OptimoRoute Competitors: A Comprehensive Guide for 2024

OptimoRoute is a powerful route optimization platform with some standout features. But it’s not right for every business. If you’re looking for alternative last mile delivery management options, you’re in the right place! In this post we’ll take a closer look at Optimoroute’s main advantages and disadvantages, and review the top five alternatives for different needs.

OptimoRoute’s key features

OptimoRoute’s advanced routing functionality includes the ability to schedule reloading at a depot during the day. This is a fairly common need among last-mile delivery companies, but it is technically complex to achieve and not always high on the development agenda for delivery management software. At Routific, for example, this is something we’d like to have someday, but not in the near future. 

Other OptimoRoute features that are popular include:

• A "breadcrumb” feature that tracks vehicle movements, so dispatchers can compare the routes actually driven to planned routes. 
• Individual driver profiles that include shift schedules (including breaks and overtime), start/end locations, skills, vehicle types, service areas they should stay in, and even cost and speed settings. This makes OptimoRoute a great option for field sales and service organizations. 
• Customers can rate their delivery experience and leave comments.

OptimoRoute disadvantages

Despite some of these advanced features, OptimoRoute falls short when it comes to actual multi-stop route optimization. We couldn’t test as thoroughly as we would have liked, because free trials are limited to 250 stops, but we did note some problems:

• Poor route quality, with lots of overlapping and crisscrossing routes. 
• It was difficult to adjust routes after optimization. 

In addition, customers have told us that OptimoRoute makes it difficult to adjust start locations. This can make life difficult for dispatchers who work with contract drivers, where the roster of drivers and their starting points can change from day to day.

Pricing is also an issue. Their “Pro” pricing level has a limit of 1,000 orders per day, which is low for a medium-sized business. 

Overall, OptimoRoute is well suited to relatively new companies with simple routing needs, but it may not be able to scale along with a growing company.

Here’s what OptimoRoute customers have to say:

Customer reviews

Routing improved and streamlined, bottom line increased, product pays for itself many times over. — Jonathan S

OptimoRoute is a very robust delivery service App. You can organize your deliveries very quickly and the system has never failed a driver when they are on the road.  — G2 reviewer

The maps are outdated, and I almost ALWAYS have to fix the route. It marks roads that are not roads, are blocked off, or it will label a creek or wash (Arizona) as a road. — Eric H

The software can be complex to set up and use initially. The interface may not be as intuitive as some other route planning software, which could result in a steeper learning curve. — Edson Q

OptimoRoute pricing

If you sign up with OptimoRoute for a full year, pricing starts at $35 per vehicle per month with a limit of 700 orders, or $44 per month for up to 1,000 orders, real-time tracking and proof of delivery. Custom pricing for more complex needs is also available.

OptimoRoute offers a generous 30-day free trial, but it’s limited to 250 stops so it’s hard to assess how performance will scale.

Reasons to consider OptimoRoute alternatives

OptimoRoute might not be the right route planner and delivery management system for your business if you need:

• Sophisticated route optimization that goes beyond the basics
• Advanced reporting & delivery analytics
• Support for larger fleets and complex delivery scenarios
• Integration with an e-commerce platform, CRM or other business systems.
• Customization to specific business needs

Depending on what you’re looking for, here’s our pick of the best alternatives.

Routific: OptimoRoute alternative with more advanced route optimization

Routific stands out for its exceptional route optimization capabilities and user-friendly interface, making it a favorite among growing last-mile delivery businesses. 

Routific’s routing algorithm, powered by AI and machine learning, is developed in-house and constantly improving thanks to our data science team. It’s the major focus of our business because route optimization is the source of most of the benefits of delivery management software. Well optimized routes can:

• Reduce drive time
• Reduce fuel consumption
• Reduce CO2 and particulate emissions
• Enable more deliveries per route
• Lower cost per delivery
• Increase profitability
• Provide more accurate ETAs
• Improve the customer experience

Of course Routific also includes all the features that have become standard in cloud-based route planning software: Customer notifications, live tracking, proof of delivery (POD), and mobile apps for both Android and iOS.

For companies who are building their own systems, we also offer our routing engine API.

Routific disadvantages

There are some things Routific can’t do (yet). The big one is return to depot functionality — it’s technically possible with some workarounds, but it’s definitely not our major strength. If that’s your main need, then OptimoRoute is currently a better option. 

We also don’t yet offer:

• Barcode scanning
• Multi-day planning
• In-app driver chat
• Direct communication between drivers and customers
• Breadcrumb tracking (we do have live GPS tracking, but we can’t yet compare actual vs planned routes).

If any of these features are deal-breakers for you, then Routific is not the right choice for your business right now. 

Customer reviews

Routific has taken what used to take me one day's work, and turned it into a 5 minute task. It also has the added benefit of customer notifications and provides regular delivery updates (which has saved me time on phone to customers). — Hamu S, midmarket director.

The ease of use, simplicity, and customer service is second to none. I have tried and demoed every routing tool out there and none come close to Routific with ease of use and simplicity. — Morgan H, SMB CEO

It's intuitive, it has awesome features like the client notifications, and everytime I had a question I was serviced in a very comprehensive and friendly fashion. They didn't stop until I said I was satisfied. — Jonathan K, SMB owner.

Platform was straightforward and easy to use for the admin and drivers. Clean and user friendly, functional and not ‘cluggy’ like some of the other platforms I have trialled. — Andy L, midmarket managing director. 

I wish we had more options for personalization … For example, being able to send notifications both through email and SMS and not just one or the other.  Or being able to schedule routes and drivers across multiple days would be a game changer.” — Jill L, manager of a food and beverage company 

Routific pricing

Starts at $49 per vehicle per month, or $59 per vehicle per month for GPS tracking and proof of delivery features. Automated customer notifications via email or SMS are $19 per vehicle per month. 

Starting in March 2024 Routific is slowly rolling out a new pricing model based on per-stop rather than per-driver charges. This is a more flexible model that many of our customers prefer. The first 100 stops in every month are free, to accommodate the needs of very small businesses, non-profits and trialers.

Onfleet: OptimoRoute alternative for on-demand deliveries

Onfleet has always focused mainly on delivery management software solutions, so they have a good track record. 

The standout feature that sets Onfleet apart is automated driver assignment and dispatch for on-demand deliveries.This enables customer self-service and makes Onfleet a good option for courier businesses.  

Onfleet’s customers also appreciate: 

• The in-app chat function that lets drivers communicate with dispatchers and customers. They can do this directly inside the driver app, so there’s no need to share phone numbers or open other apps. 
• Driver analytics that enable dispatchers to see, for example, how many stops were on-time vs delayed.
• The real-time tracking link so customers can see where their driver is (although this isn’t exclusive to Onfleet). They can also rate and provide feedback on their customer experience.

Onfleet disadvantages

Onfleet’s main weaknesses are related to cost, ease of use and inconsistent route optimization:

• Most of the complaints we hear from Onfleet users are about poorly optimized routes, with lots of criss-crossing and inaccurate addresses. Onfleet only added route optimization in 2016 and their routing engine isn’t developed in-house, but powered by an external routing company.
• Compounding the problem, users report that it’s difficult to make changes to Onfleet’s routes. 
• The platform is complex and requires training to get started. 
• There’s also no timeline view, which can make daily delivery management more difficult. 
• It’s expensive and their pricing is inflexible. The $550 per month starting price excludes many smaller businesses, and there’s a big jump to the next tier at $1,265 per month. This can leave some of their customers having to choose between paying for overages, or paying for capacity they don’t use.

• Some users have reported that the driver app is very battery-hungry. 

Customer Reviews

Easy to use and our delivery drivers really appreciate the easy access to maps when they are delivering. Onfleet support has been great! — Dave H, small business Operations Director

Modern logistics platform for serious on-demand companies. — James W, cofounder, midsize construction company.

Onfleet gives a ton of control to both the driver and the dispatcher. There is a large degree of freedom when it comes to assigning and completing tasks, creating different driver teams, and allowing drivers to contact recipients. — Marquise D, small business owner.

The route optimization is definitely not 100% and occasionally throws up some odd routes which would require amphibious delivery vehicles. — Brett K, midmarket Director.

Things that should be commonplace are considered extra add-ons which can increase your price. — Robbin C, midmarket Distribution Manager

Onfleet pricing

Starts at $550 per month with a limit of 2,000 pickup/delivery tasks. Barcode scanning, age verification and 5,000 pickup/delivery tasks start at $1,265 per month. Custom pricing is available for enterprise customers.

Bringg: Enterprise-scale alternative to Onfleet

Bringg stands out for its comprehensive approach to delivery management, offering a solution that covers everything from route optimization to third-party carrier integration. Its platform is designed to cater to the complex needs of large enterprises. 

Bringg’s standout features are:

1. End-to-end supply chain management: This makes Bringg especially useful for geographically dispersed companies with complex logistics operations, and factories or warehouses in multiple locations. Bringg’s functionality also includes reverse logistics management, something neither Onfleet nor Routific yet offers.
2. Salesforce integration: Zenkraft (also known as Bringg on Salesforce) seamlessly integrates order management with delivery management, making this a natural choice for any organization that’s already committed to Salesforce. 
3. Third-party carrier network: Bringg’s Delivery Hub product includes partnerships with over 250 carriers, including household names like FedEx, Uber, DHL, UPS, Aramex, DoorDash, and Deliveroo. Bringg’s global footprint is an advantage here. The company is based in Tel Aviv, with offices in Chicago and London.
4. Last-mile deliveries are handled through the separate ROAD product, which covers both fleet management and delivery management. This includes standard features found in route optimization software including driver dispatch, SMS/email notifications to customers, and proof of delivery.
5. Support for on-demand delivery: Like Onfleet, Bringg has an auto-dispatch feature to ensure quick turnaround for on-demand delivery use cases. 

Bringg disadvantages

Bringg's extensive customization options and integration capabilities make it a powerful tool for businesses looking to streamline their delivery and supply chain operations. But all that power comes at a cost:

1. Bringg is not easy to use and it usually does take at least a few weeks to train staff and integrate this software into delivery processes. The implementation process may need support from external consultants.
2. Complexity comes with custom pricing, so there’s no public information about how much Bringg costs. But feedback we’ve heard privately from Bringg customers is that it can be expensive.  
3. Bringg’s route optimization capabilities are mediocre. This can undermine the efficiency gains that are a big reason for implementing Bringg in the first place — and it’s the main reason Bringg users come to Routific. 

Customer reviews

“Highly adaptable and customizable with extensive integration options”. — Anshul Singh C, SMB software engineer

“This software is incredibly powerful and useful for our integration. We have it connected to our UPS account, and we are able to put our inventory into Salesforce, create orders on custom or standard objects, add in package size information standards, and create labels and return labels that print right to our label makers while in Salesforce. Plus we have automation set to provide shipment updates to the order submitter. It's so helpful for us!” — Julie B, midmarket G2 user.

“It could use improvements on the glitching of the system or shutting down at random times. When the system gets overwhelmed, it can slow down tremendously.” — Hannah O, midmarket Sales Director

“Cost, complexity, tech issues from time to time, integration challenges, customer support.” — G2 verified user, enterprise retail.

“I dislike how complex it is. There are so many steps to changing and fixing things, and I feel like I get lost in the system. Once it's set, it saves more time for more people, but I feel like I waste a lot of time navigating automation trails.” — Julie B, midmarket G2 user.

Bringg Pricing

Not publicly available. But given the enterprise focus, it definitely doesn’t come cheap. 

Circuit: OptimoRoute alternative for smaller businesses and solo drivers

Circuit started as an app to help individual drivers plan delivery routes, and it still takes a driver-first approach that makes it popular and highly visible online. 

The Circuit for Teams product adds functionality for businesses that need to manage multiple drivers and one or more dispatchers. It’s ^still very easy to use, which makes it a good match for small businesses where one person might have to handle multiple roles, including route planning, dispatch and delivery management.  

Standout features include:

• A clean and intuitive interface that's easy to use. 
• The mobile app has a feature to help drivers find packages easily in their vehicles. During loading, each package can be marked front/middle/back, left/right, and floor/shelf. This can help save a lot of time at each delivery stop.

Circuit disadvantages

The flip side of Circuit’s focus on individual drivers and ease of use is some not-so-great route optimization. In our testing we saw a lot of messy, tangled routes — and we’ve learned from our customers that these are not popular with drivers.

Management tools for planners and dispatchers are also lacking. There’s no timeline view, and it can be difficult to get an overall sense of how the day’s deliveries are going.  It’s also not possible to edit routes or view overall distance and time metrics, which makes it less attractive for route managers who have to track multiple routes and vehicles at the same time.

Customer reviews

I love how easy Circuit is to use. It is user friendly and easy to understand. — Hannah H, SMB business owner.

Circuit is improving all the time. It is a great product for the price, and the team seems to actively be working to upgrade it. Their customer service is accessible and they listen and work to fix any issues that arise. — Katherine H, midmarket sales professional

For our business, and the amount of trips that we have per day we believe it's pretty pricey. — Tony C, SMB CEO

Overall the multiple clicks to add a stop, make changes to a route is a bit cumbersome. It would be nice to streamline that process. — Derek N, midmarket retail Manager

I do not like that sometimes when the routes are being created, they aren't always equally distributed between the drivers. Sometimes I have to manually adjust the route to better meet the needs of the drivers. — Mario M, non-profit Program Manager

Circuit pricing

Circuit recently switched to a more flexible pricing model. Instead of charging per driver, it now charges per stop. Plans start at $100/month 500 stops, or $250/month for 1,000 stops. Additional stops are priced at a few cents each. 

Route4Me: An Onfleet alternative with lots of flexibility

Route4Me is one of the original route planning tools. Its main strength is an extensive marketplace of add-on features that allows customers to mix and match modules for maximum flexibility. to create a software solution that suits their needs. Modules include:

• Curbside pickup
• Avoiding left or right turns
• Allocating stops to time windows
• Field service and field sales routing

Territory assignment is another strength. Customers can carve their delivery or service area up into different zones and assign each to a regular driver. This helps drivers become familiar with their territories and delivery routes.

Route4Me disadvantages

Route4Me’s modular structure does make it flexible, but many of the add-on modules are features that come standard in other routing software. Both Routific and Circuit, for example, build in the ability to schedule driver breaks out of the box. With Route4Me, it’s a paid extra. 

Route4Me is also expensive. Its base tier costs $275 a month, without any add-ons or route optimization. Many of the most commonly used add-on modules are free, but others cost — and the costs can add up fast. The curbside delivery module, for example, is $799 a month.

Our testing also found that Route4Me’s actual route optimization is weak, producing a lot of criss-crossing and overlapping routes. We also noted:

• Route4Me assumes that all routes are the same: starting from the same point, with the same start and end times, identical vehicles, and so on. So if you have morning and afternoon routes, or routes starting from different depots, it won’t serve you well. There is a “mixed vehicles” add-on, but it doesn’t solve the whole problem.  
• In our testing, Route4Me made inaccurate ETA estimations. For example, on one route section that Routific and Google Maps both estimated would take 18-19 minutes, Route4Me estimated just 10 minutes. Underestimating journey times can lead to lots of overtime, late deliveries, and a very poor customer experience.
• Route4Me automatically optimizes its routes to use the minimum number of vehicles, and this setting can’t be changed. This makes things awkward if you have your own fleet and drivers — Route4Me could leave one driver sitting idle while another works overtime.

Customer reviews

We have different routes every day and this has sped up the routing process greatly. Easy to use and train new employees. — Jacob A, midsize Warehouse Manager.

Route4Me has allowed us to streamline a huge part of our business saving us hours of work a day. The support is quick, helpful, and always available. — G2 verified user, SMB.

I don't think the optimization is the best. — Kofi A, SMB Director.

The optimization is off always. I have stopped using it for that. — Vaughn A, SMB President.

Occasionally routes to incorrect address. — Lori P, SMB customer service. 

Route4Me pricing

Route4Me starts at $200 per month without route optimization. Route optimization for a single driver starts at $300 per month, and for multiple drivers it’s $450 per month. Each package includes up to 5 team members, with an additional $40/$60/$90 per month for each extra user. 

Additional modules like SMS customer notifications, curbside delivery, or field service routing are add-ons that will increase the cost. 

There is a 14-day free trial with unlimited functionality.

What to look for in a delivery management platform

The right delivery software can make a big difference to the profitability of a delivery business. It can:

• Save hours of time planning delivery routes 
• Slash fuel consumption and vehicle emissions by creating more efficient routes
• Free drivers from distractions so they can deliver quickly and safely
• Create a much better delivery experience for the customer
• Streamline back office processes like driver payroll management

Obviously every business has different needs from delivery management solution, but in general these are the things to look out for:

Route optimization

Everyone claims to do route optimization these days — but the quality of route optimization algorithms varies a lot. In our tests, there’s up to a 20% difference in route efficiency between different apps. 

Good route optimization should include options for how to allocate routes between drivers. If you’re using contract drivers, you may want to optimize for minimum vehicles; if your drivers are in-house, you may prefer to balance routes evenly between them. 

We recommend you test your last mile delivery software shortlist with a real route from your own business. Don’t just focus on which algorithm gives the shortest routes overall –  also look at how accurate the ETAs are, and how logical the routes are from a driver’s point of view. 

Customizable time windows

Customers may need to plan their days around an expected delivery, so offering convenient delivery time windows can make a big difference to customer satisfaction. The time frames could be as long as a morning vs an afternoon, or as short as a 15-minute time slot. 

Easy dispatch and tracking features

Once routes are optimized and fairly allocated between drivers, it shouldn’t take more than a click to dispatch them to your drivers on their mobile apps. 

A good web dashboard should also offer both a map and timeline view with live tracking, so you can see the status of your deliveries at a glance.

If your business offers on-demand pickup and delivery, auto-dispatch features like those offered by Onfleet and Bringg are also essential. 

A driver mobile app

Drivers shouldn’t have to juggle clipboards or bulky tablets. The best delivery management systems now include smartphone apps so drivers can manage their day straight from their mobile phone. This also enables real-time driver tracking so you can see exactly where they are, without anybody needing to make a call. 

Automated customer notifications and proof of delivery

Look for software that will make it easy to set up automated messages to let customers know their delivery ETA, and when it’s completed. This alone can eliminate most of the “where is my delivery?” calls that eat up time. 

For extra value, look for apps that include proof of delivery features. Your drivers should be easily able to take photographs, capture signatures or scan barcodes using their mobile apps.

Delivery tracking links

One of the best things about apps like Uber and Doordash is the way you can actually see your driver approaching in real time. Offering a similar link is an easy way to improve your customer experience. 

Reporting tools

Your delivery management system should make it easy to generate reports at the end of each day, week or month, so you can manage driver pay and track your KPIs. Analytics should also provide insights into how you can improve your delivery operations. 

Good customer support 

When things don’t work as expected, you often need to fix them fast. Look for speedy, responsive customer service that doesn’t cost extra.