Keelway vs Turvo
$799/mo AI inbox layer vs $5,000/month enterprise TMS.
Last updated
Both publish pricing — Turvo at $5,000/month floor, Keelway at $799/mo — but they're not the same product. Turvo is a cloud-native enterprise TMS with shipper collaboration baked in. Keelway is an AI inbox layer that lives in Gmail. The right comparison isn't which to pick — it's "do you need a TMS at this scale, and do you want the inbox layer regardless?"
The price-floor question
Turvo's $5,000/month floor is the most useful piece of public information in their pricing — it tells SMB brokerages immediately whether the platform is in scope. Most sub-$50M-freight brokerages can't justify it.
For those brokerages, the right move isn't Turvo + Keelway — it's a lighter TMS (Tai, Rose Rocket, AscendTMS, Aljex) + Keelway. Total stack cost lands well below Turvo's floor with most of the workflow benefit. Turvo + Keelway becomes the right config only at mid-market scale where you're already paying Turvo for shipper-collaboration features.
Side by side
| Feature | Keelway | Turvo |
|---|---|---|
| Category | AI carrier-email triage layer | Cloud-native collaboration TMS |
| Where it operates | Gmail | Turvo dashboard |
| Pricing — published | $799/mo flat (everything included) | $5,000/mo floor + per-user |
| Target customer | SMB + mid-market on any TMS | Mid-market + enterprise 3PLs, $50M+ |
| Inbound reply ranking by trust + rate | Yes — Gmail-native | Light |
| Per-reply FMCSA trust score | Yes — refreshed at scoring time | No |
| Per-reply rate extraction | Yes — every reply | Limited |
| Shipper-facing collaboration | Out of scope | Strong — flagship |
| Load lifecycle management | Out of scope | Yes |
| Implementation timeline | Under 2 weeks | 8–16 weeks typical |
| Run alongside | Yes — Turvo + Keelway is real config | Yes |
| Replaces the other? | No | No |
When Turvo is the right TMS
- Mid-market or enterprise 3PL with shipper-collaboration as a core need.
- Budget for $5K+/month TMS commitments and 8–16 weeks of implementation.
- Brokers will live primarily inside the TMS dashboard.
When Keelway is what you actually need
- You're below Turvo's scale; another TMS fits your size better.
- Inbox triage is the bottleneck — 40 replies per posted load, brokers losing time to manual reading.
- $799/mo with 30-day free trial pencils out for your volume.
Frequently asked questions
Are Keelway and Turvo direct competitors?+
No. Turvo is a cloud-native enterprise broker/3PL TMS — collaboration, shipper visibility, full load lifecycle. Keelway is an AI inbox layer that lives in Gmail and ranks inbound carrier replies. Different categories. They overlap on no major feature; they actually pair together for brokerages that have both.
Why am I seeing both Turvo and Keelway in 'broker software' searches?+
Because both come up under broad queries like 'AI for freight brokers' — they're both in the broker-software stack but in different layers. Turvo is the TMS layer, Keelway is the AI inbox layer. They share a buyer audience but don't compete for budget within most brokerages.
How does pricing actually compare?+
Turvo publishes a $5,000/month floor on their pricing page (turvo.com/pricing) plus per-user fees on top — annual contracts in the high five-to-six-figure range are normal. Keelway is $799/mo flat, every feature included, 30-day free trial. For a brokerage doing 1,000 loads/month: Turvo $60K+/year minimum, Keelway $1K/month — but the two prices reflect different jobs, so the comparison isn't really apples-to-apples.
If I'm too small for Turvo, what's the right alternative + Keelway?+
For SMB brokerages where Turvo's $5K floor is too much: AscendTMS (free entry tier), Tai ($995/mo entry), Rose Rocket, or Aljex are all credible TMS picks at SMB price points. Keelway runs on top of any of them. The total stack — light TMS + Keelway — usually lands well under Turvo's floor with most of the workflow benefit, minus Turvo's specific shipper-collaboration features.
Does Keelway integrate with Turvo?+
Yes. Dedicated integration page exists. Keelway writes booked carriers and Keelway trust scores into Turvo load records via API. Brokers stay in Gmail for inbox triage; ops, accounting, and shipper visibility stay in Turvo.
When would Turvo + Keelway be the right configuration?+
Mid-market or enterprise 3PLs that already have Turvo and want stronger inbox-side AI. Turvo's strength is the dashboard and shipper collaboration; the 40 carrier replies on every posted load still need triage, and Turvo doesn't deeply own that workflow. Keelway adds the inbox layer for $799/mo — meaningful incremental value at relatively trivial cost compared to the existing Turvo subscription.
Why does Keelway publish pricing when most TMSs don't?+
Because we sell to SMB brokerages, and SMB brokerages don't have time for sales-cycle pricing games. We list $799/mo, 30-day free trial, every feature included. If you want to know what something costs, you should be able to find out without scheduling a call. Most TMSs in this category — including Turvo's competitors — eventually publish pricing under SMB pressure, but the standard is custom-quoted.
Below Turvo's price floor?
