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Mining · head to head

MinePlan vs Wenco

M

MinePlan

Mining

Life of mine planning and scheduling

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Wenco logo

Wenco

Mining

Fleet management and dispatch for open-pit mines, sold on an explicit open interoperability stance

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: MinePlan the Internet Archive's capture of mineplan.com.au on 4 March 2020 already showed only a generic 'Website Coming Soon' hosting placeholder rather than a product page, indicating the domain has not hosted a live MinePlan site for at least several years.; Wenco wenco is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery, so the open interoperability position sits inside an equipment manufacturer and buyers should test the autonomy roadmap against that ownership rather than the marketing.
  • They diverge on capability: MinePlan covers Life of mine planning, Wenco covers Fleet dispatch.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which MinePlan and Wenco actually diverge.

Attributes where MinePlan and Wenco differ
AttributeMinePlanWenco
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWindowsWindows, Web, In-cab hardware
Founded2008Unknown

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

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 MinePlan

  • Life of mine planning
  • Long-term scheduling
  • Economic modeling
  • Scenario analysis
  • Feasibility assessment
  • Vulcan
  • Surpac
  • Whittle

Only in Wenco

  • Fleet dispatch
  • Machine guidance
  • Asset health
  • Asset management
  • Stockpile management
  • Safety technology
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Open interfaces

What people use each for

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

MinePlan

  • Life of mine planningnot Wenco
  • Long-term schedulingnot Wenco
  • Feasibility studiesnot Wenco
  • Economic analysisnot Wenco
  • Strategic planningnot Wenco

Wenco

  • An open-pit mine running trucks from more than one manufacturer that does not want dispatch tied to a single OEMnot MinePlan
  • A site replacing manual radio dispatch and paper cycle records with measured truck assignmentnot MinePlan
  • An operation adding machine guidance to drills and shovels alongside existing dispatchnot MinePlan
  • A group standardising fleet management across several pits with different equipment historiesnot MinePlan

Where each one falls short

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

MinePlan

  • The Internet Archive's capture of mineplan.com.au on 4 March 2020 already showed only a generic 'Website Coming Soon' hosting placeholder rather than a product page, indicating the domain has not hosted a live MinePlan site for at least several years.

Wenco

  • Wenco is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery, so the open interoperability position sits inside an equipment manufacturer and buyers should test the autonomy roadmap against that ownership rather than the marketing.
  • It has the smallest installed base of the three fleet management vendors, so experienced dispatch engineers and superintendents are harder to recruit than staff trained on the larger competitor.
  • A deployment is a capital project covering in-pit wireless coverage, in-cab hardware and a dispatch control room, and the software licence is a minor line in a much larger number.
  • Underground coverage is weaker than surface, so an operation running both open pit and underground generally ends up maintaining two fleet management systems and two sets of skills.
  • The return depends on a permanently staffed and competent dispatch function, so mines that install the system and then leave it unattended see the productivity gain evaporate within months.

Pricing, plan by plan

MinePlan

On request
  • MinePlan Standard$16000/year
    • Life of mine planning
    • Long-term scheduling
    • Economic analysis

Wenco

On request
  • Wenco fleet management$undefined/year
    • Quoted per site by fleet size and modules
    • In-cab hardware and installation priced separately
    • In-pit network design and coverage usually a separate capital item

Which should you pick?

Choose MinePlan if

  • You need life of mine planning.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want long-term scheduling.
MinePlan review

Choose Wenco if

  • You need fleet dispatch.
  • You work on Windows, Web, In-cab hardware.
  • You also want machine guidance.
Wenco review

Questions people ask

Is MinePlan or Wenco better?
Neither clearly leads. MinePlan starts at On request and Wenco at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, MinePlan or Wenco?
MinePlan starts at On request and Wenco at On request.
Does MinePlan or Wenco run on more platforms?
MinePlan runs on Windows. Wenco runs on Windows, Web, In-cab hardware.
What is MinePlan best used for?
MinePlan is most often used for life of mine planning, long-term scheduling, feasibility studies, economic analysis. Of those, life of mine planning and long-term scheduling are not what Wenco is typically brought in for.
What can MinePlan do that Wenco cannot?
MinePlan covers Life of mine planning, Long-term scheduling, Economic modeling, Scenario analysis. Wenco covers Fleet dispatch, Machine guidance, Asset health, Asset management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Wenco: Who owns Wenco?

Hitachi Construction Machinery. It is a wholly owned subsidiary based in Vancouver.

Wenco: Does it work with non-Hitachi equipment?

Yes, and mixed fleet support is the main reason mines shortlist it. Verify the specific interfaces for your equipment during evaluation rather than assuming.

Wenco: Does it cover underground mining?

Coverage is much weaker than surface. Underground operations usually select a different system.

Wenco: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted per site by fleet size, modules and the hardware and network work involved.

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