Leaving Route Manager? What Water Dealers Should Check Before They Switch
A lot of water dealers have run their routes on Route Manager for ten or twenty years. The program knows their day labels, their default products and every customer's bottles. So when it stops working on a new computer, or the next version means an upgrade project, the question is not which app looks nicer. It is how to move without losing a single balance.
The short answer
Route Manager is still supported, so you do not have to rush. You have three real paths: upgrade to Route Manager 8, move to Advantage Route's own cloud platform, or switch to another route accounting system such as RouteStar, Water Delivery Solutions or Raute. Whichever you pick, get your accounts, day labels, default products, prices, balances, bottles and equipment out intact, and run the new system beside the old one for a route day or two before you post anything for real.
Where Route Manager stands in 2026
Route Manager, or RMA, is made by Advantage Route, the company long known as Advantage Route Systems, founded in 1994 in Turlock, California. Prism Visual Software bought it in April 2024, and the company now runs from Littleton, Colorado and says it serves more than 700 route businesses: bottled water, propane, office coffee, ice and others.
RMA is a Windows desktop program built on Visual FoxPro. The current line is version 8, which arrived in 2022; 8.3 came out in March 2026, and drivers on version 8 use the Mango One Mobile app. Getting there from an older install is a project of its own: from 7.1 you step through 7.3 and 7.5 before version 8, the move comes with new licensing, and the company prices the upgrade in hours of its tech support, more for more routes. It does not publish its prices.
The company has said it will keep supporting Route Manager until at least 2030. In 2026 it also launched a cloud platform called Advantage, whose first tier covers up to 10 trucks and 50 stops a route.
From Advantage Route's own website, help center and release notes, read October 19, 2026.
Your options, side by side
| Option | What it costs | Fits when |
|---|---|---|
| Upgrade to Route Manager 8 | Quoted; the upgrade is billed in hours of tech support by route count | You like Route Manager and want the newest version and the Mango One Mobile app |
| Advantage (Advantage Route's cloud platform) | Quoted | You want to stay with the same company and move to the cloud; Essentials covers up to 10 trucks and 50 stops a route |
| RouteStar | From $350 a month plus $650 onboarding (4 office users, 2 drivers) | You want water route accounting that syncs with QuickBooks |
| Water Delivery Solutions | From $59 a month; next plan $359 | You sell subscriptions and want container tracking |
| Raute | $24.99 to $99.99 a month for the whole team, no onboarding fee | You want route days, tickets at the door and posting on phones, at a small team price |
Prices from each company's own pricing page on October 19, 2026, monthly, US dollars. Advantage Route quotes its products. WorkWave RouteManager is left out on purpose: despite the name it is a different product with no route accounting.
What to check before you switch
Whatever you move to, these are the things that decide whether the first month is calm or a mess:
- Every account comes across with its number. Customers look themselves up by account number, and so do your drivers. Main accounts with several stops should stay grouped, so one statement goes to the office that pays.
- Day labels and the cycle. Your route days and the four week cycle they follow, plus the customers on every second or fourth week, should land on the same days they are on now. A one week slip means a month of wrong stops.
- Default products and special prices. The standing order for each stop and any price that differs from your list. This is where a lazy import quietly loses money.
- Balances, bottles and deposits. The opening balance and bottles on hand for every account should match Route Manager to the cent and the bottle before anyone delivers.
- Equipment. Coolers and dispensers out on rental, with the monthly charge.
- The day itself. Can a driver write the ticket at the door, take cash or a check, and does the office review and post the day the way you do now?
- The whole bill. Monthly price for all your office users and drivers, the onboarding fee, and what you pay to get your data out later.
Then run both systems side by side for a route day or two. Post the day in Route Manager as usual, compare the totals, and only then move the books.
How Raute handles a water route
Raute started as route planning for small delivery teams, and its water side was built around the way Route Manager dealers already run their day. Turn on water routes and you get route days on a four week cycle, a standing order per customer, and a ticket the driver writes at the door on their phone: bottles left, empties back, priced from your list, paid in cash, by check, by card or on account. The office reviews the day, merges a duplicate ticket if a driver made one, and posts it; only then do balances and bottles out move. Statements go out monthly, cards can be charged through your own Authorize.net account, and customers can get a text the day before from your own Twilio number.
To move in, Raute reads your customers from a Route Manager export, a spreadsheet, or the Route Manager data folder itself: account numbers, day labels, default products and special prices, balances, bottles on hand and equipment. The import was built from Route Manager's published technical manual, so we do the first one with you and check the totals against your own reports before you rely on it.
What Raute does not do, so you know before you call: it does not sync with QuickBooks, and it is newer than every other name on this page. Our water delivery page shows the screens, and the guide to planning water delivery routes covers will calls, skips and building route days.
Questions dealers ask us
Is Route Manager going away?
Not on a date anyone has announced. Advantage Route has said it will support Route Manager until at least 2030, and it still ships updates: version 8.3 came out in March 2026. What changes is the path: older versions have to step up to version 8, and the company now also sells a cloud platform called Advantage.
Is Route Manager the same as WorkWave RouteManager?
No. Route Manager (RMA) for water, propane and coffee routes is made by Advantage Route, formerly Advantage Route Systems. WorkWave RouteManager is a separate route optimization product, priced from $54 per vehicle a month with a four vehicle minimum, and it has no tickets, deposits or route accounting.
What do I need from Route Manager to switch?
Your customers with account numbers, the day label each stop is on, default products and special prices, balances, bottles and deposits on hand, and equipment out on rental. Report exports to Excel can carry most of it. Raute can also read the Route Manager data folder itself, so nothing has to be retyped.
Can I run Raute beside Route Manager first?
Yes, and we recommend it. Import your customers, run a route day or two on phones while Route Manager stays the books, and compare the posted day before you move anything else.
What does Raute cost for a water route?
The same plans as everyone: $24.99 a month for up to 5 drivers, $59.99 for 15 and $99.99 for 40, with route days, tickets, payments and posting included. There is no onboarding fee, and the trial is 7 days with no card.
Moving off Route Manager?
Tell us how many routes and customers you run, and we will do the first import with you and check it against your Route Manager totals.