Truck Packer vs packVol: $28 a Month in Any Browser vs a Quote-Only Windows License
packVol is a Windows load planner sold once by quote, listed by EasyCargo at $1,008, with one of the deepest rule sets around. Truck Packer is $28 a month in any browser and puts the plan on any phone. Here's where packVol's stacking and weight rules beat us.
packVol doesn't publish a price: it's a Windows license you buy once by quote, and EasyCargo's price table lists it at $1,008. Truck Packer Pro costs $28 a month, or $252 a year billed annually, in any browser. packVol has one of the deepest rule sets of any load planner I've looked at, so the real question is whether you need those rules or a plan your crew can open on a phone.
packVol is made by Dr. Antimo Angelucci in Portogruaro, Italy, and it's been in development since 2006. Here's a straight comparison, including where it beats us.
packVol is quote-only and sold as a one-time license
Source: packVol, Order
packVol's order page doesn't list prices. You request a quote by form or email, and the license is perpetual: "Buy once, use forever," with no renewal fees. Multi-license discounts apply, including to licenses you add later. There are three editions: LITE plans one container, STANDARD handles many containers and a shared database, and DYNLOAD loads boxes onto pallets and then pallets into trucks (editions). EasyCargo's table lists packVol at $1,008, which is the only public number I could find.
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. At $252 a year, it's about a quarter of the figure EasyCargo lists for packVol, though a perpetual license you keep for five years evens that out. The 7-day trial unlocks every Business feature with no credit card. Business adds multi-user orgs, multi-truck packs, the advanced importer, API access and SSO.
packVol is a Windows install, Truck Packer runs in any browser
Source: packVol, Download
packVol is a Windows desktop app, tested from Vista through Windows 11 and Server 2022, and I couldn't find a Mac, web or mobile version. The trial is a free, fully working download: 14 days for LITE, 30 for STANDARD and 45 for DYNLOAD. The user guide says you enter whole numbers only, so 12.7 cm goes in as 127 mm. Truck Packer opens at app.truckpacker.com on any computer, tablet or phone, in imperial or metric, 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 use it on day one.
packVol has stack matrices and center of mass limits today, and Truck Packer doesn't yet
Source: packVol, Loading rules
This is where packVol is clearly ahead. It has max stack counts, max weight on top, a per-pair matrix of what can stack on what, floor-only and top-only items, allowed orientations, overhang limits and a forklift depth limit. It can cap weight per unit of length or across up to 5 sections of the container, keep the center of mass inside a target area, and handle multi-drop loads with priority and destination numbers. packVol's docs don't show an axle-load calculation. 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.
packVol hands off files, Truck Packer hands off a link
Source: packVol, Features and Truck Packer, Changelog
packVol's outputs are a PDF with step-by-step views by block, level or layer and your company logo, HTML summaries, spreadsheets, and a WebGL 3D file that opens in a browser. They're all files you send. 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, so the crew can scan the plan at the dock. Every container still gets its own PDF.
packVol links to databases over ODBC, Truck Packer has a REST API
Source: packVol, pvDLL and Truck Packer, Pricing
packVol imports and exports Excel, reads XML, and connects straight to SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, Access and AS400 over ODBC. There's also pvDLL, a Windows DLL and command-line version for building packVol into your own software. 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 anything that can make a web request can build a pack. If your load is road cases, the manufacturer library has thousands of real cases you can drop in without measuring.
Truck Packer does the same 3D load plan for $252 a year, and packVol does more rules
Source: packVol, Order and Truck Packer, Pricing
If a planner at a Windows desk needs a stacking matrix, section weight limits and a database link, packVol is a serious tool and buying it once is a fair deal. If you need a load plan built quickly and read on a phone by a crew that has never seen the software, Truck Packer does that for $28 a month with nothing to install. packVol's trial runs up to 45 days and ours is 7, so try the same load in both.
Got a load to plan this week? Log in to Truck Packer and pack it.
