When choosing the right shipping software for your biz, consider the cost, features, integrations and overall reputation. Also keep in mind that some e-commerce software includes shipping software and inventory management in the membership price.
- Best free shipping software: XPS
- Best international shipping software: Shippo
Best e-commerce shipping software: ShipStation
ShipStation offers a robust range of features, including inventory management, direct shipment cost comparison and branded shipping labels. It also has the most integrations compared to its competitors, and can help you sync and manage orders across 70 third-party marketplaces.
- Price: $9+ monthly for 50 shipments
- Integrations: Hundreds of integrations, including Amazon, WooCommerce, Shopify and more.
- Pros
- 30-day free trial
- Transparent pricing
- Cons
- No phone support — unless you invest in the enterprise tier
- No free tier
Best shipping software for small business: ShippingEasy
ShippingEasy is free for small businesses that ship 50 orders or fewer each month. Automatic labeling and order tracking is included, and you’ll get discounts with USPS.
- Price: Free for up to 50 monthly orders, then $29+ monthly.
- Integrations: Dozens of integrations, including Shopify, Amazon, eBay and Etsy.
- Pros
- 30-day free trial
- Multiple service tiers, to scale up as your biz grows
- Positive reputation around the web
- Cons
- No phone or email support for the free tier
- Confusing marketing on website
Best dropshipping software: Ordoro
Ordoro has a workflow designed specifically for dropshipping, in which you can assign products to specific vendors, autoroute products to designated dropshippers and split orders according to SKUs.
- Price: $59+ monthly.
- Integrations: Over 20 integrations including WooCommerce, Walmart Marketplace, Magento Volusion and ChannelAdvisor.
- Pros
- Phone support during the week, even for the cheapest tier
- Users report that the user interface is easy to navigate
- Cons
- No free tier or free trial
- Only 6 carriers for international shipping
Best free shipping software: XPS
If you want to avoid monthly subscription payments, opt for XPS. It includes discounted rates for multiple carriers including USPS, UPS and FedEx. It also serves as a label generator, order tracker and offers live customer support during the week. You can demo it before signing up.
- Price: Free
- Integrations: Dozens of integrations including WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento and Amazon.
- Pros
- Customer service via phone, live chat and email
- Unlimited shipments, stores and channels
- Cons
- To make money, it adds markups to direct shipping services
- No upgrades available if you want to scale up
Best international shipping software: Shippo
Shippo works with 19 carriers that ship worldwide, including DHL, Deutsche Post, Australia Post, Globegistics and Parcel Force Worldwide. Its interface will walk you through the process of making a customs declaration, and it automatically creates three copies of the mandatory commercial invoice for each package.
- Shippo is offering its services for free through October 1, 2020, to help bolster small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Price: $0.05+ per label.
- Integrations: It offers 15 integrations including Amazon, Ebay, Squarespace and GoDaddy.
- Pros
- 30-day free trial
- Flexible pay-as-you-go pricing
- Discounts of up to 90% direct shipping rates
- Cons
- You need to sign up for a monthly plan for customer support
- Fewer integrations than competitors
How we picked these shipping software providers
When choosing software for this list, we considered the features, pricing and discounts offered by each provider. We looked at integrations and scalability to ensure the providers on this page are equipped to grow with your small business.
We also looked at overall reputation and compared user experiences posted in Reddit chat forums and reviews in industry journals around the web.
Consider the following when shopping for shipping software:
- Your order volume. If you process less than 50 orders a month, opt for ShippingEasy’s free membership. Businesses with high order volume should focus on enterprise plans.
- Number of users. Some shipping software only allows for one user login per account. If you have multiple people in charge of order fulfillment, make sure your membership comes with multiple logins.
- Integration with other business software. Make sure it plays well with the other software you use.
- Discounts with direct shipping partners. For example, if you use UPS more than Fedex, compare UPS discounts between providers when making your final choice (free trials and demos can help you pinpoint specific numbers).
- Dropshipping capabilities. If you work with third party suppliers to fulfill orders made through your e-commerce site, make sure the shipping software allows for supplier login and a nuanced SKU and supplier attribution.
- Reporting and analytics. Compare the tools available for analyzing data and test-drive them if you can with a live demo.
- Customer support. If a provider offers live support over the phone or chat, rather than just email, that’s a huge plus.
Also take a look at whether shipping services are included in any of the software that you already invest in.
Purchasing e-commerce software that includes shipping features as part of the package could save you time and money. For example, BigCommerce and Square both include shipping software and inventory tracking with paid memberships. And Shopify offers a fulfillment service, which means you’ll store products at its warehouses and its team will pick, pack and ship your orders.
Create an online store with beautiful layouts to help drive business.
- Social media integration
- Transparent pricing
- Easy to use site builder
Shipping software can transform the operation of your business, with greater efficiency and less room for human error. For more ways to optimize your internal processes, compare e-commerce platform providers that can help you streamline your business.
