Best Compliance Publishing alternatives for shredding in 2026, plus an honest review

Looking for a Compliance Publishing alternative, or researching Compliance Publishing shredding software (now part of Routeware) before you sign up? This guide gives an honest Compliance Publishing review, breaks down its published pricing, lists the pros and cons, and compares the best Compliance Publishing alternatives in 2026.

Compliance Publishing has served the waste and service industries for decades; its site says since 1985. It's best known for medical waste software and OSHA training, and it also offers an online system for shredding companies covering electronic certificates of destruction, scheduling, routing and billing. Routeware, a larger waste and recycling software company, acquired Compliance Publishing and lists it among its specialty products. Unlike most shredding software, Compliance Publishing publishes its prices, which this review covers in detail.

Compliance Publishing review at a glance

How it works for a shred company

Compliance Publishing supplies a customized set of certificates and delivery documents, and you enter your container types, trucks and drivers. They import your customers for you. At each stop the driver picks the customer, enters container types and quantities, and captures signatures on the phone screen; the client gets a certificate by email in a printable format. Certificates can be signed for both on-site and off-site work.

Compliance Publishing pros: what it does well

• Electronic certificates of destruction, customized by container type and emailed instantly
• Scheduling with any pickup frequency, multiple schedules per customer and a view up to a year ahead
• Route planning up to 30 days ahead: full optimization, fixed order or a blend, with time and distance estimates
• A driver app on any smartphone, with photos, notes, messages to the office and turn-by-turn navigation
• A customer portal where clients sign up, see their service calendar, set up AutoPay and pay by card or ACH
• Billing from service tickets, with late fees, convenience fees, minimums and service suspension for past-due accounts
• CPNet for sending work to subcontractors, and U.S.-based support by phone, email and online

Compliance Publishing pricing: how much does Compliance Publishing cost?

As of November 2026, Compliance Publishing's shredding page lists a one-time $1,000 setup fee, then $131.73 a month plus $1.11 per location serviced. The setup fee covers a website update, minor customizations and three hours of one-on-one web training. They say you can cancel any time with 30 days' notice.

The per-location charge means your bill grows with your customer list. For example, at 300 locations the monthly cost would be about $131.73 plus $333, or roughly $465 a month, before the setup fee. Their site doesn't say whether that's every location on file or only those serviced that month, so ask.

Questions to ask in a Compliance Publishing demo

1. 1Is the $1.11 charged for every customer location, or only locations serviced that month?
2. 2Does the driver app work with no signal, and sync later?
3. 3Can invoices and payments flow into QuickBooks or our accounting system?
4. 4How does off-site shredding work, from pickup to destruction at our plant?
5. 5Is there a trial or a sandbox before we pay the setup fee?

Compliance Publishing cons: where it may not fit

• You want your price to stay the same as you add customers: the per-location fee grows with you
• You don't want a setup fee
• You need QuickBooks: it isn't mentioned

Is Compliance Publishing right for your company?

It suits companies that also handle medical waste or want OSHA training from the same vendor, want a customer portal and online signup today, and are comfortable with built-in billing instead of an accounting connection.

The best Compliance Publishing alternatives in 2026

Here are the Compliance Publishing alternatives most worth comparing, with what each is best for. We make Trakro, so it's listed first; the others are described from their own websites.

1. Trakro

Shredding-only software you can start yourself today: published prices from $99 a month, a 30-day free trial with no credit card, a driver app that works offline on any iPhone or Android, and certificates of destruction emailed from every stop.

Best for: Independent shred companies that want to be running this week without a demo or setup fee.

2. Q-Shred (ShredMetrics)

Award-winning shredding and e-waste software, customized for each company, with truck-aware routing, bin barcode scanning and optional outsourced billing and dispatch. Prices aren't published; you book a demo.

Best for: Companies that want a tailored system and barcoded bins.

3. Octopus SaaS

A modern platform for medical waste transporters and paper shredding companies, with a client portal, AI routing, GPS tracking and an offline-capable driver app. Demo-led, no published prices.

Best for: Companies that haul medical waste and shred.

4. EZshred

A long-established system (customers since 2000) with modules for shredding, records storage, medical waste, recycling and hard drive destruction, plus the Route Tracker app for iOS and Android. Demo-led, no published prices.

Best for: Companies that also run records storage or medical waste.

Compliance Publishing vs Trakro: side by side

How to switch from Compliance Publishing to Trakro

1. 1Export your customers, sites, containers and service plans from Compliance Publishing to a spreadsheet (ask them for an export if you can't find one).
2. 2Start a Trakro trial and import the spreadsheet using our templates. Columns are matched for you, you see a preview of any problems before saving, and an import can be undone for 7 days.
3. 3Add your trucks, prices, fuel surcharge and certificate wording in Settings.
4. 4Invite your drivers. They open a link on their phone, sign in, and they're ready for tomorrow's route.
5. 5Run Trakro alongside Compliance Publishing for a week, then stop entering new work in Compliance Publishing. Keep it read-only for lookups.