Technology 2026 Annual Review & Outlook

WiseTech pricing change tests shippers’ willingness to take on tech costs

By Eric Johnson

A pricing model change by WiseTech Global is stirring market debate about pricing transparency and whether technology costs incurred by third-party logistics providers( 3PLs) can be passed on to shippers.

The change triggered sharp backlash from customers, who say it will raise the cost of the forwarding industry’ s most widely used software platform by between 20 % and 50 %. The aim of the new Value Pack Community Pricing model, which applies to WiseTech’ s flagship CargoWise products, is to simplify pricing for its customers and drive broader use of its other products.

WiseTech CEO Zubin Appoo told the Journal of Commerce the shift is“ not a pricing change, but a totally different commercial model.”

The old pricing model was based on the number of users within a customer, with additional fees charged for certain features and set fees associated with cloud hosting and other infrastructure costs.

The new model rolls all those fees into a single transaction cost based on the type of activity a forwarder chooses. For instance, management of a full import container with an associated inland leg would cost $ 19.95; a standalone import customs entry would cost $ 9.95.

WiseTech’ s intent is to get forwarders to use more of the products the company has developed and to help forwarders defray the cost of those products by passing the cost on to shippers.

Forwarders say WiseTech’ s pricing change will raise their costs by between 20 % and 50 %. T. Schneider / Shutterstock. com

Forwarder costs rising

But a variety of forwarders say the pricing change will increase their costs significantly— by 20 % on the low end and 50 % or more on the high end. That would, by default, cut their margins unless they are able to pass those additional costs on to customers. Most forwarders who spoke with the Journal of Commerce were skeptical that shippers would accept a technology line item on an invoice from a forwarder, especially in a competitive market where shippers can easily shop around for better rates.

There was also unease at the rollout itself, with some US forwarders bemoaning that the change happening over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and others suggesting that WiseTech should have made the shift on Jan. 1 so that accounting for the 2025 calendar year would have been more straightforward.

One forwarder said the change this late in the year would affect its forecast costs for technology made at the start of the year. The forwarder generally projects a 10 % increase annually for its cost of using CargoWise but expects the pricing change will drive its costs up between 25 % and 35 %.

WiseTech on Oct. 31 announced that the pricing change would go into effect Dec. 1, a Monday, but some customers were still caught unaware. One forwarder described the rollout as“ bananas.”

“ Everyone I know opened a ticket [ with WiseTech ] and got a response saying,‘ We’ ll let you know when we release the new pricing,’” said another forwarder source.“ Then we got the pricing information on Wednesday, and the upgrades got pushed Thursday.”

Appoo, in a memo to customers on Dec. 31, said Wise- Tech would be pushing upgrades and patches in real time.

Gradual acceptance

WiseTech’ s CEO said the pass-through costs would take time to be accepted in an industry that is generally reluctant to change but would eventually be thought of in the same vein as other costs that forwarders make on behalf of their customers and later recover.

“ The industry we work in operates in a disbursement model,” Appoo said.“ There are customs fees, gate fees, port fees that 3PLs incur on behalf of the customer, and some are absorbed by the forwarder,” he said.“ Standalone jobs [ in the Value Pack pricing bundles ] are $ 2 to $ 20. We’ re talking a small number, a 0.1 % charge added to customers and one of the smallest, if not the smallest, disbursements to the customer.”

Appoo added that giving all its customers the ability to pass on technology costs to customers democratizes access to CargoWise because smaller players won’ t experience the pricing“ friction” of paying per seat, while larger customers will be able to scale WiseTech’ s investments in AI in a way smaller players might not.

Another undercurrent at play is WiseTech’ s ongoing deployment of AI to automate a range of individual processes and connected workflows within CargoWise, a development occurring amid broader use of AI across the forwarding industry.

98 Journal of Commerce | January 5, 2026 www. joc. com