on the same terms as everyone else.

Sources

These are the pages used for every price, fee and contract term above. Vendor pages state their own prices and terms. A third-party page is used only for Birdeye, which publishes no price, and the table names it with the date it was checked.

• Tekmetric pricing
• Tekmetric terms of service
• Tekmetric Digital Ads overview
• Shopmonkey pricing
• Shopmonkey CRM Essentials
• Shopmonkey help: CRM Essentials Concierge
• Shopmonkey release notes, October 2026
• Shopmonkey terms of service
• Kukui plans
• Kukui terms and conditions
• Steer pricing
• Podium pricing
• Podium terms of service, version 7.0
• Broadly pricing
• Broadly terms of service
• Birdeye pricing
• CostBench: Birdeye pricing check
• AutoLeap AIR
• AutoLeap pricing
• HighLevel pricing
• AutogenCRM pricing
• AutogenCRM: auto repair CRM on GoHighLevel
• AutomateUs missed-call text-back
• Onvert for auto services
• Shop Marketing Pros pricing
• Sapt pricing