If you’re handling deliveries and on-site services for your business, my article on the top 7+ routing software for small businesses will be of great help to you.
In my early days as an entrepreneur, part of my business came from visiting multiple clients a day. During this period, I tested one tool at a time to see which will help my drivers the most in getting an efficient route to be more productive daily.
Here is a list of my best picks in the industry so you can narrow down your choices.
- What Is The Best Routing Software For Small Businesses?
- 1. OptimoRoute – Top Pick
- 2. WorkWave Route Manager – Best In Operation Optimization
- 3. Onfleet – Best For Customer Satisfaction
- 4. Route4me – Best For Recurring Routes
- 5. Badger Maps – Best For Field Sales Meetings
- 6. Routific – Best For Delivery Experience
- 7. Tookan – Most Customer-Centric
- 8. Circuit – Best For Time-Saving
- Conclusion
What Is The Best Routing Software For Small Businesses?
If you’re in a hurry, check out my top 3 picks at a glance: OptimoRoute, WorkWave Route Manager, and Onfleet.
   4.8 |   4.5 |   4.1 |
| Best overall. Easy to use and automated routing platform. Starts at $17.10/month. | Best value for money. Routing manager with built-in analytics. Starts at $49/month. | Most features. Highly organized and intuitive routing platform. Starts at $149/month. |
| Try OptimoRoute | Try WorkWave | Try Onfleet |
Need more choices and details to decide which routing software is best for you? Here you go:
1. OptimoRoute – Top Pick
Best Routing Software For Real World Operation Of Small Business [Free Trial | $17.10/driver/month]
With OptimoRoute, you can get more done in less time. This tool can plan your routes in seconds with all the other specifications.
It comes with automated planning where you can easily import thousands of orders and get the most efficient schedules and routes for your drivers.
To reduce cost and eliminate overtime, this tool will calculate allowable working hours for your drivers. It can also assign orders to appropriate vehicles to avoid overloading.
This routing software also allows you to optimize the best routes considering criteria such as:
- Priority
- Day of the week
- Reverse logistic orders
Plus, it’s super flexible because last-minute changes can be incorporated without comprising the route that’s already planned.
Remove the element of surprise with live tracking and ETA.
This functionality allows you to monitor where your drivers are at including their estimated arrival time for each location so you’re sure everything is on track as scheduled.
Customers also get real-time updates.
Customizable SMS or email will be sent to them providing information on when the driver is scheduled to arrive to get them prepared and help avoid unnecessary delays.
With it is real-time delivery documentation where you can capture photos, notes, and digital signatures to simplify claims resolutions.
There’s also a breadcrumb functionality where planned routes are compared to the actual route to identify any deviations that need to be addressed to be more efficient.
Lastly, the analytics feature generates concise reports from route data to easily identify where planning hits and where adjustments are needed.
Pros And Cons Of OptimoRoute
| Pros | Cons |
| Streamlines pickup and delivery | No third-party integrations |
| Easy to set up and implement | |
| Efficiently modifies routes for last-minute changes | |
| Great accuracy | |
| Comes with consistent improvements |
OptimoRoute Pricing Plan
OptimoRoute offers three pricing plans.
- Starter ($17.10/driver/mo): The Starter plan allows drivers to plan 250 orders at once, get access to route history, export orders to Excel, and more.
- Business ($26.10/driver/mo): The Business plan includes everything in the Starter plan but allows drives to plan 500 orders at once, plus live tracking, live ETA, breadcrumb, and more.
- Enterprise ($35.10/driver/mo): The Enterprise plan has all the features in the Business plan but allows for planning 750+ orders at once, analytics, real-time order tracking, proof of delivery, and more.
To test features out you are provided with a 30-day free trial. Once you decide on which plan to take, choosing the annual subscription will get you 10% off the cost.
2. WorkWave Route Manager – Best In Operation Optimization
Top-Tier Routing Software With Real-Time ETA Updates [Starts at $49/month/vehicle]
From creating profiles down to measuring analytics, WorkWave Route Manager makes every step of the operation optimized.
With it, you can manage multiple fields and profiles. Enter a driver, a vehicle profile, or hone a specific work zone for your fleet with this functionality.
You can submit starting and ending points, log drivers and technicians via the app, and edit profiles to match business needs.
When managing orders, this tool provides you with the option to do it manually or through automation that you can import through .CSV or Excel.
For route planning, this routing software allows you to drag and drop deliveries including modifications in last-minute orders on the fly.
Achieve total transparency by gaining visibility in operations in real time. Dispatch routes to drivers and obtains proofs of delivery like:
- Notes
- Pictures
- Signatures
For consistent customer experience, this tool also provides real-time updates via live tracking links sent through SMS on expected times of arrival including notifications on incidents that might cause delays.
Last, to improve driver efficiency and customer satisfaction, this tool provides an analytics function to monitor driver behavior and vehicle usage.
Scorecards and coaching will provide drivers with the support needed including incentives for good behavior.
Pros And Cons Of WorkWave Route Manager
| Pros | Cons |
| Route variability | Mapping for new neighborhoods isn’t updated |
| Highly adjustable routes for last-minute changes | Distance between locations sometimes inaccurate |
| Provides real-time ETA updates for customers |
WorkWave Route Manager Pricing Plan
WorkWave Route Manager only provides the feature set for each plan and the pricing for the cheapest package. To get pricing details on the other two plans, you have to book a demo.
- Route Manager ($49/mo/vehicle): This basic plan includes route planning and optimization, time window planning, API and order management integration, driver app, and more.
- Route Manager 360: The 360 plan gets you all the features of the basic plan plus GPS via smartphone, GPS tracking for managers, real-time planning, and more.
- Route Manager 360+: The 360+ plan includes all the features in the 360 plan plus GPS in-vehicle, mobile barcode scanning, driver behavior, breadcrumbs, and more.
The Route Manager plan is already equipped with the basic tools to get daily operations on the go, but if you’re prone to making last-minute adjustments, the 360 plan is a better option.
Interested in Route Manager? Visit their site to learn more.
Burkhard Berger
For every routing software that you use, always keep an neat and well-organized database on any valuable informatation that can be catalogued. Losing out on crucial information is similiar to losing out on a possible solution on future problems.
3. Onfleet – Best For Customer Satisfaction
Intuitive Routing Software Equipped With Customer Communication Functionality [Free Trial | $149/mo]
Onfleet can power your deliveries to boost efficiency and delight customers. It offers the following:
- Analytics
- Real-time fleet tracking
- Advanced route optimization
- AI-based automated dispatch
Using this tool’s intuitive web dashboard, you can consolidate routes and dispatch operations efficiently.
This routing software considers the location, time, capacity, and traffic to produce optimized routes.
There’s also a search and filter functionality to help you and drivers to focus on what matters most at a specific moment whether it be team, time, or status.
Use the search function to find customers, drivers, and tasks faster.
Breeze through the demand with auto-dispatch. This function sends the right driver at the right time.
To ensure a great customer experience, Onfleet provides automatic status updates that include when the delivery has started and when theirs will be delivered via SMS notification.
It also comes with an integrated customer communication functionality that allows customers to message or call the driver and dispatch while maintaining their anonymity to safeguard customer data.
Additionally, a feedback form is provided for customers after delivery so any concerns will be addressed promptly.
Pros And Cons Of Onfleet
| Pros | Cons |
| Has customer communication | Pricey |
| Provides delivery feedback forms | Laggy interface |
| Equipped with real-time tracking | |
| Optimizes task placements on routes |
Onfleet Pricing Plan
Onfleet comes with four pricing plans.
- Starter ($149/mo): The Starter plan is good for 1,000 tasks for unlimited drivers, and comes with live ETAs, dynamic search, live US traffic feed, bulk driver import, vehicle management, etc.
- Basic ($349/mo): The Basic plan comes with everything from the Starter plan but allows for 2,500 tasks, driver scheduling, hub management, and more.
- Premium ($799/mo): The Premium plan enables every feature in the Basic plan plus 5,000 tasks, predictive ETA notifications, barcode capture, and more.
- Professional ($1999/mo): The Professional plan includes all the features from the Premium plan including 12,500 tasks, custom SMS shortcodes, a private label tracking page, etc.
To test out which plan best fits your business needs, you can take advantage of the 14-day free trial first.
4. Route4me – Best For Recurring Routes
User-Friendly Routing Software With Outstanding Tech Support [Free Trial | $149/mo]
Route4me promises to exceed your business needs by doing the following:
- Lowering operational costs
- Improving customer satisfaction
- Reducing route planning durations
This tool also offers optimized routes fast.
Using its optimizer feature, you can input addresses to visit and get optimal routes to take in seconds.
It syncs with an iOS or Android device so you won’t have to worry about which device to use.
With it are real-time synchronizations of the following:
- Notes
- Photos
- Routes
- Progress
- Addresses
Since it has mapping data in every country in the world, you can use this routing software wherever your business is located.
You can either manually enter each customer’s information or do everything in bulk. Once the addresses are loaded, just select the customers you need to visit for the day and you’ll be good to go.
You can even input specific visit hours for customers who have visiting preferences.
When handling multiple routes and drivers, this tool provides an overview of the entire operation so you can track route progress in real-time and re-assign drivers and vehicles as needed.
With this tool you’ll also get detailed mileages, route manifests, etc. to get a better picture of cost and revenue.
Pros And Cons Of Route4me
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to use | Tricky to extract large data sets of historical routing analytics |
| High-speed app | Stops can’t be deleted |
| Great technical support | |
| Ability to plan routes for multiple teams |
Route4me Pricing Plan
Route4me has two sets of pricing plans, one for dynamic routing and another for recurring routing. Both have the same pricing tiers.
For the sake of this review, we’ll consider the recurring routing plans.
- Recurring Routing ($149/mo): The Recurring Routing plan allows you to set up scheduled routes, plan and preview routes that will happen in the short to medium term, assign team members to routes, and more.
- Recurring Routing Plus ($199/mo): The Recurring Routing Plus plan includes everything in the first plan plus setting multiple schedules, incorporating route changes to occur for a specific timeframe in the future, automatic assignment of team members, etc.
- Recurring Routing + Order Dispatch ($299/mo): This plan has all the features in the Plus plan add including setting multiple schedules per route and customer, and more.
If you want to test the waters before committing to any of the plans, you can avail the 7-day free trial offer.
5. Badger Maps – Best For Field Sales Meetings
Excellent Routing Software With In-Depth & Custom Check-In Reports [Free Trial | $49/user/month]
More than just handling deliveries, Badger Maps can help you with routing your field sales meetings.
This tool features a Lasso functionality where you can route visits by circling a set of points using your fingertip or mouse.
It also comes with a route mode where you can view and manage your entire day’s route with no distractions so you can focus on closing deals more.
To quickly target the best opportunities, it comes with a color and filter feature you can use for cross-selling and upselling.
So that teams can get the insights they need before taking action, this tool provides a detailed custom check-in report.
With that is the functionality for field team members to create custom check-ins that include photos and other meeting information they can use for weekly production reporting.
It also features a lead function where keywords can be used for industries and names to find the best ideal leads in the shortest time possible.
When working on follow-ups, this routing software features a reminder tool so you don’t miss any opportunity to make sales.
To limit manual data entry, it integrates with CRMs like Salesforce.
Pros And Cons Of Badger Maps
| Pros | Cons |
| Syncs perfectly with Google Maps | Settings and filters can be confusing |
| Perfect for pinpointing multiple calls in a busy location | Cannot lock-in visit time for clients who prefer a specific hour of a day |
| Logically lays routes | |
| Refines visits based on previous sales activity |
Badger Maps Pricing Plan
Badger Maps offers two paid pricing plans.
- Business ($49/user/mo): The Business plan includes features like route optimization, prospecting, CRM integrations, weekly reports, management tools, custom check-ins, photo check-ins, and more.
- Enterprise ($95/user/mo): The Enterprise plan has everything in the Business plan plus enhanced lead generation, custom CRM integrations, custom field support, etc,
To try out the Business plan, you can avail of the 7-day trial, but if you want to try the Enterprise plan, you have to contact the sales team and schedule a demo.
6. Routific – Best For Delivery Experience
Top-Notch Routing Software With Delivery Analytics [Free Trial | $39/vehicle/month]
Get the best delivery experience for your teams, making their daily routes not just profitable but also effortless.
Routific is said to have developed its routing algorithm for more than a decade to optimize stops and lower costs-per-delivery by up to 40%.
With it, you can import customer data in four ways:
- Add them individually
- Import a spreadsheet
- Save customer profiles
- Use their Shopify integration
This tool also makes customizing routes easy.
You can quickly drag and drop stops between routes. It includes optimizing for real-time factors like vehicle capacity and time windows.
You’ll also get live GPS tracking to get updated ETAs throughout the day so people don’t have to wait for more than they need to.
It doesn’t just offer a great delivery experience for your team but for customers as well as this tool provides custom notifications to get them ready to receive their deliveries.
They either get an SMS or email about when to expect the delivery and if it’s on its way.
For transparency, you can also collect proof of delivery like photos and signatures.
Lastly, you get delivery analytics so you can measure performance and success to make needed adjustments when necessary.
Pros And Cons Of Routific
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to create driver profiles | Gets expensive quickly |
| Allows automatic delivery and driver allocation of addresses entered | Can’t customize notification options (SMS or email only) |
| Simple to modify routes | |
| Easy route dispatching to drivers |
Routific Pricing Plan
Routific comes in three pricing plans.
- Essentials ($39/vehicle/mo): The Essentials plan includes easy order imports, dispatch routes to drivers app, optimized route in minutes, and more
- Professional ($59/vehicle/mo): The Professional plan has everything in the Essentials plan including tracking driver progress with GPS, capturing proof of delivery, customer notifications, etc.
- Premium (contact sales): The Premium plan comes with all the features in the Professional plan plus premium support, unlimited stops per vehicle, and more.
The first two plans come with a 7-day free trial. If you’ve decided on which plan to take, the annual billing option allows for 17% savings.
7. Tookan – Most Customer-Centric
Straightforward Routing Software With Maintenance Alerts [Free Trial | $29/mo]
With Tookan, you get the best customer-focused features.
This tool comes with a dashboard where you can manage waybills, payment gateways, recurring tasks, and more in a centralized view.
The service it comes with allows agents to work efficiently. It also includes the following:
- Easy navigation
- Proof of delivery
- Task notifications
- Agent capacity management
- Automatic barcode generation
It even includes an agent wallet to keep track of all the transactions done by the driver or agent.
To track and manage the fleet better, it features a tool that reduces maintenance costs by sending alerts on which parts need maintenance or are close to failure.
With it is geofencing and behavior monitoring to ensure the drivers aren’t idling or driving rashly.
Lastly, it comes with smart analytics that includes a graphical report to document weekly productivity.
Pros And Cons Of Tookan
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to implement | Tracking sometimes freezes |
| 24/7 support | Frequent downtimes |
| Helpful dashboard | |
| Straightforward app |
Tookan Pricing Plan
Tookan has five pricing plans, they mostly have the same features:
- Agent app
- Dashboard
- API-access
- Route optimization
The minor difference between these plans is that the Early Stage and Startup plan doesn’t include a multi-merchant extension. The main difference lies in the allowable maximum task per month.
- Early Stage ($29/mo): The Early stage plan allows for a maximum of 200 tasks/month.
- Startup ($89/mo): The Startup plan enables a maximum of 700 tasks/month.
- Growth ($189/mo): The Growth plan lets you have a maximum of 2000 tasks/month.
- Standard ($359): The Standard plan has a maximum of 5000 tasks/month.
- Enterprise (contact sales): The pricing details and task limit for the Enterprise plan are only provided when already in touch with the sales team.
The first four plans come with a 14-day trial you can take advantage of.
Burkhard Berger
Always consider looking on possible differnet routes. Maps always change whether it be because of the weather, accidents, or construction. It’s best to always consider other routes even if they might take longer in the map.
8. Circuit – Best For Time-Saving
Beginner-Friendly Routing Software For Small Businesses With Hands-Free Capabilities [Free Trial | $20/mo]
The simplest routing software that I’ve ever used is Circuit. If you don’t want to use complicated software, this should be your go-to.
It takes pride in helping plan routes that save an hour a day.
With this tool, you can quickly add stops using voice search.
You can also optimize your route by simply clicking on the optimize button.
Moreover, this routing software for small businesses comes with a quick package finder and delivery notes.
Pros And Cons Of Circuit
| Pros | Cons |
| Seamless operations | Limited functionality |
| Great customer service | Can’t edit routes after it’s sent to drivers |
| Comes with hands-free search capabilities | |
| User-friendly |
Circuit Pricing Plan
As straightforward as its functionality is Circuit’s pricing.
- Circuit Premium ($20/mo): This plan includes unlimited routes, route optimization, spreadsheet importing, and more.
Before committing to the paid plan, you can use the free trial to test it out.
Conclusion
Choose OptimoRoute to get more deliveries in less time.
With it, you can easily import bulk orders without overloading vehicles and still keep efficiency at its finest.
Using this tool reduces your overall cost for manpower and operations to get the highest potential revenue you can generate.
