Quick answer
- Lower subscription at every volume we checked: Shippo: Pro from $19/month billed monthly for up to 200 labels, and free up to 30 labels.
- Free label software, especially for Amazon sellers: Veeqo (owned by Amazon), which charges no subscription and earns a commission on labels instead.
- USPS and UPS labels with no fees at all: Pirate Ship, which says it has no monthly or payment fees.
- Flat price regardless of volume, if you buy enough postage: PitneyShip Premium at $34.99/month.
- Order and inventory management alongside shipping: Ordoro or ShippingEasy.
- International-heavy shippers: Easyship.
- Shipping from Europe: Sendcloud, which only accepts merchants with a European billing address.
- Stay on ShipStation if you need its automation rules, branded tracking and returns, or inventory features on Standard and Premium, and the subscription is small next to your postage spend.
Worked example
Software cost at four shipping volumes
Each cell is the cheapest published plan that covers the volume on monthly billing, software fee only. Postage, insurance and carrier surcharges are excluded. Prices checked Oct 7, 2026.
| Tool (plan) | 100 shipments/mo | 500 | 2,000 | 6,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ShipStation (Starter; Standard at 6,000) | $29.99 | $39.99 | $119.99 | $349.99 |
| ShipStation Standard (needed for your own carrier accounts) | $59.99 | $89.99 | $174.99 | $349.99 |
| Shippo (Pro) | $19 | $29 | $79 | $199 |
| Veeqo | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Pirate Ship | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Easyship (Plus; Premier at 2,000) | $29 | $29 | $69 | Enterprise quote |
| ShippingEasy (Growth to Premium) | $19.99 | $29.99 | $69.99 | $119.99 |
| Ordoro (Essential; Advanced) | $0 (Essential caps at 100) | $59 | $59 | $149 |
| PitneyShip | 5% of label spend, or $34.99 Premium | same | same | same |
Editorial calculation from each vendor's pricing page. Annual billing lowers ShipStation by 20% and Shippo by about 10%. Ordoro at 6,000: Advanced $59 + 3 extra blocks of 1,000 labels at $30 = $149, the same as Premium. Veeqo and Pirate Ship are paid by carriers or label commissions rather than subscriptions.
PitneyShip's break-even: Pay-as-you-go charges 5% of each label's price, so Premium's flat $34.99 is cheaper once you buy more than $699.80 of postage a month ($34.99 ÷ 5%).
Postage is usually a far bigger cost than the software. Compare the discounted rates each tool offers for your typical parcel, not just the subscription.
Context
What changed at ShipStation in 2025
- New plans. Sign-ups since July 2025 choose Starter, Standard or Premium, each tiered by monthly shipments. The older Starter, Growth, Scale and High Volume lineup is now legacy.
- Own carrier accounts moved up a tier. On current plans, Starter can't connect your own carrier accounts; Standard and Premium can, with no connection fee. Legacy plans pay a monthly "Your Carriers" add-on from $5 to $95.
- No overage fee, but automatic upgrades. ShipStation's terms say it may upgrade your plan when you exceed your shipment limit, prorated.
Baseline
ShipStation baseline (for comparison)
ShipStation's US plans are Starter (from $14.99/month for 50 shipments, up to $174.99 at 5,000, its limit), Standard (from $29.99/month, up to 100,000 shipments) and Premium (from $349.99/month), each priced by monthly shipment volume, with 20% off on annual billing and a 30-day free trial. There's no per-label fee, and store connections are unlimited. Users: 3, 10 and 15. API access, phone support and branded tracking and returns start on Standard; inventory management is on Premium. Full overview: ShipStation review.
Not ranked
The 8 alternatives
Not ranked. Shippo, PitneyShip and Sendcloud have full BestStorefront overviews; the others link to their official pricing pages in Sources.
Shippo — lower subscription, same core job
- Best for
- Small and mid-size stores that want multi-carrier labels with discounted USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL Express rates.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Starter is free for up to 30 labels a month (own-carrier labels 5¢ each). Pro is $19/month billed monthly ($17 billed annually) for up to 200 labels, rising by volume tier to $199/month at 5,001–10,000 labels; $0.08 per label beyond 10,000. Premier is quoted.
- Watch out for
- Shippo's pricing page opens on annual prices, so the commonly quoted $17 is the annual rate. Its page doesn't say what happens above 30 labels on Starter.
Veeqo — free shipping software from Amazon
- Best for
- Amazon sellers and multichannel stores that want free label software with Amazon Shipping and major-carrier rates.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- The shipping plan is free: unlimited shipments, users and warehouses. Veeqo says it earns "a small commission" on labels bought through it and offers up to 5% back in Veeqo credits. Inventory features start at $19/month; a High Volume plan starts at $350/month.
- Watch out for
- The label commission isn't disclosed, and the pricing page doesn't say whether you can connect your own carrier accounts. Veeqo is owned by Amazon.
- Read more
- Shipping & fulfillment desk
PitneyShip — pay-as-you-go or one flat fee
- Best for
- Low-volume shippers, and offices that also send Certified Mail, who want Pitney Bowes' negotiated USPS, UPS and FedEx rates.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Pay-as-you-go: $0/month plus 5% of each label's price, 1 user. Premium: $34.99/month after a 30-day trial, up to 10 users, with 50 Certified Mailings with electronic return receipt included. Enterprise is quoted.
- Watch out for
- No monthly label cap is published, and store integrations are lighter than ShipStation's; check your sales channels connect.
- Read more
- PitneyShip overview
Pirate Ship — no-fee USPS and UPS labels
- Best for
- Small US shippers who mainly need cheap USPS and UPS labels without automation or many integrations.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Pirate Ship says it has "no monthly fees, payment fees, or hidden costs" and is paid by the carriers. Its UPS discounts apply to US-origin shipments only.
- Watch out for
- USPS and UPS only, and fewer automation and multichannel features than paid platforms.
- Read more
- Shipping & fulfillment desk
Easyship — built for international shipping
- Best for
- Stores shipping internationally that want duties and taxes handled at checkout and many courier options.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Free for 50 shipments a month; Plus $29/month (500); Premier $69 (2,500); Scale $99 (5,000); Enterprise above that by quote. Using your own courier accounts costs $0.03–$0.05 per label depending on plan. 14-day trial on paid plans.
- Watch out for
- Each plan limits how many of your own courier accounts you can connect (none on Free). Annual prices weren't shown.
- Read more
- Shipping & fulfillment desk
ShippingEasy — simple volume tiers
- Best for
- Small and mid-size stores that want straightforward shipment tiers and basic inventory and marketing tools.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Starter free (25 shipments); Growth $19.99/month (up to 200); Basic $29.99 (500); Plus $49.99 (1,500); Select $69.99 (3,000); Premium $119.99 (6,000); Enterprise $189.99 (10,000). 30-day trial.
- Watch out for
- Connecting your own carrier account carries a monthly fee that varies by plan; the amount isn't published.
- Read more
- Shipping & fulfillment desk
Ordoro — shipping plus inventory and dropshipping
- Best for
- Multichannel stores that want shipping, inventory and dropship routing in one tool.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Essential free (100 labels, 1 channel, 1 user); Advanced $59/month (3,000 labels, 5 channels, unlimited users; $30 per extra 1,000 labels); Premium $149/month (unlimited). 15-day trial.
- Watch out for
- Going over 100 labels on Essential temporarily locks the account, and connecting your own carrier accounts requires Premium.
- Read more
- Inventory & operations desk
Sendcloud — for European shippers only
- Best for
- Merchants based in Europe or the UK that want multi-carrier shipping and returns.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Free (20 parcels a month), then Lite €28/month + €0.10 per label, Growth €87 + €0.09, Premium €175 + €0.08, Pro €639 + €0.07; 20% off yearly. Prices in euros.
- Watch out for
- Sendcloud requires a billing address in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain or the UK, so US-based merchants can't sign up.
Switching costs
When to stay on ShipStation
- You use automation rules, branded tracking pages or the returns portal heavily (Standard and Premium).
- You need Premium's purchase orders and inventory forecasting in the same tool as shipping.
- Your monthly postage spend dwarfs the subscription, and your current discounted rates are at least as good as the alternatives'.
- You're on a legacy plan without the Your Carriers add-on and don't connect your own carrier accounts.
Consider moving when you're paying for Standard only to connect your own carrier accounts, when an automatic upgrade pushed your plan up, or when you mostly print USPS labels and a free tool covers it.
Checklist
How to compare before you switch
- Pull last year's shipments by month, carrier, service and package size; note your peak month.
- Quote postage for your three most common parcels in each tool; rates differ more than subscriptions.
- Check which plan lets you connect your own carrier accounts, and what it costs.
- Confirm every sales channel you use connects natively, and how orders and tracking sync back.
- Rebuild your top automation rules and packing presets in a trial account before cancelling.
Decision support
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free version of ShipStation?
ShipStation's pricing page shows no free plan, only a 30-day free trial; paid plans start at $14.99/month. Free alternatives include Veeqo, Pirate Ship, and the free tiers of Shippo (30 labels), Easyship (50), ShippingEasy (25) and Ordoro (100).
How much does ShipStation cost?
On monthly billing, Starter runs from $14.99 (50 shipments) to $174.99 (5,000), Standard from $29.99 to $3,599.99 (100,000), and Premium from $349.99. Annual billing saves 20%. Prices checked Oct 7, 2026.
Is Shippo cheaper than ShipStation?
On subscription price, yes, at every volume we checked: for example $29 vs $39.99 at 500 shipments and $79 vs $119.99 at 2,000, on monthly billing. Postage rates and features differ, so compare those too.
What happened to ShipStation's pricing?
In July 2025 ShipStation replaced its plans with Starter, Standard and Premium for new sign-ups, and own-carrier connections now require Standard or Premium. Legacy plans can pay a monthly add-on of $5 to $95 to use their own carriers.
Is Pirate Ship better than ShipStation?
For simple USPS and UPS label printing, Pirate Ship costs nothing in software fees. ShipStation offers more carriers, automation, integrations and team features, for a subscription.
Can US businesses use Sendcloud?
No. Sendcloud requires a billing address in one of eight European countries or the UK.
Has BestStorefront tested these tools?
No. This page is an independent editorial overview based on each vendor's published pricing. Hands-on testing is pending.
Documentation