Routella vs Circuit: flat pricing and no driver app to install
Circuit for Teams (now Spoke Dispatch) is a polished, well-established last-mile tool that bills by delivery volume and runs on a native driver app. Routella bills one flat price for the whole team, has a genuine free-forever plan, and runs drivers from a web link — with WhatsApp and multilingual tracking built in.
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Circuit (Spoke Dispatch) is the safer pick if you want a mature, app-store-proven native driver app, strong proof of delivery, and don't mind paying per delivery as you scale. Routella is the better pick if you want predictable flat pricing with no per-driver or per-stop meter, a real free plan with no trial clock, no app for drivers to install, and WhatsApp plus 195-language tracking out of the box.
Routella vs Circuit, feature by feature
A highlighted cell marks the stronger option on that row. Every cell states a fact, not a slogan.
Pricing: Routella vs Circuit
Flat team pricing: a genuine free-forever plan (no card, no time limit), then flat paid plans for the whole team — you add drivers for free. WhatsApp is a flat add-on (~$39/mo including 500 conversations, then non-expiring prepaid packs). Smart Routing and message volume are sold as prepaid packs, nothing metered.
Per-stop volume model (product renamed Circuit for Teams → Spoke Dispatch in October 2025). Three team tiers: Starter $125/mo (up to 1,000 stops, then ~$0.04/stop), Premium $200/mo (up to 2,000 stops, then ~$0.06/stop), Expert $1,000/mo (up to 12,000 stops, then ~$0.07/stop). Drivers, dispatchers and routes are unlimited; you pay for delivery volume. SMS is billed extra at Twilio rates; email notifications are free. No free-forever team plan, but the trial needs no credit card.
Figures are as of June 2026 and were cross-checked against three independent sources (Spoke's live pricing page, Capterra, and Routific). Overage rates are quoted approximately (~4c/6c/7c per stop). Circuit/Spoke can change prices at any time — always confirm current numbers on their own pricing page at spoke.com/dispatch/pricing. The cheaper $0/$10/$20 plans some sites list belong to the separate consumer Circuit Route Planner solo app, not the team product.
Where Circuit is the better choice
Where Routella wins for in-house delivery
One flat price, no per-driver or per-stop meter
Routella charges a flat price for your whole team and lets you add drivers for free. Circuit's team product bills by monthly delivery volume, so your cost rises every time you do more stops. With Routella a busy month doesn't mean a bigger bill.
A real free-forever plan, no trial clock
Routella has a genuine free plan with no credit card and no time limit — you can run real deliveries on it indefinitely. Circuit's team product (Spoke Dispatch) has no free-forever plan; it offers a free trial (no credit card) and then requires a paid tier starting at $125/mo.
No app for drivers to install
Routella drivers just open a web link (a PWA) — nothing to download, no app-store account, no sign-in friction. Circuit requires drivers to install its native app on iOS or Android. For high-churn or contractor fleets, skipping the install removes a real onboarding hurdle.
WhatsApp and 195-language tracking built in
Routella sends customer updates over WhatsApp, SMS (117 countries) and email, auto-translated, with a live tracking page in 195 languages including right-to-left scripts. Circuit has no native WhatsApp — reviewers flag this as a limitation — and relies on automatic browser/phone translation rather than a curated multilingual tracking page.
Built-in cash-on-delivery wallet
Routella includes a COD wallet for reconciling the cash your drivers collect. Circuit added COD more recently, but it's payment-recording and driver prompts on the tracking link — not a full wallet with settlements and a ledger. If cash handling matters, Routella reconciles it natively.
Routella vs Circuit — FAQ
Is Circuit better than Routella?
It depends on what you need. Circuit (now Spoke Dispatch) is better if you want a mature native driver app, established brand trust, strong proof of delivery, and you're fine paying per delivery. Routella is better if you want flat pricing with no per-stop or per-driver meter, a free-forever plan, no driver app to install, and built-in WhatsApp, multilingual tracking and a COD wallet.
How much does Circuit for Teams cost?
As of June 2026, Circuit's team product (Spoke Dispatch) bills by monthly stop volume: Starter $125/mo for up to 1,000 stops (then ~4c/stop), Premium $200/mo for up to 2,000 stops (then ~6c/stop), and Expert $1,000/mo for up to 12,000 stops (then ~7c/stop). Drivers and routes are unlimited; SMS costs extra. Always check spoke.com/dispatch/pricing for current numbers.
Does Circuit require a driver app?
Yes. Circuit/Spoke Dispatch drivers install a native app on iOS or Android to receive routes, navigate, and capture proof of delivery. Routella does not — drivers open a web link (a PWA) with nothing to download or sign into.
Is there a free Circuit alternative?
Routella has a genuine free-forever plan — no credit card, no time limit — for businesses delivering with their own drivers. Circuit's team product has no free-forever plan, only a free trial. (Circuit's separate consumer Route Planner app has a small free solo-driver tier, but that's not the team product.)
Does Circuit support WhatsApp notifications?
No. Circuit/Spoke Dispatch sends customer updates by email (free) and SMS (billed extra at Twilio rates), and reviewers cite the lack of WhatsApp as a limitation. Routella sends WhatsApp, SMS and email updates, auto-translated, with WhatsApp as a flat add-on.
About this comparison. Routella publishes and maintains this page, so we have a stake in it. We've kept Circuit's details to facts from their own public pages, checked as of June 2026. Plans and prices change — confirm the current numbers on Circuit's site before deciding.
Sources: Official Spoke Dispatch pricing page (getcircuit.com/teams/pricing redirects here) · Capterra — Spoke pricing (from $125, Free Version: No) · Spoke — "Circuit is now Spoke.com" rebrand announcement · Upper Inc. — Circuit/Spoke pricing breakdown · Spoke (Circuit) Dispatch on Google Play — native driver app
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