Truck Packer vs Cargo Optimizer: $28 a Month in Any Browser vs 69 to 129 Euros a Year on Windows
Cargo Optimizer is a Windows load planner at 69 to 129 euros a year, cheaper than Truck Packer's $252 a year, with a solver that picks containers and follows stacking rules. Truck Packer runs in any browser and hands the crew a link and a QR code instead of a printout.
Cargo Optimizer's one-year license costs €69 for Professional or €129 for Enterprise, about $77 and $145, and Truck Packer Pro costs $28 a month, or about $252 a year billed annually. Cargo Optimizer is cheaper, and its solver does more on its own. Truck Packer runs in any browser and gives the crew a link instead of a printout, so the choice comes down to where you plan and who has to read the plan.
Cargo Optimizer is made by Dreamsofts Optimization in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. It shows up in EasyCargo's price table, so here's a straight comparison, including where it beats us.
Cargo Optimizer costs €69 to €199 a year, or €499 and up to own it
Source: Cargo Optimizer, Order
The one-year licenses are €69 for Professional and €129 for Enterprise, and each one comes with 3 license keys. Network is €199 a year for 10 concurrent users. If you'd rather buy it outright, the full versions are €499 for Professional, €999 for Enterprise and €2,999 for Network, with upgrades and support free for life. One catch is that a license can't be moved to another machine once it's unlocked. EasyCargo's table lists Enterprise at $117 a year, which is lower than the vendor's current €129.
Truck Packer Pro costs $28 a month, or $252 a year billed annually
Source: Truck Packer, Pricing
Pro is for one person and includes unlimited packs, the case and container library, CSV import, PDF export, AutoPack, weight visualization, shareable packs and a loadout checklist. Annual billing takes 25% off, which makes it $21 a month. That's still more than Cargo Optimizer Enterprise for the year, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. The 7-day trial unlocks every Business feature with no credit card, and Business adds multi-user orgs, multi-truck packs, the advanced importer, API access and SSO.
Cargo Optimizer is a Windows install, Truck Packer runs in any browser
Source: Cargo Optimizer, Windows editions and Cargo Optimizer for Mac
The full product is a Windows desktop app with a local database, and the Network edition keeps that database on a server PC. There are smaller Mac, iPad and iPhone apps, but they're separate products with tighter limits, and the Mac app hasn't been updated since January 2021. Professional takes up to 100 cargo sizes per shipment and Enterprise takes 150. Truck Packer opens at app.truckpacker.com on any computer, tablet or phone with nothing to install. I'm a FOH engineer who planned trailer packs in Excel, SketchUp and chalk on the dock floor for years, and I built it so someone new can pick it up on day one.
Cargo Optimizer picks the container and stacks by rule, and AutoPack doesn't yet
Source: Cargo Optimizer, Enterprise load options
This is where Cargo Optimizer is ahead. It handles boxes, pallets and cylinders in sea and air containers, trucks and reefers, and it can pick the best container, work out how many you need, and load pallets first and then load those pallets into the container. Items can carry a max stack, nothing on top or must be on the floor, Enterprise allows up to 24 orientations, and load order follows a sequence number. It also draws a weight distribution chart with corner weights and marks the center of gravity in 3D. Truck Packer's AutoPack is a space solver without stack limits, bottom-only rules or unload order yet. We show weight per container and a weight view, and axle and kingpin weights are in progress.
Cargo Optimizer prints the plan, Truck Packer sends a link
Source: Cargo Optimizer, Enterprise reports and Truck Packer, Changelog
Cargo Optimizer gives the loader printed reports: a step-by-step load plan, cargo positions and a manifest, with images saved as BMP or JPEG. For a PDF, the vendor points you to a third-party print-to-PDF tool. Truck Packer's Crew View is a public link with the plan, notes and a shared checklist, and it opens on any phone with no account. Since v0.10.2 the share button also makes a QR code for the dock. Every container still gets its own PDF if you want one on the wall.
Both import Excel, and only Truck Packer has an API
Source: Cargo Optimizer, Windows editions and Truck Packer, Pricing
Cargo Optimizer imports and exports Excel files, and Enterprise adds XML. I couldn't find an API or an ERP connection on its site. Truck Packer Pro imports CSV, and the Business importer also reads XLSX and dimensions packed into one column like 48x24x30. Business includes a REST API, so a WMS or your own script can build a pack without anyone typing. For road cases, the manufacturer library has thousands of real cases you can drop in without measuring.
Cargo Optimizer is cheaper, Truck Packer is easier to hand to a crew
Source: Cargo Optimizer, Order and Truck Packer, Pricing
If one planner at a Windows PC needs the solver to pick containers and follow stacking rules, Cargo Optimizer Enterprise at €129 a year is a lot of solver for the money. Truck Packer costs more, but it builds the same 3D load plan on any device and puts it on every phone on the dock without an install or an account. Try both on the same load and see which plan your crew can actually follow.
Got a load to plan this week? Log in to Truck Packer and pack it.
