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Logistics · head to head

CargoWise vs Loadsmart

CargoWise logo

CargoWise

Logistics

Single-database freight forwarding and customs platform, repriced in December 2025 to per-transaction Value Packs

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Loadsmart logo

Loadsmart

Logistics

Digital freight brokerage sold together with the TMS, dock scheduling and gate tools that book the loads

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: CargoWise the December 2025 shift to per-transaction Value Packs repriced roughly 95 percent of the customer base, with early 2026 reports of twenty to fifty percent cost increases and large monthly rises at short notice.; Loadsmart the brokerage and the software share a parent, so quotes shown inside ShipperGuide are Loadsmart capacity offers rather than a neutral market view, and a shipper wanting a benchmark has to source rates elsewhere.
  • They diverge on capability: CargoWise covers Single global database, Loadsmart covers ShipperGuide TMS.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CargoWise and Loadsmart actually diverge.

Attributes where CargoWise and Loadsmart differ
AttributeCargoWiseLoadsmart
PlatformsWeb, Windows, CloudWeb, iOS, Android, API

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Logistics).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in CargoWise

  • Single global database
  • Customs compliance
  • Value Packs licensing
  • Forwarding operations
  • Warehouse management
  • Accounting
  • eDocs and messaging
  • Universal Data Interchange

Only in Loadsmart

  • ShipperGuide TMS
  • Instant committed quotes
  • Opendock scheduling
  • NavTrac gate automation
  • Managed transportation
  • Carrier app and load board

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

CargoWise

  • A multinational forwarder wanting one shipment record across origin booking, customs clearance and destination deliverynot Loadsmart
  • A customs broker needing maintained regulatory content across many jurisdictions rather than building declarations in housenot Loadsmart
  • A 3PL consolidating forwarding, warehousing and financial accounting on one databasenot Loadsmart
  • Trading electronically with other CargoWise users through the shared data interchange rather than building point-to-point EDInot Loadsmart

Loadsmart

  • A mid market shipper with no TMS that wants tendering, tracking and reporting without funding a licence and an integration project separatelynot CargoWise
  • A warehouse operator that needs to stop scheduling inbound appointments by phone and email across a fragmented carrier basenot CargoWise
  • A shipper that wants instant committed truckload capacity on lanes where it does not hold contract ratesnot CargoWise
  • A distribution centre trying to measure and reduce driver dwell time with automated gate capture rather than clipboard logsnot CargoWise

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

CargoWise

  • The December 2025 shift to per-transaction Value Packs repriced roughly 95 percent of the customer base, with early 2026 reports of twenty to fifty percent cost increases and large monthly rises at short notice.
  • Pricing is now tied to transaction volume, so growth in the forwarding business raises the software bill proportionally, which inverts the economics of the old seat-based model for high-volume low-margin traffic.
  • WiseTech publishes no price list, so the only way to know what the new model costs your business is a written projection from an account representative.
  • Enterprise implementations are routinely cited in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars with professional services making up a large share, and organisations commonly underestimate that by a wide margin.
  • The system is deep and unforgiving to learn, so staff turnover carries a real productivity cost and trained CargoWise operators command a premium in the labour market.

Loadsmart

  • The brokerage and the software share a parent, so quotes shown inside ShipperGuide are Loadsmart capacity offers rather than a neutral market view, and a shipper wanting a benchmark has to source rates elsewhere.
  • Instant quoting only works where Loadsmart has carrier depth, so a shipper running thin regional or rural lanes finds committed pricing unavailable in exactly the conditions where it would have been most valuable.
  • Opendock depends on carriers and drivers creating accounts and booking their own slots, so a facility with hundreds of small carriers spends months chasing adoption before the appointment data is complete enough to act on.
  • Pricing is not published and is negotiated per shipper, frequently alongside a freight volume expectation, which makes it hard to compare against an independent TMS licence and awkward to unwind if you later move the freight to another provider.
  • The portfolio was assembled by acquisition, with Opendock and NavTrac bought in separately, and the modules still behave as separate applications with their own logins and reporting rather than a single system.

Pricing, plan by plan

CargoWise

On request
  • CargoWise Value Packs$undefined/month
    • Per-transaction automation fee replacing the seat and transaction licence model from December 2025
    • Unlimited users and more than two hundred modules bundled into the transaction fee
    • Standard CargoWise Cloud hosting costs removed from the model

Loadsmart

On request
  • ShipperGuide$undefined/year
    • Transportation management for shippers
    • Quoting, tendering and execution
    • Reporting and rate benchmarking
  • Opendock$undefined/year
    • Dock appointment scheduling by facility
    • Carrier self service booking
    • Door and dwell reporting

Which should you pick?

Choose CargoWise if

  • You need single global database.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Cloud.
  • You also want customs compliance.
CargoWise review

Choose Loadsmart if

  • You need shipperguide tms.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
  • You also want instant committed quotes.
Loadsmart review

Questions people ask

Is CargoWise or Loadsmart better?
Neither clearly leads. CargoWise starts at On request and Loadsmart at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CargoWise or Loadsmart?
CargoWise starts at On request and Loadsmart at On request.
Does CargoWise or Loadsmart run on more platforms?
CargoWise runs on Web, Windows, Cloud. Loadsmart runs on Web, iOS, Android, API.
What is CargoWise best used for?
CargoWise is most often used for a multinational forwarder wanting one shipment record across origin booking, customs clearance and destination delivery, a customs broker needing maintained regulatory content across many jurisdictions rather than building declarations in house, a 3pl consolidating forwarding, warehousing and financial accounting on one database, trading electronically with other cargowise users through the shared data interchange rather than building point-to-point edi. Of those, a multinational forwarder wanting one shipment record across origin booking, customs clearance and destination delivery and a customs broker needing maintained regulatory content across many jurisdictions rather than building declarations in house are not what Loadsmart is typically brought in for.
What can CargoWise do that Loadsmart cannot?
CargoWise covers Single global database, Customs compliance, Value Packs licensing, Forwarding operations. Loadsmart covers ShipperGuide TMS, Instant committed quotes, Opendock scheduling, NavTrac gate automation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CargoWise: What changed in December 2025?

WiseTech moved about 95 percent of CargoWise customers from seat and transaction licensing to Value Packs, a per-transaction fee bundling modules and unlimited users.

Loadsmart: Can I use ShipperGuide with my own contracted carriers and not Loadsmart capacity?

Yes, it will tender to your carrier panel, but the instant quoting and the managed service are where the product invests and where the commercial relationship sits.

CargoWise: Are seat fees gone?

Under Value Packs, yes, along with standard CargoWise Cloud hosting charges. Cost is driven by transaction volume instead.

Loadsmart: Is Opendock sold separately from the brokerage?

Yes. It is the most commonly standalone purchase, and warehouses buy it without ever tendering freight to Loadsmart.

CargoWise: Does WiseTech publish prices?

No. Reported per-transaction figures come from forwarders and consultants, not from a vendor price list.

Loadsmart: Does it publish pricing?

No. Every deal is quoted, and software cost is often discussed together with freight volume.

CargoWise: What does implementation cost?

Enterprise deployments are commonly reported in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, with professional services a large share of the total.

Loadsmart: How does it compare to a visibility platform like project44?

It is not a visibility network. Tracking covers freight moving through Loadsmart and connected carriers, not your whole carrier base across every mode.

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