Route optimization software promises fewer miles, less fuel and more stops per day. The good tools deliver that. The question worth answering before you buy is which part of your day is actually costing you money, because the answer decides whether you need a solver or just a better stop order.
This guide covers what the software genuinely does, what the market charges, where the pricing traps are, and where the free tier stops being enough.
- →Route optimization is a constraint solver: it sequences stops against distance, time windows, vehicle capacity and driver hours. The value is in the constraints, not the map.
- →On real delivery lists, simply fixing the stop order recovers a large share of wasted miles before any advanced constraint solving is involved.
- →Published pricing is mostly per driver per month, for example OptimoRoute at $35.10 per driver, which means the bill grows every time you add a van.
- →If your only constraint is distance and stop count, free tools cover it: Google Maps allows 10 stops, most free planners 20 to 26, and our own free planner handles 100 in one link.
- →Pay for optimization when you have hard time windows, vehicle capacities, skill matching, or mid-run reflow. Those are genuine solver problems.
- →Ask about seat flexibility before signing. Seasonal drivers on annual per-seat contracts are where the category's cost complaints come from.
What the software actually optimises
Route optimization is applied mathematics wearing a map. The underlying problem is a variant of the travelling salesman: given a set of stops, find the cheapest order to visit them. Real operations add constraints that make it much harder. Each customer can only receive between certain hours. Each van holds a certain volume. Some jobs need a driver with a particular qualification. Drivers have legal hours. The solver's job is to satisfy all of that at once and still keep the miles down.
That is where the money goes, and it is why a good tool is worth paying for when you have those constraints. It is also why a tool is a poor investment when you do not. If your day is thirty drops with no windows and one van, the solver is answering a question you were not asking.
Most of the saving is in the stop order
Before evaluating solvers, it is worth knowing how much of the benefit comes from the simplest possible improvement. On real delivery lists, sequencing stops sensibly instead of driving them in the order they were entered recovers a large share of the wasted mileage on its own. Manual routes tend to criss-cross a patch several times because they follow the order that orders arrived, not the shape of the map.
This matters commercially. If most of the recoverable waste comes from ordering, and ordering is available free, then the incremental value of a paid solver is the constraint handling, not the mileage. Price the software against that increment rather than against your entire fuel bill.
What the market charges
Published pricing in this category is dominated by the per-driver-per-month model. OptimoRoute lists $35.10 per driver per month on its standard plan and $44.10 on Pro. Circuit for Teams starts around $100 per month for a small operation. Onfleet and the enterprise end sit higher again and generally involve annual commitments.
The per-seat model has a specific consequence that shows up repeatedly in user reviews: cost grows with headcount, and headcount in delivery work is seasonal and churns hard. Courier turnover above 50% a year is normal, which means per-seat licences are an administrative and financial treadmill, not a one-time decision.
The questions that separate vendors are rarely about the algorithm. Can you add and remove seats mid-term? What happens during a seasonal peak? Is there a floor below which the plan still costs the same? Those answers determine your real annual cost far more than the sticker price.
How far the free options go
For a straightforward day, free tools are genuinely sufficient, and it is worth knowing the ceilings. Google Maps itself allows 10 destinations in one route. Most free planners land between 20 and 26 stops. That is the boundary most small operators actually hit.
We tested one further ceiling and published the method: Google Maps route links accept up to 100 stops when built in the older URL form, verified on desktop, mobile web and the native app. Our free planner uses that to sequence and build a single link for a whole delivery day, with no signup and no per-driver fee. If your constraint is stop count rather than time windows, that removes the reason to subscribe.
When paying is the right call
Buy route optimization software when the constraints are real: customers with narrow receiving windows, vans with capacity limits, jobs that need particular skills or certifications, driver hours that must be respected, or demand volatile enough that routes need to reflow during the run rather than being planned once at six in the morning.
Do not buy it because the fuel savings are quoted in the marketing. Quantify your own waste first, which you can do with a free planner and one week of real routes. If sequencing alone closes most of the gap, spend the subscription on something else. If the solver has to juggle windows and capacities you cannot hold in your head, it will pay for itself quickly.
At a Glance
| Feature | InstaMaps | Free alternatives |
|---|---|---|
| Stops in one free route | 100, in a single Google Maps link | 10 in Google Maps, 20 to 26 in most free planners |
| Pricing model | Per operation | Per driver per month |
| Time windows and capacity | Windows yes, capacity no | Yes, the core of the product |
| Mid-run reflow | Re-run the sequence manually | Live reflow to the driver |
| Where your list lives | Your own spreadsheet | The vendor's platform |
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Common Questions
Software that decides the best order and assignment for a set of stops, subject to constraints like time windows, vehicle capacity, driver skills and working hours. It is a constraint solver applied to a map, and the constraints are what you are really paying for.
Most vendors charge per driver per month. OptimoRoute publishes $35.10 per driver per month standard and $44.10 for Pro; Circuit for Teams starts around $100 per month for a small team; enterprise platforms cost more and usually require annual commitments.
Yes, with limits. Google Maps allows 10 stops per route, and most free planners handle 20 to 26. Our free planner sequences up to 100 stops and returns a single Google Maps link, which covers a full delivery day without a subscription.
It depends far more on how bad your current routes are than on the sophistication of the solver. On lists driven in the order orders arrived, simply fixing the sequence recovers a large share of the wasted miles. Measure your own baseline for a week before believing any vendor's percentage.
Optimization decides the order. Dispatch also covers getting the plan to drivers, capturing proof of delivery and updating customers. If your pain is only the morning sequencing, optimization alone may be enough.
Paste one real day into the free planner: you get the sequenced order and a single Google Maps link for up to 100 stops. Compare it against how you drove it, then decide whether a per-driver subscription is worth it.
Open the free 100-Stop Planner