DMS Comparison
Tekion vs CDK: A DMS Comparison From the IT Side
What changes for your network, devices, phones, integrations and security when a store moves between the two, or decides to stay put.
Tekion and CDK both sell dealer management systems to franchised dealerships, and both run them as hosted platforms. For IT, the real difference shows up in a move. Phones, network services, integrations and user access all change hands.
Last updated: October 14, 2026
Most of a DMS move happens below the login screen.
Erik Nachbahr, who founded Helion Technologies in 1997, has walked a lot of stores through this exact switch. “It’s such a titanic shift from where you were on CDK or Reynolds and Reynolds that nobody absorbs all of it on the first pass,” he wrote in his post on life after Tekion go-live. He meant the people. The network’s the same way.
Search for Tekion vs CDK and you mostly get feature grids and software reviews. Almost nobody covers the IT side, so this page does, for dealers looking at our Tekion enablement services or our DMS transition support. A demo shows you how a deal gets desked. It won’t show you what happens to that deal when the F&I printer can’t find the new system on the last Saturday of the month, with two customers waiting and the sales manager standing in the doorway. That part’s on us.
Full disclosure. Helion is a Tekion Certified Partner, and we support stores running CDK every day. That’s why the comparison below sticks to what each company publishes.
Why Tekion vs CDK Is a Live Question in 2026
Both companies had a big year. Neither one forces a dealer to do anything, and nothing here is a reason to panic. It’s a reason to know your renewal date. Write it down.
Tekion’s growth is the market story, since more franchised stores are now running its Automotive Retail Cloud and more dealer principals are being asked by their own general managers whether they’ll be next.
CDK changed leadership this month and has been rolling its products into one platform it calls the Dealership Xperience Platform. One of the largest public dealer groups in the country had moved 70% of its stores to Tekion by late July 2026. Our DMS conversion checklist covers what a move like that asks of IT.
Big news on both sides. Your contract matters more.
February 2026
At the NADA Show, Tekion reported more than 60% ARC revenue growth for 2025. Its site now counts 3,000+ dealerships running on the platform.
Fast growth. More stores asking the question.
October 2026
CDK Global named Sudhakar Ramakrishna president and CEO, effective October 5, succeeding Brian MacDonald. Brookfield Business Partners has owned CDK since 2022.
New leader. Same contracts on file.
Side by side
Tekion vs CDK, Compared Line by Line
Everything here comes from the two companies’ own sites and announcements, as of October 2026. It’s what each one says about itself, not a ranking. Confirm the details with both before you sign anything.
| Topic | Tekion | CDK |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Pleasanton, California. Founded in 2016 by Jay Vijayan and Guru Sankararaman. | Spun off from ADP’s dealer services business in 2014. Owned by Brookfield Business Partners since 2022. |
| DMS platform | Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC), which puts DMS, CRM, service, payments, payroll and analytics on one platform. | CDK Drive, plus Modern Retail, Fixed Operations, Intelligence and other suites on its Dealership Xperience Platform. |
| Where it runs | Cloud-native. Staff use a web browser or Tekion’s own app for iPhone and iPad. | Hosted by CDK, which describes its platform as cloud-based software as a service. |
| Integrations | Automotive Partner Cloud, listing 250+ partner integrations and 390 APIs. | Fortellis, CDK’s API platform and app marketplace since 2018, plus open APIs across its suites. |
| Phones and network | Calling and texting inside ARC come through partners such as GoTo Connect and CallRevu. | Sells its own phone system, CDK Voice Connect, plus network, security and managed services. |
| OEM ties | Certified with 50+ OEM brands, by Tekion’s count, Ford, GM, Toyota and Honda among them. | Serves automotive and heavy truck stores, with 80+ heavy truck OEM integrations on CDK Drive. |
| Reported footprint | 3,000+ dealerships. | 9,000+ customers in the automotive and heavy truck markets. |
Sources: Tekion, Tekion Automotive Partner Cloud, CDK Global and CDK Voice Connect.
Before you sign
Six IT Questions to Settle Before You Choose Tekion or CDK
The demo covers screens and workflows. These are the questions it skips, and they apply whether you’re moving or renewing. Ask them in writing. Then lay the answers side by side.
Want the IT side of either path priced out for your stores? Request a price quote.
Where Helion fits
The network, the devices, the security and the Safeguards file under the DMS. We do that work for Tekion stores and CDK stores alike.
Dealership DMS evaluation Same six questions, either path
1 Who owns the phones?
If your phones came from CDK, changing the DMS doesn’t end that phone contract by itself. Check the term, who holds the numbers, and how calls and caller details will reach the new system, because a service advisor who can’t see who’s calling loses the thread with the customer fast. Tekion connects calling and texting through partners, so that’s a choice you get to make.
Pull the phone contract before you sign the DMS one.
2 Who provides the network?
Some stores buy circuits, firewalls, Wi-Fi or managed network services from the same company that sells them the DMS, and those line items tend to blur together on one invoice over the years. A move turns each of those into its own decision. New circuits carry lead times. Order early.
List every network line item on the current invoice.
3 Is the internet ready to be the DMS?
Both platforms are hosted, so a rooftop that loses its circuit loses its DMS. Tekion’s Implementation Terms also put electrical work, data cabling and the readiness sign-off on the dealer. Our Tekion network requirements guide walks through it.
Pull the primary circuit and watch the store keep working.
4 Which devices have to change?
Printers, signature pads, check scanners and the PC on every desk in the building meet the new system on day one, including the impact printer in accounting that nobody has touched since the last conversion. A browser-based DMS on an out-of-support PC is still slow.
Print a real deal jacket and a real RO from every printer. Every one.
5 Which integrations come along?
F&I menus, credit bureaus, OEM parts ordering, payroll and the CRM all connect to the DMS today, and every one of them has its own vendor, its own contract and its own idea of how long a new connection should take. Each one gets rebuilt for the new platform or confirmed for the renewal. Ask every vendor whether it’s on Tekion’s Automotive Partner Cloud.
Ask who pays for each new connection.
6 Who gets access, and how does the data come out?
Build user roles from today’s org chart instead of copying old accounts, and turn on multi-factor authentication from day one. A store that arranges financing falls under the FTC Safeguards Rule, which requires MFA and oversight of service providers.
Get the export format and dates in writing.
How Much IT Work Each Path Puts on Your Stores
The dots show how much of the IT work lands on the store’s side.
Renew CDK
Same platform. Still a good moment to review circuits, phones, access and the vendor file before you sign again.
Move one rooftop to Tekion
A phone plan, rebuilt integrations, device checks and an honest readiness sign-off, all at one store.
Convert a group in waves
The same work at every rooftop, sequenced store by store, with each wave learning from the last one.
None of them is wrong. A single-point store with one controller and a server closet that doubles as the copier room weighs these very differently than a 20-rooftop group with an IT director and three states of circuits to replace. Our DMS transition team plans the IT side of whichever path you land on.
What Helion Brings to a Tekion or CDK Decision
Those stores run Tekion, CDK and most of the rest of the DMS market, so we’ve already seen what a move tends to break, from the phone tree that still points at the old system to the label printer in parts that nobody tested. Usually it’s the printers. On a Saturday.
How Helion Handles the IT Side of a Tekion or CDK Decision
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1
Complimentary assessment
We walk the network, devices and circuits at each rooftop and read the IT, phone and DMS invoices you pay now, because the phone and network lines on a DMS bill are where most of the surprises in a move are hiding. Bring all of them.
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2
Rooftop readiness
Circuits, failover, cabling, Wi-Fi, PCs and printers, checked against what the new system needs, one store at a time.
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3
Cutover week
Help desk coverage, a paper fallback, a phishing watch and user access rebuilt with multi-factor authentication.
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4
After go-live
Our Tekion enablement team stays on after go-live, extending the momentum Tekion’s own team builds.
Common Questions
Still comparing proposals?
Bring both to a complimentary IT and cybersecurity assessment. We’ll tell you what your network is ready for.
Is Tekion better than CDK?
Is Tekion cloud-based?
How long does a move from CDK to Tekion take?
Who owns CDK Global?
Do our phones have to change if we leave CDK?
Does switching DMS change our FTC Safeguards obligations?
Does Helion work with Tekion and CDK dealers?
Tekion or CDK, the DMS is only as steady as the network under it. Let’s check yours before the contract does.
Get Your Complimentary IT & Cybersecurity Assessment →