Carstio

Carstio is a self-hosted workshop management app for independent car services and small repair shops. It is best suited to owners who want to run estimates, jobs and payment tracking on their own computer or server. Its free, unlimited-user plan is compelling for a single-location shop, provided its workflow gaps match the business.

Overview

Carstio brings client and vehicle records together with estimates, work orders, repair status and payment tracking. That gives a small workshop a shared view of a job from quote through payment without a cloud account. The trade-off is operational: the shop must host and maintain the system itself, rather than delegate that responsibility to a cloud service.

The maker says client, vehicle, invoice and attachment data stays on the user's machine. Repository-described safeguards include login throttling, CSRF-protected logout and authenticated routes for attachments. These measures matter for a system holding customer and vehicle records, but self-hosting still makes installation and server security the workshop's responsibility.

Key features

Estimates, work orders and repair status cover the central service workflow, with estimate approvals and a scheduled-work calendar helping shops organize upcoming jobs. Revenue and workload statistics, parts margins, and separate admin and mechanic roles add management context. The roles can distinguish office oversight from mechanic access, though the product does not provide a mobile app.

Carstio creates branded estimate and work-order PDFs that can be emailed to customers using SMTP credentials set in Settings. This keeps customer-facing documents in the same workflow, but requires the shop to configure its own email service. Payment tracking handles partial payments and outstanding balances for cash, card and bank transfers, useful when customers pay in stages.

The interface is available in English, Bulgarian, German, Spanish and French, and supports multiple currencies. That broadens its fit for shops serving customers across language or currency preferences. However, parts inventory is not included: parts margins are not a substitute for stock control or warehouse movement records.

Pricing

Carstio's Free plan costs nothing, billed €0/ month forever. It includes unlimited users, clients and cars, all features, self-hosting on a computer or server, and free community updates. There is no free trial because the plan is free to use. With no user or record cap, it can serve a growing small shop without per-seat charges; the meaningful cost is the effort of hosting and maintaining it.

All features included does not mean every workshop capability: warehouse stock movements, separate invoicing documents, multi-location or multi-tenant support and a mobile app are out of scope. Shops that depend on those workflows should not mistake the zero price for a complete fit.

Platforms

Carstio is web-based and self-hosted. The maker provides Docker setup and native installation instructions; native installation requires PHP 8.4 or newer and MariaDB 11 or MySQL 8. Those requirements make it a better fit for an owner or administrator comfortable managing a server than for a shop seeking a ready-hosted service.

Who it's for

Carstio suits independent repair shops that need records, estimates, work orders, scheduling and payment balances in one self-hosted system, especially when keeping customer data on their own machine is a priority. It is less suitable for businesses requiring warehouse stock movement, standalone invoicing, multiple locations or mobile access. The maker invites workshop owners to send questions and feature requests and points users to the GitHub project for questions, a useful route for community-oriented adopters rather than a substitute for a stated commercial support plan.

Pros and cons

• Pro: The free plan includes all Carstio features and unlimited users, clients and cars, avoiding seat and record caps for small shops.
• Pro: Estimates, work orders, repair status, scheduling and partial-payment tracking cover a practical service-job lifecycle.
• Pro: Self-hosting keeps the named customer and shop records on the user's machine rather than requiring a cloud account.
• Con: Self-hosting entails setup and ongoing responsibility; native installation also calls for recent PHP and MariaDB or MySQL versions.
• Con: No parts inventory or warehouse stock movements limits its usefulness for shops that need to control stock, not just calculate parts margins.
• Con: No mobile app, separate invoicing documents or multi-location support rules it out for some larger or mobile-first operations.

Alternatives

For a broader shortlist, see Automotive Repair Software.

• LxCars is another free, self-hosted option, with Linux support and an MIT-licensed Community plan; choose it if those specifics matter more than Carstio's stated workflow.
• OpenAuto offers a free, open-source core application for Windows; it is the alternative to consider when Windows is the required platform.
• Shop OS is free for shops under 10 jobs per month, making it a possible alternative for a very low-volume shop.
• ARI has a free plan and trial and supports Android, iOS, web and Windows; its ARI Pro monthly plan is $39.99 a month and includes invoicing, inspections, inventory, accounting, appointments, reminders and time tracking. Consider it if those listed capabilities or wider platform coverage outweigh Carstio's no-cost self-hosted model.
• Bay-Master is a paid option for Android, iOS, web and Windows, with an Essentials package listing workstation and cloud, tech tablet connections, scheduling, inventory, reporting, digital inspections, QuickBooks integration and marketing.
• CCC ONE Repair Workflow is a paid alternative for Android, iOS, web and Windows.
• Mitchell RepairCenter is a paid option for Android, iOS, API and Windows.
• Repair360 is a paid alternative for Android, iOS and web.

Verdict

Choose Carstio if you run a small independent workshop, want a no-cost system without user or vehicle caps, and are prepared to host it yourself. Its strongest case is the combination of core job workflows and local data control at no charge. Look elsewhere if your operation depends on inventory movements, separate invoicing, multiple locations or mobile access.