Compared

A Kpler alternative, if what you need is a desk

Kpler sells market intelligence: cargo flows, ship tracking and analytics, by quote. Neptune Atlas is a working tool for a chartering desk, with a published price. They overlap in one place, and this page says where.

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What Kpler sells

Kpler describes itself as "the foundational data layer for global trade". Its site says it covers more than 40 commodities, tracks more than 350,000 vessels a day and runs a network of more than 13,000 AIS receivers (the stations that pick up ships' position signals). Those are Kpler's own figures.

Its products include commodity and trade flow data, ship tracking, risk and compliance screening, chartering and arbitrage tools, and data feeds for developers. Kpler also owns MarineTraffic and FleetMon, the ship tracking sites. It announced both purchases on 15 February 2023.

One Kpler product is aimed at the same people as Neptune Atlas. Inbox, sold as MarineTraffic Inbox, is shared e-mail software for shipbrokers, charterers and operators. Kpler says it reads vessel names, IMO numbers and laycan dates out of e-mails and adds its tracking data to them. We have not used any Kpler product, so this page describes them from Kpler's own site and does not guess at what they lack.

Three reasons people look for a Kpler alternative

You want market data. Cargo flows, fleet supply, freight analytics. Neptune Atlas does not sell market data and is not an alternative here. Signal Ocean and AXSMarine are the products to look at.

You want to follow ships on a map. That is MarineTraffic, which Kpler owns. Neptune Atlas shows a ship's last reported position on its record, and it is not a tracking service.

You want your desk's e-mail turned into positions, cargoes and fixtures. This is where the two overlap, and it is the only case this page argues. The rest of the page is about that desk.

Where Neptune Atlas is different

Kpler starts from the market and works down to your mailbox. Neptune Atlas starts from your desk's own records: the ships you were offered, the cargoes you were asked for and the deals you fixed.

A published price, self serve

Desk and above

Every plan and every seat price is on the pricing page. You can open an account without a sales call. Kpler publishes no price and asks you to request a demo.

Positions and cargo from your own mailbox

Desk and above

Circulars (the lists of open ships that brokers e-mail) and cargo enquiries are read from the mailbox your desk already uses. A broker confirms each one before it appears on the board.

The register with the four ownership roles

Desk and above

Every ship is listed by its IMO number (the ship's permanent ID number). The registered owner, group owner, technical manager and commercial manager are kept separate, so you can see which company to contact.

A record of every fixture

Desk and above

For each fixture (an agreed deal): rate, basis, laycan (the dates the ship can arrive to load), parties and status. The recap is kept exactly as it was sent.

Laytime from a signed statement of facts

Chartering and above

The port agent's statement of facts (the record of what happened in port, and when) is read into a laytime sheet. Demurrage (the fee for extra days in port) or despatch (the reward for finishing early) is calculated from it.

Voyage estimate to a daily figure

Chartering and above

Fuel by grade, port costs, canal fees and commission, turned into a time charter equivalent (TCE, what the voyage earns per day).

Where Kpler is better

Market data. Trade flows across more than 40 commodities, built over many years. Neptune Atlas has none. If your job is to know where the cargo is moving, Kpler is the product and we are not.

Its own tracking network. Kpler owns MarineTraffic and its receiver network. Neptune Atlas buys position data and shows the last report for a ship.

Shared e-mail for a team. Inbox is a full mail client: shared mailboxes, assignment between colleagues, filing rules and mobile apps. Neptune Atlas reads your mailbox for circulars and cargo enquiries. It does not replace your e-mail program.

Risk and compliance. Kpler sells risk and compliance screening. Neptune Atlas shows a ship's port state control history and ownership roles, and it is not a compliance product.

Size. Kpler says thousands of organisations and governments use it. Neptune Atlas is new. If you need a supplier with years of references, keep that in mind.

The price

Kpler does not publish a price. Its site has no pricing page and asks you to request a demo. That is normal for data sold to trading firms and it is not a criticism.

One public record shows a size. The US Department of State paid 250,660 dollars to renew a Kpler subscription for ten users for one year, from September 2024 to September 2025. The record does not say which Kpler products were included. A government data subscription is not the price a broking desk would be quoted for Inbox, so read it as a sign of scale and nothing more. You can open the award record yourself.

Neptune Atlas starts at $59.99 a month for one broker on Desk. The voyage estimator and laytime are on Chartering, at $99.99. Every price is on the pricing page. How the rest of the market publishes its prices, or does not: what ship chartering software costs. The free laytime calculator and TCE calculator need no account.

Also compared: Veson, AXSMarine, Netpas and ShipNext. For the wider market, see the best ship chartering software for small desks.

Sources

Read on 12 October 2026: Kpler's site, its Inbox page, gCaptain on the MarineTraffic and FleetMon purchases, and USAspending award 19AQMM24P0918.