Compared

An AXSMarine alternative for a small desk

AXSMarine is an established chartering platform with market data behind it, sold by quote. Neptune Atlas is a smaller desk tool with a published price. Here is what each one is for, including where AXSMarine is the better choice.

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What AXSMarine sells

AXSMarine is a French company, now part of Signal Ocean, which announced the acquisition on 29 January 2026. Its chartering platforms are AXSDry for dry bulk, AXSTanker for tankers and gas, and Alphaliner for containers. Around them sit AXSReader, which turns e-mails into structured data, Live Matrix for freight calculations, Postfix for post-fixture work, and Trade Flows for commodity movements.

AXSMarine says it has 18,000 users and 25 years in the market. We have not used it, so this page describes it from its own site and does not guess at what it lacks.

Where Neptune Atlas is different

The overlap is real: both read circulars, both hold positions and both calculate freight. The differences are in who the product is built for and how it is bought.

A published price, self serve

Desk and above

Every tier and every seat price is on the pricing page, and an account opens without a call. AXSMarine publishes no price and asks for a demonstration.

The register with the four ownership roles

Desk and above

Every hull keyed on IMO number, with the registered owner, group owner, technical manager and commercial manager kept apart, so the company to write to is on the record.

Positions and cargo from your own mailbox

Desk and above

Circulars and enquiries read from the mailbox the desk already uses, confirmed by a broker before they reach the board.

Laytime from a signed statement of facts

Chartering and above

The agent's statement of facts read into a time sheet, with demurrage or despatch worked out from it.

A marketplace across desks

Desk and above

Cargo and open tonnage posted to every desk on the platform, on every plan including the free one.

Where AXSMarine is better

Market data. Trade flows, fleet and emissions dashboards, and AIS-based analytics built over many years. Neptune Atlas has none of that and does not sell it.

Coverage across trades. Separate products for dry bulk, tankers and gas, and containers. Neptune Atlas is built mainly for dry cargo and project desks.

Scale and history. A large user base and a long record in the market. Neptune Atlas is new, and a desk that needs a supplier with decades of references should weigh that.

Post-fixture work. Postfix covers the work after the fixture. Neptune Atlas stops at the fixture book and laytime, with no accounting or invoicing.

The price

AXSMarine does not publish a price. Its general terms do publish how the price moves: clause 13.1 says one year subscription fees "shall automatically increase by 4% upon each renewal", and clause 13.7 reserves the right to apply a general rate increase "at any time". Read on 2 October 2026 at public.axsmarine.com/axsmarine-gtc.

Neptune Atlas starts at $59.99 a month for one broker on Desk, and the estimator and laytime are on Chartering at $99.99. Every figure is on the pricing page. For the wider market, see the best ship chartering software for small desks.

Sources

All read on 2 October 2026: AXSMarine's site, its general terms, and Dry Bulk on the Signal Ocean acquisition. Check them rather than take them from here.