News / Forwarders trapped in CargoWise 'monopoly' as new pricing hikes costs

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This week, Flexport cut off access to its online tariff simulator to 282 competing customs brokerages.   

“If your customs broker is having trouble accurately calculating the customs duties on your products this week, it’s probably because of this change,” wrote Sanne Manders, president.  

Even those brokers whose customers “require” them to use Flexport’s platform.  

Flexport clearly has some popular tech, as noted by a number of now banned customs brokerages. But (with a swift change of business model), it could choose to be the saviour of forwarding’s IT needs, as WiseTech tightens the screws.   

Freight forwarders have been sounding alarms over what they describe as an increasingly monopolistic logistics software landscape, leaving them with virtually no viable alternative to CargoWise, whose owner, WiseTech, recently imposed steep new fees across the industry. The company’s newly launched Value Packs – mandatory bundles that convert hundreds of modules into a single per-transaction charge – have triggered widespread frustration, but its monopolistic position in the market stops companies from voting with their feet.   

One former WiseTech partner said there were few, if any, realistic solutions. “If you see Flexport split off their software, that could be very interesting.   

“Or if you see DSV try to monetise [Schenker system] Tango, because they’re not going to use it fully internally, that could be interesting.   

“But in terms of any, let’s say, $50m, $100m, even half-billion dollar company right now that can do anything to match WiseTech, the answer is no.”  

So, unless Flexport decides to abandon loss-making forwarding in favour of high-revenue tech, switching platforms is simply not an option.  

On Reddit, one forwarder summed up the problem bluntly: “We told our customer there is going to be a mandatory $35 CW automation fee on every file. They told us they are going to switch forwarders. I would love to tell CargoWise we’re switching software platforms too, but that’s not how the real world works.”   

Another user complained that even migrating to a different provider does not guarantee independence: “We are already in the process of switching software platforms, but I fully expect to spend the rest of my career in this field dodging CargoWise buyouts.”  

The lack of competition became even starker this week when Australian regulators approved WiseTech’s acquisition of supply chain provider e2open.

“Isn’t this outright monopoly?” one Reddit contributor asked. “There’re no alternatives out in the market.”   

The former WiseTech partner explained: “Regulators don’t really care about a company that size, and don’t realise how much industry impact it really has, given its small profile. It’s a whale in a very small pond, it is monopolistic.”  

That sentiment has echoed through an industry now dominated by a single vendor capable of delivering global customs, compliance, and accounting functionality at scale – an area rivals have long struggled to achieve.  

Robert Petti, CEO of Prompt Global, an AI platform built for CargoWise customers, said the structural barriers to switching were enormous.   

“WiseTech is fortunate that they have 15 or 20 global countries and probably the 15, 20 largest economies from a customs and accounting compliance standpoint. That is their uniqueness.”   

Even if a competitor attempted to build a new forwarding system, he said, replicating that regulatory backbone could take years. In markets such as the US, forwarders must maintain seven years or more of customs history, making it impossible to simply switch off CargoWise without carrying legacy data for audits.   

“That’s also why WiseTech has a less than 1% attrition rate – people can’t turn off the system,” Mr Petti added.  

Even the world’s largest logistics companies face prohibitive obstacles.   

“DSV, to leave CargoWise, would need a board resolution, probably five years of change management, and a four-year implementation plan,” Mr Petti said. The cost would likely fall at between eight and low-nine figures.

“That’s not practical,” he said, instead, major forwarders are more likely to build or buy supplementary tools to mask CargoWise’s deficiencies while retaining it as their system of record.  

With no competitive pressure to constrain pricing, the financial shock of the new model is already being felt. Several forwarders have reported cost increases of 45%-50% on a per-shipment basis since the Value Packs went live on 1 December.

“Our increase is almost 50% – unbelievable,” said one Reddit user. “They’ve completely monopolised the space and taken full advantage of it.”  

WiseTech’s shift from a seat-based model to mandatory per-transaction bundles also eliminates previous ways of controlling spend.   

“The old pricing model was that every time you touch the keyboard, they charge you for it,” the CargoWise partner explained. “Now it’s, effectively, as soon as you touch the keyboard once, they charge you for everything.”  

Because modules that were once optional are now included whether or not a forwarder uses them, Mr Petti said the change “should fundamentally change how data goes into and out of CargoWise” – but only if operators re-engineer processes to match the platform’s new structure.  

For forwarders, the timing has compounded the impact. Mr Petti said: “We’re in December – everybody’s 2026 budget for IT has already been set.”

One forwarder said its CargoWise costs rose 35% overnight.

“Where are they going to get that money?” With margins thin and customer pricing highly sensitive, increasing freight rates to cover software costs offers limited relief.

“I don’t think any forwarder has an extra 35% of margin that they can just put towards this.”  

The result is that companies will be forced to cut elsewhere, reducing IT spending, eliminating external automation tools, or downsizing staff. Some automation capabilities WiseTech is bundling, such as document processing tools acquired through Shipamax, have not yet been released. Others remain incomplete or insufficient for all use cases.   

“Just because WiseTech has a solution doesn’t mean it’s going to work for every single use case,” he said.  

With no credible rival able to challenge WiseTech’s global compliance footprint, forwarders face what many describe as a coerced transition.   

“It’s going to be more expensive for the majority of companies,” Mr Petti said. “Forwarders have to understand this is their new normal; this is where they are in the market now.”