Tool profile
Upper Route Planner: cost, fit and limits
Upper Route Planner is a route optimization and dispatch platform made by Upper, operating under the legal name Monocubed, Inc, that plans multi-stop routes and assigns drivers. Its AI dispatch layer scores each assignment with a confidence value. It is sold per user in four tiers and states that it was built in Canada.
What to know first
Upper stands out for describing its AI in concrete terms: assignments follow your rules, skills and capacity, each carries a confidence score and uncertain matches go to a reviewer. That AI driver assignment is only on the $89 Optimize tier, though. Cheaper tiers cover route optimization, tracking and proof of delivery, with stop limits per route from 250 to 1,500.
Upper Route Planner at a glance
| Maker | Monocubed, Inc, United States |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Free trial only |
| Entry price | $50 per user per month, or $40 billed annually (Starter) |
| API access | Yes |
| Category | Best AI Route Planning Software in 2026, rank 4 of 10 |
| Website | upperinc.com |
Who Upper Route Planner is best for
Dispatchers who want exceptions only
Upper says its AI dispatch pulls people in only for exceptions and lets a reviewer accept, change or hold an uncertain assignment, which cuts routine matching work.
Teams with skills-based jobs
The Optimize plan lists skill-based dispatch, avoidance zones and business rules, which fits service crews where only some drivers hold a certification.
Solo drivers and tiny fleets
Upper Solo lets one driver follow an optimized route from a phone, and Starter costs $40 per user per month billed annually with 10 driver profiles.
Shopify merchants
Shopify and Zapier connections are listed under Optimize and Enterprise, although the FAQ places Shopify on Professional, so confirm before relying on it.
Upper Route Planner plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $50 per user per month, or $40 billed yearly | 250 stops per route, 10 driver profiles, 1,000 address book entries, route optimization, CSV import, 6 months history and 3 photos. |
| Professional | $60 per user per month, or $48 billed yearly | 500 stops per route, 15 drivers, live GPS tracking, proof of delivery, customer notifications, time windows, recurring routes and territory management. |
| Optimize | $89 per user per month, or $71 billed yearly | 1,500 stops per route, 30 drivers, AI driver assignment, avoidance zones, business rules, driver hours tracking and 2 years of history. |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | API and webhooks, custom integrations, a dedicated success manager, custom onboarding and SLAs with 3,000 or more stops per route. |
Checked November 2026.
What Upper Route Planner does
- AI dispatch with confidence scores
- Assignment follows your rules, skills and capacity and shows a confidence score on every match. Disruptions such as no-shows or long stops update the existing plan instead of restarting it.
- Reoptimization during the day
- The plan can be adjusted after dispatch, and a revised arrival window can trigger an SMS to the customer, according to the vendor's own example on the page.
- Two driver apps
- Upper Solo serves a single driver on a phone, and Upper for Teams sends plans to phones, tracks progress and captures proof of delivery for fleets.
- Paid add-ons
- Customer SMS starts from $0.01 per text, live customer tracking is $20 per driver, capacity optimization $25 per driver and barcode scanning $50 per company.
- Optimization goals
- Optimize lets dispatchers optimize for time, distance or workload, adds loading instructions and driver hours tracking, and lists route compliance for rule-bound fleets. Capacity optimization is a separate $25 per driver add-on.
How Upper Route Planner handles your data
Upper's privacy policy names Monocubed, Inc with a contact address in Middletown, Delaware, and says it mainly processes personal data in Canada, with possible transfers outside Canada under comparable protection. It gives no retention periods beyond keeping data while a legitimate business need exists. The policy lists research, analysis and development among purposes but does not mention training AI models, so the vendor's policy was not checked for this. No security certifications were found on the pages read. Plan-level history limits range from 6 months to 2 years.
Where Upper Route Planner falls short in practice
- API only at the top. API access and webhooks sit on Enterprise. A mid-size fleet on Optimize at $89 cannot automate order import beyond what Zapier or Shopify provides on its plan.
- Inconsistent page details. The pricing page lists Shopify under Optimize in one place and Professional in another, and the Enterprise stop limit appears as both 1,500-plus and 3,000-plus.
- Per-user pricing. Upper bills per user, not per driver, so a team where several office staff need seats should recount before comparing prices against per-driver tools. Yearly billing saves 20% against the monthly rates of $50, $60 and $89.
Works with
Alternatives to Upper Route Planner
Upper Route Planner: common questions
Which Upper plan includes AI driver assignment?
AI driver assignment is listed on Optimize at $89 per user per month, or $71 billed annually. Starter and Professional cover optimization, tracking and proof of delivery but not the AI assignment layer. The 7-day trial includes Professional features, so it will not show you Optimize.
How does Upper's confidence score work?
The vendor says each assignment carries a confidence score and that uncertain matches go to a reviewer who can accept, change or hold them. The pages do not publish the scoring method or thresholds, so ask for them during a pilot.
Does Upper need a credit card for the trial?
The FAQ says the 7-day free trial needs no credit card and includes Professional features except SMS customer notifications, though another answer on the page says all Professional features. Time windows and proof of delivery can be tested, but AI assignment and avoidance zones cannot.
What are the stop limits per route?
Starter allows 250 stops per route, Professional 500 and Optimize 1,500, while the Enterprise card states 3,000 or more and the comparison table says 1,500 or more. Monthly route counts are unlimited. Driver profiles run from 10 to 30 before Enterprise.
How long does Upper keep history?
Starter keeps 6 months, Professional 1 year and Optimize 2 years, with custom retention on Enterprise, though the comparison table also shows 5 years there. Export routes before leaving, because a short window can remove the records you need for a later comparison.