Comparing Motive vs Samsara isn’t just about tech specs and budget. It’s about what fits your fleet’s needs today and into the future. We’ve had extensive experience with both Motive and Samsara and while one typically beats the other on initial pricing, we thought it would be a good idea to look at the bigger picture. Beyond the initial contract, which solution will fit best into your operations in the long-term? So without further ado, here’s an honest, side-by-side look at both platforms, back by the latest data.
Motive vs Samsara: Market Standing and Analyst Ratings
According to SelectHub, Samsara earns an analyst rating of 77 versus Motive’s 66. Samsara scores highly in key areas like EV management, routing, fuel management, and compliance.
In our experience, Samsara typically introduces new features or improves upon existing and industry-standard features at a higher rate than Motive, meaning that you’ll likely be happier with Samsara a year or two into your contract than with Motive.
ROI and Financial Impact
IDC reports that Samsara delivers an average ROI of 815%, translating to roughly $2.02 million in annual benefits per organization. Customers also gain 14% less idle time, 4% lower fuel costs, and 9% lower maintenance costs, and a 10% longer vehicle lifespan.
Those factors aren’t typically included in back-of-the-napkin ROI calculations, but add up significantly over time. While Motive is making an effort to improve their fuel and maintenance offerings, Samsara is still well ahead in this regard.
Motive claims that enterprise customers achieve ROI 42% faster than Samsara customers, but that figure has not been verified by an independent audit.
Motive vs Samsara: Features and Innovation
As far as innovation is concerned, Samsara leads the entire telematics field. Their impressive investments into R&D pay off year after year. At the Samsara Beyond 2025 conference, they unveiled an entire laundry list of new features that solidify their spot as the most innovative telematics provider. Their advanced safety AI, real-time alerts, and driver coaching boast reductions in risky driving events by up to 70%.
On dash cameras specifically, Samsara offers 1440p resultation, AI-enhanced field-of-view, local storage with 4G LTE connectivity.
G2 user ratings slightly favor Samsara for vehicle tracking (9.6 vs 9.2), fuel management (8.3 vs 7.8), driver safety, and product direction.
Ease of Use and Support
Tech.co ranks Samsara higher overall (4.7/5) versus Motive (4.2/5), noting that Samsara offers more comprehensive features, better support options, and richer journey optimization.
Users of both platforms generally report high satisfaction. SelectHub notes Motive’s user sentiment rate surpasses Samsara’s by 5%.
In our experience, we have seen a trend of Samsara users switching to Motive because of lower costs and then circling back to Samsara after contract expiration, citing a noticeable lack of support after the contract has been signed.
Motive vs Samsara: Best Fit Scenarios
| Your Fleet Priorities | Why Samsara May Be Better | Where Motive Might Win Out |
| Deep AI safety features and analytics | Best-in-class safety, alerts, and ROI | Easier learning curve for new users |
| Hardware quality & dash cam clarity | 1440p front cam, LTE, local storage, and lifetime warranty | Quicker installation |
| Long-term growth and scalability | Broad integration library, advanced compliance, routing, fuel oversight | |
| Speed-to-value and upfront cost | More robust ROI over time | Lower upfront investment |
Motive vs Samsara: Best Fit Scenarios
This isn’t about declaring a universal “winner”; Motive offers solid value, intuitive tools, and is agreat fit for lean budgets or smaller fleets. But for organization that prioritize safety ROI, advanced analytics, and operational scalability, Samsara emerges as a compelling long-term investment.
But at the end of the day, every fleet is unique and has different priorities. If you are weighing these two options and would like a third-party expert to analyze them as they relate to your organization, book a free fleet technology audit and consultation with us, and let’s find the best match for your operations.