6 OptimoRoute Alternatives to Consider in 2024

Are you currently relying on OptimoRoute for your route planning and optimization needs? 

Have you found yourself needing additional features, such as live driver-dispatcher communication or real-time traffic adjustments, that aren’t available in your current tool?

If you’ve answered yes, then you’ve landed in the perfect spot.

In this blog, we explore six of the best alternatives to OptimoRoute available in 2024. We’ll delve into a detailed comparison of these alternatives, examining key functionalities like advanced route optimization, ease of integration, and additional innovative features that might be crucial for your business operations. 

This comparison will help you identify the right software to elevate your routing efficiency and meet your specific logistical demands.

Why Consider Alternatives to OptimoRoute?

OptimoRoute can be a potential solution for automated route planning but not the ‘best’ for every business, as discussed above.  

The following are a few primary reasons that lead businesses to seek OptimoRoute alternatives.

• The user interface and appearance are not updated and look cluttered.   
• Absence of sophisticated route optimization capabilities, including traffic-aware routing 
• Lack of the cash on delivery option 
• There is no driver-dispatcher chat.
• The timeline view is missing, making it difficult to tell routes apart.
• The address/contact book functionality to manage recurring clients is not there.
• Multi-lingual support is not present.

Top 6 Alternatives to OptimoRoute: Tabular Comparison

OptimoRoute Alternatives	Best for	What Outshines or is Good?	What’s Missing or Can Be Improved?
Upper	Businesses seeking AI-powered route optimization and dynamic route adjustments	Clean and intuitive interface One-click dispatch GPS-based tracking In-app navigation Flexible proof of delivery (photos, signs, and notes) Customer notifications Custom fields	Offline route optimization capabilities Multi-depot management Barcode scanning
Onfleet	Businesses seeking on-demand delivery management capabilities	Traffic-constrained route planning In-app driver-dispatcher chat Extensive POD options, including barcode scanning	Inaccurate ETAs Bulk task optimization
Route4Me	Businesses seeking variably priced add-ons to customize deliveries	Autonomous vehicle dispatching Pick-up & dropoff route optimization Multi-depot management	Tangled routes Inaccurate ETAs High prices for add-ons
Circuit	Small-sized businesses and independent drivers	Synchronized driver-dispatcher dashboard Package-finder function	Load planning (not present as a built-in function) Zapier integration issues
Routific	Businesses seeking driver-friendly, non-overlapping routes	Real-time route modifications Dispatching and tracking Return to depot Breadcrumb trails Customer feedback collection
RoadWarrior	Businesses and professional drivers seeking basic multi-stop routing	Passing of stops from one driver to another Availability time windows and priority stops	Address duplication Cluttered interface Expensive add-on (Proof of delivery)

1. Upper

User rating: 4.5/5 (37)

Upper’s route planner software stands out for its AI-powered multi-constrained routing algorithms. 

Our platform’s USP lies in crafting mathematically shorter and the most practical service or delivery routes that minimize crisscrossing or overlapping, boosting drivers’ convenience when navigating them. 

We aim to balance customers’ expectations with employees’ convenience. Hence, our platform enables reassigning in-progress routes to another available driver if your preassigned driver falls sick, gets stuck in traffic, or their vehicle breaks down. 

This helps prevent delays and missed deliveries or appointments and enhances customer trust and loyalty.

Another helpful feature is real-time route adjustments, which allow users to add, delete, or drag and drop stops to change their sequence. This helps them efficiently handle priority changes, emergencies, and last-minute orders or service requests.

In-app navigation is another strength as it eliminates switching between Upper and a GPS app, enabling hands-free navigation. 

We also provide a free Google Maps route optimization extension for micro-businesses, allowing them to optimize routes with up to 10 stops and streamline their service or delivery operations. 

Besides, Upper provides:

• Multi-constrained route planning based on traffic, drivers’ availability, customers’ service/delivery time window preferences, and vehicle specifics.
• Clean and intuitive interface to shorten the learning curve, facilitate effortless onboarding, and maximize the utilization of features
• GPS-based tracking to stay abreast of your team’s real-time progress
• Automated customer notifications and ETA updates to notify customers of when they can expect a delivery or service visit and ensure transparency
• Proof of delivery to attach photos, digital signatures, and additional notes to confirm a successful delivery or service job
• Reports & analytics to identify and eliminate areas of improvement and increase delivery efficiency
• Robust customer service options, including live chat, priority email, and technical consulting
• OpenAPI integration to achieve seamless connection with different business systems to  fit unique business or industry needs
• Contact-based scheduling to accelerate the process of creating routes for recurring customers

Pricing:

• Essentials: $120 per month for up to 3 users and allows 250 stops per route
• Growth: $240 per month for up to 5 users and allows 500 stops per route
• Enterprise: Custom pricing for businesses with over 500 stops per route

OptimoRoute vs. Upper Summarized:

Aspect
Pricing model	Driver-based pricing is unsuitable for small businesses that may need you to pay a high amount for every driver you add.	User-based pricing that allows unlimited routes, each with up to 500 stops. Ensures higher scalability, unlike driver-based prices that soar rapidly with each driver you add.
Free trial	30 days	7 days
User interface	Crowded with small windows, disrupting the user experience	Clean and intuitive, with directions on how to use it
Route edits and adjustments	Hard and problematic	Easy and smooth
Traffic-based routing
In-app navigation
Detailed live tracking features
Free Chrome extension
Customer support	Limited support options	It is more robust and offers live chat, priority email support, and technical consulting
Multi-day routing

• Aspect OptimoRoute Upper

• Pricing model

  Driver-based pricing is unsuitable for small businesses that may need you to pay a high amount for every driver you add.

  User-based pricing that allows unlimited routes, each with up to 500 stops.
  Ensures higher scalability, unlike driver-based prices that soar rapidly with each driver you add.

• Free trial

  30 days

  7 days

• User interface

  Crowded with small windows, disrupting the user experience

  Clean and intuitive, with directions on how to use it

• Route edits and adjustments

  Hard and problematic

  Easy and smooth

• Traffic-based routing

  

  

• In-app navigation

  

  

• Detailed live tracking features

  

  

• Free Chrome extension

  

  

• Customer support

  Limited support options

  It is more robust and offers live chat, priority email support, and technical consulting

• Multi-day routing

  

  

• Try Upper for FREE No credit card required

2. Onfleet

User rating: 4.6/5 (93)

Onfleet calls itself the “world’s most advanced last-mile delivery route planning system,” especially suitable for couriers, distributors, and on-demand delivery startups. 

The ease of route planning and adding or removing stops on the go is impressive. 

Another standout feature that users love (and so did we) is automated dispatching and scheduling, which is a good fit for on-demand delivery management.

The additional features you may find useful are:

• Traffic-constrained routing that considers real-time traffic changes to reoptimize routes
• In-app driver-dispatcher chat, minimizing the reliance on calls or messaging
• Detailed insights into metrics, like successful/failed deliveries, on-time task completion percentage, and average duration per stop to make informed decisions
• Extensive proof of delivery, including photos, signatures, notes, and barcode scanning. 

What left us disappointed were time estimates that were off the mark and about 50% of the driving distance in some cases. Optimizing tasks in bulk was not as smooth as it could be.

Pricing:

• Launch: Starts at $550/month, includes unlimited users, 2000 tasks, route optimization, POD, and ETA customer notifications
• Scale: It starts at $1,250/month and includes everything in Launch, as well as barcode scanning, 5000 tasks, and advanced ETA notifications.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing includes scale, premium onboarding, multi-brand support, and unlimited historical analytics.

3. Routific

User rating: 4.9/5 (126)

Routific is well-known for its ability to create mathematically shorter and ‘acceptable’ or ‘practical’ routes. It offers a stand-alone RESTful API for courier and delivery businesses that want to integrate only their route optimization algorithms.

While it provides a decluttered interface (apparently good), we felt the need for a few instructions to guide us through that could make navigation easier. Thus, this delivery management solution requires a steep learning curve.

Routific is similar to OptimoRoute in terms of delivery notifications, dispatch, real-time tracking of delivery drivers, and reporting capabilities. 

In most cases, we found Routific’s routes non-overlapping but missed the ‘return to depot’ and ‘breadcrumb trails’ functionalities that OptimoRoute provides.

While their base tier includes route optimization (unlike OptimoRoute), it doesn’t have GPS tracking, analytics, and proof of delivery, triggering the need for expensive tiers.

Pricing:

• Essential: $49 per vehicle/month
• Professional: $69 per vehicle/month
• Professional+: $93 per vehicle/month

4. RoadWarrior

User rating: 4.5/5 (52)

RoadWarrior features a desktop-based version for businesses and a mobile-based app for individuals. 

A highlight feature is the freedom of passing stops or the entire route from drivers behind schedule to those ahead of time for timely job completion. 

While Roadwarrior’s web app allows for uploading manifests from FedEx, UPS, or Amazon, it still can’t surpass the flexibility and convenience of spreadsheet upload that was missing.

The user interface was cluttered and unintuitive, making navigation challenging. Moreover, while route optimization capabilities were decent, tests revealed the inability to flag duplicate or incorrect addresses, leading to routing inaccuracies. 

The expensive add-on for features like proof of delivery priced at $10 was a turnoff for us. 

Pricing:

$14.99 per month per team member

5. Route4Me

User rating: 4.5/5 (388)

Route4Me is a popular route planning and optimization software, prominent for its extensive marketplace with roughly 70 differently priced routing components. 

You can pick the modules, such as

• Curbside routing 
• Time windows
• Pickups and dropoffs
• Recurring routes

This routing software features territory management to help define and assign custom territories to multiple drivers based on their preferences, skills, and familiarity with an area.

Features such as advanced route simulations, pickup and drop-off optimization, and autonomous vehicle dispatch and scheduling make Route4Me more versatile than OptimoRoute. The free version, which allows up to 10 stops per route, is a plus.

However, this flexibility in the pricing model is offset by high-priced modules. We couldn’t believe that Route4Me requires an additional amount for even time-window management and text message notifications. 

Moreover, routes involved a lot of crisscrossing, as users reported and testing revealed. ETAs are also inaccurate and often underestimated.

Pricing:

• Route Management: Starts at $200/month but lacks route optimization or time window management
• Route Optimization: Starts at $300/month and includes only single-driver optimization but still lacks time window management 
• Business Optimization: Starts at $450/month and includes route optimization for multiple drivers and time window management

6. Circuit

User rating: 4.8/5 (100)

Circuit is the synchronized delivery management software for drivers and dispatchers. 

Right from importing addresses to optimizing routes to tracking deliveries in real time and collecting proof of delivery, Circuit helps achieve it all through a unified platform. 

The core functionalities, like proof of delivery, driver tracking, and analytics, are similar to OptimoRoute. This delivery management system is renowned for its aim to manage multiple drivers efficiently through driver-friendly features. 

The latest example is the ‘package finder’ feature. It lets drivers capture photos of parcels and note their placement in the vehicle to expedite identification and unloading. 

However, one of our clients who switched from Circuit to Upper reported that Zapier integration was flawed, as verified by our tests. Editing routes was also a headache for users and us alike. We couldn’t find load planning either.

Pricing:

• Starter: $100/month, includes first 500 stops + $0.20 per additional stop
• Essentials: $250/month, includes 1,000 stops + $0.05 per additional stop
• Standard: $500/month, includes 2,000 stops + $0.06 per additional stop
• Pro: $750/month, includes 5,000 stops + $0.07 per additional stop 

Final Words on Picking OptimoRoute Alternatives

OptimoRoute is undeniably a great software solution for creating optimized routes, ensuring real-time driver tracking, and sending automated customer notifications. 

However, it may not align with your business requirements if you want traffic-constrained routing, secured driver-dispatcher chat, cash-on-delivery option, or advanced customer management through contact-based mapping. 

This is why we have enumerated 6 prominent alternatives to OptimoRoute, with their strengths and weaknesses. 

We recommend signing up for their free demo, testing out their free version, registering for a free trial as applicable to pick the one that suits your needs the best. If you are still unsure, you can take our 7 days free trial to find out how Upper can help you.