Easypost vs Shipstation Compared

Last Updated on April 22, 2023 by Ewen Finser

If you run an eCommerce business, and you’re starting to get more orders, congratulations! Now is a great time to think about finding a shipping service to make your day-to-day life easier. Both EasyPost vs ShipStation offer some excellent features, but which one is best for your business?

In my experience, shipping services are great for a lot of reasons: I’ve saved time, hassle, and money using a shipping service, rather than trying to work out shipping myself. Most shipping services (including the two we’re looking at today) have negotiated discounts that are not available to the general public. Plus, they make it easy to track parcels, which is good in the event of a return or a dispute.

Today, we’ll be looking at both EasyPost vs ShipStation in detail. I’ve tested both, and I’ll give you my honest thoughts on each one. We’ll look at their features, their pros and cons, what their customer service teams are like, and more.

If you’re in a rush, read the next section for my final verdict up front. If you want to know more, keep reading!

The Bottom Line Up Front

If I had to pick a favorite, I’d go for ShipStation. It’s a great platform, and it makes connecting to your eCommerce platform simple. The money-saving potential and ease of use, combined with the great analytics, make it an easy service to recommend.

Having said that, I’d still recommend EasyPost if you want a more bespoke shipping service, particularly if you have a developer on your team.

Main Differences Between EasyPost vs ShipStation

The main differences between EasyPost and ShipStation are:

• EasyPost isn’t as easy to link to an eCommerce platform, whereas ShipStation makes it simple
• EasyPost offers carbon offsetting features, whereas ShipStation doesn’t
• EasyPost’s analytics are slightly weaker, whereas ShipStation’s analytics are stronger
• EasyPost has a more modern interface, whereas ShipStation has a slightly more dated interface
• EasyPost’s knowledge base is a little sparse, whereas ShipStation’s knowledge base is better
• EasyPost has a free plan, whereas ShipStation doesn’t
• EasyPost doesn’t have a free trial, whereas ShipStation doesn’t

What Is EasyPost?

EasyPost is a shipping API, designed for businesses with developers on their teams. It allows users to create a unique shipping experience for their own needs, and they partner with carriers across the globe.

I’d recommend EasyPost for any-sized business.

What Is ShipStation?

ShipStation is a service designed to make shipping much simpler. It includes a shipping cost calculator, and it has brilliant analytics, which is useful for any business.

I’d recommend ShipStation for any-sized eCommerce business.

The Main Features of EasyPost

I tested EasyPost to see how it works. Here are the main features you need to know about!

UX

I like the interface of EasyPost – it’s easy to use, it’s bright, and you can easily find what you need. It’s a nice platform, and it feels good to use. When you sign up for EasyPost, you can follow their simple checklist to get started. This is intuitive and it’s good for new users to learn the basics.

Shipping

There are some good shipping features on EasyPost. Carriers include:

• USPS
• UPS
• FedEx
• DHL Express
• DPD
• Parcelforce

Those are the most popular US-based carriers; there are other 100 others to choose from worldwide, so you should be able to get discounted shipping in other countries, too. EasyPost offers up to 83% discount, which is an amazing saving, although this does depend on which carrier you go for.

You can manually create labels, or allow the platform to automatically generate them with each order. At any time, you can view orders, track packages, send updates to customers, and insure your orders, all within the same platform.

I like that you can automate certain processes. For example, you can automatically notify each customer of the status of their deliveries, and at the same time, set up notifications for yourself, too. This way, you’ll always be updated on the delivery process, which may be particularly useful for high-value orders.

EasyPost is not compatible with dropshipping, which is a disadvantage. If you’re a drop shipper and you want to use EasyPost, you’d have to sign up for their partner, Order Fulfilment Guru, and follow the steps to link the two services together.

One last thing to talk about here is the address verification system. It’s useful and is included free with each label purchase. They accurately verify addresses in over 240 countries and territories, saving you time and stress, as your orders are more likely to ship to the correct place.

Carbon Offsetting

Carbon offsetting is a topic that many eCommerce business owners are thinking about. As your business grows, you may be thinking about the impact it is having on the planet, but EasyPost makes carbon offsetting much easier. You can use their API to offset carbon emissions on each shipment, using accredited carbon removal developers. You can also choose from some excellent grassroots carbon offset programs.

If you like, you can give your customers the option for carbon-neutral shipping, allowing them to take ownership of their shopping habits, too. Overall, I think this is a great feature, and I’d love to see more shipping services making it so easy for business owners to get started.

Branding

Consistent branding is key for building familiarity, and it’s easy to set this up in EasyPost. You can choose themes for your tracking pages, upload logos, choose your brand colors, and change your business name so that your customer feels they are shopping with you at every stage of the process. This is very straightforward, which is great. You can easily tweak them if your branding changes over time.

eCommerce Integrations

A potential downside of EasyPost is that it doesn’t have many ready-built integrations with eCommerce platforms. It’s designed to allow developers to create a custom shipping process that suits them, but might be a bit trickier to get to grips with for beginners for that reason.

Analytics

The reporting in EasyPost is very good. You can view your dashboard, with total labels, total cost, and the average cost per label at any time. You can also run custom reports on several metrics (like the number of refunds issued within a certain time frame). This makes collecting data for accounting purposes easier.

The Main Features of ShipStation

I also tested ShipStation to see how it compares. Let’s check it out!

UX

I like how easy it is to use ShipStation. You can find everything you need on the left-hand side, and the onboarding process is good for new users. If you’ve never used a shipping service before, you’ll probably find ShipStation straightforward to get started with.

I prefer the interface of EasyPost; it’s a bit brighter and cleaner, whereas ShipStation feels a little dated. Still, that’s a personal thing for me. The actual ease of use is about level with EasyPost.

Shipping

There are some great features in ShipStation to make the process of shipping easier.

Carriers include:

• USPS
• UPS
• FedEx
• DPD
• Stamps.com

There are other couriers to choose from, and they have some great discounts – you could save up to 78% depending on the courier you choose/the country you want to ship to.

A key feature of ShipStation is the shipping rules: you can automate a whole bunch of processes, like automatically adding tags to certain orders, for example. There are a ton of shipping rules to choose from, and with a little set-up time, you can save a ton of hassle and pointless admin work later on.

You can view orders, import and edit orders, and manually create new orders. You can set up customized alerts for both you and your customers, so everyone will know what stage their order is in, at any time. I like the batch-printing option for labels, which is great if you have a lot of orders to fulfill at once.

Tax Calculator

The rate calculator is brilliant. You can automatically work out costs, which is great if you need to send a parcel overseas given the complicated tax rules around sending items to certain countries.

The calculator works out all the cheapest options with different couriers, so you can pick: do you want to go for the cheapest, or pay more for faster delivery? Once you have chosen, ShipStation will automatically generate a label with a few clicks.

Branding

Let’s take a look at branding. With ShipStation, you can customize landing pages, tracking pages, packing slips, invoices, SMS alerts, and your returns portal. All of these can be adjusted to include your logo, brand colors, and social media links. It’s easy to do, even for beginners.

This is pretty easy to do, and I think it’s about level with EasyPost in terms of the depth of customization. Plus, the real-time packing page is a real bonus. It’s nice to know where your parcels are, and your customers will be sent a link with the tracking page link automatically without having to set this up with your email marketing service.

eCommerce Integrations

There are several eCommerce integrations available for ShipStation, including:

• Amazon
• eBay
• Shopify
• Salesforce
• Squarespace
• Wix
• WooCommerce
• ZenCart

The process of linking these is pretty easy if you follow the guides provided by ShipStation (and there are a lot of them in their knowledge base – more on this a little later).

Analytics

ShipStation’s reporting is very good. You can run reports on a range of data, allowing you to get a clear picture of your orders. For example, you can check global sales, run low stock reports, and track customer engagement by seeing how many of them open shipping notification emails from you.

EasyPost vs ShipStation – Customer Support

Sometimes things go wrong, and in that case, you’ll want decent customer support. Let’s see how they compare:

EasyPost

You can get support from EasyPost’s customer service team by using a ticketing system. They’re a friendly, helpful team.

However, I don’t like the knowledge base. While it has some articles and useful guides, it doesn’t feel as in-depth as ShipStation’s knowledge base, and it looks pretty unengaging. I feel that this could be improved to be more beginner-friendly.

ShipStation

ShipStation’s customer support is great. You can contact them by email or live chat, depending on your chosen price tier. The team is helpful, too.

The knowledge base is better than EasyPost’s knowledge base. The Help Guide for new users is really useful, and there are many articles on there to help you if you get stuck. For more established users, I’d recommend checking out the workflow guides, which are helpful if you want to optimize your shipping processes.

EasyPost vs ShipStation – Pricing

So, how do they compare in terms of pricing?

EasyPost

There are 2 price plans to choose from, with varying features:

Developer

• 100,000 shipments per year free
• Tracking for each package
• Free address verification for each label
• Automatic shipping insurance at a reduced cost

Enterprise

• Unlimited shipments
• Unlimited tracking
• Unlimited address verification (domestic and international)
• Shipping insurance for 0.4% or less
• SmartRate API for enterprise rate shopping
• Custom carrier integrations
• Dedicated support

On the developer plan, the first 100,000 shipments are free (as in you won’t pay extra charges to EasyPost on top of the usual costs from your chosen carrier). After that, they charge 5 cents per label. For small-to-medium-sized businesses, that’s a pretty good deal. You can read more on their pricing page.

ShipStation

ShipStation has more pricing options:

Starter – $9.00 per month

• 50 shipments
• 1 user
• Email and community forum support

Bronze – $29 per month

• 500 shipments per month
• 1 user
• Email and community forum support

Silver – $49 per month

• 1500 shipments per month
• 2 users
• Live chat, email, and community forum support

Gold – $69 per month

• 3000 shipments per month
• 3 users
• Live chat, email, and community forum support

Platinum – $99 per month

• 6000 shipments per month
• 5 users
• Live chat, email, and community forum support

Enterprise – $159 per month

• Unlimited shipments
• 10 users
• Live chat, phone support, email, and community forum support

The pricing structure is pretty different from EasyPost, so it’s hard to directly compare costs. I’d say, sign up for their free 14-day trial to test out the platform before you commit to a paid plan. You can read more on their pricing page.

EasyPost vs ShipStation – Pros and Cons

Let’s check out the best and worst parts of each service:

EasyPost

Pros

• Good user interface
• Great shipping options with several couriers to choose from
• Good automation available
• Offers carbon offsetting options for customers
• Decent analytics

Cons

• Not as easy to integrate with eCommerce platforms

ShipStation

Pros

• Easy to use
• Good for beginners
• Several couriers available with good discounts
• A tax calculator makes it easy to figure out costs
• Great knowledge base and customer support
• Excellent analytics

Cons

• The interface feels a bit dated compared to EasyPost’s interface

EasyPost vs ShipStation – Alternatives To Try

If neither of these platforms suits you, here are a few others you can try instead:

• Shippo– Shippo is a user-friendly platform and offers some great automation to eliminate annoying admin tasks. You can read more in our Shippo vs EasyPost comparison.
• ShipWorks – ShipWorks is great for larger businesses, especially if you have a large amount of inventory to keep track of. You can read more in our ShipWorks vs ShipStation comparison.
• ShipRush – ShipRush is another user-friendly service, good for smaller businesses. You can find out more in our ShipRush vs ShippingEasy comparison.
• Stamps.com – Stamps.com is a popular service, which can be used by individuals and businesses to get discounted shipping. It works particularly well for smaller businesses. You can find out more in our Shippo vs Stamps.com comparison.

FAQs

My Final Thoughts

My top pick for today is ShipStation. It’s a good all-rounder: it’s easy to use, it works for any-sized business, it has great shipping discounts, and it has excellent analytics. Plus, the automation and tax calculator are tools designed to make your life so much easier, especially if you’re dealing with a large volume of orders. While I don’t love the interface, that’s a small downside compared to the bonuses available.

However, I do think that there are some great features on EasyPost. I like that it’s flexible, and if you have developers on your team, you’ll be able to make it work for you. Plus, I like the interface, the knowledge base, and the carbon offsetting features.

Hopefully, this has helped you to figure out which one is best for you. You can test out their features for free, as ShipStation has a free trial and EasyPost has a free plan, so why not try them both to see which one feels right for your business?