TradeCaravan builds custom import, customs and logistics software for South African businesses, and takes requests for the 32 free tools already on this site. Tell us what you need and a person replies.
Three kinds of request, one form
Most messages here are one of three things, and all three are welcome — the form below asks which so it reaches the right place.
Improve a tool you already use
A missing field, a rate that should be configurable, an export that should include one more column. Free to ask, and the most common reason a tool changes.
A tool that doesn't exist yet
If it would be useful to more than one importer, there is a good chance it ends up on the site as another free calculator.
Custom software for your business
Something built for how you work, which is a paid project and starts with a conversation rather than a price list.
What we actually build
The 32 free tools on this site are the honest portfolio — you can open any of them right now and see the work. They cover the same ground most custom briefs do:
- Duty, VAT and landed cost the way SARS calculates it, including the Added Tax Value step most spreadsheets get wrong — see the Duty & VAT Calculator.
- Tariff classification and trade-remedy screening across the full HS 2022 tree — HS Codes and the Import Risk Checker.
- Live operational data — the daily SA Port Status board.
- Documents that have to be right — commercial invoices, packing lists and the rest of the template library.
- Integrations into your own systems — the same engines are callable over the REST API and MCP server.
Shipment tracking is a product in its own right rather than a bespoke build: that is Realview.
How a request is handled
- You send it. A person reads it — every one, including the ones we can't do.
- We reply, usually within one to two business days.
- If an existing free tool already covers it, we say so and point you at it. That happens often and it costs you nothing.
- If it is a build, we scope it with you before quoting. No price appears before we understand the job.
Tell us what you need
Frequently asked questions
Do you build custom software for South African importers?
Yes. We build import, customs and logistics tools — duty and landed-cost engines, shipment tracking, document generation, SARS and port data feeds — for South African businesses. The tools already on this site are the same work, built for everyone rather than for one company.
What does it cost to have something built?
It depends entirely on scope, so we quote per project rather than publish a price we would have to caveat. Tell us what the software needs to do and we will come back with an honest answer, including when the answer is that an existing free tool on this site already covers it.
Can I just ask for a change to a tool I already use?
Please do — that is what most of this form is for. Requests to improve an existing calculator are free to make and are read by a person. Many of the tools here started as one.
Will you build something that is already on the site?
No, and we will tell you if that is what you have asked for. We would rather point you at a free tool that already does the job than quote you for a second copy of it.
Who owns the software you build for me?
Whatever we agree in writing before work starts. We will not begin a build on an unclear ownership position, because that is the thing that becomes expensive to unpick later.
Where is the data hosted?
The main TradeCaravan site and the Realview app currently run on cloud infrastructure outside South Africa. If in-country data residency is a requirement for your project, say so in your request — it changes the hosting decision and we would rather know before quoting than after.