The Best 3PL Software
These solutions offer features like batch picking, automated order routing, and inventory visibility. Whether you’re a healthcare, food, or eCommerce 3PL, you’ll find a system to support each step in your supply chain and provide a more reliable experience for your clients.
- Cloud-based third-party logistics solution
- Easily access transaction and tracking info
- Integrable with QuickBooks and other accounting solutions
- Predictable pricing
- Fast implementation
- Built-in WMS
- Integrates with WooCommerce, Amazin, Shopify, eBay, Walmart, and more
- Offers two-day and overnight delivery options
- Provides automatic notifications for stock replenishment and allows setting of reorder points
We tested and reviewed the top platforms in the market for various industries within the 3PL sector.
| Software | Best For | Deployment Options | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extensiv | Distribution-Based 3PL | Cloud | $599/month |
| Magaya | Cold Storage 3PL | Cloud | $200/user/month |
| ShipHero | eCommerce 3PL | Cloud or On-Premise | $1,995/month |
| Körber | Healthcare and Pharmaceutical 3PL | Cloud | N/A |
| Infoplus WMS | Multi-Client Handling | Cloud or On-Premise | $495/month |
| Blue Yonder | Load Builing Services | Cloud or On-Premise | N/A |
- Extensiv: Best for Distribution-Based 3PLs
- Magaya: Best for Cold Storage 3PLs
- ShipHero: Best for eCommerce 3PL
- Körber: Best for Healthcare and Pharmaceutical 3PLs
- Infoplus WMS: Best for Multi-Client Handling
- Blue Yonder: Best for Load Building Services
Extensiv - Best for Distribution-Based 3PLs
Extensiv’s 3PL Warehouse Manager can enhance your order picking and packing, saving you time and expenses if you handle a diverse range of products for multiple clients. 3PL Warehouse Manager offers a suite of integrated features, including SmartPack and SmartScan.
You can configure 3PL Warehouse Manager to align with your specific operational needs. For example, you can set up auto-batching rules to group orders by customer or shipping carrier. The system will generate a batch pick list, directing your staff to pick items for multiple orders in one trip, reducing the travel time within the warehouse. As they pick the items, they can utilize SmartScan to scan barcodes, ensuring that each item matches the order requirements.
SmartPack automates the packing process by selecting appropriate packing based on the items’ dimensions and weight. It also offers manual specification of package contents, offering the flexibility to handle custom orders with unique packaging requirements. Your staff can define package details directly within the system, ensuring that each order is packed to exact specifications, enhancing order accuracy and client satisfaction.
For more information on Extensiv, read our full review.
Magaya - Best for Cold Storage 3PLs
Magaya has a strong expiration date tracking system that can help you better manage perishable goods, certifying that products are rotated correctly throughout the warehouse. Many cold storage items, such as food or pharmaceuticals, have strict expiration dates to ensure that only safe, compliant products are distributed. This expiration date tracking helps protect consumers and meet regulatory requirements.
When you receive inventory, you can manually input expiration dates into the system or integrate it from suppliers through EDI systems like TrueCommerce. Magaya will continuously monitor the status of each item, calculating the remaining shelf life and tracking any changes in conditions that could possibly affect the expiration date.
As items near expiration, the system will send automated alerts via email or within the software. You can then decide whether to prioritize these items for picking, discount them for sale, or remove them from your inventory count. If you’re managing a high volume of temperature-sensitive products, this can help you manage your stock more efficiently to better utilize space and avoid spoilage costs.
To learn more information about Magaya, read our full review.
ShipHero - Best for eCommerce 3PL
Best for eCommerce 3PLbatch-picking feature allows you to group several orders together based on similar picking routes. This process optimizes the picking workflow by minimizing travel time across the warehouse. This is a particularly useful tool if you manage a high volume of orders and multiple clients, like direct-to-consumer brands or multi-channel retailers.
When an order is placed, ShipHero automatically consolidates similar orders that share common items or warehouse locations. This batching tool enables your team to pick several orders simultaneously, effectively streamlining the fulfillment process. The software offers single-item and multi-item batch picking for different order types.
- Single-item batch groups multiple single-item orders into one batch, allowing pickers to collect all required items in one trip. This can be beneficial if you have high-volume sales.
- Multi-item batch collects items for multiple orders, each with different qualities or SKUs, and puts them into separate totes. This method saves you from sorting products during packing and shipping.
The system creates a batch that includes orders with either the same shipping destination or identical products, which can be advantageous if you manage diverse client needs. Once the system generates the picking list, your team can efficiently pick products in a logical sequence, following the optimal route through the warehouse. As each item is picked, team members scan the item’s barcode, enabling real-time inventory updates and tracking which items have been picked for specific orders. This approach reduces the time spent on picking and enhances productivity, allowing your team to fulfill more orders in less time
After all items are collected, they’re packed and labeled for shipment. ShipHero’s system will then automatically update the order status, ensuring that your clients receive accurate and timely shipment information.
However, ShipHero has relatively high pricing starting at $1,995/month, in comparison to systems like Extensiv at $599/month.
Read our full ShipHero review for more information.
Körber - Best for Healthcare and Pharmaceutical 3PLs
Adhering to strict regulations requires rigorous documentation, tracking, and frequent audits. Körber offers strong compliance features that ensure adherence to stringent industry standards, like the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD), and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
Körber Warehouse Management System (WMS) allows you to scan each new product upon entry and record its serial number, creating an immediate digital audit trail. This system verifies that all products meet regulatory requirements before acceptance, reducing non-compliance risk. Körber then links these serial numbers to specific destinations, allowing for precise tracking throughout the supply chain. It also monitors expiration dates and batch numbers to ensure all products are sold safely and effectively.
When Körber receives an order, it selects products based on their serial numbers to ensure accurate and compliant picking. It also automates documentation, generating invoices and shipping labels containing necessary compliance information, such as drug interactions, warnings, expiry dates, and indication or use. Before dispatch, the system conducts a final verification to ensure that all products in the shipment comply with regulatory standards, further safeguarding pharmaceutical 3PLs against compliance issues.
Read our full Körber review for more information.
Infoplus WMS - Best for Multi-Client Handling
Infoplus WMS supports 3PL providers, such as direct-to-consumer 3PLS and cold storage 3PLs, through its multi-client handling capabilities. These enable you to efficiently manage numerous clients while ensuring a clear separation of operations. You can configure workflows tailored to each client’s unique operational needs, accommodating different picking strategies. For example, where one client requires wave picking, another might use zone picking.
This automation streamlines operations and can minimize errors, enhancing overall service quality. Infoplus also provides your clients access to dedicated portals where they can monitor their inventory in real-time and receive alerts for low-stock items.
You can use the system’s reporting tools to create custom dashboards for each client, giving them insights into their specific operations, such as order fulfillment metrics, inventory levels, and sales performance. This capability allows you to tailor your services to meet each client’s specific requirements and enables you to provide additional support or strategic adjustments to clients who may need it.
For more information on Infoplus WMS, read our full review.
Blue Yonder - Best for Load Building Services
Blue Yonder’s load-building services (LBS) can optimize transportation efficiency by creating inventory-aware, 3D representations of truckloads. This visualization can enhance the planning and execution of loading configurations by offering spatial awareness, damage prevention, and efficiency optimization.
This 3D view visualizes stacking and orientation to show how products are arranged within the truck. This allows you to identify potential areas for improvement and ensure optimal space utilization. This view aids in planning load configurations that reduce loading and unloading times, contributing to overall operational efficiency.
With LBS, you can combine multiple orders destined for the same region into a single shipment, reducing the number of trips and associated costs. The system also identifies high-priority orders to ship promptly, minimizing the risk of delays. It does this by replanning orders to ensure timely fulfillment while adhering to inventory policies.
It can support complex load structures and accommodate pallet types, including double, mixed layer, mixed item, and sandwich pallets, making it adaptable to different shipping scenarios. Additionally, the tool incorporates dimension and axle weight constraints to prevent overloading and adhere to transportation regulations. This comprehensive approach to load building reduces loading time and positions you to deliver strong service to your clients.
For more information on Blue Yonder, read our full review.
Other Systems We Like
Fishbowl Inventory offers integrations with major eCommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Amazon, making it another suitable choice for eCommerce 3PLs. These integrations allow you to streamline your order management, automate inventory updates, and ensure that all your stock levels are accurate across numerous sales channels.
What is 3PL Software?
Third-party logistics (3PL) software helps manage outsourced logistics services for client businesses. This software is useful for businesses relying on third-party transportation, warehousing, and distribution services. The main modules provided by 3PL software include:
- Inventory management
- Order fulfillment
- Billing and invoicing
- Supply chain management
- Customer relationship management (CRM)
- Warehouse management systems
Sometimes part of end-to-end logistics or warehouse management platforms, for organizations of any size, 3PL systems track and organize items across the entire supply chain and ensure goods arrive at their intended destination.
Common Challenges
Here are some common hurdles that 3PL systems can help you overcome:
- Regulatory Compliance: Keeping up with changing regulations, such as in the food and healthcare industries, can be daunting. 3PL software helps ensure regulation adherence by automating compliance processes and maintaining necessary documentation.
- High Transportation Costs: Transportation costs can skyrocket without proper route and load optimization. A system with built-in load services can help you save trips and pack your trucks to their maximum capacity.
- Customer Service: A 3PL software can provide your clients with timely updates on shipments and accurate delivery times, enhancing customer satisfaction.
- Integrations: Manually entering orders can slow down the fulfillment process and lead to errors. A 3PL system that integrates with eCommerce platforms lets you receive and process orders automatically.
Important Features and Benefits
The main goal of this software is to streamline and optimize logistics and supply chain processes. Most 3PL systems will include features like:
- Warehouse Management: Manages warehouse layout, picking, packing, and shipping processes.
- Inventory Management: Monitors stock levels across multiple locations and sends inventory replenishment alerts to avoid stockouts or overstocks.
- Order Management: Integrates with numerous eCommerce platforms and marketplaces to manage orders from different sales channels.
- Multi-Client Management: Offers a portal for clients to access real-time inventory, orders, and shipment data.
- Labor Management: Tracks and compares employee performance to ensure your warehouse staff works to their highest capability.
- Time and Attendance Management: Tracks and manages employee work hours, attendance, and shifts.
- Shipping and Handling: Determines the best shipping rates, tracks packages, and improves configurable kitting.
- Route Planning: Automatically generates optimal routes based on distance, delivery windows, vehicle capacity, and traffic conditions.
How to Choose Software
The best type of 3PL software for your business depends on the size and scale of your operations:
- Small businesses may prefer using a turnkey software solution that offers full logistics capabilities out-of-the-box without requiring extensive customization or detailed integration with additional logistics systems. This might be the best choice if your ideal system can be run over the Internet.
- Medium-sized businesses may benefit from comprehensive capabilities offered by 3PL software packages like RFID tracking, enabling products, tools, and vehicles to be tracked automatically through wireless RFID tags and scanners.
- Large enterprises should seek software that integrates seamlessly with existing or legacy software systems to ensure a steady business flow with minimal disruption to existing fulfillment operations or processes.
Pricing Guide
Start-up costs for 3PL cloud software can be as low as $500 per month. However, depending on your organization’s size or the number of users or orders, prices can be upward of $2,000 or more monthly. Companies can expect to pay a one-time fee of roughly $25,000 - $250,000 for on-premise software.
For example, Infoplus WMS is one of the most cost-effective solutions, costing $495 per month. ShipHero charges nearly $2,000 per month in subscription fees. The price of these systems can vary depending on numerous factors, such as the number of clients serviced, the number of monthly orders handled, and the range of features a specific software offers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who Uses 3PL Software?
Third-party logistics providers, freight forwarders and brokers, warehousing and distribution companies, and businesses that outsource their logistics use 3PL software.
It’s built to handle the various needs of multiple clients, each with its own set of operational processes and billing requirements, including eCommerce. With the right system, third-party logistics operations can generate more revenue, automate operations, and enhance customers’ experiences.
What are Some Market Trends?
Some of the current market trends in 3PL software include: Mobile and Cloud Solutions: Overseeing logistics operations no longer means being physically present at a warehouse or distribution center. Thanks to many mobile applications and cloud-based 3PL software platforms, logistics providers can access and manage their workflows from virtually anywhere.
Artificial Intelligence: From the Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors or RFID tracking, inventory can now be automatically tracked without manual entry. Those capabilities are being further enhanced by comprehensive artificial intelligence tools, which use data and machine learning to anticipate demand or suggest preventive equipment maintenance.
