Choosing a transportation management system is one of the biggest decisions a small trucking company or freight brokerage makes. We compared Diesel TMS against eight alternatives—from spreadsheets and budget dispatch tools to enterprise platforms—using each vendor’s published pricing.
Quick Reference (PDF)
Best overall TMS for most small brokerages, fleets and owner-operators: Diesel TMS. It is the only full-featured TMS that is free with unlimited users, trucks, and loads. It is fully-featured, and it includes a driver app. It also includes built-in double-entry accounting, QuickBooks Online integration, IFTA reporting, AI features, 9,000+ integrations via Zapier, and live human support at $0/month. (Pro is a flat $40/user/month if you want to go ad-free.)
Here is how the choice shakes out by type of operation:
Everything a small carrier needs is on the free plan: dispatch, rate confirmations, invoicing, settlements, IFTA, a driver app, and accounting. TruckingOffice (https://www.dieseltms.com/compare/truckingoffice) ($25–$130/month) and ITS Dispatch (https://www.dieseltms.com/compare/its-dispatch) ($50–$129/month plus setup) cost more and lack a driver app, AI, built-in accounting, and API access. The one concrete edge either has is ITS Dispatch’s native Truckstop posting.
Start brokering with no software cost: AI Email to Quote, FMCSA carrier lookup and onboarding, rate confirmations, carrier and customer portals, invoicing, and full accounting are all on the free plan, with no load-volume pricing to outgrow. BrokerPro (https://www.dieseltms.com/compare/brokerpro) ($950/month minimum) and Tai TMS (https://www.dieseltms.com/compare/tai-tms) ($995/month, capped shipments and carriers) are built for established brokerages, and ITS Dispatch (https://www.dieseltms.com/compare/its-dispatch)’s $75/month broker plan has no AI, e-signatures, accounting, or API.
Broker your overflow freight from the same login you dispatch trucks from, with one set of books. Alvys (https://www.dieseltms.com/compare/alvys-tms) (from $514/month) is the closest paid hybrid, but bills per load and has no built-in general ledger; Ascend TMS (https://www.dieseltms.com/compare/ascend-tms) ($69–$149/user/month) supports both roles but has no driver app or fleet management. TruckingOffice sells brokerage as a separate plan and Datatruck has no brokerage workflows at all.
Carrier onboarding, rate confirmations, and customer portals for the brokerage, plus a driver app, ELD integration, and maintenance tracking for your own trucks. Tai TMS (https://www.dieseltms.com/compare/tai-tms) and BrokerPro (https://www.dieseltms.com/compare/brokerpro) are broker-only—no carrier operations, no driver app—so running even a handful of assets means a second system.
Datatruck (https://www.dieseltms.com/compare/datatruck) ($99–$499/month) matches Diesel on driver app, ELD, IFTA, and maintenance, but caps users and trucks per tier and charges $99–$399/month extra for AI and accounting. Alvys (from $514/month) adds brokerage but bills per load. Diesel Pro is a flat $40/user with no truck limits, and onboarding and live support are included on every plan, free or paid.
Tai TMS ($995/month, capped users, shipments, and carriers) brings 500+ integrations and LTL tooling; BrokerPro ($950/month minimum, scales with volume) brings carrier compliance and a white-labeled customer portal. Both lack a driver app and a full general ledger, so a small brokerage is better served by Diesel’s free plan.
The only paid platform here that matches Diesel on built-in accounting, white labeling, no-code customization, and carrier operations. Expect a $5,000–$50,000 implementation and a roughly 90-day go-live; Diesel offers the same feature rows with self-serve signup and same-day go-live.
Excel / Google Sheets (https://www.dieseltms.com/compare/excel-spreadsheets) are free and unlimited too, but every operational row—dispatch, rate cons, invoicing, IFTA, driver app, accounting, portals—is a NO. Diesel’s CSV importer brings your spreadsheets in, so cost is no longer a reason to stay.
Owner-operator TMS priced by truck count
$25–$130/month
vs Diesel TMS from $0/month
Budget carrier TMS by Truckstop with basic features
$50–$129/month + fees
vs Diesel TMS from $0/month
AI-native carrier TMS priced by fleet size, paid add-ons
$99–$499/month
vs Diesel TMS from $0/month
Popular per-user TMS with tiered feature access
$69–$149/user/month
vs Diesel TMS from $0/month
Modern carrier/broker TMS with load-based pricing
Starts at $514/month
vs Diesel TMS from $0/month
Broker-only TMS with volume-based pricing
Starts at $950/month
vs Diesel TMS from $0/month
Premium freight broker TMS with automation focus
Starts at $995/month
vs Diesel TMS from $0/month
Enterprise AI-native TMS with no-code builders
Starts at $2,080/month
vs Diesel TMS from $0/month
The spreadsheet “TMS” most small fleets start with
$0–$12/user/month + your time
vs Diesel TMS from $0/month
Published starting prices as of September 2026. Click any competitor for the full head-to-head comparison.
For fleets of 1-20 trucks, Diesel TMS is the top pick because it is free with unlimited trucks, users, and loads and includes dispatching, a driver app, invoicing, IFTA, built-in accounting, and AI email-to-quote. Budget alternatives include TruckingOffice ($25-$130/month) and ITS Dispatch ($50-$129/month plus fees); Datatruck ($99-$499/month) and Alvys (from $514/month) target larger fleets.
Diesel TMS is the cheapest full-featured TMS at $0/month, with no truck, user, or load limits. The next cheapest paid options are TruckingOffice at $25/month for 1-2 trucks and ITS Dispatch at $50/month plus a setup charge, both of which lack built-in accounting, AI, and a driver app.
Diesel TMS is a free TMS built for owner-operators and small fleets. It includes load management, rate confirmations, invoicing, driver settlements, IFTA mileage, a free driver app, QuickBooks Online sync, and load board and ELD integrations at no cost. AscendTMS also offers a limited free version with paid upgrades from $69/user/month.
Spreadsheets work for a truck or two but require re-typing every load into logs, invoices, settlements, and IFTA sheets, and give drivers and customers no visibility. Because Diesel TMS is free, small fleets can switch to a real TMS with connected records, generated documents, and a driver app with no software cost.
Diesel TMS is free for brokers with unlimited users and loads, AI email-to-quote, carrier onboarding, rate confirmations, invoicing, and accounting. Paid broker-focused alternatives start much higher: BrokerPro at $950/month, Tai TMS at $995/month, and Rose Rocket TMS.ai at $2,080/month.
Diesel TMS, AscendTMS, Alvys, and Rose Rocket TMS.ai all support hybrid carrier-broker operations. Tai TMS and BrokerPro are broker-only; TruckingOffice, ITS Dispatch, and Datatruck are carrier-focused. Diesel TMS is the only one of these that is free with unlimited users.
Diesel TMS connects to 9,000+ apps via Zapier plus native QuickBooks Online, 123Loadboard, MyCarrierPortal, Samsara & Motive ELD, factoring, email, and an open API — all included free. Competitor claims: Tai TMS 500+, Datatruck 150+, Alvys 120+, Ascend TMS 52+, BrokerPro 24+, TMS.ai 20+, TruckingOffice 5+, and ITS Dispatch 2+.
Full-featured free tier with unlimited loads, trucks, carriers, and users. No credit card required.
$40/user/month (Pro) or $0.40/user/hour (Flex). No per-truck fees, no volume surcharges, no add-ons.
One platform for brokerage, dispatching, fleet management, and driver operations. No second system needed.
Start free today. No credit card required. No contracts. No risk.
Sign Up Free
View Pricing