TrackMy.Shop vs Route — Order Tracking Comparison

TrackMy.Shop vs Route: Production Workflow Tracking vs Package Protection

Route and TrackMy.Shop both show up in conversations about order tracking, but they're really solving different problems for different people. Route is a consumer-facing package tracking and shipping protection platform. TrackMy.Shop is a merchant-facing production workflow tool with customer tracking pages. Let's break down what that means and where each one shines.

What Each Tool Actually Does

Route provides two things: package tracking through a consumer-facing app and shipping protection (insurance) against lost, stolen, or damaged packages. When a customer places an order at a Route-enabled store, they can opt into shipping protection for a small fee. From there, Route's app gives them a visual map of their package's journey and handles claims if anything goes wrong. For merchants, Route is largely hands-off -- it plugs into your store and the customer interacts with Route directly.

TrackMy.Shop is a production workflow management tool built for businesses that make, customize, or assemble products. It provides a Kanban board for managing orders through custom stages, barcode scanning for production floor operations, and branded tracking pages where customers can follow their order from "received" through every production step to delivery. It integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Invoice Ninja, and custom systems via REST API.

The Fundamental Difference: Consumer App vs Your Branded Experience

The most important distinction here isn't really about features -- it's about where your customer's attention goes.

With Route, when a customer wants to check on their order, they open the Route app or visit a Route-branded tracking page. The experience is polished, but it's Route's experience. Your brand takes a back seat. Route is building a relationship with your customer by becoming their go-to place for package tracking across all the stores they buy from. That's great for the customer -- one app to track everything -- but it means you're sending your customers to someone else's platform.

With TrackMy.Shop, the tracking page is yours. Your logo, your colors, your domain. When a customer checks on their order, they're on your branded page seeing your workflow stages. You control the experience and keep the customer's attention on your brand, not a third-party app.

Neither approach is wrong -- they just reflect different priorities. Route prioritizes the consumer experience across multiple brands. TrackMy.Shop prioritizes the individual merchant's brand relationship with their customer.

Feature Deep Dive

Shipping Protection

This is Route's standout feature and something TrackMy.Shop doesn't offer at all. Route provides shipping insurance that covers lost, stolen, and damaged packages. Customers pay a small fee at checkout (or merchants can absorb the cost), and if something goes wrong, Route handles the claim process. For businesses with high-value shipments or frequent delivery issues, this is genuinely valuable and can reduce the support burden significantly.

TrackMy.Shop doesn't provide shipping protection or insurance. If that's a critical need for your business, Route offers something unique.

Tracking Experience

Route's tracking is carrier-focused. Once a package is shipped, customers see a visual map of their package in transit with real-time updates from the carrier. It's a clean, well-designed experience that works across the hundreds of stores using Route.

TrackMy.Shop's tracking covers the entire order lifecycle, starting long before a carrier is involved. Customers see your custom production stages -- "Design confirmed," "Fabrication," "Finishing," "Quality check," "Shipped" -- on a branded timeline. It's less about the package's geographic journey and more about the work being done on the order.

Order Management and Workflow

Route doesn't help you manage your orders internally. It's a customer-facing tracking and protection layer that sits on top of your existing systems.

TrackMy.Shop is your internal order management system. The Kanban board is where your team tracks what needs to be done. Custom workflow stages match your actual process. Barcode scanning lets production workers move orders through stages without leaving their workstation. AI order parsing can pull in orders from paper forms and emails. The customer tracking page is a direct reflection of this internal workflow -- when your team advances an order, the customer sees the update.

Pricing Model

Route's pricing model is unique in this space. For merchants, Route is free to install. Revenue comes from the shipping protection premiums customers pay at checkout, and Route takes a portion of that. There may also be per-order fees depending on your arrangement. The appeal is that there's no upfront subscription cost, but you are adding a cost that either you or your customers absorb on every order.

TrackMy.Shop uses a straightforward subscription model. Free plan with 30 orders per month, paid plans starting at $19.99/month. No per-order fees, no insurance premiums. What you pay is what you pay.

Who Is Each Tool Built For?

Route is ideal for:

• E-commerce stores shipping ready-made products that want to offer delivery protection
• Businesses dealing with frequent shipping damage, loss, or theft
• Stores that want to reduce "where's my package?" support tickets with a consumer app
• Merchants who want a zero-upfront-cost tracking solution and don't mind the per-order model

TrackMy.Shop is ideal for:

• Businesses that make, customize, or assemble products before shipping
• Teams that need a production management tool, not just post-shipment tracking
• Merchants who want customers on their own branded tracking page, not a third-party app
• Businesses selling on multiple platforms (Shopify, WooCommerce, Invoice Ninja, or custom)

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Online electronics store selling headphones and accessories. Products are in a warehouse, orders ship same-day, and occasionally packages get lost or damaged. Route is a strong fit -- shipping protection reduces support costs, and the Route app gives customers tracking they can trust. There's no production process to show.

Scenario 2: Custom sign shop making hand-painted wooden signs. Each order takes 1-2 weeks to design, paint, seal, and ship. The customer's biggest concern isn't whether the package will arrive safely (though that matters too) -- it's whether you've started their sign yet. TrackMy.Shop lets your team manage the workflow and shows the customer real production progress. Route would only kick in once you've finally shipped it.

Scenario 3: High-end ceramics studio. You make fragile, high-value pieces to order. Here's a case where both tools add value. TrackMy.Shop manages your production workflow and shows the customer their piece moving through glazing, firing, and finishing. Route provides shipping protection for a $200 ceramic vase traveling through the mail. These aren't competing needs -- they're complementary.

Can You Use Both Together?

Yes, and for certain businesses it makes a lot of sense. TrackMy.Shop handles the production tracking and workflow management your team needs, plus gives customers pre-shipment visibility on your branded page. Route handles the post-shipment experience with carrier tracking in their consumer app and shipping protection for peace of mind.

The tradeoff is that the customer experience shifts between two brands -- your tracking page during production, and Route's app after shipping. But for businesses with valuable, fragile, or custom products, the combination of production visibility and shipping protection can be worth that transition.

The Bottom Line

Route is a smart tool for businesses where the shipping journey is the risky part. If your products are ready to go and the main customer concern is "will my package arrive safely?", Route's combination of tracking and shipping protection is compelling, especially with no upfront subscription cost.

TrackMy.Shop is built for businesses where the interesting part happens before shipping. If your customers are waiting for something to be created, customized, or assembled, they need visibility into that process -- not just a map showing a box on a truck. TrackMy.Shop gives you the workflow management tools to run your production and the tracking pages to keep customers informed through every stage.

If packages getting lost is your biggest headache, Route helps with that. If "when will my order be ready?" is the question you hear most, TrackMy.Shop is your answer.