--- title: "Essentials Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra" description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about Essentials Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Auto Dealer products and more." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/122635/AutoLoop/" page_type: "product" language: "en" --- # Essentials Software Review 2026: Features, Reviews, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on September 16, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) Essentials ## What is Essentials? Essentials is a marketing platform that helps auto dealerships automate customer communications, manage multi-channel campaigns, and more. ## What is Essentials used for? [Auto Dealer](https://www.capterra.com/auto-dealer-software/) Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 5 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive \- Neutral \- Negative \- ### Starting price Free trial not available Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for Essentials?[Manage this product listing](https://www.g2.com/products/affinitiv/claim_requests/new?auto=true) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### Essentials 3.8 (5) VS. [4.9 (1,485)](https://www.capterra.com/p/71935/DealerCenter/reviews/) Starting Price Contact vendor Starting Price $99 Flat Rate, Per Month Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 3.4 (5) Ease Of Use 4.8 (2,363) Value For Money 3.3 (4) Value For Money 4.8 (2,206) Customer Service 4.0 (5) Customer Service 4.9 (2,185) ## Essentials alternatives [Carsforsale.com](https://www.capterra.com/p/178449/CarsForSale/) [4.6 (2,363)](https://www.capterra.com/p/178449/CarsForSale/reviews/) Starting price $99.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 90% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/178449/CarsForSale/) [AutoManager](https://www.capterra.com/p/10010509/DeskManager/) [4.9 (239)](https://www.capterra.com/p/10010509/DeskManager/reviews/) Starting price $50.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 97% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/10010509/DeskManager/) [Frazer](https://www.capterra.com/p/34553/Frazer-Auto-Dealer-Software/) [4.6 (152)](https://www.capterra.com/p/34553/Frazer-Auto-Dealer-Software/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 91% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/34553/Frazer-Auto-Dealer-Software/) [AutoRaptor CRM](https://www.capterra.com/p/118844/AutoRaptor-CRM/) [4.6 (275)](https://www.capterra.com/p/118844/AutoRaptor-CRM/reviews/) Starting price $399.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 90% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/118844/AutoRaptor-CRM/) [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/122635/AutoLoop/alternatives/) ## Features AI summary Based on 1,696 Auto Dealer reviews Capterra data shows that buyers of auto dealer software rank the following features as their top priorities: - **Reporting & Statistics** (**71%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical) - **Inventory Management** (**53%**) - **Customer Database** (**64%**) Essentials includes **Inventory Management** and **Customer Database**, giving dealerships the tools to track vehicle stock and maintain organized customer records in one system. However, it does not offer **Reporting & Statistics**. Instead, it provides other features that reviewers also rate highly, such as **Service Department** (**53%**) and **Third-Party Integrations** (**65%**), helping businesses connect service operations with other systems and keep daily dealership work more efficient. Activity Dashboard Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities Alerts/Notifications Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges Calendar Management Track and manage schedules and meetings via an integrated calendar Communication Management Manage and track all internal and external communication conducted via calls, email, text, or chat Contact Database Centralized database of stakeholders and their contact information such as names, address, phone number etc. Customer Database A collection of customer information such as contact details, demographics, previous interactions, etc. Essentials 11 features ### All Features - Activity Dashboard: Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities - Alerts/Notifications: Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges - Calendar Management: Track and manage schedules and meetings via an integrated calendar - Communication Management: Manage and track all internal and external communication conducted via calls, email, text, or chat - Contact Database: Centralized database of stakeholders and their contact information such as names, address, phone number etc. - Customer Database: A collection of customer information such as contact details, demographics, previous interactions, etc. - For Automotive Dealerships: For automotive/car dealerships - Reporting/Analytics: View and track pertinent metrics to find patterns and gain insights from data - Sales Reports: Reports specific to sales analysis for trends and strategies - Service Department: Manage in-house automobile service department - Third-Party Integrations: Set up connections to third-party platforms to improve business processes --- Get Advice We can help you find the software with the features you need. Features 3.5 (4) 3.5 Based on 4 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 3.3 (4) ### Starting price Free trial not available Value for money 3.3 (4) 3.3 Based on 4 reviews Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs. ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.0 (5) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.0 (5) 4.0 Based on 5 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 3.8 Based on 5 reviews Filter by rating 5(3) 4(0) 3(1) 2(0) 1(1) Mentioned topic Sorted by most recent DD Douglas D. IT / internet director ### "Product for service appointments and data mining." 3.0 Overall Rating 3.0 3.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 3.0 3.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 0/10 June 28, 2018 Pros Setting up opcodes was very easy, just a matter of giving support a spreadsheet and they imported them. Training employees went well. Appointment setting is a breeze. Cons Some communication issues during setup. Perhaps a lack of proofreading. Cost is high, rental and loaner agreements are better handled elsewhere. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. NH Nathan H. BDC Coordinator ### "When I worked with dealerships we used this product to accept appointments for service customers." 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 0/10 April 10, 2018 Pros The customer support is extremely responsive. I always received answers back in an hour. Also, opcode setup was a breeze, they didn't care whether I exported the opcodes to Excel or even printed file, they would enter them for me. Cons Handling loaners and rentals was a bit cumbersome. Also, they sent out an initial email with our dealer info slightly wrong. They should have just confirmed the info with us. Still a great company though and I'd use them again. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. CF chris F. internet director Automotive ### "great product for roi" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 November 7, 2016 we use this product to mine for equitable customers within our database that are mostly likely in the market works wonders great roi one of the best we have Pros the ease of use and roi Cons none Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. JB Jason B. sales Automotive ### "not efficient" 1.0 Overall Rating 1.0 1.0 Ease of Use 1.0 1.0 Features 1.0 1.0 Customer Service 1.0 1.0 Likelihood to Recommend 0/10 June 15, 2016 not efficient, not good customer service, so many input problems (not user error) in templates for email horrible spelling and grammar, ridiculously inept. Pros not anything Cons the templates Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. JJ John J. Service Manager ### "Service Manager" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 0.0 0.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 0/10 March 21, 2014 The best product with superior support. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.