Descartes Aljex vs AscendTMS
Side-by-side from the Top 11 ranking of Aljex vs McLeod vs Tai: 11 Best TMS for Freight Brokers 2026. Last verified October 3, 2026.
The short answer
Descartes Aljex ranks higher on Top 11 (#1 vs #8) for Owners and operations leads at United States freight brokerages, roughly 3 to 100 people, choosing or replacing a TMS, who want the load board, carrier onboarding, tracking, QuickBooks and factoring joined instead of retyped.. Prints $699 a month for 5 users and names MacroPoint, MyCarrierPortal, a load board, QuickBooks and RateView inside it.
At a glance
| Descartes Aljex | AscendTMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Top 11 rank | #1 / Aljex vs McLeod vs Tai: 11 Best TMS for Freight Brokers 2026 | #8 / Aljex vs McLeod vs Tai: 11 Best TMS for Freight Brokers 2026 |
| Score (out of 9.4) | 7.8 | 5.9 |
| Best for | Brokerages that want the core connections bundled into the entry price | New brokerages that want to start on a trial and a low per user price |
| Pricing | $$ (Essential $699 a month with 5 users; Professional from $999 a month with 15 users; Enterprise from $2,375 a month; one time setup or implementation fee, not priced) | $ (Basic $69, Premium $119, Pro $149 per user per month on a card, cancel any time; free 30 day trial; enterprise pricing by phone) |
| HQ | — | — |
| Founded | — | — |
Descartes Aljex
Prints $699 a month for 5 users and names MacroPoint, MyCarrierPortal, a load board, QuickBooks and RateView inside it.
www.aljex.com/pricing/See full entry in Aljex vs McLeod vs Tai: 11 Best TMS for Freight Brokers 2026
AscendTMS
From $69 a user with a 30 day trial, load board posting named, accounting connections unnamed.
thefreetms.com/pricingSee full entry in Aljex vs McLeod vs Tai: 11 Best TMS for Freight Brokers 2026
Methodology and scoring weights live at /methodology. No vendor pays for placement — see about.