What Is a Good PTV Map&Guide Alternative?

The short version

• PTV Map&Guide's old desktop version has been discontinued; the new generation is billed monthly rather than bought once — €49 per user
• Operations without a truck fleet are often better served by something cheaper
• RouteXL: free entry point for small, simple routes
• xRouten: €25/month flat, good for several routes without truck-specific features
• WinSped: enterprise software for genuine freight operations with toll calculation

Why people are looking

Anyone searching for a PTV Map&Guide alternative usually has a specific trigger. A lot of operations have used the classic desktop version of PTV Map&Guide — the well-known truck route planning software from PTV Logistics — for years. It was bought once on a CD, installed on your own PC, and ran with no monthly cost after that.

That covers far more than classic logistics companies with their own fleets. Meals on wheels services, medical transport operations and meter-reading businesses have all planned their daily routes with this software for years.

After more than 30 years, PTV Logistics has brought out the next generation of PTV Map&Guide. The new version is a substantial rework with a friendlier interface, improved route optimization and a lot of use cases intended to make route planning and fleet management more efficient. The old version has been switched off, so sooner or later a decision is coming for long-standing users.

The new generation is aimed above all at classic truck logistics, and it is billed monthly rather than once. For operations without a truck fleet that just want to plan several routes, alternatives are worth a look.

What the new generation offers, and why it does not suit everyone

The new generation of PTV Map&Guide advertises precise calculation of tolls, transport costs and emissions, dynamic real-time routing, and faster calculation with more accurate results even for complex, long routes.

What it does

• Standard and custom dynamic routing accounting for seasonal and regional traffic flows and current incidents
• Precise toll calculation across numerous European countries, based on GLEC and HBEFA standards
• Different vehicle types, driving and rest times, and the optimal stop order
• Route simulation for electric vehicles compared with other vehicle types, including emission classes for EV, LNG, CNG and hybrids
• Support for quoting and for ESG compliance
• Low-emission zones and real-time emission zone detection

What it costs

PTV Map&Guide offers three options:

• Free trial: 1 user, 10 routes a month, no minimum term
• Annual subscription billed monthly: €49 per user per month, 12-month minimum term
• Annual subscription billed annually: €558.60 per user per year (5% off the monthly rate), also 12 months minimum

The real problem with the switch: both paid options are a web-based subscription with no local installation — a clear break from the old desktop version, which was a one-off purchase. However comprehensive the features sound, for operations without an actual truck fleet most of them are simply irrelevant. If you plan several routes at once but need neither toll costs nor emissions calculations, a monthly model from €49 per user gets uneconomic fast.

Three categories of alternative

Rather than looking for a single "best" successor, it is worth looking at three different price and capability classes, depending on how many routes, how many addresses and how much extra function you actually need. There is a fuller overview of the cheaper end in the cheapest route planners with optimization.

1. The cheap entry point: RouteXL

RouteXL is a Dutch tool, on the market for over ten years, limited to pure route optimization. You can optimize up to 20 stops per route free, with unlimited routes a day. For more stops per route there are two paid packages: up to 100 stops for €5 a day or €35 a month, up to 200 stops for €10 a day or €70 a month.

The constraints are less about the number of routes than the stop count per route, and about everything missing around it: no mobile app for drivers, no proof of service, no live tracking.

Suits: very small operations with manageable stop counts per route that need neither a mobile app nor documentation.

2. Professional but flat-rate: xRouten

xRouten positions itself in the gap between "too simple" and "too expensive and complex". It plans several routes and several vehicles at once, with unlimited addresses per route, as often as you like.

The key difference from the new PTV generation and from many competitors is that xRouten bills flat — not per route and not per user. The route planner is €25 a month regardless of how many routes or vehicles are planned. The mobile app for drivers, with navigation, digital proof and live tracking, is €10 per driver per month on top.

It also covers exactly the sectors that used the old PTV version without ever needing real truck routing: delivery services, medical couriers, waste collection, street cleaning, outdoor advertising, municipal services and winter maintenance.

Suits: operations that plan several routes at once but need no truck-specific features like toll calculation or emission zones.

3. Enterprise for real truck fleets: WinSped

If you genuinely run a truck fleet and depend on freight invoicing, toll calculation or complex haulage logistics, a full enterprise system is often still the right answer. WinSped from LIS AG is an established German provider of standardized logistics software for the transport industry, with route optimization and a configurable module-based feature set. That includes automated processing of part and groupage loads, an automotive centre for VDA processes, and telematics integration for dynamic logistics processes.

There are no published prices. As with most enterprise haulage software, it is quoted individually by module selection and user count, generally well above what xRouten or RouteXL cost.

Suits: hauliers and transport companies with a real truck fleet who need freight invoicing, toll calculation and complex haulage processes — which is to say, the same audience the new PTV Map&Guide is built for.

The three alternatives against the old and new PTV

Criterion	PTV Map&Guide (old)	PTV Map&Guide (new)	RouteXL	xRouten	WinSped
Several routes at once	Yes	Yes	Yes (20–200 stops/route)	Yes	Yes
Mobile app for drivers	No	Yes	No	Yes (€10/driver)	Yes (AppSped)
Billing	One-off	Monthly, per user	Daily/monthly rate	Monthly/annual	Individual (modules)
Toll and freight invoicing	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Entry price	One-off, several thousand €	€49/user/month	€35–70/month	€25/month	No public pricing
Support and updates	Limited (two versions back)	Current	Current	Current	Current

RouteXL can plan unlimited routes a day but is capped at 20 to 200 stops per individual route depending on package. On the mobile app, three of the four agree; only RouteXL does without one entirely. The largest gap is price: xRouten stays predictable at €25 flat regardless of route or user count, while the new PTV Map&Guide ties cost to user count, which gets more expensive as a team grows. WinSped publishes no prices at all but sits well above the other three. Only the new PTV Map&Guide and WinSped offer genuine toll calculation and freight invoicing — the decisive difference for anyone actually operating trucks.

What suits whom

If you used the old PTV desktop version for a single manageable route, RouteXL is often enough, as long as you need neither a mobile app nor documentation.

If you coordinate several routes or vehicles at once — a meals on wheels service with several drivers, a medical courier with routes that change daily, a municipal department with several vehicles out — then the gap between "too simple" and "too expensive" is exactly the one xRouten's flat rate closes, as dispatch software for small businesses without unused truck features.

If you genuinely run truck logistics with freight invoicing and toll calculation, stay with an enterprise solution like WinSped or the new PTV generation. There the higher price buys capability you will actually use.

Verdict

The position a lot of long-standing PTV Map&Guide users are in is a particular one. They bought software that has been replaced by a more expensive, monthly-billed successor, even though many of them never needed classic truck route planning with tolls and emissions calculations in the first place.

Rather than moving straight to the new PTV generation, it is worth looking honestly at what your routes actually are. Plan one simple route and RouteXL covers it. Coordinate several routes without truck logistics and xRouten's flat rate is an efficient middle ground. Genuinely need freight invoicing and toll calculation, and an enterprise product like WinSped or the new PTV generation is where you belong.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to replace my old PTV Map&Guide version immediately?

The old desktop version has been switched off. If you want to keep planning reliably, start looking for an alternative in good time.

Can I still download PTV Map&Guide free or as a full version?

No. The old desktop version is no longer offered and is not available as a free download or full version. The new generation does have a free trial, but it is limited to 1 user and 10 routes a month.

What is the main difference between the old and new generation?

The new generation brings a reworked, friendlier interface, improved calculation of tolls, transport costs and emissions, and dynamic real-time routing — at a monthly rather than one-off price.

Why is the new PTV version uneconomic for many existing users?

Because it bills monthly against users or routes. With several routes planned at once that gets expensive faster than the old model, where the software was bought once.

How long will the old PTV Map&Guide desktop version be supported?

PTV officially guarantees support only for the current version plus two versions back. If you are working with an older desktop version, assume support and updates will run out sooner or later, even though PTV has communicated no fixed end date.

Does xRouten do toll calculation like PTV Map&Guide?

No. xRouten is deliberately built for route planning alone and does without toll calculation, freight invoicing and emission zones. For operations with no truck fleet that is usually not a drawback, since those features would go unused. If you need toll calculation, PTV Map&Guide or WinSped are the right places.

I do not have a truck — do I still need haulage software with toll calculation?

No. If you need no toll costs, freight invoicing or emission zone detection, a pure route planner like xRouten is generally enough, or RouteXL at very small volume.

Is xRouten suitable for larger fleets, or only small operations?

xRouten allows an unlimited number of drivers and routes without the €25 monthly flat rate rising. Only the mobile app is charged per driver at €10 a month. That makes it viable for larger teams too, as long as no truck-specific features like toll calculation are needed.

Can I bring my old route data over from PTV Map&Guide?

Most modern route planning tools import address data from Excel or CSV, so existing customer addresses and route patterns can be carried across.

Is WinSped worth it for a smaller operation that used the old PTV version?

Generally not. WinSped is built for complex haulage processes with freight invoicing and individual module selection, and is priced for larger hauliers. Operations without a real truck fleet — delivery services or municipal departments, say — are usually better and more cheaply served by xRouten.