Why we built DropPilot instead of using OptimoRoute
A courier called me last March. He'd been using OptimoRoute for two years, paid the monthly fee without complaint, and then one morning his route algorithm sent him fifteen miles in the wrong direction with no way to correct it mid-round. He couldn't reach support. He lost an hour and three customer goodwill points. He asked if we had anything better. We didn't, so we built it.
The problem wasn't the idea of route planning, it was the execution
When you're a small team at MRVL, you don't build something just because a competitor exists. You build it because you've watched enough drivers waste enough time on tools that claim to solve their problem but don't quite.
OptimoRoute does what it says. It plans routes. It's been around for years. But here's what we saw when we talked to drivers: they weren't asking for fancier algorithms. They were asking for routes that actually made sense in the real world, not on a spreadsheet. They wanted to see live traffic. They wanted the app to notice when they went off course and suggest a faster way back. They wanted to photograph a signature at a doorstep without fumbling between three separate screens. And they wanted to know, right now, if they'd actually make their next delivery on time.
OptimoRoute can do some of these things. But each feels like a separate problem the company solved at different times, bolted together in the interface. We decided to think about the job differently. What does a driver actually need, moment by moment, from the time they leave the depot to the moment they return?
Real traffic beats perfect maths
DropPilot uses nearest-neighbour optimisation with 2-opt improvements. That's not as flashy as some of the more complex algorithms out there, but it's honest. It works well for most delivery rounds, and it runs fast enough to recalculate on the fly.
The real difference is what happens next. We pull live traffic data from Google Directions API. Every few minutes, we refresh your ETAs. And here's the thing that matters: if you deviate from the planned route (you took a wrong turn, or a customer wasn't home, or the road was closed), DropPilot detects it and reroutes you intelligently. Not some generic "go back to the start" instruction. A new optimised route from where you actually are right now.
That courier from last March? He called back after two weeks. He said, "I've never seen an app tell me I'm off course and actually give me a better way forward. Usually it just gets angry." It's not complicated. It's just what drivers need.
Proof of delivery shouldn't feel like paperwork
This is where we broke from the template. OptimoRoute and similar tools treat proof of delivery like a checkbox. You sign a tablet. You upload a photo. It goes into a database. Done.
We asked dispatchers what they actually need. They said: sometimes a signature, sometimes a photo, sometimes just a note that the customer wasn't there. Different scenarios, different proof. And we asked drivers what friction feels like. They said fumbling between a route map, a signature screen, and a photo upload while standing in the rain holding three packages.
In DropPilot, you finish a stop, and you can capture everything right there. Signature, photo, notes, all in one place. It doesn't feel like switching between tools. It feels like finishing the job.
We kept the things that matter to dispatchers
Not every user is behind the wheel. If you're managing a fleet of ten drivers, or fifty, you need different tools. You need to see where everyone is. You need to assign addresses in bulk without typing each one individually. You need to pull CSV files from your system and let the app handle the routing.
DropPilot has a dispatch interface. You upload a CSV, the system optimises routes for your team, and each driver gets their round assigned to their phone. You can create a round once and reuse it weekly if your deliveries follow a pattern. And you get analytics on how your team performed: time on route, stops per hour, deviation events, completion rates.
We didn't reinvent this. We just made it work without requiring a PhD in logistics software to understand.
Pricing that reflects how people actually use it
OptimoRoute has packaging that assumes everyone needs everything. We built DropPilot knowing that a solo courier needs something completely different from a logistics team with five vans.
Start free. Five rounds a month, five stops per round. No card required. That's genuinely free, not a trial with dark patterns. If you're doing more volume, Plus is £4.99 a month for thirty rounds and fifty stops. Pro is £12.99 a month, unlimited rounds and stops. If you're dispatching for a team, Team tier is £49 a month and includes team management, bulk assignment, and analytics. Enterprise is custom, for larger fleets.
What matters is that you only pay for what you use. And you can test the actual product without commitment.
The honest thing about alternatives
I'm not going to claim DropPilot is objectively better than every other routing app. Some teams work with OptimoRoute and they're fine. Some use Routific or other tools and they've built their workflow around them. That's OK.
But if you're a driver or dispatcher who feels like your current app is solving half the problem and creating new friction elsewhere, we built DropPilot for you. If you want live traffic that actually changes your route, not just suggests a different strategy. If you want proof of delivery to feel frictionless instead of procedural. If you want to test something without signing a contract.
That courier still uses DropPilot. He's saved about forty minutes a week, by his count. He doesn't call about it anymore because there's nothing to fix.
What matters more to you in routing software: the elegance of the algorithm, or whether it actually saves you time on the road?