Quick answer
- A comparable quote-based 3PL with a published minimum formula: ShipMonk. Its minimum is your monthly orders × first-item pick fee, minus 20%.
- A published rate card instead of a quote: Flexport, but only if you ship enough to clear its $5,000 monthly minimum (Flexport says it mainly affects merchants under roughly 500 orders a month).
- Low volume, no minimum, already selling on Amazon: Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF), with a public per-unit rate card that includes shipping.
- Big, heavy or bulky products: Red Stag Fulfillment, which specializes in them.
- Apparel, CPG or electronics needing lot/serial tracking, DTC plus B2B: LVK (ShipHero's former fulfillment network).
- Larger brands needing retail compliance across a bigger network: Stord, which absorbed Ware2Go.
- Stay with ShipBob if your quote held up, you use its free software and integrations, and you need its international sites in Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain or Australia.
At a glance
What each provider publishes (and what it doesn't)
The biggest practical difference between 3PLs is not the pick fee; it is whether there is a minimum, how storage is billed, and whether B2B work is priced up front. Here is what each provider states on its own pages.
| Provider | Pricing model | Monthly minimum | Storage billing | B2B / retail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ShipBob | Custom quote | Not published; ask | Per bin, shelf or pallet, one SKU per location, billed twice a month and prorated; cubic-foot pricing for high-SKU merchants | EDI and wholesale orders at additional cost (not published) |
| ShipMonk | Custom quote | Monthly orders × first-item pick fee, minus 20% | Based on size, sales and quantity (unit not stated) | Offered; rates not published |
| Flexport | Published rate card (unit- or zone-based) | $5,000 since Jan 1, 2026, counted against most non-storage spend | $0.81/cu ft (Jan–Sep), $2.40/cu ft (Oct–Dec), minimum $0.10 per SKU per day | Published: $7 per B2B order, $200/month per EDI connection, $500/month retailer-portal management |
| Amazon MCF | Published per-unit rate card (includes shipping) | None stated | $0.78/cu ft (Jan–Sep), $2.40/cu ft (Oct–Dec), same as FBA | Not a B2B service |
| Red Stag | Custom quote | Not published | Not published | Quote |
| LVK | Quote | Not published | Based on the space you use each day | DTC and B2B; quote |
| Stord | Quote | Not published | Not published | Retail compliance offered; quote |
Checked on each provider's own pricing, FAQ or help-center pages on Oct 7, 2026. "Not published" means we could not find the figure on a first-party page; third-party estimates are not used.
Worked example
Where published rates exist: Amazon MCF and Flexport
Only two of these providers publish all-in rates you can model without a sales call. Amazon's Multi-Channel Fulfillment rate card (dated June 1, 2026) charges per unit for pick, pack and shipping, with lower per-unit rates as order size grows. For a small standard item of 4 oz or less at standard speed (3 business days):
| Units in the order | MCF fee per unit | Order total before surcharge | With 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $7.34 | $7.34 | $7.60 |
| 2 | $4.98 | $9.96 | $10.31 |
| 3 | $4.10 | $12.30 | $12.73 |
| 4 | $3.64 | $14.56 | $15.07 |
Editorial calculation from Amazon's MCF rate card (as of June 1, 2026). Excludes storage, holiday peak fees (Oct 15, 2026–Jan 14, 2027), remote-area and battery surcharges.
Flexport also publishes a rate card, but its per-SKU rates are downloaded from its portal, and Flexport warns they may differ for discounted merchants, so we can't reproduce a like-for-like number here. What matters most for smaller brands is the $5,000 minimum: if your qualifying monthly spend is $3,800, Flexport bills the $1,200 shortfall on the next month's invoice.
For ShipBob, ShipMonk and the quote-based providers, model each quote line by line in the fulfillment cost calculator and use the same order profile for every provider, as our fulfillment costs guide explains.
Baseline
ShipBob baseline (for comparison)
ShipBob prices every account by custom quote. Its standard fee categories are implementation, receiving, warehousing, and picking, packing and shipping each order; its software and turnkey integrations are free. Storage is billed per bin, shelf or pallet (cubic foot for high-SKU merchants), and returns, kitting and B2B/EDI work cost extra. ShipBob says it ships from "50+ global locations", with facilities in the US, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Australia. Full overview: ShipBob review.
Not ranked
The 6 alternatives
Ordered by how often each appears in ShipBob alternatives research, not by quality. Only ShipMonk and Flexport have full BestStorefront overviews; the others link to their official pages in Sources.
ShipMonk — the closest like-for-like quote-based 3PL
- Best for
- Growing DTC brands that want a ShipBob-style service, with fulfillment centers in the US, Canada (Brampton), the Czech Republic (Cheb) and the UK (Coalville), and over 100 integrations.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Custom quote. Fee categories: storage, fulfillment (pick-and-pack, receiving, returns), special projects and shipping. The monthly minimum is your monthly order volume × your first-item pick fee, reduced by 20%. Platform, onboarding and add-on technology fees are set in the quote.
- Watch out for
- No published dollar rates, and the storage billing unit isn't stated. Ask how small batches, fragile wrap and custom packaging are charged; ShipMonk lists them as add-ons.
Flexport — a published rate card with a high minimum
- Best for
- Brands shipping roughly 500+ orders a month that want published fulfillment, storage and B2B rates, including EDI and retailer-portal work.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Unit- or zone-based rate card; the base rate includes standard receiving, pick and pack, packaging and transportation. D2C storage $0.81/cu ft per 30 days (Jan–Sep) and $2.40 (Oct–Dec), minimum $0.10 per SKU per day. $5,000 monthly minimum since Jan 1, 2026 (it was $500), counted against fulfillment, reserve storage, parcel, freight, pallet/case handling, labels, prep and card processing, but not D2C storage.
- Watch out for
- The $5,000 floor and the $0.10 per-SKU daily storage minimum both penalize small or long-tail catalogs. Per-SKU rates come from the portal and may differ for discounted merchants.
Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment — pay-per-unit with no minimum
- Best for
- Sellers already storing inventory in Amazon's network who want to fulfill Shopify or other-channel orders without a minimum.
- Pricing (rate card as of June 1, 2026)
- Per-unit rate card (as of June 1, 2026) including pick, pack and shipping: a small standard item of 4 oz or less costs $7.34 per unit in a 1-unit order, falling to $3.64 per unit at 4+ units (standard speed). A 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge applies. Storage is the same as FBA: $0.78/cu ft Jan–Sep, $2.40 Oct–Dec.
- Watch out for
- Unbranded packaging by default, US-focused pricing, holiday peak fees from Oct 15, 2026 to Jan 14, 2027, and no B2B or custom-kitting service of the kind a full 3PL offers.
- Model it
- Fulfillment cost calculator
Red Stag Fulfillment — for big, heavy and bulky goods
- Best for
- Brands selling large, heavy or high-value items that need careful handling, from warehouses in Salt Lake City, Utah and Sweetwater, Tennessee.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Custom quote; no published rates or minimum. Red Stag advertises guarantees on shrinkage (reimbursing lost or damaged items), on-time shipping and order accuracy.
- Watch out for
- Two locations only, which matters for delivery zones. The cost ranges on Red Stag's own pricing explainer are industry ranges, not its rates.
- Prepare
- 3PL RFP checklist
LVK — ShipHero's former fulfillment network
- Best for
- Apparel, CPG and electronics brands needing lot or serial tracking across DTC and B2B. ShipHero's fulfillment page now redirects to LVK, which says its network runs on ShipHero software.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Quote. LVK's FAQ says storage is priced on the space you use each day and its flat rate includes one pick per shipment, with additional picks extra. No published rates or minimum.
- Watch out for
- Lists that still recommend "ShipHero fulfillment" may be out of date: ShipHero now presents itself as warehouse software only. LVK lists six North American warehouses.
- Prepare
- 3PL RFP checklist
Stord — a larger network that absorbed Ware2Go
- Best for
- Brands that need DTC and retail-compliant B2B fulfillment across a bigger North American footprint. Stord bought Ware2Go from UPS (announced May 19, 2025), and ware2go.co now redirects to Stord.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Quote-only. Stord's pricing page is titled "Why We're Not the Cheapest"; no rates or minimum are published.
- Watch out for
- Positioned toward larger, more complex operations; confirm onboarding effort and any volume commitments in the quote.
- Compare quotes
- Fulfillment costs guide
Switching costs
Why merchants switch, and what to check first
Public complaints about ShipBob (on third-party sites, not verified by us) usually cite costs rising above the original quote, inventory discrepancies, slow support at peak, and poor fit for heavy goods or B2B. Each of those has a contract or data answer you can check before moving:
- Cost drift: compare invoices to your quote line by line: storage units, dimensional weight, returns, kitting and B2B charges are the usual gaps.
- Inventory accuracy: ask every provider how receiving, inventory and pick accuracy are defined and what credits apply.
- Minimums: model each provider's minimum at your slowest month, not your average month.
- Exit costs: price inventory removal, final invoices and data export before signing; moving stock between 3PLs costs freight and downtime.
Stay with ShipBob if your invoices match your quote, you rely on its international sites or free integrations, and your volume doesn't clear a competitor's minimum. Use our 3PL RFP checklist to get comparable quotes before deciding.
Decision support
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to ShipBob?
It depends on volume and product. ShipMonk is the closest quote-based equivalent, Flexport suits brands that clear a $5,000 monthly minimum and want published rates, Amazon MCF suits low-volume Amazon sellers, Red Stag suits heavy goods, and LVK or Stord suit brands with B2B and traceability needs.
Does ShipBob have a monthly minimum?
ShipBob's pricing page does not publish a minimum; every account is quoted individually. Ask for any minimum in writing before signing.
Which ShipBob alternative has no order minimum?
Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment states no minimum and publishes per-unit fees. Flexport, by contrast, applies a $5,000 monthly minimum, and ShipMonk's minimum is your monthly orders × first-item pick fee, minus 20%.
How much does ShipBob cost?
ShipBob does not publish rates. Its quotes cover implementation, receiving, warehousing, and pick, pack and shipping, with returns, kitting and B2B work extra. Figures you see on third-party sites are not from ShipBob's pricing page.
Is Amazon MCF cheaper than a 3PL?
Sometimes, for small, light items in multi-unit orders, because the rate includes shipping and has no minimum: $7.34 for a single small item of 4 oz or less, before a 3.5% surcharge. Compare it with a full 3PL quote including shipping, and remember MCF uses unbranded packaging by default.
What happened to Shopify Fulfillment Network?
Flexport announced it was acquiring Shopify's logistics business, including Deliverr, in May 2023. Shopify now presents Shopify Fulfillment Network as a network of 3PL partners, with Flexport as a preferred partner alongside ShipBob and others.
Has BestStorefront tested these 3PLs?
No. This page is an independent editorial overview based on each provider's published pricing and help pages. Hands-on warehouse, billing and support testing is pending.
Documentation