We looked at four ways to get HS codes and customs payments for a shipment — what each does well, where it runs out, and what it costs. Data comes from public sources; where pricing is not published, we say so.
Compared on one task: costing out payments across a full product range
Criterion
Mini calculators
AI code lookup
Declaration software
Customs broker
DirectPort
Line items at once
1
1
entered by hand
no limit
up to 500 from a file
Finds the HS code
no, you enter it
yes
no, you enter it
yes, manually
yes, with verification
Duty, VAT, excise
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
Freight and Incoterms in customs value
no
no
manually
yes
yes
Regulatory documents
no
partly
reference only
yes
checklist by stage with box 44 codes
Draft declaration
no
no
you fill it in
yes
draft of boxes 31–47
Export to declaration software
no
no
—
—
separate file
Time for 500 line items
not applicable
not applicable
days
days to weeks
about 10 minutes
Price
free, or from 3 ₽ per query
3 codes free, then on request
29,000 to 195,000 ₽ per year
from 100 ₽ per line item plus from 5,000 ₽ per declaration
$1 per line item, first 50 free
Customs payment mini calculators
TKS, Taksa Online by Alta-Soft, and calculators on logistics company websites.
+
A quick estimate of payments when the HS code is already known. Free or nearly free: Alta gives 10 free queries a month, then charges 3 ₽ per query.
−
You supply the code — the calculator neither finds nor checks it. One product at a time, with no regulatory requirements or shipment documents.
We have that calculator too, and ours is free. The difference starts when there is more than one product and the code is not known in advance.
AI HS code lookup services
INSAL, WBCON, TerminalZM and similar — usually free services run by logistics companies.
+
They return an indicative code from a product description in about a minute, often with reasoning and basic rates. A good way to sanity-check a single product.
−
One product at a time, entered through a form. The result is positioned as a preliminary reference; paid tariffs are usually not published, so you leave a request and wait for a sales call.
We take the whole file: up to 500 line items in one run, with a draft declaration, a document checklist, and an export for declaration software. Our price is published and there is no one to wait for.
Declarant software
Alta-GTD, Kontur.Declarant, CTM VED-Declarant.
+
The professional declarant’s core tool: filling and filing declarations, checks against customs databases, electronic declaration. Indispensable at the filing stage.
−
A human enters the HS code — there is no automatic classification. The goods section of a multi-line shipment is typed in by hand. A workstation costs from 29,000 ₽ per licence up to 195,000 ₽ a year.
We do not compete with them, we prepare data for them: the goods section is exported as a separate file that Kontur.Declarant imports directly, and that Alta and CTM converters accept once a mapping is configured.
Customs broker
Customs representatives and brokerage companies.
+
They take on liability and file the declaration. For complex and disputed cases this is the only right path.
−
Classification is manual: for typical price lists that is from 100 ₽ per line item, plus from 5,000 ₽ for the declaration and a surcharge for each additional goods item. A multi-line shipment stretches into days and weeks.
We do not replace a broker and we do not file declarations. We remove the manual part: the calculation for the whole price list arrives ready, and the broker only checks the flagged lines and files.
How to read this comparison
The data comes from public sources — vendor websites and price lists — as of 5 September 2026; prices and capabilities may have changed since. The comparison covers one task: calculating customs payments and finding codes across a full shipment range. In their own domains — filing declarations, freight forwarding, representing you at customs — the tools and companies listed here remain the specialists, and we do not replace them.