How much does taxi software cost: comparing payment models (purchase, rental, percentage of orders)
The question «how much does taxi software cost» has no short answer. Some vendors start at 137,900 ₽ one-time, others at 5,000 ₽ a month, and others at 150 ₽ per day plus a percentage. You can’t compare these figures directly: behind them are different payment models, different sets of modules and different hidden costs.
In this article, we break down three models — license purchase, rental and a percentage of orders — calculate the real cost of ownership for services of different sizes, and show honestly where each model wins. Competitor prices are taken from their public websites at the time of writing; check current terms with the vendor before you decide.
Three payment models
License purchase
You pay once and own the software. The license is usually tied to the number of workstations or drivers, and updates and technical support after the first year are paid separately. The server is yours: either a physical one in the office or one rented from a hosting provider.
Market examples: Taxi-Master from 260,000 ₽, SKAT from 137,900 ₽, TaxiAdmin $999.
Who it suits: large services with an IT specialist on staff who want to control the infrastructure, customize the system and are ready for capital investment.
What to consider:
- the server and its administration (VPS rental from 2,000–5,000 ₽ a month, backups, OS updates);
- paid updates after the warranty period ends;
- implementation: setup, training, telephony integration — with license-purchase vendors, launch usually takes weeks;
- mobile apps are often paid for separately;
- if the service closes or shrinks, you can’t get the money back.
Rental (subscription)
A fixed monthly fee. The server and updates are on the vendor’s side. The base price often covers a limited set of features, and add-on modules (customer app, voice robot, order exchange, analytics) cost extra.
Market examples: Taxi-Master from 13,000 ₽/month, Gutax from 10,000 ₽/month, Taxomet 6,000 ₽/month + 1.25 ₽ per order, TaxiAdmin 150 ₽ per driver per month plus a one-time 5,000 ₽ setup fee.
Who it suits: services with a stable order flow that value predictable costs.
What to consider:
- the fixed fee doesn’t depend on whether you had orders — in the low season or at launch, that strains the economics;
- a «per driver» fee (like TaxiAdmin’s) grows with the fleet: 50 drivers already cost 7,500 ₽ a month, 150 drivers cost 22,500 ₽;
- modularity: the final price with the modules you need can be one and a half to two times the «starting from» price.
Percentage of orders
The vendor earns only when you earn. The fee is tied to turnover: a percentage of driver commissions or a fixed amount per order. Server, updates and support are usually included.
Market examples: UpTaxi — 150 ₽/day + 7–10% of driver commissions (the daily fee drops to zero from 501 orders a day); taxiCRM — a commission from 0.4% on payouts, but this is a payout service for aggregator fleets, not a dispatch service.
Who it suits: new services with unknown order flow; seasonal services; anyone who doesn’t want to tie up money in a license.
What to consider:
- with high turnover, the absolute amount grows — you need to calculate where the line with rental lies;
- cloud dependence: without internet the software is unavailable (though today this also applies to most rental solutions);
- the percentage model requires transparent calculations — make sure you understand what base the percentage is calculated on.
What’s actually included in the price
Before comparing numbers, list what you need and check with each vendor whether it’s included. Typical «extra» items:
| Feature | How often it’s paid separately |
|---|---|
| Customer mobile app | Often: a separate development fee or monthly |
| Branded app in the stores under the service’s name | Almost always separate |
| Driver app | Sometimes |
| Voice robot / IVR | Often a separate module; an LLM robot that runs the conversation on its own is offered by very few |
| Ordering bots in Telegram and Max | Rarely available at all; if available, often separate |
| SMS and voice notifications | Often a separate module, plus traffic fees to the carrier |
| Order exchange between services | Often a separate module or a percentage |
| Vendor-side call center | Separate service |
| Server and its administration | With a purchase, always your cost |
| Implementation and training | With a purchase, often separate |
| Technical support after the first year | With a purchase, often paid |
| Updates | With a purchase, often paid |
UpTaxi isn’t split into modules. The price includes all functionality: order intake through every channel (operator, an LLM voice robot operator that answers calls and creates orders on its own, ordering bots in Telegram and Max, website, app), automatic dispatch by roads, customer and driver apps, a driver bot in Max for working without installing an app, fare calculation, the order exchange, telephony with automatic notifications, a manager dashboard, loyalty programs and a ready-made dispatch service website. Only two things cost extra: a branded app in the stores (20,000 ₽ per OS, updates 7,000 ₽ per OS) and call handling by the distributed call center (1 ₽ per accepted order + 4 ₽ per completed order), if you choose to use it. The shared «UpTaxi Taxi» customer app is included.
UpTaxi pricing
| Orders per day | Daily fee | Percentage of driver commissions |
|---|---|---|
| 0–100 | 150 ₽/day | 10% |
| 101–300 | 150 ₽/day | 9% |
| 301–500 | 150 ₽/day | 8% |
| 501–1,000 | 0 | 7% |
| 1,001+ | by agreement |
It’s important to understand the base: the fee is charged not on the service’s revenue or the trip price, but on the amount the service keeps from the driver. If a trip costs 250 ₽ and the service keeps a 7% driver commission, that’s 17.5 ₽, and UpTaxi’s 10% fee comes to 1.75 ₽ per order. Current terms are on the prices page.
Calculation: three services of different sizes
For a fair comparison, we use the same inputs for every option and calculate the monthly software cost (30 days). Assume an average trip of 250 ₽, a 7% driver commission (17.5 ₽ per order), and about 25 active drivers per 100 orders a day.
For a license purchase, we spread the cost over 36 months (a typical planning horizon) and add 3,000 ₽/month for server rental. For simplicity, we don’t count support and updates after the first year, although in practice they exist.
Service with 60 orders a day (launch)
Orders per month: 1,800. Driver commissions: 31,500 ₽. Drivers: about 15.
| Vendor / model | Calculation | Total per month |
|---|---|---|
| UpTaxi (percentage) | 150 × 30 + 10% × 31,500 | 7,650 ₽ |
| Taxomet (rental) | 6,000 + 1.25 × 1,800 | 8,250 ₽ |
| TaxiAdmin (rental, without branded apps) | 150 × 15 (+ 5,000 ₽ one-time setup) | 2,250 ₽ |
| TaxiAdmin (rental, with branded apps) | 150 × 15 + 8,000 | 10,250 ₽ |
| Gutax (rental) | from 10,000 | from 10,000 ₽ |
| Taxi-Master (rental) | from 13,000 | from 13,000 ₽ |
| SKAT (purchase) | 137,900 / 36 + 3,000 | ≈ 6,830 ₽ |
| Taxi-Master (purchase) | 260,000 / 36 + 3,000 | ≈ 10,220 ₽ |
At low volume, UpTaxi is cheaper than Taxomet and Taxi-Master rental, and basic TaxiAdmin without its own apps is the cheapest on the bare number; with branded apps, TaxiAdmin already costs more than UpTaxi. But two caveats matter here. First, «from» in rental pricing means the basic package: check whether the customer app, robot, order exchange and SMS are included. Second, at 60 orders a day the service has most likely just launched, and the key question isn’t a few thousand rubles a month, but how much you have to pay before your first order. UpTaxi offers a free 30-day trial for services with 50 or more successful orders a day; otherwise, there is a non-refundable 1,000 ₽ prepayment. With a license purchase, you pay 137,900–260,000 ₽ before you know whether you have a market.
Service with 200 orders a day (established)
Orders per month: 6,000. Driver commissions: 105,000 ₽. Drivers: about 50.
| Vendor / model | Calculation | Total per month |
|---|---|---|
| UpTaxi (percentage) | 150 × 30 + 9% × 105,000 | 13,950 ₽ |
| Taxomet (rental) | 6,000 + 1.25 × 6,000 | 13,500 ₽ |
| TaxiAdmin (rental, without branded apps) | 150 × 50 (+ 5,000 ₽ one-time) | 7,500 ₽ |
| TaxiAdmin (rental, with branded apps) | 150 × 50 + 8,000 | 15,500 ₽ |
| Gutax (rental) | from 10,000 | from 10,000 ₽ |
| Taxi-Master (rental) | from 13,000 | from 13,000 ₽ |
| SKAT (purchase) | 137,900 / 36 + 3,000 | ≈ 6,830 ₽ |
| Taxi-Master (purchase) | 260,000 / 36 + 3,000 | ≈ 10,220 ₽ |
Here UpTaxi is practically on par with Taxomet — a difference of about 450 ₽ a month — and cheaper than TaxiAdmin with branded apps. Basic TaxiAdmin without its own apps is about 6,500 ₽ a month cheaper, or about 1 ₽ per order. For that difference, the service gets full functionality with no module surcharges, 24/7 support, a voice robot, ordering bots in Telegram and Max, a driver bot in Max, no server or implementation costs, plus free enhancements, updates and fixes. If a basic dispatch service with a phone line and a driver app is enough for you, basic rental will be cheaper. If you need a customer app, a robot, an order exchange and automatic notifications, recalculate rental with modules — the gap usually disappears.
Service with 600 orders a day (large)
Orders per month: 18,000. Driver commissions: 315,000 ₽. Drivers: about 150.
| Vendor / model | Calculation | Total per month |
|---|---|---|
| UpTaxi (percentage) | 0 + 7% × 315,000 | 22,050 ₽ |
| Taxomet (rental) | 6,000 + 1.25 × 18,000 | 28,500 ₽ |
| TaxiAdmin (rental, without branded apps) | 150 × 150 (+ 5,000 ₽ one-time) | 22,500 ₽ |
| TaxiAdmin (rental, with branded apps) | 150 × 150 + 8,000 | 30,500 ₽ |
| Taxi-Master (rental) | from 13,000 (more in practice with a fleet this size) | from 13,000 ₽ |
| SKAT (purchase) | 137,900 / 36 + a more powerful server, ≈ 6,000 | ≈ 9,830 ₽ |
| Taxi-Master (purchase) | 260,000 / 36 + server, ≈ 6,000 | ≈ 13,220 ₽ |
For a large service, buying a license becomes the cheapest option per month — provided you have someone to administer the server and handle backups and updates, and you’re willing to pay for support separately. That’s normal economics: the bigger the turnover, the more capital investment pays off. At this volume, the percentage model is the price of not maintaining IT infrastructure and getting 24/7 support; 22,050 ₽ a month is less than one system administrator’s salary in most regions.
Want to run the numbers on your own data? Enter your order count, average fare and driver commission rate — the prices page has a calculator. Or get 30 days of access and see real numbers in the manager dashboard.
Hidden costs people forget
Server and administration. With a license purchase, this is your cost forever: VPS rental, backups, OS updates, disk replacements. If the server is in the office, add a UPS and an answer to «who fixes it at 3 a.m.?»
Implementation. Setup for your city, loading the map, fares and telephony, training operators. License-purchase vendors often charge for this separately, and launch stretches over weeks. At UpTaxi, a server for your company is ready within a day, setup is done remotely, and it’s included in the price.
Updates. Legislation changes (Federal Law 580-FZ, data requirements), app stores change publishing rules, telecom carriers change protocols. With a purchase, updates after the first year are usually paid; with rental and percentage models, they’re included.
Support. Check the hours and the cost. «Support during business hours on weekdays» for a taxi service that works nights and weekends is half the support it needs.
Apps in the stores. Publishing under your brand requires developer accounts (Google Play, App Store, RuStore), building the app and passing review. At UpTaxi, it costs 20,000 ₽ per OS one-time; with other vendors, ask — the price may be higher or lower.
Switching cost. If the software doesn’t work out, how much does it cost to leave? With a purchase, you lose the whole amount. With rental, usually nothing. With a percentage model, nothing.
How to choose a model: a short checklist
- Unknown order flow or fewer than 100 orders a day — a percentage of orders or cheap rental. Don’t buy a license: you don’t know whether you’ll need it.
- Seasonality (resort, student town) — a percentage model: you pay more in summer, less in winter, almost nothing in the off-season.
- A stable 200–500 orders, basic features needed — compare rental with the modules you need against the percentage model; the gap can go either way.
- A stable 500+ orders, an IT specialist on staff — a license purchase pays off in 1–2 years, but compare the cost of support and updates.
- You need every intake channel and automatic dispatch by roads — check that the vendor offers them at all before comparing prices. Not every vendor has automatic dispatch by road graph.
The honest truth about the percentage model’s weak spots
We sell our software on a percentage model and consider it the best option for small and mid-sized services. But it would be dishonest not to mention its limitations.
- At high turnover, the absolute amount is higher than rental or a purchase spread over years. We showed this above.
- A cloud solution means less room for deep customization than software installed on your own server. In the vc.ru 2026 ranking, UpTaxi scored 8.4 points, and the listed drawbacks were «little customization, cloud dependence, fewer integrations». We’re working on it, but if you need a unique module built for your processes, that’s not our strength.
- Any cloud depends on the internet. An operator workstation needs only a 1 Mbps connection, but it has to be there.
What we consider our strengths: the lowest entry threshold on the market, full functionality without modules, launch in a day, 24/7 support, automatic dispatch by roads rather than «as the crow flies», an LLM voice robot that takes calls without an operator, and a driver bot in Max that lets drivers work without installing an app, which none of the competitors listed here offers.
Summary
No model wins for everyone. A license purchase pays off for large services with IT resources, rental for mid-sized services with basic needs, and a percentage of orders for new, seasonal and growing services that don’t want to tie up money and want everything at once.
Compare not the «starting from» price but the annual cost of ownership with the modules you need, the server, implementation, support and updates. And test before you pay: UpTaxi’s free period is 30 days, while most competitors offer 14 days or just a demo.
Get 30 days free · Calculate cost · Message on Telegram · Message on Max
Answers to common pricing questions are on the FAQ page.
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