Microlise alternative
With OptivoRoute, Optivo's route optimization software, delivery routes are planned in 5-30 minutes, with on-board devices and a driver app in the same contract. Microlise is UK truck telematics: tachograph analysis, vehicle checks, cameras and journey management. If your fleet's day is built around deliveries, here are the differences.
Thirty minutes on your own routes, no strings attached.
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Teams that run Microlise for deliveries usually reach the same point: the trucks are tracked, the tachograph is downloaded, and the routes are still built by someone every morning, or come from Planning & Optimisation, a module whose constraints are not published. Microlise is designed around the UK heavy goods operator, with Tachograph Analysis, Vehicle Checks, Licence Validation, AI Distraction Cameras and Bridge Strike Warning. A van fleet delivering to shops, pharmacies or restaurants uses a fraction of that and still needs time windows, capacity per vehicle and several loading points handled in the plan. People also look elsewhere when they operate outside the UK, where Microlise has offices in France, Australia and India.
Key differences
Optivo is built around the delivery: proof of delivery with signature and photo, customer notifications via WhatsApp, SMS or email, a Control Tower that flags delays and missed deliveries and adds new stops mid-route with replanning. That is the list a delivery fleet uses every day. Microlise is built around the UK truck: Tachograph Analysis, Vehicle Checks, Licence Validation, cameras and Bridge Strike Warning.
OptivoRoute starts from the day's orders and decides which deliveries go on which vehicle, in what order and from which depot, with time windows (also multiple), capacity per vehicle and the sector rules configured in onboarding. Optivo customers run it with three-compartment vans with variable geometry (dry, chilled, frozen) and with pickups and deliveries paired in the same route. Microlise's Planning & Optimisation builds routes against weighted KPIs and sends them to the Schedule Execution Board; the constraints it handles are not published.
OptivoTrack, Optivo's tracking system, offers three modes: an OBD plug & play device, CAN bus for advanced telemetry, or Cloud OEM with no hardware for factory-connected vehicles (30+ brands from 12 automotive groups, activated with the VIN). Optivo-branded devices are usually on free loan, or purchased to put them on the books. Microlise telematics runs on units fitted to the vehicle, including trailer telematics and temperature monitoring.
Optivo's team configures your sector's constraints in onboarding and follows the customer directly: pharmaceutical distribution, food and beverage, agri-food deliveries to retail chains are the cases it knows from the inside. Microlise sells and supports from the UK, with offices in France, Australia and India.
| Dimension | Optivo | Microlise |
|---|---|---|
| Who it's built for | Teams planning delivery routes every day, with vans or trucks | Heavy goods fleets in the UK: tachograph, compliance, long haul |
| Route optimization | Builds the routes: vehicle assignment, time windows, capacity, several depots | Planning & Optimisation: KPI-weighted plans, constraints not published |
| Vehicle tracking | OBD plug & play, CAN bus or Cloud OEM with no hardware | Units fitted to the vehicle, trailer and temperature telematics |
| Driver app and proof of delivery | Driver app in the browser, nothing to install: three taps to close a delivery | Electronic Proof of Delivery: signature or location image, exception photos |
| Where the AI works | Magic Order: orders extracted from Excel, PDF, photos or pasted text | AI Distraction Cameras; assisted planning cited in the 2025 results |
| Contract and price | Quote sized on planned volumes; subscription or installed licence | On quote, no public price list |
| Home market | Italian company; a team that configures constraints in onboarding | UK, listed on AIM; offices in France, Australia and India |
Want to see this comparison on your own routes? Thirty minutes with your data, no strings attached.
Book a free demoOptivo sizes the quote on the volumes you plan and includes devices, driver app and onboarding. Microlise sells telematics and modules on quote to fleet operators.
The quote is sized on the volumes you plan, agreed upfront, not on the individual deliveries completed. Optivo-branded OBD or CAN devices are usually on free loan, or purchased to put them on the books; Cloud OEM with no hardware where the vehicle allows it. Usually a subscription; on request also a licence installed on the company's systems, with a separate fee for services, assessed case by case before the contract. Book a demo for a quote on your routes.
Price on quote. Microlise publishes no price list: telematics units, Journey Management, Electronic Proof of Delivery and Compliance modules are quoted per fleet, and the site leads to a contact form.
With Optivo, kilometres drop by 10-20% and fuel by 10-15%, with 5-10% fewer vehicles needed; route planning takes 5-30 minutes. Payback comes in 3-9 months.
10-20%
fewer kilometres from the first months
You plan deliveries every day and need routes that respect time windows, capacity and several loading points. Today someone still builds the routes by hand every morning, and you want the plan in 5-30 minutes. You want proof of delivery and customer notifications in the same product as vehicle tracking, with fuel consumption and driving style from the vehicle. You want a team that configures your constraints and follows you directly.
Microlise Group plc is a Nottingham company listed on AIM since July 2021. It sells telematics to fleet operators, mainly heavy goods fleets in the UK: Fleet Telematics, Journey Management with Planning & Optimisation, Delivery Management with Electronic Proof of Delivery, a Transport Management System and Compliance with Tachograph Analysis. Pricing is on quote.
Microlise addresses heavy goods operators in the UK whose daily focus is tachograph analysis and driver hours, who want vehicle checks, cameras and bridge strike warnings from the same supplier, and whose routes come from a planning module or a TMS.
The switch is planned around the end of the Microlise contract, so two platforms are not paid at the same time.
The Optivo team works with you to activate the platform when the Microlise term ends, without months of overlap.
Customers, addresses and orders enter through Magic Order, the OptivoRoute chat: upload Excel, CSV, PDF or photos, or paste text. The AI extracts the orders, searches history for what is missing and asks for confirmation when something does not add up.
Optivo-branded OBD plug & play or CAN bus devices on the vehicles that need them, usually on free loan or purchased to put them on the books; Cloud OEM with no hardware for factory-connected vehicles. Microlise units are not reused.
In onboarding you set time windows, capacity, depots and sector rules. Drivers log into the app with email and password and close a delivery in three taps.
We'll walk you through the switch on your own data: orders, vehicles and the end date of your current contract.
Book a free demoYes. Tachograph download and analysis stay in Microlise, together with vehicle checks and cameras. Optivo adds routes built from the day's orders, a driver app with proof of delivery and vehicle tracking. When OptivoRoute builds the routes, it treats breaks and the daily driving limits of EU Regulation 561/2006 as planning constraints.
OptivoRoute starts from the day's orders and assigns the deliveries to vehicles, in order and from the right depot, with time windows (also multiple), capacity per vehicle, priorities and sector rules configured in onboarding. With Optivo kilometres drop by 10-20% and fuel by 10-15%, and planning takes 5-30 minutes. Microlise's Planning & Optimisation builds routes against weighted KPIs, lets planners re-optimize after manual changes and sends the plan to the Schedule Execution Board; the constraints it handles are not published.
Optivo supplies its own Optivo-branded OBD or CAN devices, usually on free loan or purchased to put them on the books, and for factory-connected vehicles uses Cloud OEM with no hardware, activated with the VIN. Which vehicle gets which mode is decided in onboarding. Microlise units are tied to its platform, so they are replaced in the switch.
Optivo works on quotes: the price is built on the number of vehicles, the modules you choose and the volumes you plan, agreed upfront, not on the individual deliveries completed, and it includes devices, driver app and onboarding. Payback with Optivo is 3-9 months. Microlise publishes no price list; telematics units and modules are quoted per fleet. The demo with your data is also how you get a quote.
Usually a few weeks: the platform is in the cloud and ready at once, the constraints are configured in onboarding, the devices take a few minutes per vehicle to install, and factory-connected vehicles are activated on Cloud OEM with the VIN. Aligning the switch with the end of the Microlise contract avoids paying two platforms.
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Comparison written by Optivo from the competitor's public sources, checked on the date shown.
Information about Microlise was checked against the sources listed on the update date. Prices, products and terms can change: check the official channels before you decide.
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Before your Microlise renewal, bring your routes to a demo and see how Optivo builds them.
Book a free demo