Timefold
Belgian optimization company whose pickup and delivery routing API and open-source solver turn route plans into scores you can inspect
Quick Overview
| Company | Timefold BV |
|---|---|
| Category | Route Optimization Software |
| Headquarters | Ghent, Belgium |
| Founded | Not stated |
| EU Presence | Yes - Belgium (EU) |
| Data Location | Managed cloud; region not named on the pages read |
| Open Source | Apache 2.0 (Timefold Solver Community) |
| GDPR Compliant | Yes |
| Self-Hosting | Yes - the open-source solver, and self-hosted Horizon platform |
| Main Features | Pickup and delivery routing API, field service routing API, employee shift scheduling API, task scheduling API, open-source solver, score analysis, map and timeline plan views, what-if scenarios |
| Pricing | Solver Community free; Platform tiers Spark, Flow and Horizon without prices on the pricing page; Solver Enterprise on request |
| Best For | Developers building a routing or scheduling product that must explain its plans |
| Replaces | Route4Me optimization APIs, in-house routing code |
Detailed Review
Timefold approaches routing as a scheduling problem with scored constraints. Its Pickup & Delivery Routing API takes vehicles, stops and rules in, and returns a plan together with the score breakdown that produced it.
The company is incorporated in Belgium (Timefold BV, Ghent, enterprise number BE0794.647.853) and also publishes its solver as open source, which lets a team start without a contract.
From Open-Source Library to Hosted Platform
The Community edition of the Timefold Solver is licensed Apache 2.0 and ships with constraint streams, local search heuristics and real-time planning with pinning, for Java and Kotlin with Quarkus and Spring Boot support. The Enterprise edition adds multi-threaded solving, nearby selection and partitioned search, and the vendor states a scale of 500,000 jobs, shifts or tasks.
The hosted platform packages the same engine as APIs. Spark is headless API access with one seat, Flow adds multi-user collaboration and dashboards, and Horizon adds what-if scenarios and an efficiency X-Ray.
Plans You Can Read
Every result carries a score analysis, so a dispatcher can see which constraint cost points, for instance a late arrival against a broken shift rule. That matters when drivers or customers question why a stop landed where it did.
The platform also draws plans on a map and a timeline, and Horizon includes reality checks that test a plan against real-world feasibility.
Where It Sits Against a Finished Planner
There is no driver app or dispatch screen in the Spark tier, which describes itself as having no UI. A team that wants route sheets on phones by Monday will find a packaged planner faster; a team building its own product gets control over every rule.
Limitations to Consider
Timefold is an optimization layer, not a dispatch product: the Spark tier has no user interface and driver apps, tracking and proof of delivery have to come from elsewhere, for example Track-POD. The pricing page names three platform tiers without prices, and the solver in its Community edition is a Java and Kotlin library, so a team on another language works through the APIs.
Who Should Use Timefold
Software teams and logistics integrators that embed routing in their own product and want an Apache-licensed core with a hosted option in a Belgian company.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Pickup and delivery routing as a ready API
- Apache 2.0 solver for use without a contract
- Score analysis explains each plan
- Self-hosting offered on the Horizon tier
- Belgian company with an enterprise number on its terms
Cons
- No driver app or dispatch screen in the entry tier
- Platform prices not published
- Community solver limited to Java and Kotlin
- Region of the managed cloud not stated on pages read
Alternatives to Timefold
Other European route optimization software worth comparing before you decide:
GraphHopper
Germany · Route optimization API on an open-source routing engine from Munich
AntsRoute
France · Per-vehicle route planning with a driver app and customer alerts
Track-POD
Lithuania · Delivery routing joined to electronic proof of delivery
Nomadia TourSolver
France · Route planner for deliveries, pickups and visits with a free tier
See all European route optimization software or compare them directly against Route4Me optimization APIs on our alternatives page.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Community edition of the solver is open source under Apache 2.0 and costs nothing. The hosted platform tiers Spark, Flow and Horizon appear on the pricing page without prices, and the Enterprise solver is sold on request.
The Pickup & Delivery Routing API. The vendor lists use cases such as courier services, same-day delivery and full or part truckload transport, and the Field Service Routing API covers technician rounds.
Yes, in two ways. The open-source solver is a library you run yourself, and the pricing page states that self-hosting is available on the Horizon platform tier.