ShippingEasy Alternative: Adds UPS, No Shipment Cap
ShippingEasy's free tier is USPS only and stops at 25 shipments a month. I'd Ship That includes USPS and UPS from the first label.
ShippingEasy vs I'd Ship That, Feature by Feature#
| Feature | ShippingEasy | I'd Ship That |
|---|---|---|
| Free-Tier Shipment Cap | Free Starter plan stops at 25 shipments per month, then a paid plan | No shipment cap on the free account, a busy month never triggers a plan |
| USPS Support | Full USPS, commercial rates, cubic when the box qualifies | Full USPS at commercial pricing below retail, cubic pricing on small dense boxes |
| UPS Support | Available only after you move to a paid plan | UPS on the free account, so you can route heavy far-zone boxes off USPS |
| Full Price Before You Buy | Rates shown at checkout | Every fee shown up front, including surcharges, before you buy |
| Mobile App (iOS & Android) | Web-based platform, no native mobile app | Native iOS and Android apps plus web, print a label in about 30 seconds |
| Marketing Tools | Email campaigns and customer engagement, a real value-add if you use it | Shipping only, no email marketing, so you are not paying for a tool you skip |
| Real-Time Tracking | Tracking available across carriers | Real-time tracking across USPS and UPS |
| Package Insurance | Add-on coverage through the platform | Declared-value coverage per label in $100 increments, premium shown before you buy |
| Independent Roadmap | Merged into Auctane, the Stamps.com parent ecosystem | Independent and actively developed as its own product |
| Automatic Carrier Routing | You compare USPS and UPS by hand per order | Ship Intelligence picks the cheapest valid rate across USPS and UPS, cubic included (Pro) |
| Bulk Label Workflow | Batch printing on paid plans | The Workbench: import, rate-shop, and batch-print hundreds of labels in one pass (Pro) |
| Savings Analytics | No per-label savings breakdown | Ship Intelligence shows what each routing decision saved versus the next-best rate (Pro) |
What You Pay ShippingEasy For, and What You Pay the Carrier For#
Start with the cliff, because it is the cleanest number in this comparison. ShippingEasy's free plan covers up to 25 shipments a month on USPS. Ship 26 and you are on a paid plan, historically about $19.99 a month. That subscription is a per-label tax that shrinks as you scale, and it is heaviest right at the edge. Amortized across your monthly volume it runs roughly: $0.77 a label at 26 orders, $0.50 at 40, $0.40 at 50, $0.20 at 100, $0.10 at 200, and about $0.07 at 300. In other words, the seller doing 26 to 40 orders a month pays the worst per-label overhead, the exact volume band that just crossed the free line. I'd Ship That has no cap and no plan fee on the free account, so that overhead is zero and you pay only for the discounted postage, full price shown before you buy. Now the part that actually decides which label is cheapest, and it dwarfs that $0.20 to $0.77. Take a real routing pair on 2026 rates. A 12 oz padded mailer to zone 4 runs about $7.50 on USPS Ground Advantage at commercial rates, but UPS Ground has a high floor on light parcels and lands closer to $9 to $12, so USPS still wins by roughly $1.50 to $4.50. Flip the box: an 8 lb parcel to zone 8 runs roughly $22 to $24 on USPS Ground Advantage but about $14 to $18 on UPS Ground, so UPS wins by several dollars. Same two orders, and the cheaper carrier is different on each. The rule of thumb that falls out: under 1 lb, USPS almost always wins because UPS's light-parcel floor is high; past about 3 lb and zone 5, check UPS Ground, it frequently undercuts USPS; and for small dense boxes under 0.5 cubic feet, USPS cubic pricing can beat both. ShippingEasy's free tier shows you USPS only, so you never see the UPS side of that trade until you are paying $19.99 a month. On I'd Ship That both carriers are on the free account and Ship Intelligence picks the cheapest valid rate per order automatically, so the routing lever, worth several dollars a parcel, runs without you pricing every combination by hand. ShippingEasy's email marketing is a genuine value-add if you use it, but if what you need is correct carrier routing at low cost, that is where the money is.
What Moving Off ShippingEasy Actually Changes#
Keep costs low during migration#
Run both platforms in parallel and move only lanes where the new stack clearly saves money.
- Migrate one channel at a time.
- Benchmark real orders before full cutover.
- Hold rollback criteria for the first two weeks.
Accelerate migration with staged rollout#
Move low-risk shipments first, then shift high-volume flows once presets are validated.
- Create new label presets before launch.
- Train packers with real order scenarios.
- Track fulfillment speed daily during transition.
Protect fulfillment continuity#
Prioritize operational stability over aggressive cutover timelines.
- Run fallback playbooks for label or carrier outages.
- Review claims and late-delivery impact weekly.
- Keep legacy access until KPIs stabilize.
Moving Off ShippingEasy: Key Takeaways#
- ShippingEasy's free tier ends at 25 shipments a month; order 26 puts you on a paid plan around $19.99, worth about $0.77 a label at 26 orders and $0.20 at 100.
- The subscription is the smaller lever. Carrier routing swings $3 to $6 per parcel on packages where USPS and UPS diverge, far more than the amortized plan fee.
- Under 1 lb USPS almost always wins; past about 3 lb and zone 5 UPS Ground frequently undercuts; small dense boxes under 0.5 cubic feet favor USPS cubic.
- ShippingEasy's free plan is USPS only, so you cannot even see the UPS side of that trade until you are paying; I'd Ship That includes both on the free account.
- Crossing 25 shipments a month is the moment to re-run both the plan math and the routing math on your own order mix, not just to accept the upgrade.
Running the 25-Shipment Cliff Math on Your Own Volume#
The 25-shipment line is the whole decision in miniature. Pull your last three months of shipment counts and find where you land relative to it. If you are consistently under 25, ShippingEasy's free tier is genuinely free and the question is just whether you want UPS access and native apps. If you are bouncing between 20 and 40, you are in the worst spot: some months free, some months paying $19.99 for barely more than the cap, which works out to the highest per-label overhead of any volume band.
Then layer routing on top, because that is where the real money sits. A paid plan's $0.20 to $0.77 amortized per label is small next to the $3 to $6 a wrong carrier choice costs on the packages where USPS and UPS diverge. Price a representative sample of your orders on both carriers before you renew anything.
- Chart three months of shipment counts against the 25 line; steady 20 to 40 is the band where the paid plan costs the most per label.
- Amortize the plan fee: about $0.77 a label at 26 orders, $0.40 at 50, $0.20 at 100, $0.10 at 200, so heavier volume dilutes it while low volume gets punished.
- Pull 20 to 30 real orders spanning your weight and zone range and price each on both USPS and UPS, not just your default carrier.
- Compare on cost per label after all fees and surcharges shown up front, plus time from order to printed label.
The Routing Lever ShippingEasy's Free Tier Hides#
Because the free Starter plan is USPS only, it quietly trains you to ship everything on USPS. That is fine for light parcels, where USPS wins outright, but it silently overpays on heavier far-zone boxes where UPS Ground is cheaper. You cannot fix what you cannot see, and you only see the UPS rate after you pay to unlock it.
Here is the shape of the trade on 2026 rates. A 12 oz item to zone 4: USPS Ground Advantage runs about $7.50, UPS Ground closer to $9 to $12 because its light-parcel floor is high, so USPS wins by roughly $1.50 to $4.50. A 5 lb item to zone 8: the two draw close, often within a dollar or two. An 8 lb item to zone 8: USPS Ground Advantage is about $22 to $24, UPS Ground about $14 to $18, so UPS wins by several dollars. The crossover sits roughly around 3 to 5 lb depending on zone. Ship on the wrong side of it and you leave several dollars on every affected parcel.
You do not want to memorize a table per order. Ship Intelligence checks both carriers on every shipment, including USPS cubic pricing when a small dense box qualifies, and picks the cheapest valid rate. The Workbench applies that across a full batch, so the routing runs without a spreadsheet or a mental crossover chart.
- Under 1 lb: default USPS Ground Advantage; UPS rarely competes on light parcels.
- Past about 3 lb and zone 5: check UPS Ground before you print, it frequently undercuts USPS by $2 to $5.
- Small dense boxes under 0.5 cubic feet and up to 20 lb: USPS cubic can beat both, so let the system price it rather than assuming weight-based.
- Ship Intelligence auto-selects the cheapest valid rate across USPS and UPS so the crossover is handled for you on every order.
Common Mistakes When Switching From ShippingEasy#
| Mistake | Why It Hurts | Better Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Accepting the $19.99 upgrade the month you cross 25 without re-pricing | At 26 to 40 orders that plan fee is about $0.50 to $0.77 per label, the worst per-label overhead of any volume band. | Treat crossing 25 as a trigger to reprice, not just to upgrade; a free account with no cap removes the overhead entirely. |
| Shipping everything on USPS because the free tier is USPS only | Heavy far-zone boxes overpay $3 to $5 each versus UPS Ground, a bill you never see because the free plan hides the UPS rate. | Put both carriers on the table and let the routing decide; past about 3 lb and zone 5, UPS Ground often wins. |
| Comparing platforms on advertised rates instead of your own order mix | A demo looks cheap, then your real spread of weights and zones prices out higher than the headline. | Re-price 20 to 30 of your actual historical orders on both USPS and UPS, line by line, before committing. |
| Ignoring the 2026 carrier increases when you run the numbers | USPS is up about 5.4% and UPS about 5.9% effective late December 2025 into January 2026, so a stale baseline understates every retail label. | Price against current 2026 rates, where the gap between retail and discounted labels is wider on every shipment. |
Migration Checklist from ShippingEasy#
- Chart your last three months of shipment counts against ShippingEasy's 25-shipment free-tier line.
- If you are in the 20 to 40 band, amortize the $19.99 plan fee across your volume to see the real per-label overhead.
- Pull 20 to 30 real orders spanning your weights and zones and price each on both USPS and UPS.
- Flag the packages where UPS Ground beats USPS, typically past about 3 lb and zone 5, and the light ones where USPS wins.
- Set up your carrier accounts in I'd Ship That and confirm you see the full price, fees included, before buying.
- Let Ship Intelligence auto-pick the cheapest valid rate and spot-check a few orders against your manual calls.
- For batch days, load orders into The Workbench to import, rate-shop, and batch-print in one pass.
- Recheck the plan-versus-free math against your current 2026 rates rather than last year's baseline.
Real Migration Scenarios from ShippingEasy#
A small seller can migrate quickly by moving one marketplace first and validating label flow end to end.
- Pilot with low-risk SKUs.
- Validate return workflow before scaling.
- Measure cost per label before and after.
Larger teams should sequence migration by channel and establish SOP checkpoints between phases.
- Move lowest-volume channel first.
- Standardize packing presets across team members.
- Track exception rate after each phase.
During peak periods, keep both systems available so fulfillment isn’t blocked by tooling changes.
- Delay final cutover until after demand spikes.
- Set daily KPI alerts for on-time dispatch.
- Use fallback labels for urgent orders.
Switching From ShippingEasy: Questions People Ask#
I'd Ship That is a ShippingEasy alternative for sellers about to cross the 25-shipment free-tier cap: USPS and UPS on the free account from the first label, automatic cheapest-rate selection, batch printing, and native iOS and Android apps. ShippingEasy keeps the edge on built-in email marketing, so the test is whether you use those tools.
The free Starter plan covers up to 25 shipments a month, so order 26 moves you onto a paid plan, historically about $19.99 a month, roughly $240 a year. Amortized across your volume that is about $0.77 a label at 26 orders, $0.40 at 50, and $0.20 at 100, worst right at the edge you just crossed. I'd Ship That has no cap and no plan fee on the free account, so a busy month never trips a subscription, and you pay only for the discounted postage.
No. The free Starter plan is USPS only and caps at 25 shipments a month. UPS access requires a paid plan starting around $19.99. That matters more than it sounds, because on heavy far-zone parcels UPS Ground often beats USPS by several dollars, and on a USPS-only free tier you never see that comparison. I'd Ship That includes USPS and UPS on the free account, so both rates are always on the table.
Weight and zone decide it. Under 1 lb, USPS Ground Advantage almost always wins because UPS's floor on light parcels is high: a 12 oz mailer to zone 4 is about $7.50 on USPS versus $9 to $12 on UPS. Past roughly 3 lb and zone 5, UPS Ground frequently undercuts USPS: an 8 lb box to zone 8 runs about $22 to $24 on USPS Ground Advantage but $14 to $18 on UPS Ground. Small dense boxes under 0.5 cubic feet are a third case where USPS cubic can beat both. Ship Intelligence checks all of this per order so you do not have to.
It is still operational, but it has been acquired by Auctane, the parent of Stamps.com, and folded into that ecosystem, so its roadmap now serves a larger billing platform rather than its own product. Nothing forces you off it today, but the 25-shipment cliff is a natural moment to reprice, and I'd Ship That is an independent, actively developed alternative with a free account and native mobile apps.
No. I'd Ship That is shipping only: label creation, carrier routing, and tracking. If integrated email marketing is core to you, ShippingEasy offers it on paid plans and that is a fair reason to keep it. Many sellers run a dedicated email tool and keep their label costs on a separate, cheaper shipping app rather than bundling both into one subscription.
Yes. The Workbench is a Pro feature that imports your orders, rate-shops them together, and batch-prints hundreds of labels in one pass. Ship Intelligence then picks the cheapest valid rate on each order across USPS and UPS, cubic included when the box qualifies, and shows what that choice saved. On a batch of mixed weights and zones that routing runs automatically, which is exactly the per-order comparison a paid-plan workflow usually leaves you to do by hand.
Switch from ShippingEasy Today#
Free to start. Import your addresses and print USPS and UPS labels from the web app or a phone.
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