GarageForge
Software for state inspection shops — built by an operator,
I run a garage, and before that I spent years in IT. When I opened the shop I went looking for management software and tried product after product for months. Nothing fit. Everyone kept pointing me at Shopmonkey, but I couldn't justify the price for a shop my size.
So I built my own. The IT background meant I actually could. It started as the tool I wanted for my own bays: inspection tracking, sticker inventory with an audit trail, VIN decode, repair orders, and customer records. State inspection work is the part most shop software treats as an afterthought, and it's the part that gets you fined if the paperwork is wrong, so I built around that first.
It's called GarageForge. It's live at mygarageforge.com. Pricing starts at $59/mo, which is the number I wish I'd found when I was shopping around.
I'm posting here to learn in the open and get honest feedback. If you run a shop or you've built software for a trade you actually work in, I'd love to hear what you got right or wrong. And if you're a fellow mechanic-turned-builder, say hi.
1 Comment
One advantage of building for your own shop is that you know which problems are genuinely expensive.
The challenge is making sure the market recognizes that same hierarchy. What feels mission-critical to you because you've lived it isn't always what prospects immediately notice when they first encounter the product.