TECOBI Pricing in 2026: What Dealers Actually Pay (and the Hidden Costs)

TECOBI is one of the few dealer-software companies that publishes its prices, which deserves credit. Most vendors make you sit through a demo to get a number. This article reads TECOBI's own pricing page as it stood in October 2026, works out what a year actually costs, and lists the line items that are real but aren't in the headline figure. Every number below comes from TECOBI's site; the links are at the bottom.

The published tiers

TECOBI sells three tiers, sized by how many cars a store sells. The Small tier covers stores selling up to 100 cars a month; Medium and Large cover higher volumes. Each tier has a month-to-month price and a lower price for a 12-month commitment.

Tier	Month-to-month	12-month commitment	SMS included	SMS overage
Small (up to 100 cars/mo)	$1,995/mo	$1,496/mo	15,000	$0.10 each
Medium	$2,995/mo	$2,246/mo	40,000	$0.07 each
Large	$3,995/mo	$2,996/mo	120,000	$0.05 each

Three things on that page are genuinely dealer-friendly: unlimited users on every tier, every feature on every tier (no "Pro" add-on to unlock the good parts), and a month-to-month option at all. Plenty of vendors in this category still start at 36 months.

The setup fee

TECOBI charges a setup fee equal to one month of the plan, discounted 25% for a 3-month commitment, 50% for 6 months and 75% for 12 months. Month-to-month, it is a full month.

What a year actually costs

Using only the published numbers for the Small tier:

• Month-to-month: 12 × $1,995 = $23,940, plus a setup fee of one month ($1,995): $25,935 in year one, before any overage.
• 12-month commitment: 12 × $1,496 = $17,952, plus a setup fee of one month less 75%: roughly $18,300 to $18,500 in year one, depending on which monthly rate the setup fee is based on. You are committed for the year.

The Medium tier on a 12-month term is $26,952 a year in subscription alone; Large is $35,952. Those are fair prices for what a large franchise store gets. For an independent selling 30 cars a month, the Small tier is sized for a store more than three times bigger.

The costs that aren't in the headline

None of these are hidden in the sense of being secret; they are on TECOBI's own pages. They are hidden in the sense that the monthly number on the comparison spreadsheet doesn't include them.

1. SMS overage

15,000 messages a month sounds like a lot until an AI is following up every lead several times, every appointment gets two reminders, and a broadcast goes to the sold file. A Small store that sends 20,000 messages in a busy month pays 5,000 × $0.10 = $500 on top. Ask for your current monthly message count before you pick a tier.

2. Managed Meta ads at 20% of spend

TECOBI offers managed Facebook and Instagram advertising for 20% of ad spend. On $5,000 a month of spend, that is $1,000 a month. It's optional, and a 20% management fee is in line with what agencies charge, but it belongs in the total if you plan to use it.

3. Text Ninjas at $4 per engaged lead

TECOBI's human "Text Ninjas" take over conversations the AI hands off, at $4 per engaged lead. 300 engaged leads a month is $1,200. Again optional, and having people behind the AI is a real strength; just count it.

4. The CRM underneath

This is the big one. TECOBI describes itself as an AI follow-up layer that works on top of your CRM (VinSolutions, eLead/Fortellis, ProMax and others) rather than replacing it. That is a sensible design for a franchise store locked into a CRM contract, but it means the TECOBI bill is in addition to the CRM bill, not instead of it. If your CRM costs $1,000 to $2,500 a month, your follow-up stack costs that plus TECOBI.

5. The commitment

The best prices on the page require 12 months. That's a normal trade, but it moves the risk to you: if the AI isn't working for your store in month three, you're paying through month twelve.

How to compare it fairly

Put these on one sheet for every vendor you look at, TECOBI and us included:

1. Monthly subscription at the commitment you would actually sign.
2. Setup or onboarding fees.
3. Your real monthly message volume times the overage rate, minus the included allowance.
4. Optional services you would really use (ads management, human texting).
5. Every other system the vendor needs underneath it: CRM, desking, website, phone.
6. What happens if you want out in month three.

Where CarSales AI OS fits

We built CarSales AI OS for the store that would rather have one system than a layer on top of another one. It replaces the CRM (CRM, inventory, desking, AI texting, the Lot Line AI phone agent, appointments, follow-up plays and reports), so there is no second bill underneath it. Every feature is on every plan, users are unlimited, and each plan includes a monthly allowance of texts, call minutes, Lot Line AI minutes and emails. Anything over the allowance goes on your next invoice, and you set a spending cap so a busy month can't surprise you. It is month-to-month with a 14-day free trial and no card, and the first 10 founding dealerships get the setup fee waived and their price locked for 24 months.

We don't print dealership prices on the website; we price per store. It's a fraction of TECOBI's published price, and you can get your price in 30 seconds. If TECOBI's track record, integrations and included SMS volume matter more to you than one system, it's a good product, and our CarSales AI OS vs TECOBI comparison says where it is stronger.

Sources, checked October 2026

• TECOBI pricing page (tecobi.com/pricing)
• TECOBI home page (tecobi.com)
• TECOBI integrations (tecobi.com/integrations)

Vendor prices and features change. If anything here is out of date, email support@carsalessoftware.com and we will correct it.