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Maritime · head to head

Drewry vs Helm Operations

Drewry logo

Drewry

Maritime

Maritime research and consulting

From
$1000/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Helm Operations logo

Helm Operations

Maritime

Dispatch, maintenance, compliance and crewing software built for tug, barge and workboat fleets

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Drewry the World Container Index is described as free but still requires an account to read, and full access depends on subscription rights; Helm Operations the product is built for workboat and towage operations, so a deep-sea owner running bulkers or tankers gets no chartering, voyage accounting or cargo handling and should not shortlist it.
  • They diverge on capability: Drewry covers Market research, Helm Operations covers Dispatch.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Drewry and Helm Operations actually diverge.

Attributes where Drewry and Helm Operations differ
AttributeDrewryHelm Operations
Starting price$1000/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
Founded1970Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Maritime).

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 Drewry

  • Market research
  • Forecasting
  • Benchmarking
  • Advisory services
  • Data exports
  • Custom reports
  • Web support

Only in Helm Operations

  • Dispatch
  • Job billing
  • Planned maintenance
  • Compliance and safety
  • Crew scheduling
  • Customer portal
  • Vessel applications
  • Reporting

What people use each for

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

Drewry

  • Tracking container freight rate movements through the weekly World Container Indexnot Helm Operations
  • Supporting shipping and supply chain research with published rate assessmentsnot Helm Operations

Helm Operations

  • A harbour towage company that dispatches dozens of jobs a day and wants invoices generated from the dispatch recordnot Drewry
  • A barge operator tracking maintenance and certificates across assets that rarely visit the same port twicenot Drewry
  • A ferry or passenger vessel fleet that must evidence drills, audits and crew certification to a regulatornot Drewry
  • An offshore support operator replacing a mixture of spreadsheets, whiteboards and an accounting packagenot Drewry

Where each one falls short

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

Drewry

  • The World Container Index is described as free but still requires an account to read, and full access depends on subscription rights
  • No subscription price is published anywhere on the index pages
  • The container index publishes weekly, so it is not a source for daily rate movement

Helm Operations

  • The product is built for workboat and towage operations, so a deep-sea owner running bulkers or tankers gets no chartering, voyage accounting or cargo handling and should not shortlist it.
  • Modules are licensed separately, so the figure quoted for dispatch alone is not the figure a fleet ends up paying once maintenance, compliance and crewing are included.
  • There is no financial ledger, so job costs and payroll still post into a separate accounting system, and maintaining that interface is an ongoing task for the customer.
  • Vessel applications sync rather than run fully offline indefinitely, so boats operating with poor connectivity see a lag between what the crew recorded and what the dispatcher can see.
  • The company does not disclose its ownership publicly and is comparatively small, which leaves a fleet that standardises on Helm carrying concentration risk it cannot fully assess.

Pricing, plan by plan

Drewry

$1000/month
  • Research Subscription$3000/month
    • Market reports
    • Forecasts
    • Data access

Helm Operations

On request
  • Helm platform$undefined/year
    • Quoted by fleet size and modules taken
    • Maintenance, Compliance, Logistics, Personnel and Portal licensed separately
    • Implementation and data migration quoted as services

Which should you pick?

Choose Drewry if

  • You need market research.
  • You also want forecasting.
Drewry review

Choose Helm Operations if

  • You need dispatch.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want job billing.
Helm Operations review

Questions people ask

Is Drewry or Helm Operations better?
Neither clearly leads. Drewry starts at $1000/month and Helm Operations at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Drewry or Helm Operations?
Drewry starts at $1000/month and Helm Operations at On request.
Does Drewry or Helm Operations run on more platforms?
Drewry runs on Web. Helm Operations runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Drewry best used for?
Drewry is most often used for tracking container freight rate movements through the weekly world container index, supporting shipping and supply chain research with published rate assessments. Of those, tracking container freight rate movements through the weekly world container index and supporting shipping and supply chain research with published rate assessments are not what Helm Operations is typically brought in for.
What can Drewry do that Helm Operations cannot?
Drewry covers Market research, Forecasting, Benchmarking, Advisory services. Helm Operations covers Dispatch, Job billing, Planned maintenance, Compliance and safety.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Drewry: How much do Drewry subscriptions cost?

Drewry offers annual subscriptions for various services including Container Freight Rate Insight, Benchmarking Club, and forecasters. Specific pricing is not published and requires contacting Drewry directly.

Source
Helm Operations: Does Helm handle chartering or voyage accounting?

No. It models dispatched jobs, not voyages, and has no commercial chartering capability.

Drewry: Are Drewry services free?

Drewry offers free content to registered and logged-in users including the World Container Index, market trackers, and indices. Premium services require paid annual subscriptions.

Source
Helm Operations: Will it work for a deep-sea fleet?

Poorly. The functional design assumes short repeated jobs on tugs, barges and workboats.

Helm Operations: Does it include accounting?

No. It produces invoices and job costs and passes them to a separate accounting system.

Helm Operations: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted by fleet size and by which of the five modules are licensed.

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