Best Courier Software and Route Planning Apps 2025

Couriers have been delivering packages since around 500 B.C., when Cyrus of Persia employed runners on foot and riders on horseback. Nowadays, courier business owners can accept orders and dispatch drivers from the palm of their hands. The best courier software and route planning apps connect your order stream with couriers and customers to streamline your workflow and grow your sales. We researched and listed the best top courier apps for 2025 to help bring your courier business into the 21st century.
Shipday: Best Overall Courier Software and Route Planning App
Shipday is a cloud-based courier dispatch and delivery management app with built-in route optimization and tools to connect customers and couriers to your business. Robust enough for enterprise businesses (KFC is a fan), Shipday is affordable for even the smallest independent courier businesses. This flexible, user-friendly system integrates with a slew of popular software, including point-of-sale, online ordering, and website management tools.
Shipday’s standout features include:
- Speedy route optimization: Shipday’s AI-powered route optimization tools create efficient, streamlined routes for your couriers. Users find this tool alone easily saves hours, increasing operational efficiency and supporting business growth.
- Real-time driver tracking: With real-time, GPS-enabled driver tracking, Shipday gives you Uber-like control over your courier operation. You can view routes in progress and make in-the-minute adjustments to keep deliveries on schedule or reroute around emerging traffic patterns.
- Proof of delivery: Avoid refund, return, and chargeback requests with built-in proof of delivery features. Collect photos and notes and secure customer signatures in the field. All delivery confirmation details are safely stored digitally, cataloged, and stored for easy reference.
- Easy integrations: Shipday includes pre-built, seamless integrations with many popular third-party apps for online ordering, payment processing, and ecommerce. Custom integrations are quickly built via Shipday’s open application programming interface (API) or by using the Zapier integration as a middleman communication application.
- Smooth customer communication: Shipday keeps customers updated with automated estimated time of delivery updates along the route, saving you on customer service time.
- Global availability: This user-friendly courier management tool supports thousands of businesses in 60 countries.
- Free baseline subscription: Get started for free, then increase your subscription level as your courier traffic grows. Few courier management apps offer a truly free baseline subscription while also including tools to support enterprise-level courier businesses.
"Shipday made the entire setup process straightforward. We were able to train our team and integrate it into our workflow without disruption."
– Almir Rapo, A-Team Delivery
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2. Route4Me
Route4Me is a mobile and web-based delivery management app. Rout4Me is designed primarily for field service businesses, but also has a subscription offering for last-mile delivery couriers. Route4Me’s major focus is on route optimization. The system also includes client loyalty tools to track and reward repeat business, and driver review tools to provide feedback on how your team reflects on your brand in the field.
Pros:
- Multiple pre-built integrations with order management applications: Like our top-ranked Shipday, Route4Me supports several pre-built integrations with popular customer relationship management (CRM), ecommerce, and bookkeeping tools.
- Three subscription tiers to support multiple business sizes: Route4Me offers three subscription levels starting at $60 per month to support a range of courier businesses. Though most others on this list are bit more detailed, with four available pricing tiers.
- Free trial: Route4Me offers a 7-day free trial. Users can test the software before committing to a monthly subscription.
Cons:
- No free subscription: Route4Me offers a 7-day free trial, but after the trial ends, you may lose all your historical information
- User interface can be challenging: Users mention that the route maps can be small and pop-up notifications can disrupt the delivery experience.
- Pricing can be unclear: Some customers have been confused by unexpected price increases.
- Glitches with routing: Multiple users note glitches with route optimization, like routing multiple couriers to the same location.
3. OnTime360
Ontime360 is a legacy cloud-based courier and dispatch management system. This fleet management software has been designed as a comprehensive, all-in-one solution that includes OnTime360 app interfaces for dispatchers, drivers, and customers. Though as an all-in-one solution, it lacks pre-built third-party integrations with popular software like point of sale and ecommerce tools. However, Ontime360 integrates with QuickBooks for easy bookkeeping.
Users can try OnTime360 free for 14 days, after that monthly rates range from $99 to $499, plus a one-time $249 account activation fee. The pricing transparency is nice, as is the lack of long-term contract. But getting started with OnTime360 may be more of an undertaking than small courier businesses have time for.
Pros:
- No contract required: Like top-ranked Shipday, OnTime360 does not lock you in to a long-term contract.
- Free trial: You can try Ontime360 free for 14 days before officially signing up.
- Open API: OnTime 360 may lack many pre-built third-party integrations, but it supports an open API for building custom connections to software you already use.
Cons:
- Drivers’ app could be improved: Users dislike that completed orders are deleted from the drivers’ app, making it difficult to monitor drivers’ progress. And once a route is set, it is difficult to change the order of deliveries if you need to.
- Few prebuilt third-party integrations: OnTime360 does not directly integrate with many third-party software tools. Creating a custom API connection for ecommerce tools, task management apps, or any other preferred software can get pricey.
- No free baseline subscription: If you like the software, you’ll start off with a fee of at least $99 per month, plus a one-time “account activation fee” of $249. This can be steep for new or growing courier businesses.
4. WorkWave Route Manager
Like the others on this list, WorkWave Route Manager is a cloud-based courier management app. Like Ontime360, Route Manager is designed to perform best as an all-in-one route and fleet management tool. It includes route planning, delivery assignment, driver tracking, and automated customer messaging. It connects with additional third-party ecommerce, task management, and bookkeeping tools via a Zapier integration.
Unlike the others on this list, Route Manager’s pricing is a little complicated; pricing starts at $54 per vehicle per month, with a minimum of 4 vehicles required to open an account. That’s a pretty complicated way to say that the baseline subscription starts at $216 and goes up from there based on your fleet size and desired tools. You should contact Route Manager for a custom quote for a full price.
Pros:
- Optimized for large fleets: Route Manager is the courier management tool built into the larger WorkWave system. Both are built to support and track large numbers of commercial vehicles.
- Multiple pre-built integrations: Like top-rated ShipDay, Route Manager integrates with several add-on modules for CRM, GPS, and fleet management . Most of the pre-built integrations are WorkWave tools, but additional third-party integrations are available via Zapier.
- Automated customer notifications: Route Manager live tracks your drivers and automatically updates customers to their order location, reducing the number of calls you’ll get to check a delivery status.
Cons:
- Confusing price structure: Technically, Route Manager lists their pricing publicly, but you need to read the fine print. Its best to contact Route Manager for a custom quote so you know how to budget.
- Has a vehicle minimum: You’ll need to manage at least four vehicles to work with Route Manager. At a base price of $54 per vehicle per month, your costs can add up quickly.
- Prone to address errors: Multiple users complain that Route Manager drivers’ app uses GPS coordinates rather than street addresses. This can lead to errors with the app directing couriers to deliver packages to the wrong location. Driver app relies on coordinates, not addresses, which can lead to embarrassing (and potentially costly) errors.
5. Fleet Complete
Fleet Complete is a fleet management system with courier and delivery management tools among its slew of services. In addition to general courier management functions like route planning and driver tracking, Fleet Complete also monitors the health of your vehicles via connected smart devices like dashboard cameras and Fleet Complete vehicle monitors.
Like some other systems on this list, Fleet Complete is designed to work best as a complete solution (hence the name). So this system does not offer a lot of pre-built third-party integrations. Though, like the other systems on this list, Fleet Complete has an open API to build custom integrations with any critical tools you already use.
Pros
- Automated driver assignments: Fleet Complete’s Dispatch tools automatically suggest the driver best suited for a new task based on past performance.
- Real-time route adjustments: If traffic conditions change, you have a high-priority delivery, or you need to re-assign a delivery, Fleet Complete lets you make real-time adjustments to routes while your team is in the field.
- Open API: An open API lets you build custom integrations with software you already use, creating time saving solutions tailored to your courier business.
Cons
- Pricing requires a custom quote: Every courier business is different, so custom quotes make sense, but Fleet Complete does not list any pricing publicly, so prospective users may struggle to budget accurately.
- No free trial or free baseline plan: Free trials or free baseline subscriptions help users determine if the courier app is a fit for their business. You’ll need to take detailed notes during your Fleet Complete demo, because they do not offer a free trial or free subscription.
- Requires a long-term contract: Fleet Complete is custom quoted, so contract terms may vary. But some users opting to lease fleet management equipment say they are locked into a three year contract.
- Fleet monitoring devices can be glitchy: Some Fleet Complete users that opt to use the brand’s vehicle monitors complain about the devices failing to the point that live GPS location stops functioning.
Final Thoughts
With the most options for courier businesses of all sizes (including a free baseline subscription), Shipday is the best courier management app for businesses of all sizes. All the apps in this list will save you time managing your business. But with Shipday, you’ll also save money and have a courier management solution that grows with your business (and that easily integrates with software you already use and love).