Stowplan as a Cargo-Planner alternative
Stowplan costs $19 per month for one planner. Cargo-Planner’s cheapest paid tier is $59 per month billed yearly, and its Lite plan carries no interactive 3D view. Stowplan’s free tier has a 3D view you can turn and step through, though you change a plan by editing the list and re-packing. Cargo-Planner is the more featured product: it is multi-modal and multi-language, with libraries, an API and enterprise controls. Figures below are in USD and were read off Cargo-Planner’s own pricing page on November 5, 2026.
What each one costs
| Stowplan | Cargo-Planner | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry paid tier | Pro $19/mo, or $190/yr | Lite $59/mo billed yearly, 1 user |
| 3D view at that tier | Yes, to turn and step through — also on the free tier | No, per their own feature table |
| Editing the plan in the 3D view | Not available — edit the list and re-pack | Standard, $99/mo billed yearly, 5 users |
| Public link sharing | Free tier, 20 active links, watermarked | Standard tier |
| Before you pay | Free tier, no expiry | Free trial on any plan |
Cargo-Planner’s pricing page displays annual billing by default; month-to-month costs more than the figures above. Enterprise is quoted, not published.
The comparison that actually decides it
If what you need is to see the load in 3D and send someone a link, that combination starts at Cargo-Planner’s Standard tier — $99/mo billed yearly, because Lite has neither interactive 3D nor public URL sharing. In Stowplan the 3D view and share links are on the free tier, and $19/mo Pro exists to remove four limits: one container per plan, five saved plans, twenty active share links, and the watermark. Nothing else is behind the paywall.
Both get the plan to the crew. Cargo-Planner prints step-by-step instructions and shares a link. A Stowplan share link carries a phone step-through and a printable sheet for the person actually loading the container. Links from an account don’t expire unless you set a date; links made without an account last up to 90 days. A feature list won’t settle which works better on your dock, ours included, so run one real list through each and show the output to whoever loads it.
Where Cargo-Planner is the better buy
It is the deeper product, and for a lot of operations it is the right one. Do not switch if you need:
- Editing the plan in 3D. Cargo-Planner’s Standard tier lists an interactive 3D view for load plan editing. Stowplan’s 3D view only turns and steps through the load; to change a plan you edit the list and re-pack.
- Modes beyond containers and trucks. Full aircraft and vessel load planning are Cargo-Planner Enterprise features. Stowplan does not do them at all.
- Cargo and equipment libraries. If your team plans the same SKUs weekly, a saved library is real time. Cargo-Planner has one on every tier; Stowplan has none.
- Enterprise plumbing. API access, single sign-on, audit trails, issue SLAs, company-wide settings enforcement, branches, and 18+ language support. Stowplan has none of these.
- Five seats under one subscription. Their Standard tier includes five users. Stowplan Pro is one planner — for a crew you want Teams.
Who Stowplan is actually for
A coordinator or small forwarding team planning container and truck loads, who wants the plan in front of the dock crew without buying a platform. If that is not you, the honest answer is that Cargo-Planner’s feature list will serve you better, and this page would rather tell you that than sell you a month.
Try it against a real shipment
Paste in a cargo list you have already planned elsewhere and compare the two plans side by side. That is a fairer test than any table.