To choose limo dispatch software, work through a short checklist of questions about pricing, driver costs, contract terms, notifications, and the features you actually need, then compare vendors on their answers rather than their marketing. The most important questions are the ones that expose your total cost at the scale you expect to reach, because that is where most buyers get surprised. This guide gives you 12 questions to ask, with practical guidance on each and an honest note on where DrivOQ stands.
DrivOQ is dispatch and operations software for limousine and ground transportation companies, priced at a flat monthly rate with a free driver app and no per-driver fees. We built this checklist to be useful no matter which platform you end up choosing, so print it, take it into your demos, and hold every vendor to the same standard.
1. Is the pricing transparent and published?
You should be able to find the price before you talk to a salesperson. If the only way to learn what a platform costs is to book a call and share your fleet size, that is usually a sign the price flexes to what the vendor thinks you will pay. DrivOQ publishes its prices: Starter at $79 USD per month and Professional at $179 USD per month, with a Business tier coming soon. See the pricing page for what each tier includes.
2. Are there per-driver fees?
Ask directly whether adding a driver raises your monthly bill. Per-seat pricing turns hiring into a cost decision and makes your busy season your most expensive month. Every DrivOQ plan includes unlimited drivers and vehicles with no per-driver seat fees, so your price does not change when your fleet grows.
3. Does the driver app cost extra?
The driver app is not an add-on, it is core infrastructure. Driver status updates are what trigger client notifications, so a platform that charges per driver for its app, or has no app at all, is charging you for something that should be included. The DrivOQ driver app is free on every plan for iOS and Android.
4. What are the contract terms?
Ask whether billing is monthly or annual and what it takes to cancel. An annual contract with cancellation penalties is a real commitment for an operation still confirming the platform fits. DrivOQ is month-to-month with no contract and no setup fees.
5. Are booking limits and overage charges clear?
Know exactly what happens at your plan's booking limit before you sign. Vague answers here lead to surprise bills. DrivOQ is explicit: Starter includes up to 400 bookings a month, and new bookings pause at the limit until the next month or an upgrade, with no per-booking charge. Professional includes 1,500 bookings and then charges $0.15 per additional booking, and you are never blocked from taking work.
6. Are client notifications included?
Automated confirmations and driver-status messages are the backbone of a professional client experience. Confirm they are part of the platform and understand how each channel is billed. In DrivOQ, email notifications are free, and SMS is billed to your company at carrier rates, which is standard because carriers charge per message. What you want to avoid is a platform that treats notifications themselves as a paid upgrade.
7. Does it support corporate accounts?
Corporate accounts are the highest-value work in the limo business, and billing them is different from billing an individual. Look for the ability to group a company's riders under one account, bill the account rather than each passenger, and run batch invoices for a date range. DrivOQ includes corporate accounts on every plan.
8. Is there live trip tracking?
Live tracking answers the where is my car question before a client asks it, and it gives dispatchers a real-time read on which trips are running on time. Confirm the platform shows driver locations and estimated arrival times during active trips. DrivOQ includes live ride tracking on every plan.
9. Does it handle invoicing and payroll?
If invoicing and driver payroll live outside the platform, every invoice and every pay period becomes manual re-entry from your booking data. Look for invoicing and payroll that read directly from completed trips. DrivOQ includes both on every plan: invoice generation with PDF export and overdue tracking, and driver payroll that pulls from completed bookings with an approval step.
10. Is there a client-facing booking page?
A public booking page captures reservations around the clock without a phone call, which is often the fastest way software pays for itself. Ask whether it is included and on which plan. In DrivOQ, the branded booking page is a Professional-and-higher feature, giving each company its own page with real-time pricing and address autocomplete. Read more on the booking portal feature page.
11. Can you export and own your data?
Your bookings, clients, and financial records are your business assets. Confirm you can export them and that leaving the platform does not mean losing your history. A vendor confident in its product will make your data easy to get out, not hard.
12. What is the support quality like?
When a booking goes sideways at 7am on a busy morning, support quality stops being abstract. Ask how you reach support, what the response times are, and whether help is included or a paid tier. Test it during your evaluation by sending a real question and seeing how fast and how usefully it comes back.
Putting the checklist to work
Most dispatch platforms charge setup fees and per-driver rates. DrivOQ is one flat monthly price, which is why several of the answers above come back to the same place: a predictable bill that does not punish you for growing. That said, run every vendor through all 12 questions, because the right platform is the one whose honest answers fit how your operation actually works, not the one with the slickest demo. For a side-by-side view against older systems, see DrivOQ versus generic dispatch software, and browse the full features list to check each capability against your needs.
One reminder on pricing: the DrivOQ prices in this guide are regular pricing. Launch pricing will be lower, and everyone who joins the waitlist gets launch pricing when DrivOQ opens.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most important question to ask before buying?
Ask exactly what your total monthly bill will be at the fleet size and booking volume you expect a year from now, not today. Most billing surprises come from per-driver seat fees and per-booking commissions that stay invisible until you grow, so pricing you can predict at scale is the single most important thing to confirm.
How long should it take to get up and running?
A dispatch platform built for limo companies should be something you can configure yourself in about a day: add vehicles, invite drivers, set your rates, and go live. If a vendor describes a multi-week onboarding or a paid setup engagement, the software is likely built for a much larger and more complex operation than a typical limo fleet.
Do I need auto-dispatch?
Not every operation does. If a single dispatcher can comfortably assign your daily volume by hand, manual assignment is fine and available on any plan. Automatic dispatch earns its place when volume grows past what one person can track, or when you want assignments to keep flowing outside dispatcher hours. In DrivOQ, auto-dispatch is a Professional-and-higher feature.
Should I sign an annual contract to get a lower price?
Be cautious. A discount in exchange for a year of lock-in only pays off if the platform turns out to be the right fit, and you cannot know that until you have run real trips through it. Month-to-month billing keeps the pressure on the vendor to keep earning your business every month.
Ready to compare DrivOQ against your checklist?
DrivOQ is launching soon. Join the waitlist to be first in line and get launch pricing, which is lower than the regular prices shown here.