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Roadmark vs Descartes Aljex
Descartes Aljex is a publicly priced cloud TMS for brokers and 3PLs; Roadmark adds AI agents that draft the work and runs several companies in one system.
The short answer
Which one fits you?
Roadmark is the better choice if
- You want AI agents to draft quotes, carrier cover, tracking updates and invoices for a person to approve, with the numbers and the rule behind each draft shown.
- You run more than one company or division and want them in one system with separate books.
- You broker a lot of LTL and want carrier rating side by side and invoice audit against the quote built in, not added through partner integrations.
- You run your own trucks as well as broker freight, or plan to.
Descartes Aljex is the better choice if
- You run a small brokerage and want a lower entry price for a whole TMS: Aljex's Essential plan is $699 a month for 5 users. All prices on this page are in US dollars.
- You already use Descartes products such as MacroPoint and want your broker TMS from the same vendor, with MacroPoint tracking from the same parent company.
Roadmark and Descartes Aljex, row by row.
| Descartes Aljex | Roadmark | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A cloud-based TMS for freight brokers and 3PLs. | A TMS with AI agents for carriers, brokers and groups of companies, across every mode. |
| Parent company | Descartes Systems Group, a public supply-chain software company, which acquired Aljex for $32.4 million in February 2018. | Independent. |
| Drafts routine work with AI agents | PartialAutomates order entry and carrier workflows (Aljex cites up to 25% higher productivity), and lists AI and automation integrations with Vooma, Fleetworks and Parade Co-Driver on its Professional and Enterprise plans. | YesAgents draft quotes, carrier cover, tracking updates and invoices, with the numbers and rule shown, for a person to approve. |
| Native visibility and tracking | YesMacroPoint integration from the same parent company: included on Essential and available on Professional and Enterprise. | YesConnects to project44 or FourKites; the tracking agent drafts ETA updates for approval. |
| Runs beside your current TMS | NoBuilt to be the brokerage's own system of record. | YesBooked quotes become orders in Aljex, McLeod, TMW, TruckMate or your own TMS, with stops, rate and references on them, and status comes back. Beside Aljex, it works through the Aljex Live API. |
| Runs several companies in one system | —Not described on aljex.com, which mentions agent networks. Ask how legally separate companies and their books are set up. | YesMultiple companies and divisions in one platform, with separate records, internal rates and access controls. |
| LTL rating and carrier invoice audit | PartialLive LTL rates from carriers through an integration, and freight audit through Triumph Audit (HubTran), both listed as available on Professional and Enterprise. | YesRates your LTL carriers side by side on density and class, and audits each carrier invoice against the quote. |
| Carrier vetting and fraud checks | YesThrough integrations: MyCarrierPortal on every plan, plus one of DAT Carrier Watch, DAT Onboarding, RMIS or SaferWatch on Professional and Enterprise; Highway is also listed. | YesVets carriers and checks for fraud at onboarding, then re-checks every day; a lapsed policy blocks the tender. |
| Load boards | YesIntegrates with 123Loadboard, DAT, Truckstop and Direct Freight (one board on Essential, two on Professional and Enterprise), plus a private load board on Professional and Enterprise. | YesPosts loads to DAT, Truckstop and many other load boards. |
| Customers and carriers on the same shipment | YesUnlimited customer and carrier portals on Professional and Enterprise. | YesA shared workspace where shippers, brokers and carriers work on the same shipment, each seeing their part. |
| Works in your AI assistant | —Not described on aljex.com; ask. | YesClaude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot, through MCP. |
| Pricing | Published on aljex.com: Essential at $699/month (5 users), Professional from $999/month (15 users), Enterprise from $2,375/month, plus a one-time setup or implementation fee. | Roadmark starts from $499 USD/month with unlimited users. Start with one workflow beside your current TMS and confirm the setup and price with our team. |
Descartes Aljex and Roadmark both work for freight brokers, but they're aimed at different shapes of problem.
Aljex is a cloud TMS for freight brokers and 3PLs with more than 25 years behind it, and Descartes Systems Group, a public supply-chain software company, acquired it in February 2018 for $32.4 million (Descartes, Aljex). It's built to scale from a small startup brokerage to a large one, and its higher plans add carrier onboarding integrations, customer and carrier portals, and LTL rating and AI tools through partners (aljex.com).
Roadmark is a different kind of system for a broker: instead of a person typing every field, AI agents draft the quote, the carrier cover, the tracking update and the invoice, showing the numbers and the rule behind each draft, for someone on your team to approve (see /brokers). It rates LTL across your carriers and audits each carrier invoice against the quote, vets carriers at onboarding, posts loads to many boards, and gives shippers and carriers a shared workspace on the same shipment. It also plans your own trucks and runs several companies or divisions in one system with separate books.
Where Aljex has the edge
Aljex's entry plan is lower for a small brokerage: Essential is $699 a month for 5 users, and every plan and what it includes is on its site. And if you already rely on Descartes products, Aljex's tie to Descartes MacroPoint gives it tracking from the same vendor.
Where Roadmark has the edge
If the bottleneck is the routine work itself (pricing dozens of quotes a day, chasing carrier cover, drafting invoices on POD), Roadmark's agents draft that work for a person to check rather than type. If your brokerage also runs trucks, Roadmark plans them in the same system. And if it's part of a group with more than one company or division, Roadmark keeps them in one system with separate books.
Running the two together
Roadmark starts from $499 USD/month with unlimited users. Start with one workflow beside your current TMS and confirm the setup and price with our team. See pricing .
Descartes, Aljex, MacroPoint, MyCarrierPortal, DAT, RMIS, SaferWatch, Highway, Truckstop, 123Loadboard, Direct Freight, Triumph, HubTran, Vooma, Fleetworks and Parade are trademarks of their respective owners. Roadmark is not affiliated with them.
How we compared
Every comparison on this site is written the same way, so you can check it.
- Their own wordsFacts about the other product come from its public documentation, pricing and release notes, listed under Sources.
- What it does, not a scoreEach row says what the product does for a carrier, broker or group, not a number out of ten.
- Both sidesEvery page also says when the other product is the better choice.
- Dated and correctedThe review date moves only when every row has been checked again. If something is out of date, tell us.
Sources
- Descartes Acquires Aljexdescartes.com
- Descartes acquires Aljex Software for $32.4M — CCJ Digitalccjdigital.com
- Descartes Systems Group Acquires Aljex Software — Descartes Aljexaljex.com
- Why Aljex — Descartes Aljexaljex.com
- TMS Software Pricing & Plans — Descartes Aljexaljex.com
- TMS Integrations & Platform — Descartes Aljexaljex.com
- Freight Broker TMS Software — Descartes Aljexaljex.com
- LTL Brokerage — Descartes Aljexaljex.com
- Descartes: Aljex Live APIaljex-docs.descartes.com
Questions about Roadmark and Descartes Aljex
Is Roadmark a replacement for Descartes Aljex?
Not necessarily. A brokerage can start with quoting in Roadmark and keep the rest in Aljex. Roadmark runs beside Aljex through the Aljex Live API, which Descartes documents for creating shipments and processing them through their life cycle: booked quotes become shipments in Aljex with the stops, rate and references on them, status comes back, and dispatch doesn't change. See /switching.
How much does Descartes Aljex cost?
Aljex publishes three plans on its own site: Essential at $699 a month for 5 users, Professional from $999 a month for 15 users, and Enterprise from $2,375 a month, plus a one-time setup or implementation fee.
How much does Roadmark cost?
Roadmark starts from $499 USD/month with unlimited users. Start with one workflow beside your current TMS and confirm the setup and price with our team. Compare the required workflows, integrations and implementation scope when evaluating other vendors.
Does Descartes Aljex support multiple companies or a group structure?
Aljex's own materials describe a scalable system for brokers of all sizes and mention agent networks, but don't describe running legally separate companies with their own books in one system; ask Descartes. Roadmark supports multiple companies and divisions in one system with separate books, natively.
Bring last week's loads.
Send us a week of quote requests or loads. In the call, we show you what Roadmark would have drafted, next to what your team did.
- Your lanes, customers and carriers, not a canned demo
- Alongside your current TMS, or in place of it
- Where to start, and what it would cost