Motive Review 2026

Pros Explained

The setup really is easy. I have talked to drivers who went from opening the box to logging hours in under an hour. The Vehicle Gateway plugs into your diagnostic port without special tools. The app installs on any smartphone. Pairing takes a few minutes. For small fleet owners without dedicated IT support, this matters. You do not need to pay someone to install the hardware or spend a day troubleshooting connections. It works out of the box.

The AI Omnicam is legitimately impressive. Video telematics has improved across the industry, but Motive's system detects behaviors that other cameras miss. The 360-degree coverage eliminates blind spots. The AI processing happens fast enough to alert drivers in real time, not just log events for later review. Fleet managers who use the coaching features report measurable improvements in driver behavior. When insurance costs keep climbing, anything that demonstrably reduces risk has real dollar value.

The pricing works for small operations. At $20 to $50 per vehicle per month, Motive lands in territory that owner-operators and small fleets can actually afford. Compare that to enterprise platforms charging $75 or more, and the value proposition makes sense. The feature set at the Plus tier competes with products costing significantly more.

120,000 customers means the platform is proven. You are not beta testing someone's startup idea. The system handles real-world fleet operations at scale. Bugs get caught and fixed. Feature requests from that many users drive ongoing development. The mobile apps have tens of thousands of reviews. Whatever problems Motive has with customer service and contracts, the core technology has been validated by a massive user base.

Cons Explained

The D- BBB rating demands attention. This is one of the lowest BBB scores among major ELD providers. The complaints follow a pattern: customers sign contracts they believe are straightforward, discover terms they did not understand, face unexpected renewal periods, struggle to get billing issues resolved, and deal with aggressive collection practices when they try to leave. The volume of similar complaints tells you this is not a few isolated incidents. Something in how Motive handles the customer relationship is systematically broken.

Contract traps have burned too many operators. The word "trap" might sound harsh, but I have heard too many versions of the same story. Sales rep promises flexibility. Customer signs paperwork quickly. Months or years later, customer discovers they are locked in for longer than expected with penalties they did not anticipate. Whether this comes from deliberately misleading sales practices or just sloppy communication, the outcome is the same. Carriers end up feeling deceived. Auto-renewal clauses that kick in without clear notification make this worse. When your contract renews for another year because you missed a 30-day window you did not know existed, you are paying for a service you may no longer want.

Customer service drops off a cliff after the sale. The sales process gets universally praised. Representatives are helpful, responsive, and knowledgeable. Something changes after you sign. Support becomes harder to reach. Problems take longer to resolve. Account managers turn over. This pattern shows up consistently in the negative reviews. Motive invests heavily in customer acquisition and appears to underinvest in customer retention. For a company focused on growth and an IPO, that priority makes business sense. For the carrier stuck waiting on hold to resolve a billing error, it does not.

Cancellation is a battle. Try to leave Motive and you will discover how hard they make it. Users report months of back-and-forth trying to terminate service. Disputed charges get sent to collections. Final invoices appear after you thought the relationship ended. The difficulty of exiting creates a kind of involuntary loyalty that has nothing to do with product satisfaction. When a vendor makes leaving painful, it raises questions about how confident they are in keeping you through good service.

Customer Service

The review landscape for Motive is split down the middle in a way that tells you something important about the company.

On professional platforms where users evaluate the technology, Motive scores well. Capterra shows 4.5 out of 5 from 2,439 reviews [^5]. G2 rates them number one in fleet management [^9]. The iOS App Store sits at 4.4 out of 5 [^8]. When people evaluate whether the software works, the answer is yes.

On platforms where users evaluate the overall business relationship, Motive scores poorly. Trustpilot shows 1.7 out of 5 from over 2,300 reviews [^4]. BBB customer reviews average 1.05 out of 5 [^3]. When people evaluate whether they are happy with the company, the answer is often no.

This split matters. If you are evaluating whether Motive can track your trucks and keep you compliant, the positive reviews apply. If you are evaluating whether Motive will treat you fairly when problems arise, the negative reviews apply. Both sets of reviews are accurate. They are just measuring different things.

The pattern in negative reviews stays consistent. Sales experience is smooth and professional. Initial setup support is helpful. Then something changes. Billing disputes drag on. Cancellation requests get ignored. Charges appear after contracts should have ended. Collections notices arrive for amounts the customer disputes. Account managers disappear or turn over. Hold times increase.

Motive is not BBB accredited [^3], which means they have not committed to BBB complaint resolution standards. The D- rating reflects unresolved complaints, not just the presence of complaints. Every company gets some unhappy customers. How a company handles those complaints matters, and by BBB measures, Motive handles them poorly.

For carriers who sign up, use the service without issues, and never need intensive support, Motive works fine. For carriers who hit a problem and need the company to work with them to resolve it, the odds of a frustrating experience are higher than they should be.

Who Should Use This

Motive makes sense for a specific type of operation. Understanding whether you fit that profile can save you a lot of grief.

Motive works for fleets that can commit to a multi-year relationship and mean it. If you know your operation will look roughly the same in three years, the contract terms matter less. You are not trying to exit early. The technology will serve you well over that timeframe.

Motive works for operations with resources to review contracts carefully. If you have access to legal counsel or someone who reads agreements word by word before signing, you can navigate the contract issues. Get everything in writing. Understand the renewal terms. Know your exit conditions. With that knowledge, you can proceed with open eyes.

Motive works for fleets prioritizing safety technology. The AI Omnicam system is best-in-class. If driver coaching and accident prevention rank at the top of your priorities, Motive delivers genuine value that budget providers cannot match.

Look elsewhere if you need flexibility. Owner-operators whose plans might change, fleets testing ELD providers before committing, anyone who values the ability to adjust course without penalties: other options will serve you better.

Look elsewhere if contract transparency matters to you. The D- BBB rating exists for a reason. If you want a vendor whose business practices match their product quality, consider Samsara at a higher price point or BigRoad for month-to-month flexibility.

Look elsewhere if you have been burned before. Carriers who have dealt with contract disputes, billing problems, or cancellation battles with other vendors tend to have those same experiences with Motive. Trust your pattern recognition.

Final Verdict

Motive earns a 4.2 out of 5 with the Best Value Features badge, and that score comes with significant caution attached.

The technology side of this company delivers. Easy setup that actually works. Reliable GPS tracking. ELD compliance that passes inspection. An AI camera system that genuinely improves safety. Pricing that small fleets can afford. 120,000 customers proving the platform at scale. If Motive were judged purely on whether their product works, they would score higher.

But you are not just buying software. You are entering a business relationship, and Motive's track record on the relationship side is poor. D- BBB rating. 1.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot. Contract complaints that follow the same pattern over and over. Cancellation processes that turn into battles. Customer service that peaks during the sales process and declines afterward.

Here is my honest assessment after watching this company for years: Motive built excellent technology and wrapped it in problematic business practices. For some fleets, the technology value outweighs the relationship risk. For others, the relationship risk makes the whole package too dangerous regardless of how good the tech is.

If you choose Motive:

1. Have an attorney review your contract before signing
2. Get all terms in writing, especially renewal and cancellation provisions
3. Document every agreement and promise from sales representatives
4. Plan to stay for the full contract term, because leaving early will be expensive and difficult
5. Budget for the possibility that disputes will require legal help to resolve

If those precautions feel like overkill for an ELD purchase, that tells you something. With most vendors, they would be overkill. With Motive, they are prudent.

The bottom line: Motive offers strong technology at competitive prices, but the D- BBB rating and widespread contract complaints mean you should approach this decision with more caution than you would with most ELD providers. Read everything. Get it in writing. Know what you are agreeing to. If you do all that and still want to proceed, the product itself will probably serve you well. Just go in with your eyes open.