Own your shop software.
Run jobs, invoices, vehicles, inspections, inventory, project builds and tuning work from one offline-first desktop app. Pay once — your records live on your machine.
Already purchased? Enter your license key →
Shop Manager Lite is in open beta — polished daily, and your shop’s data always stays on your machine.
One Setup.exe, double-click, done — Start-menu & desktop shortcuts, no admin password. The straightforward choice for the everyday shop PC. ≈130 MB
Read the guide →
🧳No install, nothing added to Windows. Unzip and run App.exe from any folder or USB stick — delete the folder and it's gone. ≈200 MB
Read the guide →
🤖The installer with offline AI baked in: Smart Estimates work day one — no API key, no internet, no monthly cost. Ships as three files. ≈2.2 GB
Read the guide →
Same app in all three — every feature, fully offline, your data on your machine. The only difference is how it arrives and whether the AI engine is pre-installed.
🔒 Enter your license key to unlock the download
Don’t have a key yet? See pricing & how to buy →
Not sure which one? Compare the three editions — each has its own guide page.
Founders pricing ends August 16, 2026 — for the first shops on board. You help shape the product; your price stays yours for good. Standard MSRP applies after that.
One-time purchase — no mandatory subscription, and the app never stops working. Prices in CAD; applicable taxes extra. Your license key unlocks the download and registers your copy: activate once, then fully offline.
| Shop Manager Lite | Typical shop software (Shopmonkey · Tekmetric · Mitchell1) | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay | Once, up front | A subscription every month — forever |
| Contract | None — no lock-in | Monthly or annual commitment |
| Where your data lives | On your PC, in your shop | On their cloud servers |
| Works with no internet | Yes — fully offline | Cloud-dependent — core features generally need the vendor's servers reachable |
| If they raise prices or shut down | Keeps running — it's already on your machine | Access generally depends on the vendor staying up and your subscription staying active |
| Setup | Double-click the installer, start writing jobs | Account setup, onboarding calls, data migration |
| AI estimates | Built in and offline (AI edition) — no per-message fees | Higher tier or a paid add-on, cloud-only |
| Shop floor + invoicing + dyno | All included, one price | Often split across pricing tiers |
Built for the solo shop and the small crew — everything you need to run the day, none of the monthly bill. Not a knock on the big platforms; a different deal for shops that just want to own their tools. Comparison reflects typical cloud shop-management platforms as of July 2026 — check each vendor for specifics.
Describe the job in plain words and AI fills the form — vehicle, labor, parts, payment. Print estimates and invoices, or copy them as text for SMS.
Scan or type a VIN: year, make, model and engine fill themselves (NHTSA), with open safety recalls one tap away.
Pick a make, model and year — a matching photo of that generation loads by itself. Or drag in a photo of the actual car; it saves with the job.
Week-view booking board. Send any appointment straight to Google Calendar, or export the whole schedule as an .ics file.
Stock shown as bins on a shelf with live fill gauges. Parts auto-decrement when jobs use them; low-stock warnings before you run out.
Revenue, margins, best jobs, monthly goals — with a little confetti when the shop hits its target.
Drag jobs between Estimate → Approved → Working → Ready. The whole floor at a glance.
Track real wrench time against billed hours, per job — know which jobs actually pay.
Walk the car on a tablet — rate each point green/yellow/red with measurements and photos, then print or text a clean report. Every inspection is saved, and the Inspection Log reopens or reprints any past one in a tap.
No cloud, no account, no monthly fee. Data lives on your machine and can sync to a USB stick you carry between computers.
The Year field actually changes the engine list. A '92 Integra shows B-series; a 2018 M3 is an F80 — never a modern turbo pasted on a classic.
Drivetrain and forced-induction fields that auto-detect from the engine (STI → AWD turbo, GT-R → twin-turbo DCT). Dyno results save with the job.
E85 blend, AFR ↔ lambda, wheel-to-crank HP, dyno gains — the math you do on a napkin, built in.
Set the car, engine code and budget and it plans the build — real Stage 1/2/3 power mods (handling parts kept separate, grip before power), projected wheel-HP, a live budget tracker, and add-your-own mods. Turn the whole build into a customer estimate in one click.
Not a mockup — this is the actual Project Car build living in Shop Manager Lite: a 2010 GTI, planned to a $10,000 street goal, with every part, price and estimated gain the app tracks as the build comes together.
| Part | Cost | Est. gain | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 tune (APR / Unitronic / Revo) | $625 | +40–60 whp | Installed |
| Cold-air intake + high-flow filter | $400 | +5–15 whp | Installed |
| Cat-back / axle-back exhaust | $900 | +5–15 whp | Installed |
| Lightweight crank pulley | $275 | +3–8 whp | Installed |
| 200TW performance tires (RE-71RS / AD09 class) | $950 | grip & braking | Installed |
| Total on the car | $3,150 | 5 parts |
🎯 Stretch goal: the app benchmarks this build against a legendary 9-second GTI — a north star to chase over years, not a promise for a $10k street car. Seeing the gap honestly is the point.
Honest numbers. Those gains are the app's estimates, and they don't simply add up — a Stage 1 tune does the heavy lifting and the bolt-ons layer on smaller wins. Shop Manager Lite says so on the build sheet and points you at a dyno for the real curve. That's the point: Project Car is a planning tool with a conscience, not a horsepower slot machine.
See how Project Car plans a build →
Real, printable documents the app produces — open one, then hit Print to save it as a PDF. Sample data; your copy carries your shop's branding.
Line items, labor, Québec GST/QST, deposit + balance, payment box and a warranty footer — a Stage 1 install on the GTI above.
Open the sample →
🔍A digital vehicle inspection with green / yellow / red ratings, real measurements, notes and a "what to do now vs. soon" summary.
Open the sample →
Click a look — the whole site wears it (and remembers it on every page). Tactical Dark brings back the default.
Plus Easy / Standard / Pro experience levels, Solo-mechanic mode, Compact density mode, and English · Français · Español.