# Page 2 | RO Writer Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 2 - Is RO Writer the right Auto Repair solution for you? Explore 93 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/173266/R-O-Writer/reviews --- RO Writer 3.9 (93) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/173266/R-O-Writer/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated May 14th, 2026 # Page 2 - Reviews of RO Writer ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 26-50 of 93 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use WD Wes D. Owner Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "We love RO Writer!" June 16, 2025 5.0 Fantastic. We love using it on a daily basis. We currently have 15+ work stations setup, and each one is working great. Pros We love that it is server based. If our internet goes out, we can continue to use RO Writer. This is one of the last remaining products that is not yet cloud-based. Cons We paid $14k for RO Writer, and then it moved to a subscription model. Essentially, we paid for it 2x. Alternatives considered [Tekmetric](https://www.capterra.com/p/190952/Tekmetric/) Reason for choosing RO Writer We like that RO Writer is server based and (at the time), we would only have to pay for it one time, not monthly. Review Source RM Richie M. Owner Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Happy with R.O.W" October 23, 2025 4.0 Richie's Auto Service is happy with R.O.W. and has no plan on switching at the moment. The pricing could be better in line with some of the competitors but has advantages over many of them as well. Pros the reporting is superior to anything out there. I also like the ease of parts ordering. \[sensitive content hidden\] is the best customer service agent that I have ever dealt with! When there is an issue \[sensitive content hidden\] is able to resolve things quickly and effectively. Cons Cost is a little high with the add ons that are needed to be effective. I would say price is the downfall Review Source AB ALAN B. Manager Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SERVICE MANAGER" June 16, 2025 4.0 WE ENJOY USING THE PROGRAM AND WITH NEW AND INNOVATED UPDATES WE ARE SURE TO BE DOING BETTER INFORMING OUR CUSTOMER BASE. Pros THE PROGRAM IS VERY SIMPLE AND DIRECT TO USE. NO FANCY BUTTONS, AREA'S TO ENTER INFORMATION OR HUNT FOR WHAT DATA YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. Cons UNABLE TO HAVE CUSTOMERS PAY VIA TEXT OR EMAIL. BEING ABLE TO SEND LONGER TEXT MESSAGES. IT KIND OF WOULD BE NICE IF THERE WERE MORE CUSTOMIZING OF A PERSONAL USAGE. Alternatives considered [Tekmetric](https://www.capterra.com/p/190952/Tekmetric/) Reason for choosing RO Writer LESS HASSEL AND EASIER TO USE RO WRITER. Review Source AK Anna K. Operations Manager Automotive Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "ROWriter Review " June 16, 2025 4.0 At first I really was not happy with the product & looked at others but it was my not knowing what it offered. I appreciate the docs.rowriter website & YouTube videos to learn. There’s an extreme amount of abilities in the system, need to keep plugging away at it! Love to see it growing & advancing as well especially DVI suite Pros I appreciate that the functionality is continuing to improve. Everyone who has helped me, \[sensitive content hidden\] and others have always been great & teach me something every time. I wish I had the time to build out the services per location that I want. If I build out in one can it be transferred to all? Cons I can’t make back end adjustments for all my shops, I use another proprietary system & I can adjust pricing & services from anywhere. With ROWriter this is not an options. If I want to add a service it’s per location in person. Switched from [Manager SE](https://www.capterra.com/p/145351/Manager-SE/) Uniformity to all shops & then just general functionality Review Source ER Edgar R. COO Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A great and versatile software for small and big operations" June 17, 2025 5.0 I've been using the software for over 12 years. It's helped me with retail and fleet management, multiple locations, smaller and bigger operations. Getting to use the newer features (at least for us) like DVI and texting and really enjoying it. Pros The ease of use and the visibility. It has great integrations that help the service writing process greatly. Cons The reporting feature. We manage a fleet so I need some specific data, however, I figure a work around and RO Writer support was great at facilitating the access. Alternatives considered [Manager SE](https://www.capterra.com/p/145351/Manager-SE/)[Tekmetric](https://www.capterra.com/p/190952/Tekmetric/) Reason for choosing RO Writer Ease of use and visibility. Configuration is simple and the support is great. Review Source SS Seith S. President Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "President of the company" June 16, 2025 5.0 I have been using RO writer for 20 plus years. Easy to use . Great reports. Great way to track jobs for future sales. Pros Great system. Easy to learn . Love the smart jobs. Makes it easy for a service writer not to forget parts needed for the job. Cons Can not think of anything that I dislike about the RO writer program. I would like more ways of tracking different fleet companies. For reporting purposes. Alternatives considered [Mitchell RepairCenter](https://www.capterra.com/p/83653/Mitchell-RepairCenter/) Reason for choosing RO Writer Easier to navigate, between tracking history and reports Review Source JC John C. Owner Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Experience with RO Writer" June 16, 2025 5.0 They are responsive to our ideas and that shows they value the customer. When we have to call the tech's are all very patient with us. Pros The fact that they are always working on improving the software. They are very responsive with ideas. The system is very user friendly. Cons One drawback we have experienced with RO Writer is the slow startup time. Each day if the system is closed, the system takes a lot of time to open, which is frustrating. Review Source AY Aaron Y. Owner Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best Product for your Shop!" June 16, 2025 5.0 Excellent! I have been with them for well over a decade and am excited for what the future will bring. Pros The support staff is excellent! They are on the leading edge of what will make your shop profitable. Cons The user interface is showing its age, but changes keep happening and they are well on their way to success. Alternatives considered [Manager SE](https://www.capterra.com/p/145351/Manager-SE/) Reason for choosing RO Writer They are moving in the right direction. Smart E Cat was huge! Review Source NC Nic C. SERVICE WRITER Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "R.O. Writer Tech Support is the best I ever work with." January 25, 2023 4.0 My shop has been using R.O. Writer almost since its inception--30 years ago?--I've been working with the program through three major versions now and each time has been a leap forward in power, flexibility, and intelligence. We are a single shop with a unique mix of classic and modern cars, and R.O. Writer is flexible enough to accommodate both and all of these... Pros Tech Support for this program is MIND BOGGLINGLY good! Incredible service, super knowledgeable agents, lightning fast response time to both phone call and emails--agents beyond smart, knowledgeable, and efficient. They take the time every call to fix as much as they possibly can. World Class! I would buy the program on the strength of this support alone. Cons Interface still looks like it's from 1995, some of the defaults--I'm looking at you scheduler--are oddly mixed in and work oppositely from themselves in different parts of the program. We often end up with appointments on the wrong day, at the wrong time, because people who use the program occasionally get tripped up by the anomalies/inconsistencies. Reason for choosing RO Writer Familiarity with the program, ease of use and configuration for our odd mix of service requests, and BEST TECH SUPPORT ANYWHERE. Review Source AG Ari G. Owner Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Shop owner " November 18, 2022 1.0 The reps I spoke about these issues are just order takers they just say ok I will tell management. I got the rep on the ro writer screen with me and showed her what we were going through and she was yeah that is terrible ….but I will tell management. Pros I have used the previous version of RO writer for 20 plus years and was very happy with it until a slick salesman got a hold of my general Manager and talked us into purchasing this new version of RO writerWhat a terrible mistake!!!this new version is clunky takes 30% more time to write up a repair order The new color makes us become fatigued quickerPlease give me back my old version of RO writer or I will have to go to a different software company. Cons After you finish writing a description of repair it takes you to the bottom of the page causing you to lose you place on the page Causing you to lose your thought process and you are constantly going to the bottom of the page and back to your original place on the page.This is super exhausting and is waiting precious company time Bad product give me back my old version Review Source FB Frank B. Owner / Manager Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Happy customer for years, and years, and years!" March 30, 2023 5.0 Pros Comfortable for all to use. I have high confidence in the program and the support when needed. Tons of reports to use. Cons In the past, I was concerned that not enough was being invested in the product. Glad to see that has changed! Review Source PV Paul V. IT Used the software for: 2+ years ### "BAD TECH SUPPORT" May 5, 2017 2.0 Pros Good, but uninspired program. Decently easy to learn. Does everything we need it to. Better than paper system we had previously. Cons Tech support. There are other issues, but the tech support is very bad. Don't get me wrong. The tech support isn't so completely horrible that you will be forced to switch to a different program. It's just good enough that you will probably stay using their program because you don't want to go through with retraining your technofeeb employees on a new system. Let me elaborate on how bad they are: No online knowledgebase. No user forum No email blasts on known issues occurring Calls to tech support have approximately 20% chance of being kicked out of the queue and hung up on because nobody picked up the phone after 5 minutes of waiting. Calls to tech support have a >25% chance of not returning your call. Yes, I really am saying they sometimes do not call me back. Frequency of failure does increase as the severity of the problem decreases. In other words, they've always called me back on critical issues. But on very minor issues, they've failed as much as half the time to call me back. Calls to tech support rarely reach someone who can fix your problem. They almost always have to call you back. Tech support consistently and repeatedly fails to return your system environment back to it's original configuration after remotely logging in. For example: regedit is often left running and UAC is never turned back on before they log out of your system. The second worst problem is lack of user input. There are several areas in the program that work...but require many extra steps that could be reduced with minor coding additions. Review Source JW Jason W. President Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Been with R.O. Writer since DOS days....F7 key anyone?" October 18, 2021 1.0 Again, see above "pro's" section Pros "version 2.0 " or whatever its being called is the absolute worst in every way; And trust me, I've been here for the long haul since the days of DOS OS and F Keys...What's bad? The Color and Layout, price, epicore, lasercat, integration of multivendor parts, number of clicks to get an R.O. open or Closed. It has ZERO intuativeness. It's overly comberssom and has unnecessary redundancy of clicks built in to open or close an R.O. My best guess is that the \[SENSITIVE CONTENT\] are tired, rich and lazy and have finally outsourced this "Gold Standard" of days long since gone by the wayside. Cons See above "Pros" section for full length Reason for choosing RO Writer 22 years, been with R.O. Writer... not even a Christmas Card or Thank You note. Review Source TA Tom A. President Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "20 year user and now Im looking for a new system" September 23, 2021 2.0 After 20 years, no updates to impact functionality that really matter to day to day operations, I'm now looking for new systems because of the 2.5X price increase in the monthly fees! I used the tech support maybe average once per YEAR to get the system running again after a windows update and what I was paying before was too expensive for that. Don't pay $10,000 plus and $200 a month to write addresses and vin numbers in a system that gets no new updates, or repairs made to the glitches! Pros it is functional for operating my business Cons clunky, slow and navigation is stupid. too many 'features' and repots that are useless. all the time invested into making this software 'better' is just adding useless reports and tracking mechanisms that are meaningless Review Source KP Kyle P. Service Manager Transportation/Trucking/Railroad Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Ro Writer Survey" June 14, 2023 5.0 Pros RO writer is an easy product to learn, user friendly Cons That cut and paste is not an option Review Source CK Clint K. General Management Automotive Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "R.O. Writer" February 24, 2022 5.0 R.O. Writer is a quality software to help keeps things organized. Pros R.O. Writer has everything you need in once data base to find out how to repair a car, quote the repair, and invoice the customer. Cons R.O. Writer has so much information within the software it doesn't make it very user friendly to someone with little experience. Switched from [ALLDATA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10010667/Alldata/) costa and features Review Source KP Kevin P. Owner Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "RO Writer 2019 Gen 2 Migration" March 6, 2019 5.0 My workflow has improved significantly since the migration / upgrade. My employees are using the software far more effectively. We even took advantage of training that RO Writer offers and it has been a breath of fresh air for us. In conclusion, I had issues with my previous set up, RO Writer made promises that If i upgraded to Generation 2, a lot of my issues would be eliminated. I appreciate that they were right and that they made it incredibly easy. Pros 1\. Had problems with querying data (IE History) Was told that this issue would go away if I migrated to Generation 2. I was skeptical. RO Writer was absolutely correct. Looking up info is now incredibly fast thanks to the SQL Server back end. 2. Sales, Install and Training called me WHEN they said they would and everything worked around my schedule, couldn't have asked for it to go better. The team was fantastic. 3. I have several different POS systems. RO Writer is my favorite when it comes to ease of use, hands down. Cons I honestly don't have any cons to list here. I am upset that I didn't migrate to Generation 2 sooner. Review Source IB Ivan B. Owner Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "RO Writer" December 9, 2022 5.0 Our experience is GREAT! Customer service is always exceptional, and the product has made our business so much easier to manage. Pros We love that it is user friendly and continues to create options to make our business more efficient. Cons There are so many things that RO writer does, I feel like sometimes we need a single person just to keep up with everything and teach the other service writers, so we use it to its fullest extent. Review Source KA Keith A. Service Manager Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "RO Writer easy to use " September 24, 2019 4.0 The day to day use of RO Writer has become a natural part of our days. Pros Very easy to use, integrates with Quickbooks, easy to make labor lines to suite customer complaints, very customizable, has a DVI system that allows techs to attach pictures to RO.; allows text communications between service writers and tech which increase efficiencies. Has text capabilities from Service writer to customer and allows customer to text back for increased approval times; etc. Cons It is not designed to manage a large inventory (works great on a small inventory) Reason for choosing RO Writer Was the easiest to use and had AR, AP, Inventory, Reporting and customer retention all in one package Review Source DB Darryl B. Manager Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Long time user, early adopter - I'm out." January 9, 2018 2.0 When we first bought in RO Writer in 2009 was among the best available. Had many features other software didn't address. At first the company was actively interested in feedback and improvements. As time and versions went by no changes or improvements were made. As updates rolled out, critical faults were repaired, but we noticed a slow loss of screen handling ability. With version 2.0, we lost significant mouse functionality in critical screens, and many useful features regarding inventory handling were eliminated. Version 2.0 is a significant downgrade. This is not an isolated incident as a scan of reviews and forums will support our experiences. Pros Integrates with 3rd party software. Basic point of sale functionality. With a paid Pro support subscription response is fairly quick, Tier 1 personel are fairly knowledgeable. Cons Screen handling, Window sizing, and placement, Field Navigation. Inventory control process. Loss of automated backup processes. Tier 2/3, and programming support ineffective when they respond. Improvements promised but never delivered. Follow-up non-existant. Review Source Response from Progressive Automotive Systems March 1, 2018 We are sorry you have had that experience with RO Writer. AMS is no longer a reseller for RO Writer and now support Protractor, a cloud-based system. JC Jennifer C. Owner Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "User since 1995" January 6, 2023 5.0 Always a great experience with RO Writer, when we purchased our shop in April RO Writer was one of the first calls we made. All the sales managers have always been more than helpful. My most recent sales manager \[SENSITIVE CONTENT\] was exceptional! Pros The best aspect of RO Writer is the accounting system in it, we are a shop heavy on fleet and this makes my monthly billing MUCH easier! Cons No complaints at all, we have used RO Writer for over 25 years now. Reason for choosing RO Writer n/a Review Source EM Erich M. Owner Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great system for the European repair industry" January 29, 2019 5.0 Pros I pushed for RO Writer when we decided to open our own shop due to the great experience I had at another shop. The system is well built and is VERY customizable so we can build it more to our everyday use. I like the fact that is integrates World Pac as that is our main parts source. My partners have only been working with the system for a few days and already love the overall simplicity of it and how relatively intuitive it is. The scheduler is another great feature so we are able to see what we have at a glance. We also like the training that comes along with getting the program as they make sure that you understand the basics of the system and provide plenty of guidance time and time for any questions. Customer support has been great so far and sales was a great experience as we were only sold what we were looking for and did not feel pressured to get anything we didn't need. Cons The only real issue we have at the moment with RO Writer is the accounting software integration is provided by a third-party vendor. This requires an additional up front cost and then a monthly fee thereafter so RO Writer can integrate with Quickbooks. It would be nice if RO Writer would offer this integration with the system rather than having a third party vendor, but at the same time RO Writer makes a great product. Review Source PH Parker H. General Manager Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "RO Writer is used friendly" February 15, 2023 5.0 Pros This software provides ease of use when looking up history for customers. Able to find any customers vehicle with great VIN look up procedure. Cons The only con I have with RO Writer is the software upgrade/update process seems to always have at least a couple hiccups. But they are usually quickly solved by the awesome RO Writer support team and Holly! Review Source jB john B. OWNER Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "stay far away from this company" February 10, 2022 1.0 Years ago it was great. Now Stay far away, Run away. Pros easy to use software at first but constantly have issues. Not stable Even on Gen2 Cons no tech support. They will leave you on hold for an hour or more.Takes days to repair software Review Source AA Alex A. Shop owner Automotive Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Not worth it. Bad customer support. " March 8, 2022 2.0 Constant crashes. When you need a station installed, they do a mediocre job and leave it all half way. Then is an hour or so on hold every time you realize something is wrong. Pros Lots of reports. Capable of a lot if properly set up. Cons Hard to implement. Very bad support. They need contracts to keep people stuck with it. Reason for choosing RO Writer I belive the sales people on the stability and the support of the company Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Auto Repair](https://www.capterra.com/auto-repair-software/)