Comparison

ARI (Auto Repair Software) vs Auto Expense.

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ARI (Auto Repair Software)

Manage your auto repair business efficiently with this comprehensive mobile application. Track clients, vehicles, inventory, and finances. Streamline invoicing, estimates, and job management for mechanics and shop owners.

Highlights
  • Client and vehicle management
  • VIN decoder and license plate reader
  • Service history retrieval
  • Inventory tracking (parts, tires, services)
  • Expense and income logging
  • Job card creation and management
  • Customizable invoices and estimates
  • Service reminders
Features
Read full description

ARI is one of the most renowned auto repair software on the automotive market. Thousands of shop owners and mechanics trust ARI with their repair activities and daily tasks. The app is designed for mobile mechanics, auto shop owners, independent technicians, auto dealers, or anyone who needs to manage their auto repair business efficiently. Main Features: 1. Client Management Keep record of all your clients. Generate billing statements, assign vehicles and create invoices and estimates instantly. 2. Vehicle Management - VIN decoder: decode any vehicle identification number so you can easily add vehicle details to your database. Get info such as make, model, year, trim type, engine, and much more. - license plate reader: leverage CarFax integration to get info about a vehicle from its license plate - car service history: retrieve previous service history from almost any vehicle by using CarFax history reports. - advanced diagnosis: get information such as OBD port locator, upcoming maintenance items, DTC errors, TSB info, full maintenance reports and recommendations, repair labor times, and vehicle labor estimates. 3. Inventory Management ARI comes with a list of 400+ default car parts; however, you can create your own inventory. There are no limits on how many items you can add to your inventory. - parts: keep track of part numbers and stock data. Use barcode scanner to add, edit, or remove parts from your inventory; - tires: are you selling tires in your auto repair shop? Use ARI to manage your tire inventory. - services: keep track of all your labor items by adding descriptions and price per hour. - canned services: group parts and labor items to create easy-to-use packages when building your jobcards or auto repair invoices 4. Accounting - expenses: log all your auto repair shop's expenses such as employee salaries, vendor payments, utility bills, and more - purchases: create purchase orders for your auto parts. Send the order to your parts suppliers and update your inventory automatically when parts are received. - income: keep track of all your income and never miss a payment or invoice. 5. JobCards Assign work, track labor times, and approve or deny service items right from your favorite auto repair software. 6. Estimates/Quotes Send professional-looking vehicle repair estimates to your clients and upsell your services with our deferred services program. 7. Invoices a). 7 fully-customizable invoicing templates b).Signature support c). Logo d). Print mobile e). Multiple tax values. You can add up to 3 types of taxes and customize their name and values. f). Payment Options The app accepts Cash, Check, Credit Card, and PayPall payment options. You can collect payments from your clients on the spot. 8. Service Reminders - Schedule service reminders and the app will send automatic emails to your clients reminding them when the service is due. 9. Vehicle Inspections - Upsell your clients with detailed inspection reports 10. Online booking - Allow your clients to book your auto repair services online. View all appointments inside the ARI's calendar. 3. Reporting - Income & Expense - Sales & Purchases - Inventory & Net Profit - Employees & Salaries MULTIPLE languages supported (EN, RU, PL, SPA, RO, IND, GR, DA, GER, IT, JPN, ) CUSTOMER SUPPORT: - available 24/7 via email Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period The account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase Terms and conditions and privacy policy, visit http://www.utilitymobileapps.com/terms_conditions/

About

Auto Expense.

Track your vehicle's fuel economy, energy consumption, and all associated expenses. Log fuel fill-ups, services, repairs, and other fees with detailed reporting and customizable units. Keep your car's financial history organized and accessible.

Highlights
  • Track fuel/energy logs
  • Log services, repairs, and other fees
  • Calculate fuel economy and cost per mile
  • Generate comprehensive cost reports
  • Set service reminders
  • Track unlimited vehicles separately
  • Data import/export and backup options
Features
Read full description

This is a simply but comprehensive app to track your car's fuel economy / electric car's energy consumption and other fees. Use this app to track fuel logs / energy logs, including odometer, fuel / energy charge, price, cost, date, receipt etc, repair logs, service logs and other fees like insurance, parking, vehicle cleaning etc. This app will calculate the fuel economy / energy consumption, like miles per gallon, cost per mile, cost per day etc; the fuel economy / energy consumption unit can be set as yours. Also it provides very comprehensive reports for the costs by category, period, service type, repair type, fees type and the tendency. Key Features: Fuels / Energies: ⁃ Track fuels filling up / energies charging logs with date, cost, price, cubage / capacity, odometer, distance compared with last filling up / charging, tank status / battery percentage, receipt and other note info. ⁃ Calculates fuel economy / energy consumption automatically. ⁃ Custom units for odometer, cubage / capacity and fuel economy / energy consumption. ⁃ Group logs by month. ⁃ Check fuel / energy charges by month. ⁃ Add, edit, and delete logs conveniently. Services: ⁃ Track services logs with date, cost, receipt and service type etc. ⁃ Check logs by month, cost or type. ⁃ Add, edit, and delete logs conveniently. ⁃ Custom service types and their service interval by odometer and time. ⁃ Set reminders for each service by date or odometer interval. Repairs: ⁃ Track repair logs with date, cost, receipt and repair type etc. ⁃ Check logs by month, cost or type. ⁃ Add, edit, and delete logs conveniently. ⁃ Custom repair types. Others: ⁃ Calendar overview of expenses. ⁃ Track fees like insurance, parking, washing, tolls, and taxes etc. ⁃ Track unlimited vehicles separately. ⁃ Eight reports for vehicles’ cost. ⁃ Check total fees by each category. ⁃ Imports data into this app from Dropbox or iTunes. ⁃ Export data in format of PDF, CSV or HTML by email. ⁃ Passcode protection. ⁃ Custom units and currency. ⁃ iCloud and Dropbox backup and restore. ⁃ Supports Apple Watch version. ⁃ Supports universal version. If you have any question, please email to yqapps@tom.com.

Screenshots

ARI (Auto Repair Software)4 screens
Auto Expense.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ARI (Auto Repair Software) at 4.7 against Auto Expense.'s 4.1. ARI (Auto Repair Software) also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (95% vs 65%). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. ARI (Auto Repair Software) sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month and Auto Expense. sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ARI (Auto Repair Software) holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ARI (Auto Repair Software) has 286 ratings behind it against 46, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of ARI (Auto Repair Software)'s written reviews are positive against 65% of Auto Expense.'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ARI (Auto Repair Software) ships an update every 3 weeks, Auto Expense. every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
ARI (Auto Repair Software) versus Auto Expense.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterARI (Auto Repair Software)Auto Expense.
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (286 ratings) — better4.1 (46 ratings)
Positive reviews95.0% of reviews — better64.8% of reviews
Number of ratings286 — better46
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 9 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size92 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperConstantin CoutunZhengzhou Yeqiang Technology Co., Ltd

Customer experience

ARI (Auto Repair Software)

All ratings280 ratings
Positive93.6%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews221 reviews
Positive95.0%
Neutral1.8%
Negative3.2%

Auto Expense.

All ratings44 ratings
Positive70.5%
Neutral15.9%
Negative13.6%
Written reviews176 reviews
Positive64.8%
Neutral11.4%
Negative23.9%

Bugs and requests

ARI (Auto Repair Software)

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Auto Expense.

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to add fuel expenses above a certain limit
  • App crashes after recent updates
  • Persistent ads even after paid subscription
  • Incorrect currency conversion and calculations

Requested features

5 requests
  • Support for alternative fuel types (e.g. CNG, LPG)
  • Automatic sync across devices
  • Customizable expense categories
  • Improved reporting and analytics
  • Ability to set maintenance reminders

In-app purchases

13 purchases

ARI (Auto Repair Software)

Subscriptions8
  • ARI Monthly subscription$19.991 Month
  • ARI monthly subscription$29.991 Month
  • ARI Monthly subscription$29.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • ARI Pro Monthly 39$39.991 Month
  • ARI Pro Plus 59$59.991 Month
  • ARI Annual subscription2 variants$299.991 Year
  • ARI Pro Yearly$399.001 Year
  • ARI Pro Plus Yearly$599.001 Year
One-time5
  • Credit 100$3.99
  • credit 200$6.99
  • credits 500$17.99
Show 2 more
  • credit 1000$30.99
  • ARI Full Unlimited$799.99
9 purchases

Auto Expense.

Subscriptions5
  • Premium - 1 month7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Premium - 1 year3 Months trial$4.991 Year
  • Premium - 6 months1 Month trial$5.496 Months
Show 2 more
  • Premium - 1 year3 Months trial$6.991 Year
  • Premium - 1 year3 Months trial$9.991 Year
One-time4
  • Unlimited Cars$27.99
  • Unlimited Records$45.99
  • Export Data$45.99
Show 1 more
  • Remove Ads$59.99

Questions

Is ARI (Auto Repair Software) free?
ARI (Auto Repair Software) is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Auto Expense. free?
Auto Expense. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ARI (Auto Repair Software) or Auto Expense.?
ARI (Auto Repair Software) is rated higher. ARI (Auto Repair Software) averages 4.7 out of 5 from 286 ratings, while Auto Expense. averages 4.1 from 46 ratings.
Do ARI (Auto Repair Software) or Auto Expense. have ads?
Auto Expense. shows ads; ARI (Auto Repair Software) does not.
Which is updated more often, ARI (Auto Repair Software) or Auto Expense.?
ARI (Auto Repair Software) ships an update every 3 weeks, and Auto Expense. every 9 months. Most recently, ARI (Auto Repair Software) was updated on October 24, 2026 and Auto Expense. on October 22, 2026.

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