Softwr

Fleet Management · head to head

Fleet Complete vs Lonboard

Fleet Complete logo

Fleet Complete

Fleet Management

Telematics and asset tracking sold mainly through mobile network operators

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Lonboard logo

Lonboard

Maps

Python map rendering in Jupyter that skips GeoJSON and moves millions of features without choking

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Lonboard has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Fleet Complete because most contracts are sold through a carrier, the commercial relationship, the service levels and the renewal date belong to the carrier, so a pricing dispute or a support escalation goes through a reseller who did not build the software.; Lonboard it is a notebook visualisation library, not a mapping application, so there is no editing, no layout, no map export for print and no sharing beyond distributing the notebook or an HTML file
  • They diverge on capability: Fleet Complete covers Vehicle tracking, Lonboard covers GeoArrow binary transfer.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fleet Complete and Lonboard actually diverge.

Attributes where Fleet Complete and Lonboard differ
AttributeFleet CompleteLonboard
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryFleet ManagementMaps

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Fleet Complete

  • Vehicle tracking
  • Hours of service
  • Asset trackers
  • Field dispatch
  • Dashcams
  • Maintenance reminders

Only in Lonboard

  • GeoArrow binary transfer
  • GeoPandas input
  • deck.gl layers
  • Jupyter widget
  • Large dataset handling
  • Styling by attribute
  • Open source licence

What people use each for

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

Fleet Complete

  • A mid-size fleet already under a national carrier contract that wants tracking added to an existing telecoms agreement rather than a new vendor relationshipnot Lonboard
  • Mixed fleets that need to track unpowered assets such as trailers and generators alongside vehicles in one consolenot Lonboard
  • Canadian operators wanting a domestic vendor with local support and Telus channel billingnot Lonboard
  • Service businesses that want basic dispatch and vehicle tracking without buying a separate field service platformnot Lonboard

Lonboard

  • An analyst exploring a national road or parcel dataset in a notebook where pydeck or ipyleaflet becomes unusable at that sizenot Fleet Complete
  • A researcher publishing a reproducible analysis where the visualisation must run from the same script as the processingnot Fleet Complete
  • A data scientist joining spatial data to model outputs in pandas and needing to see the result immediately without exporting to a GISnot Fleet Complete
  • A team building an internal analysis pipeline on GeoParquet that wants rendering without a serialisation step in the middlenot Fleet Complete

Where each one falls short

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

Fleet Complete

  • Because most contracts are sold through a carrier, the commercial relationship, the service levels and the renewal date belong to the carrier, so a pricing dispute or a support escalation goes through a reseller who did not build the software.
  • Hardware is bundled into the subscription over a multi-year term, so a fleet that shrinks mid-contract keeps paying for units that are sitting in a store cupboard unless it negotiated a downsizing clause up front.
  • The product line was assembled by acquisition, so hours of service, European tracking and the core platform originated as separate products, leaving overlapping apps, duplicate logins and features that exist in one region but not another.
  • The third-party integration ecosystem is far smaller than the marketplaces run by Geotab or Samsara, so bespoke connections to a maintenance or payroll system usually mean building against the API yourself.
  • The web console and reporting look and behave like software designed a decade ago, and administrators who have used a newer platform will find the reporting builder slow and the exports rigid.

Lonboard

  • It is a notebook visualisation library, not a mapping application, so there is no editing, no layout, no map export for print and no sharing beyond distributing the notebook or an HTML file
  • Maintenance sits with Development Seed as an open source side output of a consultancy, so roadmap priorities follow client projects and there is no support contract to buy
  • Layer coverage is a subset of deck.gl, so an analyst needing a less common layer type has to drop to pydeck or write JavaScript rather than staying in Python
  • It expects data already in GeoPandas or Arrow form, which means the performance benefit depends on the rest of your pipeline being Arrow-friendly; reading a large Shapefile is still the slow step
  • Rendering happens in the browser, so very large datasets are ultimately limited by the client machine's memory and GPU rather than by the server, and a laptop will still fail on data a workstation handles

Pricing, plan by plan

Fleet Complete

On request
  • Fleet Complete$undefined/year
    • Per vehicle subscription, hardware included
    • Term length usually tied to the reselling carrier agreement
    • Asset trackers priced separately from vehicle units

Lonboard

Free
  • LonboardFree
    • Open source, no licence fee
    • No usage limits
    • Installed from PyPI or conda

Which should you pick?

Choose Fleet Complete if

  • You need vehicle tracking.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want hours of service.
Fleet Complete review

Choose Lonboard if

  • You need geoarrow binary transfer.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want geopandas input.
Lonboard review

Questions people ask

Is Fleet Complete or Lonboard better?
Neither clearly leads. Fleet Complete starts at On request and Lonboard at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fleet Complete or Lonboard?
Lonboard has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Fleet Complete and Free for Lonboard.
Does Fleet Complete or Lonboard run on more platforms?
Fleet Complete runs on Web, iOS, Android. Lonboard runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Lonboard for free?
Yes. Lonboard has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Fleet Complete starts at On request.
What is Fleet Complete best used for?
Fleet Complete is most often used for a mid-size fleet already under a national carrier contract that wants tracking added to an existing telecoms agreement rather than a new vendor relationship, mixed fleets that need to track unpowered assets such as trailers and generators alongside vehicles in one console, canadian operators wanting a domestic vendor with local support and telus channel billing, service businesses that want basic dispatch and vehicle tracking without buying a separate field service platform. Of those, a mid-size fleet already under a national carrier contract that wants tracking added to an existing telecoms agreement rather than a new vendor relationship and mixed fleets that need to track unpowered assets such as trailers and generators alongside vehicles in one console are not what Lonboard is typically brought in for.
What can Fleet Complete do that Lonboard cannot?
Fleet Complete covers Vehicle tracking, Hours of service, Asset trackers, Field dispatch. Lonboard covers GeoArrow binary transfer, GeoPandas input, deck.gl layers, Jupyter widget.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fleet Complete: Do I buy Fleet Complete directly or through my mobile operator?

Both are possible, but the majority of North American customers buy through AT&T or Telus. Check which entity the contract is with, because it determines your support path, your billing cycle and your renewal date.

Lonboard: Why not just use pydeck?

pydeck serialises geometry to GeoJSON to reach the browser. Lonboard uses a binary GeoArrow pipeline, which is the reason it handles far larger datasets in the same notebook.

Fleet Complete: What happens to the hardware if I cancel?

Devices supplied as part of a subsidised subscription are normally recovered or charged for on early termination. Ask for the exact clause before signing, because it is where the real cost of leaving sits.

Lonboard: Who maintains it?

Development Seed, a geospatial engineering consultancy, as an open source project. There is no commercial support offering.

Fleet Complete: Is it a fit for a fleet of five vans?

It will work, but small fleets get a better deal from vendors that publish pricing and sell month to month. Fleet Complete pricing improves with volume and a carrier relationship.

Lonboard: Does it work outside Jupyter?

It is built as a Jupyter widget. Exporting to standalone HTML is possible, but the intended environment is a notebook.

Lonboard: Is it free for commercial use?

Yes, it is open source with no licence fee.

Share

Related pages

More on Fleet Complete

More on Lonboard

Keep looking

Other head to heads