Beta
Edition guide · Release 1

The Standard Installer

The straightforward one. Download a single Setup.exe, double-click it, and Shop Manager Lite installs like any normal Windows program — shortcuts, uninstaller, done.

≈130 MB download No admin password needed Start-menu + desktop shortcut
Download installer (.exe)
Not sure it's the right one? Answer 3 quick questions on the home page — 30 seconds →

How it goes

Download Shop-Manager-Lite-Release-1-Setup.exe — one file, about 130 MB.
Double-click it. Setup installs per-user, so Windows won't ask for an administrator password.
Launch Shop Manager Lite from the Start menu or the desktop icon. That's it — start entering jobs.

What's inside

ItemStandard Installer
Every featureYes — jobs, estimates & invoices, VIN decode, scheduler, inventory, Tire Hotel, analytics, Dyno Lab. Identical app in every edition.
Works offlineYes — the whole shop side runs with no internet.
Your dataStays on your machine. Local storage plus a portable protech-data.json file, with daily backups.
AI featuresButtons are all there — they switch on with a quick one-time setup (see below).
UninstallNormal Windows uninstaller, listed in Apps & Features.
Best forThe shop PC you'll use every day.
About the AI buttons: to keep this download small, the local AI engine isn't bundled. Turn AI on either way: paste an Anthropic API key in Settings (cloud, pay-per-use) — or install the free Ollama app and pull the llama3.2:3b model; Shop Manager Lite is already pointed at it. Prefer zero setup? Grab the AI Edition instead — same app with the AI baked in.

The other editions

Portable Zip

No install, nothing added to Windows. Unzip and double-click — runs from any folder or a USB stick. Great for trying it out or locked-down PCs.

AI Edition

Same installer experience plus offline AI built in (~2.2 GB). Smart Estimates and AI helpers work on day one — no API key, no internet, no monthly cost.