McLeod LoadMaster vs AscendTMS
Side-by-side from the Top 11 rankings of TruckLogics vs Vektor vs Truckbase: 11 Best Trucking Dispatch Software for Small Fleets 2026 and Aljex vs McLeod vs Tai: 11 Best TMS for Freight Brokers 2026. Last verified October 27, 2026.
The short answer
McLeod LoadMaster ranks higher on Top 11 (#7 vs #8) for Owners and dispatchers at small trucking companies and owner-operator fleets in the United States, roughly 1 to 50 trucks, choosing software to dispatch loads, pay drivers, invoice and file IFTA / 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.. The deepest system here, with named links, but no price.
At a glance
| McLeod LoadMaster | AscendTMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Top 11 rank | #7 / TruckLogics vs Vektor vs Truckbase: 11 Best Trucking Dispatch Software for Small Fleets 2026 | #8 / Aljex vs McLeod vs Tai: 11 Best TMS for Freight Brokers 2026 |
| Score (out of 9.4) | 5.9 | 5.9 |
| Best for | Large-carrier depth, demo only, no price | New brokerages that want to start on a trial and a low per user price |
| Pricing | Quote only, price not published on the pages we could open (Request Demo and Contact Us only) | $ (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 | — | — |
McLeod LoadMaster
The deepest system here, with named links, but no price.
www.mcleodsoftware.com/who-we-serve/truckload-carriers/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.