How Orbis IO compares to other fleet management software.

Honest, factual comparisons against the UK fleet software products you're most likely to evaluate alongside Orbis. Each comparison sets out where the other product is strongest, where Orbis is strongest, and which buyer fits which. We don't write attack pages — we write what we think a fair-minded fleet manager needs to know to make the call.

If you are earlier than that and still working out which obligations your fleet actually carries, the fleet compliance audit checklist covers what to audit, how often, and the records that evidence it. Most of these products are bought to close a gap on that list.

The comparisons

Orbis IO vs FleetCheck

FleetCheck is a long-established UK fleet compliance platform with mature workflows and a large customer base across HGV, PSV and light commercial fleets. It does what it does well, particularly on the compliance admin layer. Orbis covers the same compliance ground (DVLA licence checks, MOT and tax tracking, grey fleet) and adds an OEM-native vehicle intelligence layer FleetCheck does not have — real fuel economy from manufacturer APIs, PHEV compliance scoring, EV transition planning on real-world data.

Read the full FleetCheck comparison →

Orbis IO vs Hubio

Hubio is built around fleet administration — mileage capture, expense management, fuel-card reconciliation, contract lifecycle. Orbis covers compliance and OEM-native vehicle intelligence. The two products' centres of gravity sit in different places, and many fleets run them alongside each other rather than as direct substitutes. The procurement question is whether your biggest unsolved problem is admin or vehicle data quality.

Read the full Hubio comparison →

Orbis IO vs Geotab

Geotab is the global market leader in fleet telematics, with universal vehicle coverage via OBD hardware and a mature platform for real-time tracking, dispatch and route optimisation. Orbis takes the opposite architectural approach — no hardware, OEM data direct from the manufacturer — producing more accurate fuel and energy data at the cost of reading only the brands High Mobility's Auto API exposes, 30 brands and over 500 models, rather than any vehicle with an OBD port. For PHEV compliance and SECR carbon reporting specifically, the data quality difference is significant.

Read the full Geotab comparison →

Orbis IO vs Chevin FleetWave

Chevin has been building fleet management software since 1990, and states that FleetWave is used in over 180 countries to manage more than a million vehicles and associated assets. It is a mature system of record with real depth in workshop, maintenance and asset management, and for a large mixed asset-heavy international fleet it is very likely the better answer. Orbis is narrower: UK-focused, manufacturer-connected rather than hardware or manual entry, and built around the electric transition and the tax and compliance questions that come with it.

Read the full Chevin comparison →

Salary sacrifice comparisons

Perx is the salary-sacrifice scheme developed by Covase, with Orbis IO's data layer underneath. It is compared against schemes rather than against fleet software.

Perx vs The Electric Car Scheme

Both schemes cover the electric car and an optional home charger through salary sacrifice, and The Electric Car Scheme also salary sacrifices home, workplace and public charging costs. Perx adds solar panels and battery storage to the same payroll deduction, which they do not offer. The choice largely turns on whether your workforce owns their homes.

Perx vs The Electric Car Scheme →

Perx vs Tusker

Tusker is one of the longest-established salary-sacrifice car providers in the UK, bundling the car with insurance, breakdown cover, maintenance and replacement tyres, and it is not restricted to electric vehicles. Perx covers the same ground on the car and continues past it into the house with the charger, solar panels and battery storage on the same payroll deduction. Where a workforce mostly rents, that difference largely disappears and Tusker is the simpler answer.

Perx vs Tusker →

Perx vs Octopus Electric Vehicles

Octopus is the closest of these schemes on the energy question: the package includes a £400 credit toward a home charger or charging costs, plus an EV electricity tariff. That lowers the price per unit. Solar and battery storage lower the number of units the household buys at all, and stay with the house after the car goes back. Different mechanisms, and which one wins depends on whether your employees own their roofs.

Perx vs Octopus Electric Vehicles →

Perx vs Zenith

Zenith has the broadest vehicle cover of the three, including glass and accident management, and offers quality-assured used vehicles. Perx offers used EVs too, so the affordability lever is common ground. The divergence is home energy, which Zenith does not cover.

Perx vs Zenith →

Across all three, one difference is worth stating in one place: early termination. It is the criterion employers raise first, and it is the one the market publishes least. Perx sets out three named options for an employee leaving mid-contract. Zenith publishes an end-of-contract collection fee and defers the rest to employer scheme policy. Octopus references business protection without publishing terms. Tusker publishes nothing on it. Where a provider has not published, ask them directly rather than assuming cover exists or that it does not.

About the product

Across these comparisons the same two Orbis modules sit at the centre of the answer. Fleet compliance software covers DVLA-integrated driver licence checks, MOT and tax tracking, grey fleet management, and the audit trail behind them. The fleet intelligence platform reads vehicle data directly from manufacturer APIs to surface real fuel consumption, charging behaviour, PHEV compliance and EV transition signals. Both are priced together in the published fleet intelligence software pricing — Essentials at £6.95 per vehicle per month, Intelligence at £18, no hardware, no setup fees.

Frequently asked questions

How is Orbis IO different from telematics companies?

Traditional telematics companies — Geotab, Verizon Connect, Microlise — read vehicle data via a hardware OBD dongle plugged into the vehicle's diagnostic port. Orbis IO reads vehicle data directly from the manufacturer's connected-car APIs, with no hardware in the vehicle. The OEM data layer produces materially more accurate fuel consumption, battery state-of-charge and PHEV charging behaviour data than an OBD dongle can derive — at the cost of reading only the brands High Mobility's Auto API exposes, 30 brands and over 500 models, rather than every vehicle with an OBD-II port.

Does Orbis IO require hardware installation?

No. Orbis connects via the manufacturer's connected-car infrastructure — the same systems the vehicle's own dashboard, app and connected services use. There is no hardware to install, no OBD dongle, no firmware to maintain. Deployment is API integration; for a typical UK fleet, the time from contract to live data is days rather than the weeks required for hardware-based telematics rollout.

What makes Orbis IO different from other fleet compliance software?

Orbis covers the same compliance ground as established UK fleet compliance platforms — DVLA-integrated driver licence checks, MOT and tax tracking, grey fleet management, full audit trail — and adds an OEM-native vehicle intelligence layer most compliance tools do not have. Real fuel consumption, battery state-of-charge, PHEV charging compliance, EV transition modelling and SECR carbon reporting from actual telemetry sit on the same record as the compliance workflow, with no hardware between the platform and the vehicle.