Service Dock vs Fullbay
The honest comparison page
Fullbay earned its position — we’re not going to trash the incumbent to look good. But the two products are built on opposite foundations, and which foundation you want is worth deciding on purpose.
| Service Dock | Fullbay | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Desktop app in your shop — keeps working with no internet | Cloud software used in a web browser |
| Pricing model | Flat per shop location — staff included | $188–$318/mo base, plus $89–$119/mo per additional user |
| Contract | Month to month, cancel anytime | Annual agreement with monthly billing |
| Your data | Encrypted database on your machine; export anytime | Stored in the vendor's cloud; access tied to your subscription |
| Track record | New — founding shops get lifetime launch pricing and direct access to the builders | Established for years with a large installed base |
| Onboarding | White-glove for founding shops: we migrate your data and train your team | Structured onboarding; reviewers note data migration can cost extra |
Fullbay pricing and contract terms taken from fullbay.com/pricing as of July 2026 — check their site for current details. Onboarding note reflects public reviewer commentary.
The difference that actually matters
Fullbay is a website: if the internet is down, slow, or their servers hiccup, your counter waits. Your records live on their infrastructure, and your monthly cost grows with every user you add.
Service Dock is a desktop app: the shop runs at full speed with zero connectivity, the database is encrypted on your own machine, and one flat price covers the whole location. The cloud adds customer links, companion apps, and off-site backups — it never becomes the thing you can’t work without.
Pick Fullbay if…
you want the most established product in the category, per-user cloud pricing fits your budget, and an annual agreement doesn't bother you.
Pick Service Dock if…
you want your records in your shop, software that survives an internet outage, flat per-shop pricing, and founding-shop terms while they last.
Asked directly
Is Fullbay a bad product?
No — and we won't pretend otherwise. Fullbay is the category leader for a reason: it's mature, feature-rich, and widely used. If you want the most established option and the per-user cloud model works for your budget, it's a reasonable choice. This page exists for shops that want something Fullbay structurally isn't: software that runs in your shop, works offline, and prices by the shop instead of by the seat.
Why is Service Dock cheaper?
Two reasons. First, the model: one flat price per shop location means adding your fifth tech doesn't add a line item. Second, the moment: we're early, and founding shops get the lowest rate we'll ever offer in exchange for feedback and patience with a young product. That trade is stated plainly because it's the actual deal.
What do we give up by picking the newer product?
Track record and ecosystem breadth, honestly. Fullbay has years of production history and more third-party integrations. What you get in exchange: data that lives in your shop, no annual contract, founding pricing locked for life, and feature requests that go to the people writing the code that month.
Can we switch from Fullbay to Service Dock?
Founding shops get white-glove migration — we work with whatever you can export (customers, units, parts, history) and bring it in with you. Book a walkthrough and bring a sample of your data; we'll show you what the import looks like before you commit to anything.
Compare against the real thing, not a brochure
Book a walkthrough, bring your hardest questions, and judge the difference yourself.