Why I Built RouteHero — And Why the First 50 Operators Get It Free

I run about 30 crane machines across a handful of locations in the Midwest. Not a huge fleet. Not a franchise. Just me, my truck, a bin of plush, and a spreadsheet that stopped making sense about 18 months ago.

If you're reading this, you probably know the drill. You drive your route, crack open each machine, count the quarters (or tap the Nayax screen), scribble the total on a receipt, stuff it in your pocket, and hope you remember to enter it all when you get home. Commissions? You're doing math in your head while the location manager watches. Prize cost tracking? That's a different spreadsheet. Service tickets? A note in your phone that says "Loc 7 claw weak."

I looked at what was out there. SmartClaw is the big name. It's good software. But it starts at $19/month and their free tier only covers 2 machines. If you're running 10–30 machines without Nayax telemetry, you're paying $49/month for features you can't even use.

So I built what I actually needed

RouteHero is the app I wanted when I was sitting in a parking lot at 6 PM trying to figure out if I'd already collected from the machine inside the pizza place.

• Log collections in 10 seconds. Tap the machine, enter the cash, done. Photo optional.
• See your route. All your locations on a map, ordered by the fastest path. Hit "Start Route" and your phone's nav takes over.
• Track commissions automatically. Set the percentage per location once. RouteHero does the math every period.
• Prize inventory. Know what's in the warehouse before you load the truck.
• Service tickets. "Claw weak at Loc 7" becomes a real ticket with a timestamp and status.
• 1099 export at year-end. Download a CSV, hand it to your accountant, done.

Who this is for

RouteHero is for the operator who runs 5 to 100 machines and doesn't want to pay enterprise prices for basic route management. You might have Nayax on some machines and not others. You might be the only employee. You might run crane games, bulk vending, or both.

If you've ever tracked collections in a Notes app, a Google Sheet, or on the back of a receipt — this is for you.

What it costs

After that, pricing is simple:

• Free: 1 user, up to 10 machines. No time limit.
• Pro ($9/mo): Up to 3 team members, 50 machines, 1099 exports.
• Fleet ($29/mo): Unlimited team members + machines, card reader sync (Nayax, Amusement Connect), FixTheCall call-in tickets, owner dashboard.

Compare that to SmartClaw's $19–$299 range. We're not trying to be the cheapest — we're trying to be the most useful for operators who don't need a $10,000 telemetry setup to manage their route.

What's next

RouteHero is live on iOS (Android coming soon, pending Google's verification process). Version 1 covers the core workflow: machines, locations, collections, commissions, inventory, service tickets, and reports.

What's coming:

• Route optimization (shortest-path ordering for your stops)
• Photo-based collection logs
• Multi-operator team support
• Web dashboard for data-heavy tasks
• Nayax integration for operators who have telemetry on some machines

I'm building this while I run my own route, so every feature gets tested on real machines before it ships.

Questions? Hit me up at [email protected] or find me on r/vending. I'm the guy asking about claw tension settings.