Open-source vehicle routing: what's actually free to use
Straight answer People searching this usually want one of two different things. Here's both, and which one this page's tool actually is.
Quick answer, upfront: the routing tool on this site is free to use, but it is not itself an open-source project you can download and self-host. The solver underneath it — Google OR-Tools — genuinely is open source, Apache 2.0 licensed, and you can build your own tool on top of it. Both paths are laid out below.
If you want to write your own solver
OR-Tools is Google's own combinatorial optimization library — the same one this tool is built on. Its routing module handles vehicle routing with time windows and capacity constraints out of the box, in Python, C++, Java, or .NET.
| Step | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Install | pip install ortools — Python is the fastest path in. |
| Model the problem | Define your distance/time matrix, demands, and vehicle capacities as OR-Tools' routing model expects. |
| Add constraints | Time windows, capacity, and route-length limits are all built-in "dimensions" — you're configuring, not writing a solver from scratch. |
| Solve | OR-Tools' guided local search does the actual optimization. You get a route assignment back. |
This is real, unrestricted, self-hostable software. If you want full control — your own server, your own data handling, your own UI — this is the honest starting point, not a hosted tool.
If you just want routes, right now, free
If writing and hosting your own solver isn't what you're after, that's what the tool on this page is for. It's a free web app I built on top of OR-Tools — you upload a workbook of stops, it solves the routes, you get back a map and a results file. No account, no cost.
To be direct about what "free" means here: the engine (OR-Tools) is open source. The web app — the upload flow, the time-window handling, the OSRM integration for real drive times, the Excel round-trip — is my own code, and it isn't published as an open-source project. It's free to use, not free to fork.
Other open-source options worth knowing
OR-Tools (this tool's engine)
Google, Apache 2.0. Best if you're comfortable writing Python or C++ and want full control over the model.
VROOM
A dedicated open-source VRP solver (C++), often paired with OSRM for routing — a common self-hosted stack in logistics tooling.
jsprit
A Java-based open-source VRP library, metaheuristic-driven, popular in academic and research routing work.
I haven't run all of these myself — mentioning them because they come up in the same search, not as a personal endorsement. OR-Tools is the one I know well because it's what this tool runs on.
Why this tool is free even though it isn't open source
I'm an operations research analyst who spent twenty years building routing and scheduling models in Excel for manufacturers and airlines. Converting them into free, hosted web tools — and writing up how each conversion went — is the project. Hosting them is real, ongoing cost, which is part of why the app itself isn't a public repo; the OR-Tools library underneath it, which Google maintains and funds, is a different story and genuinely open.
Questions? Email mario@kindoflost.com. I read them.
Other routing use cases
Same solver and engine, different worked example — each of these is written for its own setting. Start from whichever is closest to yours.
- Food banks & food rescue — Home-delivery and donor-pickup routing for volunteer drivers.
- Excel Solver alternative — For when Excel Solver or SolverStudio can’t handle the problem size anymore.
- Spreadsheet-in, spreadsheet-out — Upload an Excel file of stops, get back a routed workbook and a map.
- Last-mile delivery routing — Parcel and package delivery, per-van capacity and time windows.
- Field service routing — Technician appointment windows, job duration, and per-tech capacity.
- Delivery route planner — For small businesses running their own delivery routes.
- Fleet route optimization — Multi-vehicle trucking and distribution fleets.
- Sales rep route planner — Outside sales reps and merchandisers visiting client sites.
- Courier routing software — Same-day and multi-stop courier services.
- Waste & recycling collection routing — Truck capacity and collection time windows.
Related
- Route optimizer — the tool itself, with the full parameter reference.
- VRP Excel solver alternative — for when Excel's own Solver or SolverStudio has hit its limit.
- VRP spreadsheet solver — more on the workbook-in, workbook-out workflow.
- Kind-of-Lost — write-ups of each model, including how this one was built.