Aljex pricing and Alvys pricing for small freight brokerages, and the follow-up work neither does

Short answer: Aljex publishes its prices and Alvys does not. Aljex lists Essential at $699 a month for 5 users, Professional from $999 a month for 15 users and Enterprise from $2,375 a month, all with unlimited shipments. Alvys quotes Growth and Scale by load volume, charges no per-seat fee and lists only a $100 a month Developer and API add-on. Both figures below were read from the vendors' own pricing pages on October 31, 2026.

We sell a flat rate AI agent, so we have an interest in how this comes out. Check the vendor page before you sign, because TMS pricing changes often.

What Aljex and Alvys publish

Aljex states a one-time setup or implementation fee on every plan but does not print the amount. Alvys says it has no setup fees, no per-seat charges and no long-term contracts, and offers a 14 day trial on Foundations. We could not read the pricing page of Tai TMS, which did not render for us, so it is left out rather than guessed.

How much does a TMS cost a small freight brokerage a year?

On Aljex the arithmetic is simple. Essential is $699 a month, which is $8,388 a year before the unpublished implementation fee, for up to 5 users. A brokerage with 8 people lands on Professional at $999 a month or more, which is $11,988 a year or more. Because shipments are unlimited, a busy month does not raise the bill.

On Alvys the bill follows volume, not headcount. That suits a brokerage with many users and modest load counts and punishes the reverse. We cannot give you a number, since the plan prices are not published, so ask for a quote at your monthly load count and ask what the quote includes in EDI connections.

Does a TMS do the follow-up around the load?

It records it. The system knows the shipment, the carrier, the rate and the invoice. It does not usually read last week's quotes and ask the shipper again, notice that a carrier insurance certificate lapses in nine days, or write the second reminder on a freight bill at day 45. Those tasks fall to whoever has time, and they are the cash you are waiting on.

An AI agent sits beside the TMS. Briefed once, it follows up open quotes, tracks carrier documents, assembles invoice packets with the rate confirmation and proof of delivery, and drafts reminders on aged freight bills for your approval. WorkAgent is $149 a month flat or $888 billed yearly, with no per-user or per-load fee. The full job list is on our page about AI for freight brokers, and plans are on AI worker pricing.

A worked example for an eight person brokerage

Take six reps and dispatchers and two owners. On Aljex that is Professional at $999 a month or more, $11,988 a year. Add the agent at $888 billed yearly and the stack is $12,876 a year or more before the implementation fee. If the agent gets one freight bill paid 30 days sooner or one detention charge billed that was being forgotten, it is easy to see where the $888 goes. We do not claim a recovery rate, because we have not measured one for brokers.

Which should a small brokerage buy first?

Buy the TMS first. It holds the loads and the carrier records everything else depends on. Choose Aljex if you want a published price you can budget today, and Alvys if your headcount is high and your load count is modest. Add the agent when the pain is follow-up and collections rather than load booking.

If receivables are the bigger worry, a single-purpose tool such as invoice chasing software for accounts receivable covers that one job, while an agent covers quotes and carrier paperwork too.

What to ask before you sign a TMS contract

The monthly figure is rarely the whole cost, and a small brokerage feels the extras more than a large one. Ask the rep for these in writing.

• The implementation fee. Aljex states one on every plan and prints no amount. Ask whether it covers data migration from your current system or only configuration.
• Training and support hours. Find out what is included and whether phone support is a higher tier.
• EDI connections. A shipper that requires EDI can force an upgrade. Aljex lists 2 customer EDI connections on Enterprise, and Alvys includes 2 partners on Growth and 5 on Scale with per-partner pricing above that.
• Carrier onboarding and compliance checks. Some of these are separate add-ons or third-party fees. Ask which are bundled.
• Accounting integration. Confirm that invoices and carrier payables sync with QuickBooks or whatever your bookkeeper uses, and whether that costs extra.
• Exit terms. Ask how you export your loads and carrier records if you leave, and in what format.

The last one matters most. A brokerage that can export clean load and invoice history can bring in any other tool later, including an agent that reads those exports to build its follow-up lists.

Where the unbilled money usually hides

Brokerages rarely lose margin on the rate. They lose it in small items that nobody owns: a detention charge that was never billed because the timestamp sat in a delivery receipt, an invoice sent without a proof of delivery and bounced for a week, a freight bill that ages quietly because the reminder was nobody's job. A TMS reports these when you ask. It does not raise them on its own schedule in your own voice, which is the gap an agent fills.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Aljex cost?

Aljex lists Essential at $699 a month for 5 users, Professional from $999 a month for 15 users and Enterprise from $2,375 a month. Every plan includes unlimited shipments and carries a one-time implementation fee whose amount is not published.

How much does Alvys cost?

Alvys quotes Growth and Scale by load volume and prints no plan price. It states there are no per-seat charges, no setup fees and no long-term contracts, and lists a $100 a month Developer and API add-on.

Can AI replace a TMS for a freight broker?

No. A TMS holds loads, carriers and rates. An agent handles the follow-up around them, such as quote reminders, carrier document expiry and freight bill chasing. Most brokerages need both.