Short answer: McLeod PowerBroker is the enterprise benchmark for freight brokerage software: 40 years in the market, 1,200+ companies on McLeod products, deep accounting and EDI, scripting (FlowLogix) to automate almost any process, and AI tools added in 2025. It is priced on request and typically takes months to implement. Polt is an AI-native broker TMS with published pricing from $1,199 a month and automation included from day one. Large brokerages with complex finance and IT requirements choose McLeod. Growing brokerages that want to go live quickly with AI built in choose Polt.
At a glance
Polt | McLeod PowerBroker | |
|---|---|---|
Built for | Freight brokers and 3PLs | Brokerage and logistics firms, part of a suite that also serves carriers, private fleets and LTL |
Track record | Founded 2025 | 40+ years, 1,200+ companies served across McLeod products |
Pricing | Published: $1,199/month for 200 loads, $2,899 for 500, $5,999 for 1,100 | Not published; quoted per customer |
Users | Unlimited | Per contract |
Implementation | Dedicated onboarding | Multi-month implementations are typical |
Load intake | Loads built from tender emails and documents, included | AI tender-email import announced in version 25.2 (Dec 2025); EDI with images |
Carrier sourcing | Freight matching across network, Highway and load boards; Truckstop posting | Carrier Sales Board, waterfall tendering, Capacity Creator (ML on carrier emails), DAT and Truckstop rate data |
Automation | Automatic shipment alerts (double broker, detention, delays, lost signal), FMCSA and Highway checks on every bid | FlowLogix scripting for custom workflows, max-buy calculation, SMS status updates |
AI | Included in every plan | RespondAI inbox assistant, AI rate quoting, AI integration for logistics workflows |
Back office | Rates and accessorials, commissions, claims, open API | Full invoicing, settlements, factoring control, multi-profile accounting |
Integrations | Truckstop, Descartes MacroPoint, Descartes MyCarrierPortal, Highway, Telegram, open API, EDI | Large partner ecosystem including Greenscreens, DAT, Truckstop, EDI |
From public vendor pages and trade press (Heavy Duty Trucking, Dec 2025; FreightWaves), November 2026.
Pricing and implementation
McLeod does not publish prices. Third-party roundups describe the cost as custom and substantial, and implementations as multi-month. That is normal for an enterprise system with full accounting and custom scripting, and it is the right trade-off for a brokerage with a finance team and an IT owner.
Polt publishes its tiers: $1,199 a month for 200 loads, $2,899 for 500, $5,999 for 1,100, custom above 1,500, with unlimited users and AI included. Onboarding is dedicated and far shorter.
If you need a quote to compare, ask McLeod for the all-in first-year cost including implementation, and put it next to twelve months of the Polt tier that covers your volume.
Automation and AI
McLeod has added AI on top of a mature platform: RespondAI prioritises inbound messages and drafts replies, AI tender-email import reads unstructured tenders into orders, AI-assisted rate quoting, and Capacity Creator turns carrier emails into capacity records. FlowLogix lets a brokerage script nearly any process, which is powerful and needs someone to own it.
Polt was built around the same jobs: tender emails and documents become loads, carriers are checked on every bid, shipments raise alerts, freight matching runs from inside the shipment. There is nothing to script; the trade-off is less customisation.
Back office
This is McLeod’s strongest ground. PowerBroker’s invoicing and Order Payables workspaces cover settlements, factoring control, multi-profile accounting, bulk processing and cash visibility. Polt handles rates, accessorials, commissions and claims and connects to accounting through its open API, with QuickBooks on the roadmap. A brokerage that runs its books inside the TMS should weigh this heavily.
Who should pick which
Pick McLeod PowerBroker if: you are a large brokerage with a finance team, you want accounting inside the TMS, you have people to own FlowLogix scripting and a multi-month rollout, and a long vendor track record matters more than entry price.
Pick Polt if: you want to go live in weeks, you want AI load building and carrier vetting included rather than configured, you want published pricing with unlimited users, and your accounting can stay in a dedicated system.
See Polt on one of your own loads
Comparison based on public product pages and trade press reviewed in November 2026. Confirm current terms with each vendor.
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