The Best Stella Alternative for Dealership Service Departments
Stella is a voice AI receptionist built to answer dealership phone calls. Kimoby is a Service Lane OS where Kimoby Voice is one module inside a full platform, connected directly to your DMS.
Trusted by 1,000+ dealerships across North America.
How is Kimoby different from Stella?
Stella is an AI voice receptionist built to answer dealership calls for sales and service, book appointments, and route customers to the right department. Kimoby is a Service Lane OS where Kimoby Voice is one module inside a full platform. It integrates with the DMS to sync customer data, ROs, and appointments, so advisors text, send video inspections, share estimates, collect payments, manage loaners, and follow up on CSI, all from the same system that also handles missed calls.
Because Kimoby Voice runs inside the full platform, a call that gets routed to text continues in the same customer thread as every other interaction on that repair order. A standalone voice receptionist can answer and route the call, but once it ends, that context has nowhere else to go without a separate integration built on top.
What the service advisor gets with Kimoby
Stella handles the phone call. Here's what happens on the same platform once that call is done, and where the call handling itself differs too.
Missed calls handled by Kimoby Voice
Kimoby Voice does what Stella does, catches the call, identifies the customer, routes or offers text, but ties every one of those calls to the same RO your advisor is already working from, not a separate voice dashboard.
Video inspection with AI-generated estimate Not part of Stella
Technicians record a video walkaround. Kimoby turns it into a customer-facing estimate with photos, so the customer sees exactly what's being recommended and why.
Texting tied to the RO Beyond voice
Every text ties to an open repair order, not just a phone number. Advisors see the full thread next to the RO, so nothing gets lost between visits.
Payment collected via text or terminal Not part of Stella
Customers pay by text or at an in-person terminal. Either way, the payment writes back to the RO automatically.
Loaner contract tied to the RO Not part of Stella
Loaner agreements are generated and signed digitally, linked to the same RO as the repair. No separate paperwork trail to track down.
Google review request triggered by CSI score Not part of Stella
A review request goes out automatically after a high CSI score. Lower scores get flagged internally first, before anything reaches a public review site.
The team at Kimoby has been exceptional in every aspect of our partnership. They represent the company with pride, enthusiasm, professionalism, and deep knowledge. They consistently go above and beyond to ensure all questions are answered promptly and thoroughly.
Gary Ralston
Parts & Service Director at Zimmerman Honda
Where standalone voice tools like Stella typically connect to a scheduler, Kimoby Voice writes directly into the DMS record behind it.
What Kimoby includes for service departments
Purpose-built for the dealership service lane workflow. The full platform includes:
Service Lane OS
Texting tied to the RO, video inspections with AI-generated estimates, digital estimates with approve/decline.
Kimoby Pay
Mobile text-to-pay, in-person payment terminals, credit card surcharging, Affirm financing, CDK write-back.
Kimoby Go
Loaner fleet management with GPS tracking, digital contracts, damage documentation, OTA connectivity.
Kimoby Grow
Declined service follow-up, recall campaigns, warranty expiry, tire season, CSI follow-up automation.
Kimoby Voice
Catches missed calls, matches the caller to their open RO, routes to their advisor or offers a switch to text.
DMS Integrations
CDK (with write-back), Reynolds, PBS, Tekion, DealerTrack, Autosoft, Serti.
Transparent pricing. Month-to-month. No setup fee. No long-term contract.
See pricing →How Kimoby compares, side by side
| Capability | Kimoby | Standalone voice AI agents |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | The full dealership service lane workflow | Answering and routing inbound calls |
| DMS integration | CDK (write-back), Reynolds, PBS, Tekion, DealerTrack, Autosoft, Serti | Often limited to select DMS schedulers |
| Missed call handling | Yes, Kimoby Voice, tied to the RO | Yes, answers and routes inbound calls |
| Books the appointment without a human | Not yet. Kimoby Voice routes the call or switches to text, a person closes the booking today. Autonomous booking is on the roadmap. | Often yes, books directly into the scheduler |
| SMS texting | Yes, tied to the RO | Sometimes available alongside voice |
| Video inspections with AI-generated estimates | Yes | Not typically part of the platform |
| Mobile payments | Yes, text-to-pay and in-person terminals, with CDK write-back | Not part of the platform |
| Loaner fleet management | Yes, with GPS and digital contracts | Not part of the platform |
| Recall and retention campaigns | Yes, Kimoby Grow: declined service, recalls, warranty, tire season | Not typically part of the platform |
| Pricing | Transparent, published, month-to-month | Varies, often sales-gated |
Based on publicly available product information as of this writing.
FAQ
What's a good Stella alternative for a dealership service department?
Kimoby is a Service Lane OS where Kimoby Voice, missed-call handling tied to the repair order, is one module inside a full platform. It also covers texting, video inspections, digital estimates, payments, and loaner management, all connected to the DMS, rather than a standalone voice receptionist bolted onto everything else.
Can Kimoby replace Stella at a dealership?
For most of the call, yes: Kimoby Voice catches the call, matches the caller to their open RO, and routes them to their advisor or offers a switch to text, all inside the same platform as texting, video, and payments. One real gap: Kimoby Voice doesn't yet book the appointment on its own the way Stella does, a person closes that loop today. If autonomous booking is the priority, that's worth weighing directly.
Does Kimoby Voice book appointments automatically?
Not yet. Today, Kimoby Voice identifies the caller, matches them to their RO, and routes the call or offers a switch to text, but booking the appointment itself still goes through a person. Autonomous booking is on Kimoby's roadmap.
What does Kimoby Voice do differently from a standalone voice receptionist?
A standalone voice receptionist can answer and route a call, but once it ends, that context doesn't automatically flow anywhere else. Kimoby Voice is built into the same platform as texting, video inspections, and payments, so a call that gets routed to text continues in the same thread as every other interaction on that repair order.
Does Kimoby integrate with the DMS?
Yes. CDK (with write-back), Reynolds, PBS, Tekion, DealerTrack, Autosoft, and Serti. Customer data, ROs, and appointments sync automatically.
Can Kimoby send video inspections?
Yes. Technicians capture photos and video. AI generates a customer-facing estimate. The customer approves or declines each line item from their phone.
Does Kimoby include payment processing?
Yes. Mobile text-to-pay and in-person terminals in one system. Credit card surcharging. Affirm financing. CDK write-back.
How much does Kimoby cost?
Transparent pricing at kimoby.com/pricing. Month-to-month. No setup fee. No long-term contract.
