# Switching from InterActive DMS: time it to your renewal and get your data out first
> Leaving InterActive DMS? Time it to the 12-month renewal, get your data out while the vendor's site is offline, and cut over to a browser DMS in two weeks.
- Source: https://www.dealervlo.com/blog/switching-from-interactive-dms
- Published: 2026-11-01
- Updated: 2026-11-01
- Author: Chris Abouraad
- Tags: dealer software, migration, interactive dms, dms
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InterActive DMS has been around a long time and does more kinds of deals than most small-lot software, from cash and outside finance to buy here pay here, lease and rent-to-own. If you're thinking about leaving, two things decide how it goes: the 12-month agreement, which makes your renewal date the date that matters, and your data, which you want in hand before you do anything else.
The second point got more urgent recently. When I checked on October 26 and again on November 1, 2026, InterActive DMS's website, pricing page included, returned an error page. That doesn't tell you anything about the software or the company. Ackroo, which owns InterActive DMS, still listed it on its own site on November 1. But if you depend on a system, a vendor site that's offline is a good nudge to make sure you have a current copy of your data and a support contact that answers.
*InterActive DMS prices and terms below are as they were listed on its pricing page on October 18, 2026, the last time I could read it. The site was offline on October 26 and November 1, 2026, so I can't link to it; confirm everything with InterActive DMS. Full disclosure: I run a used-car lot and built DealerVLO, a competing DMS, so weigh my comparison sections with that in mind.*
See a browser-based DMS with the website and feeds included: try DealerVLO free for 14 days
## Start with your renewal date
InterActive DMS's pricing page described a **12-month agreement with annual renewals** and no setup fees. With an annual agreement, leaving mid-term may still mean paying out the year, and missing the window before a renewal can mean another twelve months. The pricing page didn't say how much notice it needs, so:
- **Find the renewal date** in your signed agreement.
- **Ask InterActive DMS in writing** how much notice it needs before that date, and how to send it.
- **Put the notice deadline on your calendar** with a couple of weeks of slack.
If the renewal is months away, you have time to run a new system alongside it and switch on your own schedule. If it's next month, start on the data now.
## Get your data out first
InterActive DMS hasn't published an export procedure that I could find. Ask support in writing for:
- **Inventory** as CSV or Excel: VIN, stock number, year, make, model, mileage, cost, asking price and status.
- **Customers** as CSV or Excel: names, phones, emails and addresses.
- **A deal archive** you can look things up in later: buyer, VIN, sale date and the amounts.
- **BHPH balances and payment histories** for every open account, plus lease and rent-to-own accounts if you have them.
- **Scanned documents.** Document scanning and retention was one of InterActive DMS's listed features, so ask how to download what's stored there.
Also ask whether the export is billed. The pricing page listed professional services at **$150 an hour** and said "additional training and professional service fees may apply," so get a quote for the export before the work starts.
## What a lot was paying, and what it would pay
As listed on October 18, 2026, InterActive DMS charged **$200 a month** for the platform (cloud installation and unlimited licenses), **$100 a month** for website hosting and **$50 a month** for inventory feeds. With both add-ons that's $350 a month, or **$4,200 for the first year** of a 12-month agreement, before any professional services hours. [InterActive DMS pricing, explained](/blog/interactive-dms-pricing-explained) has the full breakdown.
DealerVLO is **$29 a month**, month to month, with the dealer website and listing feeds in that price, for unlimited users.
## Leaving Windows behind
The pricing page said InterActive DMS is "available exclusively for Windows OS." DealerVLO runs in a web browser, so it works on whatever the lot already has: the office PC, a Mac at home, or a phone at the auction. I add cars from my phone on the lot: scan or paste the VIN, take the photos, set the price, and the car is on the website.
What moves into DealerVLO and what doesn't:
- **Inventory moves, with cost.** **Add many cars at once** on the Inventory page takes up to 1,000 rows per file and reads cost and the other details from your columns. It doesn't decode VINs during the import, so year, make and model need to be in the file. Photos go up once the cars are in, and days on the lot count from the import date.
- **Customers move.** **Settings → Import data** takes up to 500 per file and skips duplicate emails.
- **Past deals, documents and BHPH ledgers don't.** DealerVLO doesn't import past deals, deal documents, or BHPH balances and payment histories from another system. Keep those exports archived, and finish collecting open accounts where they live.
Import your InterActive DMS inventory with cost and run a test deal: start your 14-day DealerVLO trial
## What $29 a month gets you in DealerVLO
I built DealerVLO to run my own lot in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and it still does. One flat plan, in a browser:
- **Deals:** a deal jacket that computes totals, trade equity, payment and front-end and F&I gross as you type, with a compliance checklist on each deal.
- **Paperwork:** the FTC Buyers Guide and your state's title and registration paperwork for all 50 states, filled from the deal (the state's own PDF where DealerVLO fills it, or a print-ready worksheet where your state uses a portal), with e-signatures. You can also upload your own fillable PDFs and DealerVLO fills them from the deal, with no yearly cap.
- **Inventory:** VIN decode, photos, recon and other costs line by line so each car shows its all-in cost and margin, and days on the lot with a flag at 60.
- **Website and feeds:** a dealer website that publishes your inventory, and a daily listing feed to CarGurus, Cars.com and Autotrader (each site's fees still apply).
- **Money:** buy-here-pay-here payment tracking with a collections view, a sales report with front- and back-end gross, and a P&L that subtracts your real overhead.
## What you'd give up
To be fair to InterActive DMS, here's what it did that DealerVLO doesn't:
- **Lease and rent-to-own.** DealerVLO deals are cash or financed, BHPH included. If you write leases or rent-to-own, stay.
- **Wholesale and bulk wholesale deal types.** DealerVLO has no separate wholesale deal type.
- **Document scanning and a letter writer.** DealerVLO stores the documents it generates; it isn't a scanning system.
- **Hands-on professional services.** InterActive DMS sold setup and training by the hour. DealerVLO is self-serve, with email support.
## A two-week cut-over
1. **Get the exports first**, and confirm they open and look complete.
2. **Import inventory and customers** into DealerVLO and spot-check a dozen cars for cost, price and status.
3. **Run one test deal end to end** and print the Buyers Guide and your state's paperwork.
4. **Write new deals in DealerVLO** for a week or two. Open deals, and the BHPH, lease and rent-to-own accounts already on the books, keep running where they started.
5. **Switch the listing feeds.** Enter your Dealer ID for each site under **Settings → List my cars on other sites**, then ask each site to stop the old feed once your cars show up from the new one.
6. **Give notice before the renewal date**, in writing, and get the end date confirmed.
[Moving to a DMS without an onboarding call](/blog/dealer-software-csv-import-no-onboarding) covers the CSV side, [what switching dealer software really costs](/blog/total-cost-switching-dealer-software) covers the time, and [the best buy-here-pay-here software](/blog/best-buy-here-pay-here-software) compares the field if BHPH is most of your business.
Switch on your schedule, not the renewal's: try DealerVLO free for 14 days, month to month after
## Frequently asked questions
### When can I cancel InterActive DMS?
InterActive DMS's pricing page, as listed on October 18, 2026, described a 12-month agreement with annual renewals. That makes your renewal date the key date: find it in your signed agreement, and ask InterActive DMS in writing how much notice it needs before that date. The notice period wasn't on the pricing page.
### Is InterActive DMS's website down?
When I checked on October 26 and again on November 1, 2026, interactivedms.com returned an error page, including the pricing page. Ackroo, which owns InterActive DMS, still listed it on its own site on November 1. A website being offline doesn't tell you anything about the software or the company, but it's a good reason to make sure you have a current copy of your data and a working support contact.
### How do I get my data out of InterActive DMS?
InterActive DMS hasn't published an export procedure that I could find. Contact its support in writing and ask for inventory and customer lists as CSV or Excel, a deal archive, and buy-here-pay-here balances and payment histories for open accounts. Ask whether data export is billed at the professional services rate, which was listed at $150 an hour.
### Does DealerVLO run on a Mac?
Yes. DealerVLO runs in a web browser, so it works on a Mac, a Windows PC, a tablet or a phone, with nothing to install. InterActive DMS's pricing page said its software is available exclusively for Windows.
### Can DealerVLO handle lease and rent-to-own deals like InterActive DMS?
No. DealerVLO deals are cash or financed, including buy-here-pay-here with a payment schedule and collections view. InterActive DMS's training covered lease and rent-to-own sales, so if those are a real part of your business, that's a reason to stay.
### What does DealerVLO include for $29 a month?
A full dealer management system on one plan: unlimited users and any inventory size; a deal jacket with live deal math; the FTC Buyers Guide and state title and registration paperwork for all 50 states filled from each deal; e-signatures; inventory with VIN decoding, per-car reconditioning costs and aging; a dealer website with listing feeds to CarGurus, Cars.com and Autotrader; buy-here-pay-here tracking; and sales, aging and profit-and-loss reports. It runs in a browser, with no setup fee and no contract.
## Bottom line
Leaving InterActive DMS comes down to two dates and one file: the renewal date, the notice deadline before it, and a complete export of your data, which you want in hand now whatever you decide. If you write leases or rent-to-own, it does things DealerVLO doesn't, and that's a reason to stay.
If you sell cash, financed and BHPH deals and want one browser-based system with the website, feeds, e-signatures and your state's paperwork included, DealerVLO is $29 a month with no contract. Bring your inventory export and run a real deal through it.
Bring your InterActive DMS inventory export and start a free 14-day DealerVLO trial
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## FAQ
### When can I cancel InterActive DMS?
InterActive DMS's pricing page, as listed on October 18, 2026, described a 12-month agreement with annual renewals. That makes your renewal date the key date: find it in your signed agreement, and ask InterActive DMS in writing how much notice it needs before that date. The notice period wasn't on the pricing page.
### Is InterActive DMS's website down?
When I checked on October 26 and again on November 1, 2026, interactivedms.com returned an error page, including the pricing page. Ackroo, which owns InterActive DMS, still listed it on its own site on November 1. A website being offline doesn't tell you anything about the software or the company, but it's a good reason to make sure you have a current copy of your data and a working support contact.
### How do I get my data out of InterActive DMS?
InterActive DMS hasn't published an export procedure that I could find. Contact its support in writing and ask for inventory and customer lists as CSV or Excel, a deal archive, and buy-here-pay-here balances and payment histories for open accounts. Ask whether data export is billed at the professional services rate, which was listed at $150 an hour.
### Does DealerVLO run on a Mac?
Yes. DealerVLO runs in a web browser, so it works on a Mac, a Windows PC, a tablet or a phone, with nothing to install. InterActive DMS's pricing page said its software is available exclusively for Windows.
### Can DealerVLO handle lease and rent-to-own deals like InterActive DMS?
No. DealerVLO deals are cash or financed, including buy-here-pay-here with a payment schedule and collections view. InterActive DMS's training covered lease and rent-to-own sales, so if those are a real part of your business, that's a reason to stay.
### What does DealerVLO include for $29 a month?
A full dealer management system on one plan: unlimited users and any inventory size; a deal jacket with live deal math; the FTC Buyers Guide and state title and registration paperwork for all 50 states filled from each deal; e-signatures; inventory with VIN decoding, per-car reconditioning costs and aging; a dealer website with listing feeds to CarGurus, Cars.com and Autotrader; buy-here-pay-here tracking; and sales, aging and profit-and-loss reports. It runs in a browser, with no setup fee and no contract.