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For brokers on AscendTMS

The cheapest credible SMB broker stack just got an AI inbox layer.

AscendTMS gives you a free TMS with 140+ integrations and a fresh DAT end-to-end digital freight transaction integration. Keelway adds the AI carrier-email triage that AscendTMS doesn't ship — per-reply FMCSA trust scoring, rate extraction, ranked top five, all in Gmail. Keelway is $799/mo flat (all-in) on top of whatever AscendTMS tier you run.

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$0
AscendTMS free tier
InMotion Global pricing page
$799/mo
flat for Keelway
Keelway public pricing
<2 wk
combined deploy
Keelway deployment playbook

Why the AscendTMS + Keelway stack works

AscendTMS solved the SMB TMS pricing problem with a real free tier. What they haven't done — and don't pretend to do — is the inbox-side AI work that handles 40 inbound carrier replies per posted load. That gap is exactly where Keelway plugs in.

The combined stack covers the full SMB broker workflow at numbers that make sense for sub-$10M-freight brokerages: TMS functionality and load-board integration from AscendTMS, AI-augmented carrier reply triage from Keelway. No enterprise-tier subscriptions; no per-seat licensing; no implementation drag.

What Keelway adds to AscendTMS

Read

Every carrier reply, triaged in seconds

Post a load through AscendTMS; Keelway starts reading replies as they land in Gmail. Within 60 seconds, each reply is extracted, scored, and ranked.
Score

FMCSA trust score on every reply

Operating authority, insurance, safety rating, OOS history, and crash data pulled from FMCSA QCMobile on every inbound carrier — visible alongside the rate.
Rank

Top five, decided in Gmail

Trust × rate × responsiveness × fit with the AscendTMS load record. Keyboard-native ranked list, the rest of the inbox stays put.
Write back

Booked carrier flows into AscendTMS

Accept a quote in Keelway and the carrier, MC/DOT, agreed rate, and contact write back into AscendTMS — no manual entry, no record cleanup.

How AscendTMS + Keelway compares to all-in-one premium TMS

A typical SMB broker doing 200 loads/month evaluating all-in-one premium broker TMSs:

  • Tai mid-tier: ~$3,000–$5,000/month for the full TMS surface.
  • Turvo entry: $5,000/month floor.
  • McLeod: Enterprise SaaS, six figures annually.

The AscendTMS + Keelway stack at the same volume:

  • AscendTMS: $0 (free tier) or low-paid tier.
  • Keelway: $799/mo flat (all-in), any volume.
  • Total: ~$799/month for the broker workflow plus AI inbox layer.

Trade-offs: AscendTMS's UI is functional rather than modern; you lose enterprise reporting depth and fancy dashboards. For SMB brokerages where the bottleneck is inbox triage and not back-office sophistication, the math is rarely close.

Deployment timeline (under 2 weeks)

  1. Day 1–2. Reply address issued + AscendTMS API credentials. Keelway starts reading replies on currently posted loads.
  2. Day 3–5. Ranking weights calibrated from your booking history.
  3. Day 6–8. AscendTMS write-back live. Booked carriers flow back into the TMS automatically.
  4. Day 9–12. Trust score thresholds tuned; fraud detector calibrated to your specific book.
  5. Day 13+. Steady state.

For the full Keelway capability set independent of TMS, see Carrier Email Automation. If you graduate from AscendTMS into a paid TMS, Keelway carries over — Tai, Rose Rocket, Aljex, and the rest all integrate.

Frequently asked questions

What is AscendTMS and why does the free tier matter?+
AscendTMS (by InMotion Global) is the largest freemium broker TMS in the US market, with a genuinely free entry tier — not a free trial, but ongoing free use for small brokerages. They ship 140+ pre-installed integrations including DAT, Truckstop, accounting, and load tracking. In 2026 they completed a DAT end-to-end digital freight transaction integration that strengthens the freemium moat further.
How does Keelway integrate with AscendTMS?+
Keelway receives carrier replies at a Keelway-hosted reply address you post as your load contact, and connects to AscendTMS via API or structured email handoff. When you post a load through AscendTMS, Keelway starts reading replies as they land in Gmail, extracts the rate, runs FMCSA trust scoring, and ranks the top five. Once you accept a quote, Keelway writes the carrier and rate back into AscendTMS — no double data entry.
Why would an AscendTMS user need Keelway?+
AscendTMS handles the operational core well — load lifecycle, accounting basics, the 140+ integrations. What it doesn't do is AI for the inbox. The 30–50 carrier replies that hit Gmail per posted load still get triaged manually by the broker. Keelway is the AI inbox layer that AscendTMS doesn't ship — and the combined stack (free or low-paid AscendTMS + $799/mo Keelway) is genuinely the cheapest credible SMB broker stack in the market.
Does Keelway require AscendTMS's paid tiers?+
No. Keelway works with any AscendTMS tier including the free one. We integrate at the Gmail layer and write back to AscendTMS via supported API calls. If you're on the free tier and find email-based handoff easier than API integration, that works too.
What does Keelway cost on top of AscendTMS?+
$799/mo flat — every feature included, unlimited users, month-to-month, $0 setup, with a 30-day free trial. There are no per-load fees, no per-broker-seat fees, and no usage tiers. AscendTMS may cost $0 (free tier) or low-paid; the combined stack lands at AscendTMS's tier plus Keelway's flat $799/mo.
Can Keelway help spot double-brokering before booking?+
Yes. Keelway runs FMCSA lookups on every inbound carrier reply, checks the email domain against the carrier's registered contact, cross-references MC/DOT against operating authority, and flags quote requests from dispatchers representing MCs that don't own the insurance. All signals visible on the ranked list before you click accept.
What if I outgrow AscendTMS — does Keelway move with me?+
Yes. Keelway integrates with Tai, McLeod, Aljex, Revenova, Turvo, Rose Rocket, Magaya, Alvys, and Salesforce. As you grow into a paid TMS, Keelway carries over with the same $799/mo pricing and the same Gmail-native UX. The TMS choice and the inbox-AI choice are independent.
AscendTMS + Keelway

The cheapest credible SMB broker stack with AI in the inbox.

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Related

AscendTMS Alternative →

If you're shopping AscendTMS itself or comparing tiers, here's the framing.

Carrier Email Automation →

What Keelway does — TMS-agnostic, inbox-native.

Keelway for Tai →

Same overlay pattern when you graduate from AscendTMS.