A freight broker TMS that lives inside the inbox.
Keelway is a full broker TMS — load entry, dispatch, carrier database, QuickBooks, DAT — bundled with the AI carrier email triage every other TMS sells as a paid add-on. Flat $400/month, unlimited users, live in under a day. No implementation tax. No per-user math.
What is a freight broker TMS?
A freight broker TMS (transportation management system) is the software a brokerage uses to run its day-to-day operations — entering loads, dispatching to carriers, tracking shipments, managing documents, and invoicing customers. The category includes legacy incumbents like McLeod LoadMaster and Aljex (Descartes), newer cloud-native platforms like Tai Software, Rose Rocket, and Alvys, and free entry-tier products like AscendTMS.
What separates 2026 from 2020 is that every credible new TMS bundles AI somewhere — usually as a paid add-on that integrates with Drumkit, Parade.ai, or a custom email-parsing service. Keelway is the only freight broker TMS where the AI inbox triage and the dispatch board are the same product, on the same login, at one flat price.
Keelway TMS features
AI carrier email triage on every load
Load lifecycle in one screen
FMCSA scoring at booking
DAT, Truckstop, QuickBooks, MacroPoint
Pricing — $400/month flat, unlimited users
One price. Everything included. No per-user fees, no setup, no implementation invoice, no annual contract. Month-to-month, cancel any time. The first 30 days are full-product with no payment required.
| Platform | Entry price | Model | Setup | Native AI triage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keelway TMS | $400/mo | Flat, unlimited users | $0 | Yes — native |
| AscendTMS | $0–$149/mo | Flat (limited free tier) | $0 | No |
| Alvys | ~$514/mo | Flat, unlimited users | $0 | No |
| Tai Software | $995–$7,925/mo | Flat, capped users + loads | Varies | Add-on |
| Aljex (Descartes) | ~$499/user/mo | Per-user + platform fee | Quote | No |
| McLeod LoadMaster | Enterprise quote | Annual contract | $50K+ | No |
| Turvo | $5,000+/mo | Enterprise custom | Significant | No |
Sources: vendor pricing pages, capterra.com, g2.com, customer reports (May 2026)
Who Keelway TMS is for
Keelway TMS is built for SMB freight brokerages — typically 3-30 dispatchers covering 50-300 loads per month. If your team currently runs on Aljex, AscendTMS, Tai, or spreadsheets and is buried under carrier email noise, this is the natural next step.
- Right fit: 3-30 user brokerages, $5M-$100M annual revenue, replacing Aljex/AscendTMS/spreadsheets, or escaping per-user pricing on McLeod/Aljex.
- Not the right fit: 1-2 person shops covering under 50 loads/month (AscendTMS free tier is your move) or 100+ user enterprise operations (McLeod, Turvo, MercuryGate are sized for you).
How Keelway compares to other broker TMS platforms
Most TMS shopping comes down to four real comparisons. We have a deep-dive page for each:
- Keelway vs Aljex (Descartes) — flat $400/mo vs ~$499/user. A 10-user shop saves $4,590/month.
- Keelway vs McLeod LoadMaster — $0 setup vs $50K+ implementation; 1 day to live vs 8-16 weeks.
- Keelway vs Alvys — similar flat-rate model, Keelway includes native AI inbox triage that Alvys does not.
- Cheapest broker TMS in 2026 — full category teardown including the AscendTMS free tier.
- Best broker TMS for SMB brokerages — buyer guide framing where each tool fits.
Why an AI-native TMS matters
Freight brokers do not live in their TMS — they live in their inbox. Every carrier quote, every rate confirmation, every “still available?” message hits Gmail or Outlook first. The standard workflow is manual: read the email, find the load in the TMS, copy the rate, respond. That is 30-45 minutes of delay per load, compounded across every load you cover.
Keelway eliminates the copy-paste. Our AI reads every inbound carrier email, ranks the top five options by rate and FMCSA trust score, and surfaces one-click confirm inside the same platform where you dispatch, invoice, and track. No second login. No second invoice. Industry-average broker response time is 47 minutes; Keelway customers respond in under five.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Keelway TMS cost?+
Keelway TMS is $400 per month, flat. No per-user fees, no setup fee, no implementation cost, no annual contract. Unlimited dispatchers, unlimited loads. That price includes the full TMS plus the AI carrier email triage layer that ranks the top five carriers on every load.
Is the $400/month price per user or per brokerage?+
Per brokerage, not per user. A 2-person shop and a 30-person shop both pay $400/month. For comparison, a 10-person brokerage on Aljex (~$499/user) pays roughly $4,990/month; on Tai's Growth tier they would be capped at 2 staff logins for $995/month.
What's included in Keelway TMS?+
Load entry and dispatch board, carrier database with FMCSA trust scoring, AI carrier email triage with rate extraction, document management (BOL, POD, rate confirmations), customer and carrier portals, QuickBooks accounting sync, native DAT and Truckstop integrations, MacroPoint tracking, factoring integrations (Denim, OTR Capital), and full API access. Everything is included at $400/month — no paid connector tier, no add-on modules.
How is Keelway TMS different from Aljex, McLeod, or Tai?+
Three differences. (1) Pricing: Keelway is flat $400/month vs Aljex's ~$499 per user, McLeod's $50K+ implementation, and Tai's $995-$7,925 tiered pricing. (2) AI is native, not bolted on: Keelway is the only broker TMS where AI carrier email triage and the dispatch board are the same product — no Drumkit or Parade subscription required. (3) Setup time: Keelway goes live in under one day; McLeod and MercuryGate implementations typically run 8-16 weeks.
How long does Keelway TMS take to go live?+
Under one business day for standard onboarding (importing existing carriers, customers, and loads via CSV or API). For brokerages migrating from Aljex, AscendTMS, or Tai, we provide a migration support commitment — your team gets a dedicated onboarding contact until you're live and running production loads on Keelway.
Will my data migrate cleanly from my current TMS?+
Yes. Keelway accepts structured CSV imports for carriers, customers, lanes, and historical loads. We have direct API connectors for the major TMS platforms — Aljex, AscendTMS, Tai, McLeod — and a hands-on migration support program for brokerages switching from any of them. No data is left behind.
Does the AI auto-book carriers without human approval?+
No. The AI reads inbound carrier emails, extracts the offered rate, scores carrier trust via FMCSA, and presents a ranked top-five for every load. A human dispatcher confirms before any load is tendered. Brokers retain final authority on every booking — the AI surfaces signal, not decisions.
What size brokerage is Keelway TMS for?+
Keelway TMS is built for SMB freight brokerages with 3-30 dispatchers covering 50-300 loads per month — the same shops that are typically choosing between Aljex, AscendTMS, Tai, and Alvys. If you're a 1-2 person shop covering under 50 loads/month, AscendTMS's free tier is often the right fit. If you're a 100+ user enterprise, McLeod or Turvo are sized for you.
Is there a free trial or money-back guarantee?+
Yes. The first 30 days are full-product, no payment required. If Keelway does not improve your carrier response time within 30 days, you owe nothing. After that it is $400/month, month-to-month, cancel any time.
See Keelway TMS in action — book a 20-min demo.
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How Keelway parses 40 carrier replies per load and ranks the top 5 — included in the TMS at $400/mo.
FMCSA-backed trust scoring on every inbound reply — visible inline on every load.
Head-to-head with Aljex, McLeod, Tai, Alvys, AscendTMS, Turvo, Rose Rocket and more.
DAT, Truckstop, QuickBooks, MacroPoint, Denim, OTR Capital — all native, all included.