Verdict
OpenRepairPOS wins for shops that want to stop paying monthly. It costs nothing, has no user cap, includes store credit and AI connections, and you own your data and the code.
Price
OpenRepairPOS is free: no plans, no add-ons, no per-user or per-ticket fees. RepairDesk prices per store: Essential is from $99 per month ($79 billed annually) and Growth is from $149 per month ($119 billed annually); Advanced is a custom quote (RepairDesk pricing page, checked November 5, 2026).
| 1 year | 3 years | |
|---|---|---|
| OpenRepairPOS | $0 | $0 |
| RepairDesk Essential | $948–$1,188 | $2,844–$3,564 |
| RepairDesk Growth | $1,428–$1,788 | $4,284–$5,364 |
Full comparison
| OpenRepairPOS | RepairDesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | From $79/store/month billed annually ($99 monthly) |
| Free plan | The whole product is free | None (free trial only) |
| Users | Unlimited | 5 per location (Essential), 8 (Growth) |
| Each extra store | $0 | Priced per store |
| Store credit | Included | Marked as paid on Essential |
| AI | Free connection to your own Claude or ChatGPT (25 tools) | ARIA AI phone receptionist, a standalone add-on from $79–$199/store/month |
| Card payments | Your own terminal and processor; no card data in the POS | Its payments product, from 2.6% + $0.10 swiped (Essential) |
| Where your data lives | Your own Cloudflare account | Hosted by the vendor (cloud-based) |
| Source code | Open (MIT) | Proprietary (not open source) |
| If you stop paying | Nothing to pay: the code and your data stay yours | Access ends with the subscription (hosted service) |
Users and growth
OpenRepairPOS doesn't count users. Add every technician, manager and front-desk person with the right role. On RepairDesk, a sixth user on Essential means moving to Growth, and a ninth means asking for an Advanced quote.
AI: free vs. paid
OpenRepairPOS connects to the Claude or ChatGPT you already use, through a built-in MCP server, at no charge from OpenRepairPOS (Claude works on any plan; ChatGPT needs a paid plan with Developer mode). Ask "What's waiting for parts?", check in a repair, mark it ready, or build a parts reorder list and purchase order by chat. RepairDesk's AI product, ARIA, is a different kind of tool: a phone receptionist sold as an add-on from $79 to $199 per store per month. Connect Claude or ChatGPT.
Card payments
OpenRepairPOS works with the card terminal you already have. You keep your processor and your rates, and card numbers never enter your POS. RepairDesk's pricing page lists its payments product from 2.6% + $0.10 per swiped payment on Essential.
Your data and the code
OpenRepairPOS runs in your own Cloudflare account. Nobody else, including the OpenRepairPOS project, can see your customers or sales, and the app sends no data to the project or anyone else, apart from the email, SMS and webhook services you set up yourself. The code is open source under the MIT license, so anyone can keep running the released version whatever happens to any company.
Switching takes an afternoon
Deploy OpenRepairPOS (about 2 minutes)
Click Deploy to Cloudflare, sign in to free Cloudflare and GitHub accounts, click Deploy, then open your new address and create your owner account.
Set up your shop
Add your store details, tax rate, ticket statuses and repair price list in Settings. Add every technician as a user: there is no user limit.
Bring in your inventory
Export your parts and products to a CSV file (if your current system offers an export), rename the columns to match the import template (name, sku, cost, price, stock, barcode…), and import it in Inventory. Stock, cost, price, SKU and barcode come across in one step.
Run both for a week, then switch
Open new repairs in OpenRepairPOS while you finish open jobs in the old system. Customers are added as they come in.
Connect Claude or ChatGPT (optional)
Settings → AI & API → Create key, then paste the link into Claude or ChatGPT. Step-by-step guide.
Disclosure: OpenRepairPOS includes built-in reorder links to Parts4Cells, a parts supplier the maintainers work with. Buying through them is optional and any supplier works. Details.
Not in OpenRepairPOS yet: loyalty points, gift cards, multiple locations, online booking, a self check-in kiosk, buyback/trade-in, QuickBooks or Xero sync, marketing campaigns and a native offline app. What we're working on.
Questions
Is OpenRepairPOS cheaper than RepairDesk?
Yes. OpenRepairPOS is free. RepairDesk Essential starts at $79 per store per month billed annually, or $99 billed monthly, according to its pricing page on November 5, 2026.
Which has more users, OpenRepairPOS or RepairDesk?
OpenRepairPOS has unlimited users on its free version. RepairDesk allows 5 users per location on Essential and 8 on Growth.
Does RepairDesk have a free plan?
No free plan is listed on RepairDesk's pricing page (checked November 5, 2026). It offers a free trial.
Can OpenRepairPOS connect to ChatGPT or Claude?
Yes. OpenRepairPOS has a built-in MCP server with 25 tools, so Claude or ChatGPT can look up repairs, check in devices, build a parts reorder list and purchase order, and run reports. It works with any Claude plan, or a paid ChatGPT plan in Developer mode.
Sources
- RepairDesk pricing page (checked November 5, 2026)
- RepairDesk ARIA page (checked November 5, 2026)
- OpenRepairPOS features and source code (version 0.5.0)
Prices change. If a figure here is out of date, tell us and we'll correct it. RepairDesk, RepairShopr, Orderry and CellSmart are trademarks of their owners; OpenRepairPOS isn't affiliated with them.