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The top 8 of the best route optimisation software in 2023

23 December 2022 | 8 min read

Are you looking for a way to optimise your day-to-day delivery operations? Or perhaps for a way to simplify the organisation of your deliveries? A route optimisation software will help you to save time and money on your delivery operations. That way, you can focus on handling more orders in a more efficient way and grow your business.

There are over 250 route optimisation software available in the market according to Capterra, the software review website. It can be a big hassle to look through and assess which software is best equipped to handle your business needs.

We understand this, and that’s why our team of specialists narrowed down the top 8 of the best route optimisation software to spare you some time.

What is route optimisation software?

A route optimisation software will help you to organise, schedule and optimise your delivery, field service operation or home visit routes.
This software will also determine the best sequence for a list of locations to be visited, taking into account the vehicles and drivers’ availability, the skills required, and your specific business constraints.

6 advantages of route optimisation software

Apart from saving you the headache of manually planning your routes with free tools like Google Maps and spreadsheets, the best route optimisation software will help you to:

• Lower your operational costs on the use of vehicles by at least 20%;
• Gain productivity with a better assignment of resources;
• Increase customer satisfaction with faster delivery times and better communication;
• Focus on value-added customer tasks;
• Improve data integration and monitoring;
• Decrease CO2 emissions.

To learn more about route optimisation software, check out our article on why and how to choose.

What are the criteria to consider when choosing the best tool?

The large amount of route optimisation software available in the market comes with a complex amount of requirements to keep in mind. That is why we’ve curated a list of the main criteria that you should consider before selecting your next tool:

The software features are adapted to your business

Route optimisation software nowadays offers a wide range of features. Your first step in deciding on a solution should be listing the ones that are essential for your business. From real-time tracking of deliveries to automated emails or SMS to inform customers about the driver’s arrival. These features should be integrated into the plans offered by the solution and not developed.

The interface is ergonomic and user-friendly

The best route optimisation software is useless if your team does not embrace it. To ensure your employees’ adherence to the tool, the user experience must be a key criterion when selecting your new tool. An easy way to test this is by taking advantage of the free trial that most of the editors offer.

The integration possibilities with your other software

Make sure that the solution you select offers the possibility to connect with your information system (CRM, ERP, etc.). It will help to automate your processes and avoid double entries and errors, thus increasing the productivity of your teams. It will also smooth the different steps of your delivery operations, making a great experience for the end customer.

The support and assistance provided by the editor

Research about human and technological resources available to users. It will be essential to ensure that you make the most of the tool and that you can rely on professional people if you have an issue. At AntsRoute, for example, our customers have access to several complementary resources on a daily basis:

• A complete online help centre, whose information is available 24/7.
• A live chat.
• A support team to help you with the use of the software and the mobile application. Our Customer Success Managers devote 100% of their time to supporting our customers at every stage: initial installation, implementation of new features, vehicle changeover, etc.

The platform can be adapted and customised

Your business is growing, and your needs might evolve in time. The best optimisation software should help you to build a tool that takes into consideration all your constraints. Antsroute’s technical team, for example, consists of a dozen developers on premise from our offices in Nancy, France. Our developers have integrated numerous customised and easy to integrate fields into AntsRoute in order to optimise the management and reading of information flows.

Our top 8 of the best route optimisation software

1. OptimoRoute

Cost per month: From $35.10 (around £29) per driver
Mobile app: Available on Android and iOS
Capterra rating: 4.5 / 5 (124 reviews)

OptimoRoute is a robust route planning tool. The solution offers an extensive set of features with an ergonomic interface. Apart from route planning, OptimoRoute can help you with route optimisation and factor in location, delivery slots and more. It also has a live tracking feature to follow your drivers’ journeys and will give automatic status updates to customers. You can import your orders from a CSV or Excel file or synchronise your systems thanks to the API integration.

2. AntsRoute

Cost per month: From €24 (£21) per driver
Mobile app: Available on Android and iOS
Capterra rating: 4.2 / 5 (12 reviews)

At AntsRoute we provide a comprehensive platform for managing last mile field services and delivery operations. It can easily optimise routes, improve productivity and make the day-to-day work of the field staff much easier. Our software offers a wide range of features such as route management, field workforce tracking or a booking site.
It is designed to meet the needs of all industries and all sizes of businesses. Our solution will improve your customer satisfaction thanks to automated notifications, the possibility to confirm or reschedule a visit, track the driver in real-time thanks to geotracking and send a delivery report to the customer with the proof of delivery.

3. Route4me

Cost per month: From €199 (around £175) price includes up to 10 team members
Mobile app: Available on Android and iOS
Capterra rating: 4.4 / 5 (324 reviews)

Route4me is one of the first route optimisation software launched on the market.
It’s a complex tool with a well-developed marketplace of add-on features, making it adaptable to your needs. For example, you can add on support for curbside pickup, avoiding left or right turns, or for allocating stops to time windows.

4. Track-POD

Cost per month: From $29 (£24) per driver
Mobile app: Available on Android and iOS
Capterra rating: 4.6 / 5 (106 reviews)

Track-POD was originally an electronic Proof of delivery tool, making it the leader in the market. Track-POD developed its offer to best suit its clients’ needs and now offers an App for drivers and managers for route optimisation.

5. Tookan

Cost per month: From $129 (£106) for 700 tasks and unlimited drivers
Mobile app: Available on Android and iOS
Capterra rating: 4.3 / 5 (67 reviews)

Tookan is part of Jungleworks, a group of solutions which includes Yelo, a no-code platform to build an online store or marketplace, and Hippo, a Customer support platform.
Tookan offers an extensive choice of features apart from Route optimisation such as Customer Booking forms, API access, Real Time Chat, fleet management, and Email Parsing.

6. Circuit

Cost per month: $20 (£16) for individual drivers, from $100 (£83) for 3 drivers
Mobile app: Available on Android and iOS
Capterra rating: 4.8 / 5 (24 reviews)

Circuit is an effective route optimisation tool with a route planner solution for individual drivers and one with more features like proof of delivery, and automatic customer notifications for teams. The solution also offers a package finder solution that enables you to know where the package is located in the vehicle.

7. MyRouteOnline

Cost per month: £44 for 500 address credits
Mobile app: Available on Android and iOS
Capterra rating: 4.5 / 5 (99 reviews)

MyRouteOnline is a simple tool that allows you to upload postcodes in an Excel format in order to get the route planner. You can then export it and navigate with Google Maps or Waze.

8. Route XL

Cost per month: $35 (around £27)
Mobile app: not available
Capterra rating: 3.5 / 5 (2 reviews)

Route XL is a very simple route planner solution. All you have to do is import or manually add your departure location and all destinations to the map, and the route is calculated. The route is then available to print or to integrate into a navigation app.

Would you like to try route optimisation software for free and make the most of your deliveries? Register now!