One dollar per load. Everything included.
Keelway is freight broker AI priced on the unit you actually care about: a load. One posted load through Keelway is one dollar — no matter how many carrier replies it pulls, how many seats are on the desk, or how many check-calls the AI runs against it. First 50 loads are free.
- ✓Gmail-native carrier email triage
- ✓FMCSA trust scoring on every inbound reply
- ✓Rate extraction across all 12 carrier email formats
- ✓Per-load carrier ranking (top 5 surfaced)
- ✓Double-broker and chameleon-carrier detection
- ✓Email domain spoofing detection
- ✓TMS write-back: Tai, McLeod, Aljex, Revenova, Turvo, Rose Rocket
- ✓AI voice check-call agent
- ✓Delivery geofence + ETA drift alerts
- ✓Detention risk + dwell-time alerts
- ✓Rate percentile benchmarking
- ✓Capacity matching across your carrier book
- ✓Unlimited broker seats
- ✓Unlimited inbound and outbound emails
- ✓Standard support — under 4-hour response
What counts as a load?
A load is one shipment you post and run through Keelway. If you post the same load to DAT and Truckstop and replies land in the same inbox, that is still one load. If a load falls through and gets re-posted, the re-post is a new load — the original already cleared. Bookings count once. Cancellations do not double-bill.
We meter loads, not effort. A load that pulls 5 carrier replies costs $1. A load that pulls 80 replies, runs through 4 ranking rounds, triggers 6 AI check-calls, and posts 3 delivery alerts also costs $1. The whole point of $1 per load is that it gives the coordinator permission to run every single load through Keelway — not just the ones where it feels worth the click.
How $1 per load compares to Parade.ai
Parade.ai does not publish pricing. Figures below are directional public estimates from broker community forums and analyst reports — contact Parade for current pricing. Keelway figures are exact published rates.
| Feature | Keelway | Parade.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $1 per load — usage-based | Enterprise contract — multi-year typical |
| Starting cost | $0 (first 50 loads free) | Starts ~$3K+ / mo (public estimates) |
| Cost at 200 loads / mo | $200 / mo | Same enterprise contract |
| Cost at 1,000 loads / mo | $1,000 / mo | Same enterprise contract |
| Seat fees | None — unlimited seats | Often per-seat in addition to base |
| Per-email / per-reply fees | None | Varies by contract |
| Min. contract | Month-to-month | Multi-year typical |
| Inbound carrier email triage | Included | Not a product focus |
| FMCSA trust scoring | Included on every reply | Not a product focus |
| TMS write-back | Included — 6 TMS supported | Enterprise partnerships |
| AI voice check-calls | Included | Yes — CoDriver flagship |
| Outbound capacity sourcing | Not built | Yes — core product |
| Implementation time | Under 1 week | 4–12 weeks typical |
Full feature comparison: Parade.ai alternative · Keelway vs Parade (deep dive) · vs Drumkit
Why $1 per load instead of per-seat?
Most freight broker AI tools charge per seat — a fixed monthly fee per coordinator on the desk. That model is built around enterprise buyers with predictable headcount, not around an SMB brokerage that ramps from 200 loads in February to 800 loads in May. A per-seat plan punishes you when you hire and gives you no relief when volume drops.
$1 per load is the inverse. It scales with the freight you actually move, not with the size of the team you keep on payroll. Slow week? You pay less. Produce season? Each extra load costs exactly $1 more. The line item on your P&L moves in lockstep with the line items it is meant to support.
Why everything is included at $1
We considered tiers — Pilot at $0.50/load with no TMS write-back, Growth at $1.00/load with everything, Scale at $1.50/load with custom heuristics. We threw it out. Tiered pricing pushes coordinators to skip features that catch fraud (the trust score is usually behind a paywall) and creates support overhead for an SMB brokerage. At $1, you get every feature on every load, including the ones that flag a chameleon carrier on a Friday afternoon booking.
The math at SMB scale
A brokerage running 200 loads a month pays Keelway $200/month. Most SMB brokers spend 20–30 minutes per load reading carrier replies and cross-referencing FMCSA data; Keelway compresses that to 3–5 minutes. At 200 loads, that recovers roughly 60 hours of coordinator time per month for $200 — about $3 per hour saved, against a coordinator wage that is usually 10–15× higher.
The math at mid-market scale
A 1,500-load/month brokerage pays $1,500/month. That is roughly what a single mid-tier seat license on most enterprise broker AI platforms costs — except those tools quote at five figures per month for the full feature set, plus seat fees, plus per-integration fees. At $1/load, the same brokerage gets all of it for the cost of one seat elsewhere.
Volume past 5,000 loads / month
The $1/load price holds up to 5,000 loads/month. Brokerages running more than that — typically the mid-to-upper tier of the $80M+ revenue band — get negotiated rates that drop below $1. Talk to us if you are at that scale; we will quote on the demo call.
Free tier? Free trial?
First 50 loads are free, no card required. After that, every load is $1. There is no separate forever-free tier — the goal of the 50-load free trial is to get a coordinator using Keelway on real data fast, not to support indefinite tire-kicking.
What about carriers?
Carriers pay nothing. The carrier portal, the response automation, the rate proposal templates — all free for the carrier side. Keelway is monetized entirely from the broker per-load fee. See Keelway for Carriers for what the carrier-side product looks like.
SMB vs. enterprise — the honest version
If your brokerage does $50M+ in freight and your biggest pain is outbound carrier sourcing — calling carriers before loads are posted to lock in capacity — Parade is a real option. We have a detailed comparison here. Keelway is built for the $5M–$80M brokerage where the inbox is the constraint, not sourcing. If you are reading 40 carrier replies manually and booking from gut feel, that is the problem Keelway solves — and the $1/load model makes it cheap enough to run on every load, not just the strategic ones.
Also worth considering: how Keelway compares to Drumkit if you are evaluating tools in the freight broker automation space, and the carrier email automation product page for the full feature breakdown.
Frequently asked questions
How does $1 per load pricing actually work?+
You pay $1 for every load you run through Keelway. A 'load' is one posted shipment — it does not matter how many carrier replies that load attracts (5, 40, or 100), it is still $1. Bookings count once. Cancellations and re-posts of the same load do not double-bill.
Is there a free trial?+
Yes. Your first 50 loads are free. No card required to start the trial. After 50 loads we ask for a card; if you keep posting, you keep paying $1 per load. If a load month is light, you pay less. There is no minimum monthly spend.
What is included at $1 per load?+
Everything. Carrier email triage in your Gmail, FMCSA trust scoring on every reply, rate extraction across all 12 carrier email formats, per-load carrier ranking, double-broker and chameleon-carrier flags, TMS write-back to Tai / McLeod / Aljex / Revenova / Turvo / Rose Rocket, AI voice check-calls, delivery geofence alerts, ETA drift detection, and rate percentile benchmarking. No upsells, no premium tiers gating the features that catch fraud.
Are there per-seat, per-email, or per-carrier-reply fees?+
No. Add as many broker seats as you want — they are free. We do not charge per inbound email, per outbound email, per carrier reply, per check-call, or per alert. The only meter is loads posted. If a coordinator forwards 200 emails about one load, that is still $1.
How does $1 per load compare to Parade.ai?+
Parade.ai does not publish pricing publicly. Based on broker community discussions, Parade is enterprise-priced — typically multi-year contracts in the low-to-mid five figures per month for full deployments. At $1 per load, a brokerage covering 1,000 loads a month pays Keelway $1,000 a month. The same brokerage on a Parade contract is paying multiples of that. See the full comparison.
What counts as a 'load'?+
A load is one shipment you post to your inbox or feed into Keelway. If you post the same load to two load boards (DAT and Truckstop) and both pull replies into the same inbox, that is still one load. If a load gets re-posted because it fell through the first time, the re-post is a new load (the first one already cleared).
What if I want to invite my whole team?+
Bring everyone. Seats are unlimited and free — only loads are metered. Most brokerages add their entire desk in week one because the more eyes on triage, the more value the team gets out of every load.
Can I switch to monthly billing if my volume is lumpy?+
Billing is monthly by default and based on actual loads run. If you ran 412 loads last month, you pay $412 next invoice. If you run 0, you pay 0. Annual prepay is available with a discount for brokerages that want predictable invoicing — talk to us on the demo.
Is there a volume discount for high-volume brokerages?+
Yes. The first 5,000 loads/month are $1 each. Past 5,000 loads/month we negotiate volume rates. If your brokerage runs 10,000+ loads a month, contact us — we have an enterprise plan that gets you below $1 per load.
Does Keelway charge carriers anything?+
No. Carriers using the Keelway carrier portal pay nothing — no per-load fee, no percentage of revenue, no factoring lock-in. Keelway is funded entirely from broker per-load fees.
Start running loads through Keelway today.
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What Keelway does to every inbound carrier reply — rate extraction, trust scoring, ranking.
The full platform overview — triage, TMS write-back, check-calls, delivery alerts.
Why SMB brokerages choose Keelway over Parade for inbox-native carrier triage.
Channel, buyer segment, pricing model, and TMS depth compared head to head.