Every week we get the same question from a firm owner looking at a new website. “Will it talk to my dispatch?” The answer depends entirely on which dispatch platform they are on. We have integrated sites with all four of the big UK names, some of them more than once, and the difference between them is not what the sales decks tell you.
This is not a ranking. There is no single best taxi dispatch software in the UK. There is the right platform for a six-vehicle firm and the right platform for a fifty-vehicle firm, and they are not the same product. Here is the short version, platform by platform, from the point of view of the people who plug your booking form into it.
The Four Platforms Actually Worth Comparing
There are plenty of dispatch systems on the market. In UK taxi firms with 5 to 50 vehicles, four names come up over and over: iCabbi, Autocab, Cordic, and TaxiCaller. Every other platform we see is either a bespoke build from a local developer or an international product that never really landed in UK private hire.
We have first-hand integration experience with all four. That means we have pushed real bookings from a WordPress site into each platform’s API or webhook endpoint, watched the job appear on a dispatcher’s screen, and then watched a driver accept it on the app. The differences below come from that work, not from a product brochure.
Feature Comparison at a Glance
Here is how the four platforms stack up on the things that actually matter when we build a site that hands bookings over to them. Pricing is indicative and varies with fleet size, contract length, and what your account manager is willing to write down.
| Platform | Typical firm size | Per-vehicle monthly | API / webhook quality | Driver app | Reporting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iCabbi | 15 to 500 vehicles | £15 to £25 | Strong REST API, well-documented | Polished, actively updated | Deep, exportable, account dashboards |
| Autocab | 20 to 1000 vehicles | £18 to £30 | Ghost API, decent docs, support needed | Stable, looks a little dated | Very deep, steep learning curve |
| Cordic | 10 to 300 vehicles | £12 to £22 | Webhooks plus API, support is friendly | Functional, driver-first design | Solid, better for ops than accounts |
| TaxiCaller | 1 to 50 vehicles | £9 to £15 | REST API, self-serve, good for small builds | Clean, international feel | Basic, improving each year |
The big caveat: every platform here will quote you a different price depending on how many vehicles you run, whether you want the account portal, and which modules you bolt on. Treat the table as a compass, not a map.
iCabbi: The One Most Mid-Size Firms End Up On
iCabbi is the platform we get asked to integrate most often. It sits comfortably in the 15 to 100 vehicle range, though firms run it well past that. Their sales team is sharp, their onboarding is structured, and the product has clearly been built by people who listen to operators. The iCabbi website at icabbi.com lays out the product modules if you want the glossy version.
From a website-integrator point of view, iCabbi is a pleasure. The REST API is documented, the booking creation endpoint does what you expect, and the webhooks fire reliably when a job state changes. We can push a fare from the booking form straight into the dispatch queue, then pull the job status back to show the passenger “driver assigned” without a phone call. That is how a proper booking funnel should work.
What you pay for with iCabbi is polish. The driver app feels modern, the passenger app is credible, and the account customer portal is strong enough to sell against Uber for Business. The trade-off is price. A 20-vehicle firm will typically sit at around £400 to £500 a month, plus setup, plus any module add-ons. It is not the cheapest option. It is the one most owners sleep well on.
Autocab: The One Big Fleets and Airport Firms Choose
Autocab is the heavyweight. If you run a 50 plus vehicle operation, especially one with serious airport contracts or account work, Autocab is often the answer. The autocab.com product suite covers dispatch, driver app, passenger app, call centre, and the Ghost network for job exchange between firms. It is the closest thing UK taxi has to enterprise software.
Integrations with Autocab take longer. Their Ghost API is powerful, but you will want their technical team on a call to get the webhook configuration right. Once it is up, it is rock solid. We have had Autocab integrations that have run for three years without a single missed booking hand-off. That matters when your phone is ringing 4,000 times a month.
Downsides. The admin interface is dense, even for experienced dispatchers. Reporting is deep but the learning curve is real. And the pricing structure is the least transparent of the four. Plan to spend time negotiating and read every page of the contract before you sign.
Cordic: The One UK Firms Feel Understands Them
Cordic is a UK company, and it shows. Their support team knows the trade, their dispatch interface feels built by someone who has sat on a radio, and they sit comfortably in the 10 to 100 vehicle range. The cordic.com product runs on a per-vehicle licence model that most owners find easier to budget.
From a website point of view, Cordic is solid. Their webhook system is easy to configure, their REST endpoints are stable, and if something goes wrong their support team actually picks up. We had a webhook firing twice during a test last year and Cordic had a patch released inside three working days. That is rare in dispatch software.
Where Cordic falls short is the customer-facing apps. The passenger app is functional rather than slick, and the account portal is less developed than iCabbi’s. If most of your work is phone and website bookings, that does not matter. If you are trying to compete with Uber on app polish, it will.
TaxiCaller: The One Small Firms Can Actually Afford
TaxiCaller is the sensible entry-level choice. International in origin, now used by plenty of small UK firms, it sits well in the 1 to 30 vehicle bracket. The taxicaller.com pricing page is one of the few in the industry where you can read a number without booking a call.
The API is clean, the documentation is public, and we can typically wire up a WordPress booking form to TaxiCaller in an afternoon. For a new firm or a 10-vehicle operator doing their first integrated site, it is hard to beat on setup cost. The driver app is clean and the dispatch screen is uncluttered.
Limitations. Reporting is thinner than the competition. Account customer features are basic. And the product sometimes feels like it is built for international markets first, UK second. If you grow past 40 or 50 vehicles, you will probably outgrow TaxiCaller. For most firms starting out, that is fine. Outgrowing a platform because you got too big is a good problem.
Integration Difficulty, Ranked Honestly
When we quote for a new site, the dispatch integration is often the line item that moves the build from Essential to Fleet. Here is how long a clean WordPress-to-dispatch integration typically takes us, per platform, based on our own recent work.
| Platform | Typical integration time | Common snags |
|---|---|---|
| TaxiCaller | Half a day | None. Public docs, clean API. |
| iCabbi | 1 to 2 days | Webhook secret handling, test fleet setup |
| Cordic | 1 to 2 days | Sandbox access, fare zone mapping |
| Autocab | 2 to 4 days | Ghost API access, technical call with vendor, fare rule mapping |
The lesson here: cheaper platforms usually come with easier integrations. More mature platforms take longer but survive longer. Neither is wrong. The question is which problem you want to own.
Which Platform Fits Your Firm
We build sites for firms across all four platforms, so we have no horse in this race. The rough guidance we give on discovery calls looks like this.
- 1 to 10 vehicles. TaxiCaller or Cordic. Low per-vehicle cost, enough features, quick integration.
- 10 to 30 vehicles. Cordic or iCabbi. Depends on how strong your account customer book is and whether you want a polished passenger app.
- 30 to 80 vehicles. iCabbi is the default. Autocab if you have heavy airport or account work.
- 80 plus vehicles. Autocab or iCabbi. At this size, the difference is culture fit and who is responsive on support.
If you want a deeper decision framework by firm profile, the follow-up piece on dispatch integrations walks through what to test during a vendor demo. And if you are still shopping, the full side-by-side at taxi booking system comparison pulls in the booking-side features too.
What Most Firms Get Wrong When Switching
Most firms that switch dispatch platforms do it because the current one is painful, not because the new one is brilliant. That is fine, but it leads to two predictable mistakes.
First, they underestimate the cutover. Drivers need retraining. Dispatchers need two weeks running parallel. Your website booking form needs re-pointing at the new API. Expect six to eight weeks of overhead, not two. Second, they do not renegotiate. The incumbent will almost always drop their price when they hear you are leaving. That is not a reason to stay, but it is a reason to have the conversation before you sign anywhere new.
If your site already works with your current dispatch, switching platforms is often more about timing than technology. A good website rebuild can handle an old and a new dispatch endpoint at the same time, so you can switch the backend without rebuilding the front.
Your Move This Week
You do not need to switch platforms this week. You need to know what yours is actually costing you, and whether your website is speaking to it properly. Three quick checks, about 20 minutes.
- Pull your last dispatch invoice. Work out your per-vehicle monthly cost. Compare it to the table above. If you are paying above the top of the band for your platform, your account manager owes you a call.
- Submit a test booking from your own website. Time how long it takes to appear in the dispatch queue. If a dispatcher has to re-key it by hand, you do not have an integration, you have an email forwarder.
- Book a free booking funnel audit. We will look at your current site-to-dispatch handover and tell you whether it is doing its job. No pitch attached. Request your audit here.
For more on pricing, our pricing page covers the website side. And if you want to see how we have handled dispatch handovers on real UK firms, the portfolio has live examples across all four platforms.
The best taxi dispatch software in the UK is the one that keeps drivers busy and dispatchers calm. Pick the platform that fits your fleet size today, and build a website that talks to it properly. Everything else is a sales pitch.