Farely vs. dispatch software
Do you need dispatch software, or just billing?
If you run one to five vehicles, take bookings by phone and text, and often drive yourself, you probably need billing software rather than dispatch software. Dispatch platforms earn their cost when several people coordinate many chauffeurs, vehicles, and affiliate trips every day.
What does dispatch software do?
Dispatch software runs the operation: it takes bookings (often online), schedules and assigns chauffeurs and vehicles, tracks trips in real time, coordinates farm-outs with affiliates, and usually bills as well.
For a company with a dispatcher on shift, a dozen or more vehicles, and trips handed between affiliates, that coordination is the hard part of the business, and good dispatch software is worth paying for.
When do you need dispatch software?
You likely need it when coordination, not billing, is what goes wrong: missed assignments, double-booked vehicles, or a dispatcher juggling many chauffeurs at once.
- Someone besides you assigns trips, all day, every day.
- You run enough vehicles that you can’t keep the schedule in your head.
- You want customers to book and pay online on their own.
- You regularly farm work out to, or take work from, affiliates.
- You need live GPS tracking or a driver app for your chauffeurs.
When is billing software enough?
When the schedule already works — you take the call, you know who’s driving — and the pain is afterwards: building invoices by hand, chasing corporate clients, and keeping gratuity straight.
- You run one to five vehicles and often drive yourself.
- Your invoices live in Word, a spreadsheet, or a generic invoicing tool that doesn’t understand wait time, gratuity, or house accounts.
- Corporate clients want one statement a month, and you build it by hand.
- You’d rather not pay a monthly subscription for features you don’t use.
How does Farely compare with a typical dispatch platform?
Dispatch products differ a lot, so the right-hand column describes what they generally offer. Check any specific product’s current features and pricing with its vendor.
| Job | Farely | Typical dispatch software |
|---|---|---|
| Taking reservations | You enter trips taken by phone, text, or email | Often includes online booking and customer apps |
| Assigning chauffeurs and vehicles | Yes, per trip | Yes, usually with a dispatch board and scheduling views |
| GPS, live tracking, driver app | No | Usually |
| Farm-out / affiliate network | No | Often |
| Pricing from rate sheets | Yes: hourly minimums, wait time, gratuity, STC, fuel, pass-throughs | Yes, typically |
| Single-ride invoices and card payment | Yes, the core of the product | Typically included |
| House accounts and monthly statements | Yes, with aging | Varies by product |
| Passenger tips after the ride | Yes, credited per chauffeur | Varies by product |
| Pricing model | One-time price plus yearly hosting | Commonly a monthly subscription; check each vendor |
Can I start with Farely and move to dispatch software later?
Yes. Farely doesn’t lock you in: every invoice and statement is a PDF you can download and keep. If you grow to the point where dispatch software makes sense, that is a good problem to have, and we’d rather tell you so than sell you something you don’t need.
See whether billing is all you need
Open the live demo and run a trip from Done to paid. If that’s the part you dread every week, Farely is probably the right fit.