What each platform is
Freightools
Freightools is a modular commercial operating layer for freight forwarders. Eight connected products share one rate library: Tari extracts carrier tariffs, contracts, PDFs, and spreadsheets into structured, source-linked data; Miles turns that library into margin-governed quotes across ocean FCL and LCL, air, road, and rail; Instant Quote and the Digital Customer Portal put self-service quoting, booking status, and documents in front of customers under the forwarder's own brand. Spot Rate Search benchmarks contract prices against the live market, and AI Command Center gives leadership oversight of quotes, margins, and exceptions. The forwarder keeps its existing TMS and owns every pricing rule the system applies.
CargoSphere
CargoSphere is a long-established ocean-freight rate-management platform owned by WiseTech Global. Its documented capabilities are confidential ocean-rate management, rate distribution, its Rate Mesh network, quotations, and integration with FMC tariff publishing and Negotiated Rate Arrangement workflows. WiseTech reports that CargoSphere serves more than 100 customers, including large global forwarders, which makes it a significant incumbent in the rate-management category, particularly among enterprise ocean-forwarding organizations.
Capability comparison
Statuses reflect each vendor's current public documentation, not a feature verdict: Publicly documented means the vendor describes the capability on its official site, Partially documented means the exact scope is unclear, and Confirm during evaluation means no reliable public documentation was found or implementation varies.
| Category | Freightools | CargoSphere |
|---|---|---|
| Tariff ingestion | Publicly documented Tari extracts native PDFs, scanned PDFs, Excel and CSV rate sheets, and emailed quote attachments into structured records. Every extracted field links back to the source clause, and operations approves each tariff in a side-by-side review before it goes live. | Confirm during evaluation We found no public documentation of AI-based tariff extraction from PDFs or spreadsheets, or of a human verification workflow. Confirm supported formats and the ingestion process during evaluation. |
| Rate management | Publicly documented Contracts, surcharges, validity windows, free time, customer-specific markups, and floor margins live in one structured library. Every change is versioned, logged, and reversible, and any quote can be reconstructed later. | Publicly documented Confidential ocean-rate management and rate distribution are core, publicly documented capabilities of this long-established platform. |
| Rate procurement | Partially documented Spot benchmarks come from public ocean and air indices, carrier-fed spot APIs where available, and manual entry for niche lanes. Freightools does not market an extensive direct-carrier procurement or eBooking network; its focus is the forwarder's own agreements. | Partially documented Rate distribution, rate-network collaboration, and the Rate Mesh network are documented. The scope of direct carrier connections and external market-rate sources is not detailed publicly; confirm during evaluation. |
| Modes | Publicly documented Ocean FCL and LCL, air, road, and rail quoting run through one engine, using the same tariff library and the same margin rules in every mode. | Partially documented Public positioning centers on ocean freight rate management. We did not find documentation of air or road workflows; confirm multimodal scope during evaluation. |
| Quotation workflow | Publicly documented Miles builds itemized, on-margin quotes in seconds from email, portal, or rep input, shows how each price was assembled, and sends branded output by PDF, email, or portal. Below-floor quotes require manager approval. | Partially documented Quotations are documented as part of the platform. AI drafting, email-to-quote automation, and approval workflows are not described publicly; confirm the workflow during evaluation. |
| Commercial governance | Publicly documented Margin floors, customer rules, lane exceptions, and time-bound promotions are encoded as rules with an owner and an expiry. Overrides are logged with a reason, and conflicting rules surface explicitly for a manager to resolve. | Confirm during evaluation We found no public documentation of margin floors, override controls, or pricing-rule governance. Confirm how commercial rules are configured and enforced during evaluation. |
| Customer experience | Publicly documented Instant Quote and the Digital Customer Portal give customers self-service quoting, booking status, and document access under the forwarder's own domain and branding. Per-customer guardrails control which lanes, modes, and tiers can self-quote. | Confirm during evaluation Public documentation does not describe a white-label, customer-facing self-service quoting experience. Confirm the customer-facing surface during evaluation. |
| Execution | Publicly documented Accepted quotes create pre-filled booking requests in the forwarder's operations queue, and quotes can be pushed to the existing TMS. Freightools does not market direct carrier eBooking or payments; execution stays in the forwarder's current systems. | Confirm during evaluation CargoSphere sits within the WiseTech Global group alongside the CargoWise ecosystem, but we found no public documentation of carrier eBooking, TMS handoff, or payment workflows. Confirm how rates and quotations reach execution systems during evaluation. |
| Integration | Publicly documented Quotes export, email, or push into the existing TMS. Spot rates can be ingested by API or manual entry, and the structured quote and tariff records are available to existing BI tools. | Partially documented FMC tariff publishing and Negotiated Rate Arrangement workflow integrations are documented. Broader API, TMS, and ERP integration scope is not detailed publicly; confirm during evaluation. |
| Security | Publicly documented Each forwarder's tariff library is private to its workspace, with role-based permissions and logged overrides. Freightools does not currently claim third-party security certifications, and states this openly on its security page. | Confirm during evaluation We found no public detail on certifications, SSO, or audit logging in our review. Enterprise buyers should request security and assurance documentation during evaluation. |
| Deployment | Publicly documented Eight independent but connected modules. A forwarder can implement one module without replacing its operational software; the existing TMS stays in place. | Partially documented Operates as a dedicated ocean rate-management platform within the WiseTech Global group. The implementation model and rollout approach are not published; confirm during evaluation. |
| Best-fit customer | Publicly documented Forwarders that want to modernize the pricing, tariff, quotation, and customer-experience layer across modes while keeping their current TMS. | Publicly documented WiseTech reports more than 100 customers, including large global forwarders. The public profile fits enterprise ocean-forwarding organizations that need rate management and distribution at scale. |
Where each is strong
Where Freightools is strong
- Source-linked tariff extraction: every value Tari pulls from a PDF or rate sheet traces back to the clause it came from, so review is verification, not re-keying.
- One quoting engine across ocean FCL and LCL, air, road, and rail, with the same tariff library and margin rules applied in every mode.
- Commercial governance the forwarder owns: margin floors, customer rules, time-bound promotions, logged overrides, and explicit conflict resolution.
- White-label customer self-service: Instant Quote and the Digital Customer Portal run under the forwarder's domain and brand, with per-customer guardrails.
- Modular deployment above the existing TMS: adopt one product, keep operational systems unchanged, and push quotes into the current booking flow.
- Management oversight through AI Command Center: quote volume, conversion, margin trend, and exceptions in one live view, with drill-down to any quote.
Where CargoSphere is strong
- A long-established incumbent in enterprise ocean-rate management, with deep history in the category.
- Documented rate distribution and rate-network collaboration, anchored by its Rate Mesh network.
- Documented integration with FMC tariff publishing and Negotiated Rate Arrangement workflows, relevant to US trade compliance.
- Published customer proof: WiseTech reports more than 100 customers, including large global forwarders.
- The backing of WiseTech Global and proximity to the CargoWise ecosystem.
Which platform fits your operation?
Choose Freightools when
- You quote across ocean, air, road, and rail and want one engine with shared tariffs and margin rules in every mode.
- Turning private carrier tariffs, PDFs, and rate sheets into structured, source-linked data with human review is a near-term priority.
- Your customers should self-quote, book, and track shipments under your brand, not through a third-party interface.
- You want to modernize pricing, quoting, and the customer experience without replacing the TMS you run today.
- Leadership wants live oversight of quotes, margins, and exceptions instead of weekly spreadsheets.
CargoSphere may be stronger when
- You are an enterprise ocean-forwarding organization whose central requirement is confidential ocean-rate management and distribution at scale.
- Rate distribution and rate-network collaboration, including an established offering such as its Rate Mesh network, matter to your operation.
- FMC tariff publishing and Negotiated Rate Arrangement workflows are a compliance requirement in your US trades.
- You prefer a long-established vendor with published large-forwarder references, or you already operate within the WiseTech and CargoWise ecosystem.
Frequently asked questions
- Who owns CargoSphere?
- CargoSphere is owned by WiseTech Global, the company behind CargoWise. WiseTech reports that CargoSphere serves more than 100 customers, including large global forwarders.
- Does CargoSphere cover air and road freight?
- Its public positioning centers on ocean freight rate management. We did not find public documentation of air or road workflows, so confirm multimodal scope during evaluation. Freightools quotes ocean FCL and LCL, air, road, and rail through one engine with shared margin rules.
- Can Freightools run alongside our existing TMS?
- Yes. Freightools is built as a modular layer above the operational TMS. Quotes can be exported, emailed, or pushed into your current system, and accepted quotes create pre-filled booking requests in your operations queue. Nothing in your execution stack needs to change.
- Does either platform offer customer self-service quoting?
- Freightools does. Instant Quote and the Digital Customer Portal let customers generate real, on-margin quotes and track bookings under the forwarder's own brand, within guardrails the forwarder sets. For CargoSphere, we found no comparable public documentation of a white-label self-service experience; confirm during evaluation.
Research date: August 4, 2026. This comparison is based on public product documentation from both companies and announced integrations, reviewed on August 4, 2026. Capabilities without reliable public documentation are marked "confirm during evaluation" rather than presented as absent. Freightools capability descriptions reflect its current product documentation as of the same date.
See your own tariffs quoted in minutes
Book a demo and we will load a sample of your carrier agreements, show the extraction with source-clause links, and build live quotes with your margin rules applied. You keep your TMS and your carrier relationships. Freightools adds the commercial layer on top.