Keelway vs Rose Rocket (TMS.AI) — both modern. Different AI focuses.
Rose Rocket (rebranding to TMS.AI in 2025) is a modern broker+carrier collaboration TMS — strong UX, 4.8/5 G2, ~100K daily users claimed, SOC 2 — at roughly $233/month entry plus per-load scaling. Keelway is broker-first, $799/mo flat, with native AI carrier-email triage. Here's the honest head-to-head, including where Rose Rocket actually wins.
This is one of the cleaner comparisons in the broker-TMS market because neither product is a legacy mainframe — both ship modern UX, Rose Rocket is SOC 2 attested and Keelway is not yet — our SOC 2 documentation is in build-out. Both have real AI stories. The decision comes down to two axes: pricing shape (flat vs per-load) and AI focus (inbox vs collaboration). If you know your load volume and you know where your team loses the most time, the answer falls out cleanly.
Rose Rocket's product DNA is collaboration — broker, carrier, and shipper all working in the same TMS through portals and shared threads. Their AI investments follow that DNA: smarter workflows, document handling, status visibility across parties. Keelway's DNA is the broker's inbox — twelve quote formats arriving as replies to twelve different carriers, FMCSA checks that happen per reply, rate extraction that happens per reply. Same market, different surface area.
Side by side
| Feature | Keelway | Rose Rocket (TMS.AI) |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Freight brokerages (broker-first) | Broker+carrier collaboration (modern multi-sided TMS) |
| Pricing | $799/mo flat, unlimited users | ~$233/month entry + per-load scaling |
| Pricing model | Published, month-to-month, no per-seat, no per-load | Tiered + per-load — scales with volume |
| Cost at 50 loads/mo | $799 flat | ~$233+ entry tier |
| Cost at 300+ loads/mo | $799 flat | Materially higher — per-load compounds |
| AI carrier email triage | Native — core product | No dedicated inbox-AI layer |
| AI focus | Inbox: twelve quote formats, FMCSA, rate extraction | Workflow, collaboration, document AI |
| FMCSA per-reply trust scoring | Yes — cross-checked at scoring time | Carrier-record level only |
| Cross-border (US-Canada) | US-first, handles loads but not optimized | Canadian-DNA, strong cross-border surface |
| Free trial | 30 days, full product | Demo + sales call, no public trial |
| G2 / market signals | Early — broker-first cohort | 4.8/5 G2, ~100K daily users claimed |
| Security / compliance | SOC 2 not yet attested; audit logs, RBAC | SOC 2 |
Where Rose Rocket wins
Rose Rocket has earned its 4.8/5 G2 rating and its ~100K daily-user claim — this is a real product with a real customer base. Where it beats Keelway:
- UX and polish. Rose Rocket invests heavily in design and the product feels it — clean information architecture, modern interactions, a portal experience for carriers and shippers that genuinely improves collaboration. If you're grading on sheer interface quality, they're ahead.
- Cross-border DNA. Built in Toronto, with US-Canada cross-border workflows treated as first-class. If a meaningful slice of your business is bilingual carriers, dual-currency invoicing, and Canadian customs paperwork, Rose Rocket's surface area is tuned for it. Keelway is US-first and not.
- Low-volume entry pricing. If you're under roughly 100 loads/month, the ~$233/month entry tier is cheaper than Keelway's $799 flat. For an early-stage shop watching every dollar, that gap matters.
- Broker+carrier collaboration. If your operation is multi-sided — you regularly bring carriers and shippers into the same workflow — the portal-first model is a real advantage. Keelway assumes the broker drives the workflow and the carrier mostly replies via email.
Where Keelway wins
For a freight brokerage that's past the earliest stage and drowning in carrier email, Keelway wins on what actually moves the daily P&L:
- Flat pricing at scale. $799/mo flat, unlimited users, $0 setup, month-to-month. The price doesn't move whether you do 50 loads or 5,000. Rose Rocket's per-load scaling means at 300–500 loads/month you're paying materially more for the same software.
- Native carrier-email AI. Twelve quote formats normalized, FMCSA cross-check on every reply, per-reply rate extraction, trust scoring at scoring time. Rose Rocket's AI is real but it's aimed at collaboration and document handling, not at the broker's inbox.
- Self-serve and reversible. 30-day full-product trial, online signup, month-to-month. If Keelway isn't working, cancel. Rose Rocket's onboarding is demo + sales call, which makes "try it and see" structurally harder.
- Predictable cost. A broker planning a year ahead knows Keelway will cost $9,588 regardless of how the load mix evolves. With per-load pricing, your TMS bill grows alongside your best months — which is fine philosophically and painful in practice when margins compress.
The verdict in one paragraph
If you're a low-volume or cross-border brokerage and you value collaboration features and polish over inbox automation, choose Rose Rocket (TMS.AI) — the entry pricing is friendly, the UX is real, and the Canadian-DNA cross-border surface is genuine. If you're a US-domestic brokerage doing 100+ loads/month and your team's biggest bleed is the carrier inbox, choose Keelway — $799 flat at any volume, native email AI, 30-day full-product trial to verify before you commit. Both are modern. Rose Rocket carries the SOC 2 attestation and Keelway does not yet, so if a signed report is a gate for you, that is a real difference — otherwise this is a pricing-shape and AI-focus call, not a quality call.
Frequently asked questions
What's the main difference between Keelway and Rose Rocket?+
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Which one has AI carrier-email triage?+
Which is cheaper at higher load volume?+
What about cross-border freight — isn't Rose Rocket Canadian-DNA?+
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Book a 30-min Keelway demo — see the difference.
Related
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The shortlist of modern TMS options for SMB freight brokers — sorted by what actually matters.
Which broker TMS has real AI — and which is just shipping the label. Honest comparison.
