The short answer
CargoWise (WiseTech Global) is the operating system many freight forwarders and customs brokers run for forwarding, customs entry, warehousing, and accounting. Stable is a dedicated US duty drawback platform with a global-optimization matching engine, and it is designed to run alongside CargoWise rather than replace it. Choose CargoWise as your forwarding and brokerage operations backbone; add Stable when drawback recovery depth is the priority.
Key takeaways
- CargoWise is a logistics execution platform (forwarding, customs, accounting); Stable is a dedicated duty drawback recovery engine.
- Stable is built to integrate with the brokerage operations stack, not to rip out your forwarding system.
- Drawback recovery comes down to the matching engine and MPF capture, which is exactly what Stable specializes in.
- Run CargoWise for operations and Stable for drawback, under your own POA, keeping the recovery margin in-house.
Stable vs CargoWise at a glance
| Feature | Stable | CargoWise |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Duty drawback recovery | Forwarding and brokerage operations |
| Duty recovery | Global-optimization matching engine | Operations platform, not a recovery engine |
| Relationship | Runs alongside your ops stack | Core operations backbone |
| Model | Flat license, white-label | Logistics platform licensing |
| Filing | Own ABI filer code for drawback | Customs entry within operations |
| Channel | Powers brokers, under your POA | Forwarders and brokers direct |
| Best-fit use | Adding drawback recovery depth | Running day-to-day forwarding and customs |
Choose Stable if
You want a dedicated drawback recovery engine, with optimized matching and modern workflow, running alongside your existing forwarding and brokerage operations.
Choose CargoWise if
You are choosing a core operations platform to run forwarding, customs entry, and accounting for your brokerage; that is CargoWise territory, not a drawback-recovery decision.
Are Stable and CargoWise really competitors?
Mostly they are complements. CargoWise is the execution platform a brokerage runs for forwarding, customs entry, warehousing, and accounting. Stable is a dedicated duty drawback recovery engine. They overlap only at the edge where CargoWise touches drawback; the honest framing is that Stable adds recovery depth alongside CargoWise, not that it replaces your operations backbone.
How does drawback recovery differ?
Recovery is decided by matching: which import lines back which export claims, optimized across the five-year window and substitution rules, with MPF captured rather than stranded. That is a specialized optimization problem and it is the whole of what Stable does, where an operations platform treats drawback as one feature among many.
Running Stable alongside CargoWise
Stable is built to integrate with the brokerage stack, so a shop on CargoWise keeps running operations there and points its drawback work at Stable, filed under its own ABI code and POA. You get the recovery uplift of a dedicated engine without changing the system your team lives in every day.
Model and margin
Stable is flat-license and white-label, so the drawback book and its margin stay inside your brokerage rather than moving to an outside contingency filer. That is the same economics argument Stable makes across the field: own the capability, keep the margin.
Which should you choose?
This is usually not either/or. Keep CargoWise as your operations platform; add Stable when you want drawback recovery run on an optimized matching engine under your own POA. See the DutyCalc alternatives guide for how dedicated drawback tools compare with the broader suites.
Related
Platform modules
Alternatives
Frequently asked questions
No. CargoWise is a forwarding and brokerage operations platform; Stable is a dedicated drawback recovery engine that runs alongside it under your own POA.