What is the best shipping software for a 3PL?

The best shipping software for a 3PL is one that bills per label rather than per client or per seat, puts every client's orders in one queue, and exposes a label API your warehouse system can call directly. GoatLabels does all three: pay-as-you-go labels from a prepaid wallet with no monthly fee on Free (up to 50 shipments a month), one To Ship queue fed by 13 connectors, CSV import, and a REST API, and auto-print via PrintNode or the browser at the pack station (PrintNode on Pro).

Can a 3PL manage multiple client stores in one account?

Yes. Connect each client's Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, eBay, TikTok Shop, Etsy, Walmart, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Wix, Square, Magento, or Temu store and the orders land in the same To Ship queue. Clients without a supported storefront send a CSV, and header aliasing maps their column names without a saved template per client.

Does 3PL shipping software charge a monthly fee?

Many do, tiered by shipment volume or user seats. GoatLabels does not tier by client or seat: Free has no monthly fee for up to 50 shipments a month, and past that Pro is one flat $40 a month for unlimited shipments, with no minimum term. For any other vendor, treat their current pricing page as the source of truth.

Can I integrate a WMS with GoatLabels?

Yes. The REST label API takes one Bearer header, and a warehouse system can create the shipment, compare USPS, UPS and FedEx rates (plus DHL on international lanes), and buy the label in a few calls. Auto-print through PrintNode sends the result to the printer at the station that requested it.

Which carriers can a 3PL rate-shop?

From a US origin, USPS, UPS and FedEx are quoted side by side on every domestic parcel, with DHL on international lanes; Singapore origins quote UPS, FedEx, SingPost and other local couriers. That is the complete list; a 3PL that depends on a regional carrier outside it should stay on a tool that covers it.

How do I print labels at multiple pack stations?

Set each station up with auto-print through PrintNode, or print from the browser at the station itself. Either way the label that comes out of the printer is the one the queue just purchased, with no PDF download step in between.

Built for floors that ship for other people.

Shipping software for 3PLs

Every client, one queue, no per-client fee.

Shipping software for a 3PL should bill per label rather than per client or seat and put every client's orders in one queue, which is how GoatLabels works: pay-as-you-go labels from a prepaid wallet, 13 storefront connectors, bulk CSV import, and a REST label API, with no monthly fee for 50 shipments a month on Free.

USPS, UPS and FedEx on every client's parcel

USPS, UPS and FedEx quoted together on whatever your clients ship within the US; DHL joins on international lanes.

DHL: international

Live quotes Side by side, one screen.

One queue All clients, one To Ship list.

Label API One Bearer header.

A wallet, not a seat count

Fund a prepaid wallet and spend it label by label across every client you serve.

Prepaid Spent label by label.

No monthly fee on Free, up to 50 a month A quiet client costs nothing.

Pay as you go The bill tracks the dock.

3PL shipping software, side by side

What a 3PL needs from shipping software .

Shipping software for a 3PL should bill per label, not per client, and put every client's orders in one queue. GoatLabels does that with pay-as-you-go labels from a prepaid wallet, 13 storefront connectors, CSV import with header aliasing, and a REST label API, with USPS, UPS and FedEx quoted side by side (DHL on international lanes). The table below sets that against how subscription shipping platforms are typically structured.

	GoatLabels	Subscription shipping platforms
How the software is billed	Pay-as-you-go labels from a prepaid wallet. No monthly fee on Free (up to 50 shipments a month), so a client you onboard next quarter costs nothing until their first label prints.	Usually a monthly subscription tiered by shipment count or user seats — check the vendor's pricing page for the current tiers.
Getting a client's orders in	13 live connectors (Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, eBay, TikTok Shop, Etsy, Walmart, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Wix, Square, Magento, Temu) plus bulk CSV import and a REST API.	Connector coverage varies by vendor and by plan tier; some channels sit behind a higher plan.
Where the orders land	One To Ship queue across every client and channel. The floor works one list, not one tab per brand.	Often one workspace per store or per client, each with its own queue and settings.
Client files that never match	CSV import with header aliasing: a column called Ship To Name, Recipient, or Customer all map to the same field without a per-client template.	Typically a saved mapping per file layout that someone maintains as clients change their exports.
Carriers on one screen	From the US, USPS, UPS and FedEx side by side on every domestic parcel, DHL on international lanes; Singapore origins quote UPS, FedEx and local couriers.	Multi-carrier lists are common; which carriers and which origin countries depend on the vendor.
Printing at the pack station	Auto-print through PrintNode or the browser, so the label is on the thermal printer before the box is taped.	Print workflows vary; some require a desktop agent or a specific printer integration.

The right-hand column describes common patterns, not any one vendor. Plans, fees, and connector lists change — compare against each vendor's current pricing page before you decide.

Three reasons 3PLs move their label engine.

Client count should not move your software bill

A 3PL wins and loses clients on a monthly cadence, and a seat-based or shipment-tiered subscription charges for the peak before the peak exists. Pay-as-you-go labels from a prepaid wallet mean the bill tracks what actually left the dock, and the wallet balance is one line item you can allocate back to clients.

One queue is how a floor actually runs

Pickers do not care which brand an order belongs to; they care what ships before the carrier pickup. Every connector, CSV drop, and API call lands in the same To Ship queue, so the floor sorts by pickup time, service, and zone rather than by tab.

Your WMS should talk to the label engine directly

Most 3PLs already have a warehouse system that knows the order, the bin, and the box. A REST label API with one Bearer header lets that system request the rate and the label itself, and auto-print via PrintNode drops it at the station without a human copying anything across.

And when you should stay where you are

You ship on carriers outside USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL, or from an origin country other than the US and Singapore — those are the honest boundaries of the product today.
Your clients contractually require a specific platform's audit trail or reporting, and your current tool already delivers it.
You depend on a vendor's warehouse features (bin locations, wave picking, inventory) rather than just its label engine. GoatLabels is the label and rate layer, not a WMS.

Orders in, labels out

Connect the stores. Import the rest. Print at the station.

Connect a Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, eBay, TikTok Shop, Etsy, Walmart, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Wix, Square, Magento, or Temu store and its orders land in the To Ship queue. Orders that arrive as a spreadsheet come in through bulk CSV import, where header aliasing maps whatever the sender called each column. Orders that arrive as a message or a screenshot go to the AI assistant, which drafts the label for you to confirm. Every label is rate-shopped across the carriers that serve it, paid from a prepaid wallet with no monthly fee on Free (up to 50 shipments a month), and auto-printed through PrintNode or the browser at the station that needs it (PrintNode on Pro).

Every source, one queue

Connector, CSV, API, or message

ops_northside

Rush order: 3x cartons (12 lb) to Maya R., Austin, TX 78701 — needs to go today

Shopify

Synced into To Ship

TikTok Shop

Synced into To Ship

CSV import

Order: #1847
Customer: Jordan Lee
Items: 1x Carton (12 lb)
Address: Brooklyn, NY

Drop the CSV or paste the order

13 connectors, bulk CSV with header aliasing, the REST API, and pasted orders — one To Ship queue.

AI assistant

Drafting the order that arrived as a message.

Reads a pasted order, an email, a voice note, or a screenshot
Fills in the recipient, the address, and the parcel details
Rate-shops USPS, UPS and FedEx side by side, DHL on international lanes
Hands the drafted label back for you to confirm

Drafted. Checked. Yours to confirm.

Label out at the station

Bought from the wallet

Paid from your prepaid balance

Pay-as-you-go, no monthly fee on Free, up to 50 a month

$12.47

Label purchased

USPS Priority Mail — rate shown is the debit

$12.47

Auto-print via PrintNode or the browser (PrintNode on Pro). Tracking is pushed back to the connected store when the label prints.

Where the orders actually come from.

13 connectors for the stores, CSV and API for everything else.

Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, eBay, TikTok Shop, Etsy, Walmart, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Wix, Square, Magento, and Temu sync into To Ship and get tracking pushed back when you print. Orders that never lived in a storefront — a spreadsheet from a client, a call from a WMS, a pasted email — go into the same queue by CSV import, the REST API, or the AI assistant.

Shopify

Etsy

WooCommerce

TikTok Shop

Amazon

eBay

Squarespace

Wix

Walmart

Square

BigCommerce

Magento

Temu

Patreon

Show 6 more Show 6 more integrations Show less

Connect a store Or use the API

What an operation keeps, and what it stops paying for.

The connectors, the carriers, the API.
On a flat plan, not a tier sized to your peak.

Moving a label engine should not cost you the carriers, the store sync, or the API. Those all come with you. What does not come with you is a monthly fee sized to your peak month — and what is new is an assistant that turns an unstructured order into a drafted label.

One prepaid wallet,
spent label by label

Fund the wallet and every label is a pay-as-you-go debit against it. There is no contract. Free covers 50 shipments a month at $0, and Pro is a flat $40 a month with unlimited shipments, so the balance you fund, plus Pro's one flat fee if you are on Pro, is all you reconcile.

Wallet balance

$1,247.36 USD

AI drafting for orders
that are not structured

An email from a client, a screenshot of a form, or a spoken address is not an order record. The AI assistant reads it and drafts the whole label — recipient, parcel, and service — for you to confirm.

Billy LIVE

Where's the package to Maya?

It's in transit via UPS. Expected Friday, Aug 7.

1Z8923A6B05G4123456

In transit

Austin, TX → Dallas, TX

Ask Billy anything...

One flat plan
past 50 a month

Fund the wallet and pay for each label as you go. Free covers 50 shipments a month with no monthly fee; past that, Pro is $40 a month flat with unlimited shipments and no minimum term, so you can cancel it when volume drops.

Shipment summary

UPS Ground $12.49

Insurance $0.75

Fuel surcharge $0.32

Total $13.56

USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL
in one account

Live rates from USPS, UPS and FedEx side by side on every domestic parcel from a US origin, DHL on international lanes; Singapore origins quote UPS, FedEx and local couriers. That is the honest carrier list; if you need one outside it, a broader network is the reason to stay elsewhere. Thirteen storefront connectors sync into To Ship and push tracking back when you print, but a connector is never a prerequisite.

Compare rates

UPS $12.48

FedEx $13.22

DHL $14.10

USPS $11.79

Duties inside the quote where DDP applies

The API your
warehouse system calls

REST and JSON with one Bearer header. Create the shipment, compare rates, buy the label, and auto-print it via PrintNode — the dashboard and the API spend the same prepaid balance.

POST /v1/shipments

{

"to": { "name": "Maya" },

"from": { "name": "Alex" },

"service": "ups_ground",

"label_format": "pdf"

}

Webhook delivered

GoatLabels mobile shipments queue with side-by-side carrier prices

The AI assistant drafting a label from a pasted order on mobile

Label ready

CL-1038 · Brooklyn, NY

The dock, not the desk

An email is a valid order input.

Subscription platforms expect the order to already exist somewhere they can read. When it arrives as a message, you become the integration — retyping a name, an address, and a weight into a laptop you are not sitting at. GoatLabels takes the message itself, on the phone that is already at the pack station.

Paste the order or drop a screenshot — the AI assistant pulls out the recipient, the address, and the parcel.

Bulk CSV import with header aliasing for the files that arrive by the hundred.

USPS, UPS and FedEx come back as all-in rates on one screen, DHL on international lanes.

Buy from the prepaid balance and auto-print via PrintNode or the browser.

Hold the mic at the station and say the address — the assistant drafts it and reads the rate back.

Hands full of cartons

Talk to the assistant, not to an import screen.

Packing is a two-hands job, and most software's answer is a form. Hold the mic, say who the parcel is going to, and the assistant drafts the label, rate-shops USPS, UPS and FedEx (DHL on international lanes), and queues it against your prepaid balance, then answers for it afterwards when a client asks where the parcel is. This is the real product, not a render.

The AI assistant reading back a parcel's tracking history over the purchased labels list

Listening

"Where's the Austin rush order?"

Out for delivery

CL-1039 · Austin, TX · by 6 PM

Plain English in — names, addresses, weights, carriers, services · nothing to import and nothing to map · reads the rate back before a cent leaves the wallet · phone or browser.

Side-by-side quotes

The quote is the debit.

Carriers quoted on the same parcel, each a number that is the exact amount leaving your prepaid balance. Nothing is added on the way through, and the only plan charge is Pro's flat $40 a month, which you need once you ship more than 50 a month. Figures are illustrative.

CA → NY 2.6 lbs 12×8×4 in

USPS

Ground Advantage

2 to 5 days

$11.40

all-in · no surprises

Cheapest

UPS

Ground

1 to 5 days

$9.85

all-in · no surprises

FedEx

Ground

1 to 5 days

$11.20

all-in · no surprises

Pay-as-you-go, label by label One wallet across every client Multi-currency display

Public API v1

An operation with a WMS behind it.

A warehouse system already knows the order, the bin, and the box. REST, JSON, and one Bearer header let it request the rate and the label directly, and auto-print via PrintNode puts the result at the station (PrintNode on Pro). The dashboard and the API buy from the same prepaid balance.

Create, rate-shop, and buy — a few calls, no SDK required

One Bearer header — no signing scheme to implement

USPS, UPS and FedEx rates in one response, DHL on international lanes

PrintNode auto-print at the pack station (on Pro)

Read the API docs Get an API key $0 monthly fee

curl https://api.goatlabels.io/api/v1/shipments

201 Created · 187ms

request response

POST /api/v1/shipments
Authorization: Bearer sk_live_…
Idempotency-Key: ord_8421

{
  "to": { "name": "Joyce", "city": "Berlin", "country": "DE" },
  "parcel": { "weight": 2.6, "weight_unit": "lb" },
  "service": "fedex_intl_priority"
}

← 201 Created // buy it with POST /api/v1/shipments/{id}/purchase
{
  "id": "shp_44819",
  "status": "draft",
  "amount": { "subtotal": 72.25, "duty_and_tax": 14.20, "total": 86.45 }
}

No contract, no seats

One flat plan, no seat or store tiers.

Labels are pay-as-you-go from a prepaid wallet, with no monthly fee on Free for up to 50 shipments a month; past that, Pro is $40 a month flat with no shipment cap. The 13 connectors, bulk CSV import, the REST API, browser printing and the AI assistant come with both plans; PrintNode auto-print comes with Pro.

Pro

Free

$0 / forever

Up to 50 shipments a month with no subscription: enough to run the workflow on real orders before you need Pro.

Pay-as-you-go labels, no monthly fee, up to 50 shipments a month

USPS, UPS and FedEx on every domestic parcel; DHL on international lanes

The REST label API with one Bearer header

AI assistant that drafts labels from a message or screenshot

13 storefront connectors and bulk CSV import included

The assistant is not a paid tier

The AI assistant that reads an email, a screenshot, or a voice note into a drafted label is part of the product, not an add-on.

Web, every plan

Telegram, Pro

API on every plan

GET /api/v1/shipments

200 OK · plan: free

One Bearer header. The same wallet as the dashboard.

Bring the invoice you pay today

Put a real parcel through and compare the side-by-side rate against what that label costs you on

ShippoPirate ShipShipStation

No contracts No monthly fee Start in seconds

Label prices are quoted live from USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL and shown as one number — the same number that leaves your wallet. Other vendors' plans and fees move, so compare against their current pricing page rather than a figure on ours. Full pricing details

Which operations this actually suits

Not every operation should move.

These are the teams for whom pay-as-you-go labels, one queue, and a label API add up to a real difference. The operations that should stay put are named on this page too.

Operations with a rotating client roster

Clients come and go monthly

Prepaid

Volume that arrives per client fits a prepaid wallet better than a seat count. Onboard a client, connect their store, and pay for their labels when they ship, plus Pro's flat $40 a month once your total passes 50 shipments a month.

4 carriers in one account no monthly fee bulk CSV

GoatLabels shipments queue with purchased labels

Warehouses with a WMS already in place

REST API, one Bearer header

Let the warehouse system request the rate and the label, and auto-print the result at the station through PrintNode. Nothing is retyped between the two.

One queue, connector or not

Order #1024 · created via API

Ops teams living in email and chat

The orders that never became a record

rush cartons to Austin, can they go today?

Label drafted · CL-1024

Multi-channel merchants outgrowing one store

13 connectors, one balance

wallet behind every store and the API

Real sellers, real words

Teams that stopped paying a subscription to print a label.

A video took off and I had 80 TikTok Shop orders by morning. I printed every label from my phone on the bus to the post office.

Early customer · TikTok

TikTok Shop seller

TikTok Shop

I run my Etsy shop from the kitchen. The AI reads the order, picks the carrier, the label prints. That's the whole workflow now.

Early customer · Etsy

Etsy maker

Etsy

The API is what every shipping API pretends to be. Idempotency that actually works.

Sasha R.

Staff engineer, marketplace

API user