Why we built DropPilot instead of using Onfleet
A courier texted me at 11pm last year. His route had been planned. Traffic had other ideas. He needed to know, in real time, whether his next stop was still fifteen minutes away or forty. That message is why DropPilot exists.
The moment we realised what was missing
Onfleet is solid software. It's been around since 2014, it's well funded, and thousands of delivery operations depend on it. When we started MRVL Technologies, we looked hard at what was already out there. Most route planning tools fall into two camps: either they're glorified address books with basic sorting, or they're enterprise platforms with implementation fees that cost more than some couriers earn in a month.
What we kept hearing from drivers and small fleet managers wasn't "we need prettier maps." It was "our plan breaks the moment traffic hits" and "we're spending more time logging deliveries than actually delivering." Onfleet solves this, but their pricing and interface felt built for operations with dedicated dispatchers. If you're a one-person logistics outfit or a driver managing your own rounds, there's friction.
We asked ourselves a different question: what if we built for the person holding the phone, not the person sitting behind a desk?
Live traffic that actually matters
DropPilot pulls real-time traffic data from Google Directions API. This isn't a nice feature, it's the core. When we tested this against static routing, the difference was staggering. A round planned at 9am in London's west end has completely different ETAs by 10:30. We refresh every few seconds, and if you drift far enough off route, DropPilot recalculates automatically.
The maths behind it matters too. We use nearest-neighbour plus 2-opt optimisation. That sounds technical, but what it means is the app isn't just sorting by distance, it's actually testing sequences and picking the one that gets you done fastest. It's the difference between a route that works in theory and one that works when you're sitting in Hammersmith traffic at 2pm.
Onfleet does this, and does it well, but they target larger operations. Their interface assumes you're dispatching dozens of drivers. DropPilot started from the assumption that you might be both the dispatcher and the driver.
Proof of delivery that fits reality
A restaurant manager emailed us. She was using another app to track her delivery cyclists. The app had proof of delivery, technically. But accepting a photo took three taps and a confirmation screen, and her couriers were getting frustrated between busy lunch shifts. That single message shaped how we built POD capture.
DropPilot lets you grab a signature, a photo, or typed notes. One tap. Done. No confirmation theatre. The data syncs immediately so the restaurant manager can show her customer what happened, when, and where. No excuses, no delays, no admin overhead.
Onfleet's proof of delivery works. It's comprehensive. But it's layered with features for bigger teams, and that sometimes makes simple tasks feel elaborate.
Bulk upload and team dispatch without the learning curve
We added CSV bulk address import because we watched a dispatcher manually enter 47 addresses into a competitors app. Forty-seven. It took him an hour. One of our beta users tried DropPilot the same day. Sixty addresses. Five minutes. He texted back: "This is how it should work."
For team dispatch, you can add drivers, assign rounds, and track them live. If you're managing five or ten couriers, this is straightforward. If you're managing a hundred, you'd probably want custom integration and a dedicated account manager. That's where Onfleet's enterprise tier shines, and we're honest about that.
We focused on the sweet spot: operations too big for a spreadsheet, too small for a six-month implementation project.
Pricing that doesn't punish you for starting
Here's what happened when we launched. We had three tier options in our head. But we talked to drivers and small courier services, and they all said the same thing: "Can I just try it for free?" So our free plan exists. It's real, not crippled. Five rounds per month, five stops per round. Enough to know whether it solves your problem.
Beyond that, Plus is £4.99 per month. Pro is £12.99. Team for dispatchers managing multiple drivers is £49. No contracts. No CAC recovery tax hidden in month two.
Onfleet's pricing is private, which usually means it's expensive relative to the market. That's not criticism, it's reality. Their customers get hands-on support and enterprise guarantees. That costs money.
What we're not trying to be
DropPilot isn't Uber. We don't take a cut of your deliveries, match customers to drivers, or sit between you and your profit. You bring your own jobs. We help you run them efficiently.
We're also not trying to be everything. We don't do inventory management, customer databases, or accounting integrations. Onfleet does more of those things, and does them well. If you need a full ecosystem, that's a reason to look at them seriously.
What we've built is something narrower and deeper: the best possible experience for actually planning and executing delivery rounds, with the least possible friction between the problem and the solution.
So should you use DropPilot or Onfleet? That depends on whether you're optimising for simplicity and speed, or for comprehensive fleet infrastructure. Most of our users are people who got tired of paying for features they didn't use or spending too long on setup. If that's you, we think we've built something worth your time. If you're already thriving with something else, we're not here to evangelize. But if you're frustrated, if a better route planner might genuinely save you an hour a week, isn't it worth five minutes to find out?