If you drove for a small carrier any time after 2016, there's a fair chance you've already used Motive. You just knew it by its old name. KeepTruckin rebranded as Motive in 2022, and the company has spent the years since pushing hard beyond logbooks into AI dash cams, fuel cards and spend management. That makes it a very different buy than the simple e-log app a lot of owner operators remember.

This review looks at Motive the way a carrier actually has to evaluate it in 2026: what you get, what it really costs, how the contract works, where drivers love it and where they don't. If you're still running the old app, our original KeepTruckin ELD page covers the legacy setup. Everything below reflects what Motive publishes now, checked October 2026.

Motive at a Glance

Here's the short version before we dig in.

Item	What we found (checked October 2026)
FMCSA registration	Motive ELD, ELD identifier MOTIVE, on the registered list
Pricing	Not published. The pricing page is a quote form
Hardware	Vehicle Gateway; Motive advertises free hardware for a limited time, terms apply
Contract	Typically multi year per Motive's own S-1 filing (see Contract Terms below)
Data transfer	Telematic (web service and email)
Best for	Fleets of roughly 5 trucks and up that want ELD, cameras and fuel tools in one place
Weak spot	Price transparency, and a contract that's harder to leave than a month to month app

Overview: What Motive Actually Is Now

Motive is no longer just an ELD vendor. The logbook is the entry point, but the company sells a whole stack on top of it: GPS tracking, AI powered dash cams, an asset tracker for trailers, maintenance alerts, a fleet fuel card and driver safety coaching. All of it lives in one dashboard and one driver app.

That's the strength and the catch. If you want every tool on one login, Motive is one of the most complete platforms in trucking. If you only need to stay legal on hours of service and you're running one truck, you're paying for a sales process built around bigger fleets.

Who it's built for

From how Motive structures its quote form, you can see who it's chasing. The form asks for fleet size in bands of 1 to 9, 10 to 49, 50 to 174, 175 to 999, and 1,000 plus vehicles. Single trucks are welcome, but the pitch is aimed at growing carriers who'll add cameras, trackers and cards over time.

What changed from KeepTruckin

The rename wasn't just paint. KeepTruckin built its name on a free, easy logbook app that drivers could download themselves. Motive has moved toward a sales led model with bundled hardware and longer agreements. Drivers who liked the old do it yourself feel sometimes find the new onboarding heavier, while fleet managers tend to like the extra visibility.

Motive Pricing: What You'll Really Pay

Motive doesn't publish a dollar figure. Its pricing page is a short form that asks for your industry, fleet size and contact details, then a rep follows up with a quote. We checked this in October 2026 and nothing had changed.

So how do you budget? Ask for three numbers in writing before you sign anything:

1. The monthly software fee per vehicle, for each product you want (ELD, dash cam, asset tracker).
2. The hardware cost, or the exact terms of any free hardware promotion.
3. The contract length, the renewal terms and the early termination cost.

You'll see estimates floating around other review sites. Some put core ELD and GPS at around $20 to $25 per vehicle per month and camera bundles higher. Treat those as rough market chatter, not Motive's rates. We didn't find any figure published by Motive itself, so we aren't quoting one as fact.

The free hardware offer

Motive's ELD landing page advertises free hardware for a limited time, with further terms and conditions. In practice, "free" hardware in this industry almost always comes tied to a term commitment. Before you take it, ask what happens to the device if you cancel early and whether you'll owe the hardware value back.

How to compare a Motive quote fairly

When you line Motive up against a published price vendor, turn every quote into a three year total per truck. Add the monthly fee times 36, any hardware, any install charge and any camera add on. A $10 monthly gap looks small until you multiply it by 36 months and ten trucks. That's $3,600. Our ELD cost calculator is built to do exactly this math.

Contract Terms

This is the part most reviews skip, and it's the part that causes the most grief.

Motive's S-1 registration filing from December 2025, as summarized by independent reviewers, describes per asset, per product pricing with contracts typically three years long, non cancellable, and renewing automatically for one year terms. We weren't able to read the full filing text ourselves for this review, so treat the exact wording as reported rather than confirmed. Either way, the practical lesson is simple: read the order form, not the brochure.

Here's what to look for in the paperwork:

• Term length. Is it 12, 36 or 60 months? Can you negotiate it down?
• Auto renewal. How many days' notice do you have to give, and in what format?
• Adding and removing trucks. If you sell a truck, does its line item keep billing until the term ends?
• Hardware return. Who pays shipping, and what condition counts as acceptable?

If you're an owner operator who might park the truck in six months, a three year deal is a real risk. In that case, a no contract ELD from our no monthly fee ELD guide may suit you better.

Hardware

The core of a Motive install is the Vehicle Gateway. It plugs into the truck's diagnostic port and pulls engine data, location and motion, which the ELD needs to record driving time automatically. Drivers use the Motive Driver app on a phone or tablet to see their logs and run inspections.

Vehicle Gateway

The gateway handles the ELD connection and GPS. It's a plug in install for most trucks, so you won't usually need a mechanic. If you're running an older engine or an unusual diagnostic port, ask which cable you need before the box ships. Getting the wrong one is the most common install delay we hear about.

AI dash cams

Motive sells road facing and dual facing AI dash cams. The AI part flags events such as close following, harsh braking and, on driver facing models, phone use. Footage gets sent to the fleet manager for coaching. Motive doesn't publish a camera price, so it comes through the same quote process.

For fleets dealing with insurance claims, footage can change the outcome of a he said, she said crash. For drivers, an inward facing camera can feel invasive. Have that conversation with your drivers before you roll cameras out. If cameras are your main reason for buying, our ELDs with dash cams section of the main guide compares options.

Asset gateways

Trailer and equipment trackers report location without an ELD attached. They're handy if you lose trailers in drop yards, but they're another line item, so price them separately.

The Driver App and Hours of Service

The ELD part is what keeps you legal, so this is where we'd spend time in a demo.

Logging basics

The app records driving time automatically once the truck moves, and drivers switch duty status for on duty, off duty and sleeper berth. It handles the federal property carrying limits, including the 11 hour driving limit and the 14 hour window, and warns drivers as they get close.

Special driving categories

Personal conveyance and yard moves have to be annotated properly, because inspectors look at them closely. FMCSA guidance allows drivers to annotate the start and end of authorized personal use and yard moves. Make sure your carrier has turned these on in the fleet settings, since many systems ship with them off.

Roadside inspections

Motive's registered ELD uses telematic transfer, meaning web service and email. At roadside, the driver opens inspection mode, sends the logs, and enters the comment or routing code the officer provides. Our ELD data transfer guide walks through each step and what to do when it fails.

App ratings

When we checked in October 2026, the Motive Driver app on Google Play showed 4.4 stars from about 35,000 ratings, and the Motive Fleet manager app showed 4.0 from about 880. On the Apple App Store, Motive Driver showed 4.4 from about 11,700 ratings. Store ratings move constantly, so check both stores yourself on the day you decide. Our ELD ratings data page tracks this across vendors.

Fleet Features Beyond the Logbook

If you're only buying for compliance, you can skip this section. If you're running a fleet, this is where Motive tries to earn its money.

IFTA reporting

Motive's Pro plan lists one click IFTA reporting, which pulls jurisdiction mileage from GPS. For anyone who has spent a weekend adding up state miles by hand, that's the feature that sells the platform. Still, check the first quarter's report against your fuel receipts. Mileage gaps from lost GPS signal happen on every platform.

Maintenance and fault codes

Fault code alerts flag engine problems as they appear. That's only useful if someone acts on them, so decide who in your shop gets the alert before you turn it on.

Fuel card

The Motive Card is a fleet card with spend controls tied to the platform. It's worth comparing against dedicated fuel cards, since discount structures differ a lot. Our fuel card list and fuel card savings calculator help with that comparison.

Pros and Cons

What we like

• One platform for ELD, GPS, cameras, trailer tracking and spend. Fewer logins and fewer vendors to chase.
• A well known driver app. Many drivers have already used it, so training is quicker.
• Strong safety tooling for fleets that actually coach drivers with footage.
• Automated IFTA mileage that saves real hours every quarter.

What we don't like

• No published pricing. You can't compare without a sales call.
• Long, auto renewing contracts are common in this part of the market, and Motive's own filing describes multi year terms.
• More platform than a one truck operator needs.
• Inward facing cameras can hurt driver retention if they're rolled out badly.

Motive vs Samsara and Geotab

These three show up on nearly every fleet's shortlist, so here's how they differ in practice.

	Motive	Samsara	Geotab
Pricing	Quote only	Quote only	Quote only through resellers
Sold by	Motive directly	Samsara directly	Authorized resellers
Strength	Trucking focused app and cameras	Broad IoT platform for mixed fleets	Open data and huge integration marketplace
ELD identifier	MOTIVE	SAMELD	GEOTAB (plus OEM variants)

If you're torn between Motive and Samsara, read our full Samsara vs Motive comparison. For Geotab, the reseller model means two buyers can get quite different deals on the same hardware, so collect more than one quote. Our Geotab ELD review has more.

Who Should Buy Motive (And Who Shouldn't)

Good fit

• Small and mid size fleets planning to add cameras and trailer tracking.
• Carriers who want IFTA and maintenance in the same tool as logs.
• Fleets that will actually use safety coaching.

Probably not a fit

• A single truck owner operator who just wants compliant logs at the lowest cost. A published price app will likely be cheaper and easier to cancel. See our best ELDs for owner operators.
• Anyone who might change ELDs inside two years, unless you can negotiate a short term.

Rolling Motive Out Without Headaches

Most ELD complaints we hear aren't about the software at all. They're about a rushed rollout. If you go with Motive, a little planning saves weeks of messy logs.

Before the hardware arrives

List every truck with its year, make, engine and diagnostic port. Send that list to your rep and ask them to confirm the right cable for each one. Decide now who in the office will be the fleet admin, because that person approves edits, assigns unidentified driving and handles roadside calls from drivers.

Install day

Do the installs at the yard, not on the road. Plug in the gateway, pair the driver's phone or tablet, and drive the truck around the lot so the app records a short movement. Check that the movement shows up on the dashboard. It takes five minutes per truck and catches bad connections before a driver finds out at a weigh station.

The first two weeks

Watch unidentified driving closely. New installs nearly always produce some, usually from yard moves or a driver who forgot to log in. Assign or annotate it every few days so it never piles up. Our guide to unidentified driving records covers what the rules require.

Run a mock inspection with each driver too. Have them open inspection mode and walk through a transfer. A driver who has done it once in the yard won't panic at roadside.

Verdict

Motive is a strong, mature platform, and it's moved well past the logbook app it started as. For a fleet that wants one place for compliance, safety and fuel spend, it belongs on the shortlist. The honest drawbacks are price opacity and contract length. Neither is unusual for the big platforms, but both mean you have to negotiate carefully.

Our advice: get the quote, convert it to a three year total, ask for the termination terms in writing, and get at least one competing quote from Samsara or a Geotab reseller. Then decide. If you'd like quotes from several providers at once, use our custom quote form below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Motive the same as KeepTruckin?

Yes. KeepTruckin rebranded as Motive in 2022. The ELD and apps carry on under the Motive name, and the registered device appears on the FMCSA list as Motive ELD.

How much does Motive cost per month?

Motive doesn't publish a price. Its pricing page is a quote form. Ask for the per vehicle software fee, hardware terms and contract length in writing, then compare the three year total.

Is Motive on the FMCSA registered ELD list?

Yes. When we checked in October 2026, Motive ELD with the identifier MOTIVE was on FMCSA's registered list. You can confirm it on our FMCSA registered ELD list.

Can I cancel Motive at any time?

That depends on your order form. Motive's own filing describes contracts that are typically multi year and auto renewing, so check the term and the notice period before you sign.

Does Motive do IFTA reports?

Motive lists one click IFTA reporting on its Pro plan. It builds jurisdiction mileage from GPS data. Check the first report against your fuel receipts.

Sources

• FMCSA registered ELD list, eld.fmcsa.dot.gov, checked October 2026.
• Motive ELD and pricing pages, gomotive.com, checked October 2026.
• Motive Driver and Motive Fleet app listings, Google Play and Apple App Store, checked October 2026.
• FMCSA guidance on editing and annotations, fmcsa.dot.gov, checked October 2026.
• Motive Form S-1 (December 2025) contract terms, as reported by independent reviewers, checked October 2026.

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