TimeToCargo and Shipsgo combine an ocean-tracking workspace with API access. Their main commercial difference is how access is purchased: TimeToCargo bundles API access into a subscription quota; Shipsgo sells tracking credits and charges separately for API use. This comparison includes a 1,000-container annual budget.
TimeToCargo and Shipsgo comparison table
Criterion | TimeToCargo | Shipsgo |
|---|---|---|
Purpose and target users | Container visibility for logistics teams, with a shared dashboard and API integration into internal systems. Overview | Ocean visibility for cargo owners, forwarders and teams building tracking into applications. [2] |
Carrier coverage | Provides data from 100+ supported carriers, including ocean shipping lines. Carrier directory | Supports 160+ ocean shipping lines. [3] |
Operational features | Standardized carrier data: shipment status, dated events, vessel, ETA, ports, route, latest available position and event notes, subject to source availability. Tracking data. Corporate access enables colleagues to work in one shared dashboard. | Container, booking and master bill of lading tracking; event notifications. [3] |
Integrations | REST API (JSON over HTTPS) for container, bill of lading and booking references; shipment statuses, events and routes, batch requests and webhooks. API documentation. Included in trial and paid plans. Access | API and webhooks; a separate annual API usage fee depends on volume. [4], [1]. |
AI and forecasting | Carrier-supplied estimated time of arrival (ETA), where available. Tracking lifecycle | Publishes a machine-learning ocean ETA prediction feature. [5] |
Interface and analytics | Customizable dashboard, shipment route map with location updates, Excel export, event-based alerts and daily email digests. Workspace, Notifications | Dashboard, map and ocean performance analytics. [2] |
Pricing | USD 1.50 base per activated reference, with quota and annual discounts. Annual plans count a reference once within the paid year; monthly plans count it in each month it remains active. Pricing, Billing rules | New tracking consumes one credit; purchased credits last one year. API fee additional. [1] |
Getting started | Seven-day trial, 50 Shipments, no card required. Pricing | Three free credits for new users. [1] |
Limitations and best fit | TimeToCargo requests carrier updates twice daily and also supports manual refreshes in the Personal Account, up to once every three hours. Refreshing an existing tracked shipment uses no additional quota and incurs no separate charge. Refresh options, Billing. | Checks each shipment at least twice daily, without a fixed schedule. Historical container data is unavailable via API; performance statistics are separate. [4], [3]. |
Which differences matter
One MBL can cover several containers. Shipsgo charges one credit for a tracked master bill of lading (MBL), regardless of its container count. TimeToCargo also counts a submitted B/L as one reference; submitting its containers separately uses separate quota units. Grouping by MBL can lower both budgets. [1], TimeToCargo billing rules.
API access changes the total. TimeToCargo includes API access and webhooks in trial and paid plans. Shipsgo adds an annual API fee to tracking credits. Dashboard-only and integrated deployments therefore need separate totals. TimeToCargo integration, [1].
Prediction and refresh frequency are separate. Shipsgo offers a machine-learning arrival forecast; TimeToCargo displays carrier estimates and compares planned and actual event dates. Both publish a twice-daily baseline for collecting tracking updates. A webhook delivers a detected change; it does not establish a faster collection schedule. [5], [4], TimeToCargo updates.
Cost case 1000 containers per year
Imagine your team needs to track 1,000 containers over the next year. To make the budgets comparable, let’s submit each container separately and keep all tracking within one paid annual period. We’ll use published USD prices, without trial credits, taxes, custom discounts or implementation work. If several containers are tracked under one supported MBL, both services may require fewer billable references.
TimeToCargo: 1,000 annual references equal about 83.3 per month for the volume-discount calculation. The USD 1.50 base rate receives a 10% volume discount plus a 20% annual discount, added together: 1,000 × USD 1.50 × 70% = USD 1,050 per year. API and webhooks are included. Pricing calculator, Discount and quota rules.
Shipsgo: the public calculator prices 1,000 tracking credits at USD 2,000. One new reference consumes one credit; credits are valid for one year. API use adds a separately quoted annual fee. Budget USD 2,000 for dashboard tracking, or USD 2,000 plus the API fee for an integrated deployment. [1].
For this scenario, TimeToCargo costs USD 1,050 per year, including API and webhooks. Shipsgo costs USD 2,000 for dashboard tracking, plus a separately quoted fee if you need API access. TimeToCargo’s annual total is USD 950 lower than Shipsgo’s dashboard-only price.
When to choose each service
Choose TimeToCargo when you need a shared tracking workspace and API/webhooks within a published subscription budget, and twice-daily scheduled refreshes fit your process. Workspace and integration.
Choose Shipsgo when its ocean analytics, predictive ETA or credit model fit your operation. Its dashboard price and API-enabled price differ, so use the relevant total from the cost case above. [2], [4].
Do Shipsgo credits remain valid indefinitely?
No. The current pricing page gives purchased credits a one-year validity period. [1].
Is a house bill equivalent to a master bill for tracking?
No. Shipsgo supports master bills, booking numbers and container numbers, but excludes house bills of lading. A forwarder-issued house bill must not be counted as a supported MBL in the budget. [3].
Check TimeToCargo’s supported carriers against your shipment list.
