Flexport Review, Pricing & Features

Flexport is a San Francisco-based digital freight forwarder founded in 2013, offering ocean/air shipping, customs brokerage, and fulfillment. Custom pricing.

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Automation
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Last updated
July 20, 2026
Founded
2013
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
Web AppAPI

What Is Flexport?

Flexport is a digital freight forwarder and logistics platform founded in 2013 by Ryan Petersen, headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices across Europe. The company set out to modernize an industry historically run on phone calls, faxes, and spreadsheets by giving shippers a single online platform to book, track, and manage international freight.

Today Flexport coordinates the full path a shipment takes from a factory to a customer's door, combining ocean and air freight booking with customs clearance, trucking, warehousing, and ecommerce fulfillment, and reports serving more than 10,000 clients.

Key Features

Flexport's platform provides SKU-level visibility into shipments as they move through ocean and air freight, customs, and final-mile delivery, replacing the periodic status updates typical of traditional freight forwarders with continuous tracking. It supports buyer's consolidation, letting importers combine multiple suppliers' goods into shared containers to cut shipping costs.

Beyond moving freight, Flexport offers customs brokerage and duty optimization, order and booking management tools, trade finance to help importers manage cash flow, and cargo insurance, positioning itself as a single vendor across steps that would otherwise require multiple separate providers.

Flexport Pricing

Flexport does not publish a standard rate card; freight costs vary by shipment based on origin, destination, mode (ocean vs. air), cargo volume, and current market rates, similar to how traditional freight forwarders price shipments. Businesses typically get quotes through the platform or a Flexport account representative.

Because pricing is transactional and shipment-based rather than a flat software subscription, larger shippers can negotiate account-level pricing based on committed volume, while first-time or occasional shippers pay rates closer to spot market pricing.

Key Features

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Single platform covering freight booking, customs, and fulfillment instead of juggling multiple vendors
  • SKU-level visibility gives more granular tracking than traditional freight forwarders typically offer
  • Serves both first-time shippers and large enterprises moving high shipment volumes
  • Established company with over a decade of operating history in a traditionally offline industry

Cons

  • Pricing isn't published, requiring a quote or account discussion for cost estimates
  • Freight costs are still subject to volatile ocean and air market rates outside Flexport's control
  • Switching from an existing freight forwarder involves real operational and integration effort

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Flexport actually do?

Flexport is a digital freight forwarder that books and coordinates ocean and air shipments, handles customs brokerage, and can also manage ecommerce fulfillment, giving shippers a single platform across the whole logistics chain.

How much does Flexport cost?

Flexport doesn't publish a fixed rate card; pricing is quoted per shipment based on origin, destination, mode, and volume, similar to how traditional freight forwarders price freight.

Who founded Flexport and when?

Flexport was founded in 2013 by Ryan Petersen and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Is Flexport only for large enterprises?

No, Flexport serves both first-time shippers moving a single container and large enterprises coordinating thousands of shipments a year.

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