RideOS
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Home / How it works

You run the company. We run the software.

A clear line between what belongs to you and what belongs to us — written down here before you sign anything, not buried in a contract afterwards.

The arrangement

Who is responsible for what

Skynat RideOS is a licence to use software, hosted and maintained by us. The transport business is yours — which also means the brand, the customers and the revenue are yours.

You, the operator

What you hold

  • Your operating licence and any municipal permits
  • Your contracts with drivers and vehicle owners
  • Your insurance, and your drivers' insurance
  • Your merchant account, so fares settle to your bank
  • Your brand, pricing, service area and rules
  • Your relationship with riders — they are your customers
Skynat

What we provide

  • The rider, driver, dashboard and dispatch software
  • Hosting, backups, updates and security patches
  • Maps, routing and live vehicle tracking
  • The safety programme and the tooling behind it
  • Your monthly invoice and the records behind it
  • Support for you — not for your riders
We are deliberately not a transport company. We do not dispatch your cars, employ your drivers, set your prices or take a cut of a fare. If a regulator asks who operates the service in your city, the answer is you.
Getting started

From signing up to your first trip

The software side takes an afternoon. We have put the whole thing on a checklist in your dashboard so you always know what is left.

1

Sign up and pick your country

Give your company name, your country and your city. Your currency, dial code, distance unit and starter vehicle types are set up for you from a profile we keep for 35 African markets. You accept the operator agreement here, in plain words.

2

Draw the area you serve

Mark your service area on the map. Anything outside it simply cannot book you, so you never have a rider waiting for a car that was never coming. Inside it, you can split the area into zones and price each one differently.

3

Set your fares and your commission

Base fare, per kilometre, per minute, waiting time, cancellation fee, peak pricing — per zone and per vehicle type. Then decide what you take from a driver's fare, and the ceiling you will never go above.

4

Bring your drivers on

Send them your join link. They sign up, upload their licence, roadworthy and police clearance, and verify themselves with a selfie and ID. You approve them, and they can go online. Unverified drivers cannot be dispatched at all.

5

Switch on how people pay you

Cash works immediately. If you want card and bank payments, paste your own gateway keys and switch them on. The money settles into your account; we never see it.

6

Go live and tell your city

Your dashboard gives you a share kit — a public page for your company, a QR code and a WhatsApp message ready to send. Riders install the Skynat ride app and choose your company, or you take your own branded app to the stores.

An aerial view of a highway interchange at night
Territory and zones

One operator, one patch of ground.

An operator is a company in a place — a town, a city, or a whole country if you have the licence for it. Everything in your account is scoped to that.

  • Service area. The boundary riders must be inside to book you.
  • Zones. Divide that area and give each piece its own fares, so a township trip and an airport run are priced as they really are.
  • Peak pricing. Lift prices in the hours and places that deserve it, with a ceiling so it never becomes gouging.
  • Vehicle types. Economy, comfort, XL, bakkie, minibus — each with its own prices and its own drivers.
  • Route transport. For minibuses and buses, zones give way to fixed routes with their own fare table.
How route fares work →
Getting riders

Three ways a rider reaches you

The Skynat ride app

One app, many operators. A rider installs it, finds your company by name, join link or QR code, and from then on books you. The app takes on your colours while they are with you.

WhatsApp, USSD and SMS

Riders with no space for another app can book by WhatsApp message or a USSD code. Most of your market still falls into this group, and it costs them almost nothing.

Your phone line

The oldest booking channel and still the busiest in many towns. Your controller takes the call and sends a car from the dispatch desk. The rider needs no technology at all.

RideOS app icons and screens
Your own app

When you are ready to own the whole thing.

Start inside the shared Skynat ride app, where a rider can find you tomorrow with no store review to wait for. When your name is worth putting on a home screen, we build your own apps.

  • Your app name, icon, splash screen and colours
  • Published from your Google Play and App Store accounts, so the listing, the reviews and the users belong to you
  • We run the build and the upload; you press publish
  • Leave Skynat later and your store listing stays yours
What branded apps cost →

Still have a question about the arrangement?

Ask it before you sign up. We would rather answer honestly now than lose you in month two.

Ask us → Start the free trial