# Add-In vs Add-On: What the Two Words Mean and Which One You Need

An Add-In is software inside the High Point GPS platform or the driver app; an Add-On is hardware on the device's IOX port. Here's which one solves which problem.

Source: https://www.highpointgps.com/resources/add-in-vs-add-on
By Stefano Mazzone, IT Technical Support Specialist — published 2026-09-18, updated 2026-09-19

## Add-In: Software Inside the Platform

An Add-In is a piece of software built on the platform's SDK that runs inside the High Point GPS platform, as a new page or panel, or inside the driver app on the driver's device. It reads and writes the fleet's data through the same API everything else uses. Bus Route Progress, Timeline Map, GeoDocs, ELD Info and Ruleset Switcher are Add-Ins. The platform and add-on library partners publish them, and a reseller with developers, High Point GPS builds custom ones, can write an Add-In for a single fleet's workflow. Installing one is a configuration step in the fleet's High Point GPS platform database; nothing goes in the vehicle.

## Add-On: Hardware on the IOX Port

An Add-On is a physical device that connects to the GPS tracking device through its IOX expansion port and sends data up through the GPS tracking device's connection. IOX-BT for Bluetooth tags, IOX-NFCREADERA for driver ID, the Bluetooth sensor gateway and temperature sensors, the PTO reader, cameras that connect through IOX, and the Keyless module are Add-Ons. They are installed in the vehicle by an installer, and the data they produce appears in the High Point GPS platform as new streams the platform's rules and reports can use. Many Add-Ons come with a companion Add-In that displays their data.

![Diagram of telematics data flowing from the vehicle to the GPS tracking device, the cloud, the High Point GPS platform and the fleet's own systems](https://www.highpointgps.com/images/figures/telematics-data-flow.webp)

*Where the data goes: the engine bus and sensors feed the GPS tracking device, the cloud applies the fleet's rules, and the High Point GPS platform or the API hands it to your systems.*

## Which One Solves the Problem

If the fleet already has the data and needs to see or use it differently — a better view, a report, a workflow, a document, a driver-facing screen — the answer is an Add-In. If the fleet needs data the GPS tracking device does not have — a temperature, a door, a driver's identity, a PTO state, video — the answer is an Add-On, usually with an Add-In to present it. A parent app for a school bus is an Add-In; the card reader that records the child boarding is an Add-On.

## Buying and Building

Both are listed on the High Point GPS add-on library, where the distinction is visible in the listing type. Add-Ins are often licensed per database or per vehicle per month; Add-Ons are purchased hardware plus, sometimes, a plan. Custom Add-Ins are a development project against the SDK; custom Add-Ons are rare, since the IOX ecosystem covers most sensors. High Point GPS supplies and installs Add-Ons and builds and deploys Add-Ins for fleets across Quebec, Ontario and the northeastern US.

## Examples of Each, Side by Side

The names are close enough that fleets mix them up in a purchase order. These examples settle which is which.

| Name | Add-In or Add-On | What it is |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Dual Dash AI Camera | Add-On | Hardware that connects to the GPS tracking device and reports events |
| Asset Data Display | Add-In | A High Point GPS platform page showing ten metrics per vehicle |
| IOX-NFCREADERA | Add-On | Driver ID reader on the IOX port |
| HOS Driver Summary | Add-In | A scheduled report built on ELD data |
| Bluetooth temperature puck | Add-On | Bluetooth sensor heard through IOX-BT or a gateway |
| Public Tracking Portal | Neither: a separate web app on the API | Built by High Point GPS outside the platform |
| Ruleset Switcher | Add-In | A control inside the driver app |

## FAQ

### What is an Add-In?

Software built on the platform's SDK that runs inside the High Point GPS platform or the driver app, adding pages, panels, reports or workflows using the fleet's existing data.

### What is an Add-On?

Hardware that plugs into the GPS tracking device's IOX port, such as Bluetooth readers, driver ID, sensors, cameras and the Keyless module, adding data the GPS tracking device does not collect on its own.

### Do I need an installer for an Add-In?

No. Add-Ins are enabled in the High Point GPS platform database. Add-Ons are installed in the vehicle.

### Can a reseller build a custom Add-In?

Yes. Resellers with developers, including High Point GPS, build Add-Ins for a single fleet's workflow against the SDK.

### Where do I find them?

On the High Point GPS add-on library, which lists both types, and through your reseller.

## Sources

- [Platform documentation: Developer SDK and API](https://developers.geotab.com/)
- [Platform documentation: IOX Add-Ons](https://www.geotab.com/hardware/iox-expansion/)