Is Shippo free for small sellers?

At low volume, yes: Shippo's Starter web plan is free for up to 30 labels a month, with one user login and email support. Past 30 labels a month you move to a Pro plan, priced by monthly label band from $19 a month for 1-200 labels.

Does Shippo charge per label?

In some cases: 5 cents per label on your own carrier account on Shippo Starter, 7 cents per label on the API after 30 free, and $0.08 per label on Pro beyond 10,000 labels a month. Starter labels bought at Shippo's own discounted rates carry no label fee, but postage and any optional insurance are charged on every plan.

What do I give up choosing free software over Shippo?

Mainly carrier breadth and the surrounding ecosystem. Shippo rate-shops a wider carrier network and has a long tail of platform integrations. If your parcels move on USPS, UPS, FedEx, or DHL, you give up very little, and above Shippo's 30 free labels a month you swap a Pro plan fee for a free plan that runs to 50 shipments a month.

Is the API locked behind a paid plan?

No. The REST API is free with unlimited calls on every plan, including Free. Bearer auth, JSON in and out, idempotency keys so a retry cannot double-buy a label, and signed webhooks for tracking and label events instead of polling.

How does GoatLabels make money if labels have no platform fee?

On the label itself. We buy labels on our own carrier accounts and keep a small margin inside the all-in rate you are quoted, rather than charging a separate fee per label or a monthly minimum. Free covers 50 shipments a month; past that, Pro is one flat $40 monthly plan with unlimited shipments.

What happens to a label I bought but never shipped?

Void it and, after the carrier accepts the void, the funds return to your prepaid wallet for the next label. There is no credit to look for on a card statement.

Can free software handle a real order volume?

Up to 50 shipments a month, yes: the Free plan includes all four carriers, the REST API, the store connectors, and Billy in the web app. Past that, Pro is one flat monthly plan with unlimited shipments and Billy on Telegram.

Can I run both while I evaluate?

Yes. Keep your current setup, fund a small balance here, and put the next few parcels through both. Since Free has no monthly fee, the only cost of the comparison is the labels you actually buy.

Paid tiers vs a free plan that isn't stripped.

Shippo vs free shipping software

Same job. Different billing.

Free shipping software like GoatLabels matches Shippo's core features (carrier rate shopping, label buying and an API) without Shippo's per-label API fee, and adds void-to-wallet refunds and an AI assistant.

Create your account Log in

Four carriers on the free plan

USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL — rate shopping is not the paid upgrade here.

DHL: international

No label fee Carrier price only.

Quote = debit No day-after invoice.

API on Free Unlimited calls.

A prepaid wallet, not a paid tier

Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH, or crypto, and accepted voids credit back.

Prepaid Spent label by label.

No minimum A quiet month on Free costs nothing.

Void → wallet Credit after acceptance.

Does Shippo cost money?

Not to start. Shippo's Starter plan has no monthly subscription and covers up to 30 labels a month. You pay postage per label, and a Shippo label fee applies on Starter and the API: 5 cents per label on your own carrier account on Shippo Starter, 7 cents per label on the API after 30 free. Paid Pro plans start at $19 a month, or $205 a year, for 1-200 labels.

For comparison, GoatLabels has no monthly fee on Free (up to 50 shipments a month), and Pro is a flat $40 a month.

Shippo figures from its pricing page and API pricing page, checked on October 17, 2026. The dated source block below lists each one.

Side by side

What do you give up going from Shippo to free software?

The honest answer is carrier breadth and ecosystem, not core capability. Shippo has a free Starter plan too, capped at 30 labels a month; past that the comparison is a Pro plan fee against a free plan that runs to 50 shipments a month.

	GoatLabels	Shippo
Cost to print a label	The rate-shopped carrier price, and nothing on top of it.	The label price, free on Starter up to 30 labels a month, then a monthly Pro plan by label band. Per-label fees apply to Starter labels on your own carrier account and to API labels after 30 free.
Carriers rate-shopped	USPS, UPS, FedEx (domestic); DHL (international), on the free plan, not a paid unlock.	Discounted USPS, UPS and FedEx labels plus DHL Express on every plan, plus a broader carrier list.
API access	Full REST API, unlimited calls, free plan included.	Mature, well-documented API — this is their home turf.
Unused label refunds	An accepted void credits the prepaid wallet, so the funds buy the next label.	Request a refund within 90 days; Shippo processes it within 14 business days and credits your account on the next invoice.
AI assistance	Billy drafts labels from a DM, screenshot, or voice note — unlimited on Free.	Pro lists AI-powered estimated delivery dates; drafting a label from a DM or screenshot is not on its pricing page.
What 'free' means	50 shipments a month with the API, store sync, and Billy in the web app; we earn on the label, not a fee.	Starter is free for up to 30 labels a month, with one user login, unlimited store connections, and the same carrier discounts as paid plans.

Shippo is a trademark of its owner and is not affiliated with GoatLabels. Their tiers, fees, and carrier list change — compare against their current pricing page before you decide.

Updated 2026-11-05

Three reasons free wins this comparison.

Free here is not a stripped tier

Most free shipping software means a demo with the useful parts locked. On GoatLabels the free plan carries USPS, UPS and FedEx on every domestic parcel (DHL on international lanes), the full API, the store connectors and Billy in the web app, up to 50 shipments a month; Pro adds unlimited shipments, Billy on Telegram and the Operations hub.

The billing model is the whole comparison

Feature grids make Shippo and free software look close, because on the core job they are. The difference lives in a small number multiplied by every parcel you will ever ship, and multiplication does not stay small. On Shippo that number is the API's fee on every label after the first 30 a month, or, in the web app, a Pro plan fee that steps up with your label band.

You gain two things instead of losing them

Going free normally costs you capability. Here it adds some: void-to-wallet credit that lands in the balance you ship from after the carrier accepts the void, and an AI assistant that turns a DM or a screenshot into a drafted label.

And when Shippo is the right choice

You need a carrier GoatLabels doesn't rate-shop: our carriers are USPS, UPS and FedEx on domestic parcels and DHL on international lanes, and that is the honest list.
You depend on a Shippo integration, workflow, or partner feature that has no equivalent here yet.
Your Shippo rates already beat our all-in quotes on your real parcels.
You ship 30 or fewer labels a month at Shippo's rates, where Shippo Starter is free too.

What Shippo's own pages say, checked 2026-10-17

Shippo's Starter web plan is free for up to 30 labels a month, with one user login and email support. (Shippo pricing page)
Pro is priced by monthly label band, from $19 a month (or $205 a year) for 1-200 labels to $199 a month (or $2,149 a year) for 5,001-10,000 labels, and Premier is quoted by Shippo's sales team. (Shippo pricing page)
On Starter, labels bought through your own connected carrier account cost $0.05 each, while connecting your own account is free on Pro and Premier. (Shippo pricing page)
Pro labels beyond 10,000 a month are billed at $0.08 per label. (Shippo pricing page)
Shippo's pricing FAQ lists postage, a subscription plan fee where one applies, optional insurance and an optional global address validation fee per lookup as the charges, with no hidden fees. (Shippo pricing page)
Discounted USPS, UPS and FedEx labels plus DHL Express are included on every web app plan, Starter included. (Shippo pricing page)
API Starter includes 30 free labels a month, then charges $0.07 per label, and API Premier is custom-priced. (Shippo API pricing page)
Standalone API calls are billed per use at $0.02 per tracking request, $0.01 per rate generation, $0.03 per delivery estimate, and $0.02 per US or $0.08 per non-US address validation. (Shippo API pricing page)
For labels on Shippo's own carrier accounts, refunds for unused labels must be requested within 90 days of purchase, are processed within 14 business days, and are credited to your Shippo account on your next invoice. (Shippo help: refund a label created in Shippo)
Plans can be changed or cancelled at any time from the Plan page in the app or through Shippo support, and a downgrade takes effect at the end of the billing cycle. (Shippo pricing page)

Checked on 2026-10-17 from Shippo's own pages. Plans, fees and policies change, so confirm on the vendor's current page before you decide. Shippo is a trademark of its owner and is not affiliated with GoatLabels.

What the free plan actually runs

The whole pipeline, not the trial version of it.

Free shipping software usually means the pipeline works until the interesting part, then asks for a card. This one runs end to end on the free plan. Orders arrive from a Shopify or Etsy sync, from the REST API, or as a message you paste, and every route lands in the same To Ship queue. Billy fills the addresses, the package details, and the service, then hands the draft back for you to confirm — unlimited, on Free, not metered per draft. Every label is a debit against a prepaid wallet topped up with card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH, or crypto, and the debit is the rate-shopped carrier price with no platform fee stacked on it. Rate-shop USPS, UPS and FedEx at the all-in price (DHL on international lanes), print from your phone or a thermal printer, and let signed webhooks and idempotency keys cover the same events on the API side.

Any order shape in

Store sync, API, DM, or screenshot

maya_boutique

Hey! 2x hoodies (M) 1x tee (L) 😅 Ship to: Maya R. Austin, TX 78701

Shopify

Synced into To Ship

Etsy

Synced into To Ship

DM screenshot

Order: #1847
Customer: Jordan Lee
Items: 1x Hoodie (L)
Address: Brooklyn, NY

Drop the screenshot or paste the DM

Connectors, REST API, DMs, and screenshots — all included on the free plan.

Billy AI

An assistant that is not the paid upgrade.

Reads a DM, comment thread, voice note, or screenshot
Fills the addresses and the package details
Rate-shops USPS, UPS and FedEx at the all-in price, DHL on international lanes
Hands the drafted label back for you to confirm

Drafted. Checked. Yours to confirm.

Clean label out

Bought from the wallet

Paid from your prepaid balance

Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH, or crypto

$12.47

Label purchased

USPS Priority Mail — all-in rate

$12.47

The carrier rate is the entire debit — there is no per-label platform fee underneath it.

Integrations that aren't a paid tier.

Connectors for the storefronts, AI for everything else.

Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, eBay and Wix sync into To Ship and get tracking pushed back when you print, included, not unlocked. The part free software normally cannot do at all is the rest: paste an Instagram or Facebook DM, or a screenshot of one, and Billy builds the label without a connector existing.

Shopify

Etsy

WooCommerce

eBay

Wix

Connect a store Or use the API

Core-feature parity, up to 50 shipments a month.

The core of a paid tier.
On the Free plan.

The comparison only gets interesting once the feature grids match, and on the core job they do: carrier labels, rate shopping, a real API, store sync. What is left is what each side charges for it — and two things free software here has that the paid tier does not.

One prepaid wallet,
five ways to fund it

Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH bank transfer, and crypto all top up the same balance, and every method buys identical rates, carriers, and features. Void a shipment and, after the carrier accepts the void, the credit lands back in the wallet, spendable on the next label.

Wallet balance

$1,247.36 USD

AI drafting that
costs nothing extra

A DM, a comment thread, a voice note, a screenshot — Billy reads any of them and drafts the whole label. It runs unlimited on the free plan, which makes it the rare case of the cheaper tool doing more rather than less.

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...

No monthly fee
to print

Fund the wallet, pay per label, and ship nothing in February without paying for February. Free covers 50 shipments a month; past that, Pro is one flat monthly plan with unlimited shipments.

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 all-in rates side by side, and the number you see is the exact amount that leaves your balance. That is the honest carrier list, if you need one outside it, Shippo's broader network is the reason to stay. Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, eBay and Wix sync into To Ship and get tracking pushed back when you print, and none of that sits behind an upgrade.

Compare rates

UPS $12.48

FedEx $13.22

DHL $14.10

USPS $11.79

Duties inside the quote where DDP applies

The API is free
and unlimited

REST and JSON, one Bearer header, idempotency keys so a retry cannot double-buy a label, and signed webhooks for tracking and label events instead of polling. On free software the API is usually the first thing gated — here it is not gated at all.

POST /v1/shipments

{

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

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

"service": "ups_ground",

"label_format": "pdf"

}

Webhook delivered

GoatLabels mobile shipments queue with all-in carrier prices

Billy drafting a label from a pasted DM on mobile

Label ready

CL-1038 · Brooklyn, NY

What free normally can't do

A DM screenshot is a valid order input.

Free shipping tools tend to assume a tidy order feed, because parsing anything messier costs money to build. That is exactly the gap Billy fills: the message itself is the input, handled on the phone already in your hand, on the plan that costs nothing.

Paste the DM, snap the thread, or drop the screenshot — Billy pulls the name, the address, and the parcel out of it.

No import mapping and no CSV step: the message is the order record.

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

Buy from the prepaid balance and one-tap print to a share sheet or a thermal printer over Wi-Fi.

Hold the mic at the packing table and say the address — Billy drafts it and reads the rate back.

Included, not upsold

Talk to Billy, on the plan that costs nothing.

Voice is normally the flagship feature of an enterprise tier. Hold the mic, say who the parcel is going to, and Billy looks up the buyer, rate-shops USPS, UPS and FedEx (DHL on international lanes), and queues the label against your prepaid balance, then answers questions about it afterwards. This is the real product, not a render.

Billy reading back a parcel's tracking history over the purchased labels list

Listening

"Where's Maya's package?"

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 all-in rate back before a cent leaves the wallet · phone, browser, or Telegram on Pro.

All-in quotes

The quote is the debit.

Three carriers on the same parcel, each an all-in number that is the exact amount leaving your prepaid balance. No platform fee is appended after you approve it, a carrier re-weigh posts as its own line on that shipment, and an accepted void credits the wallet rather than a card statement three weeks out.

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

No carrier invoice the day after Accepted void → credit back to the wallet you funded Multi-currency display

Public API v1

Free software with a paid-tier API.

REST, JSON, one Bearer header. Real idempotency keys so a retried request cannot double-buy a label, signed webhooks for tracking and label events instead of polling, and errors that name what to fix. Unlimited calls on Free, because metering the API is just a per-label fee wearing a different hat.

Create, rate-shop, and buy — the same three calls you already write

Signed webhooks for tracking and label events instead of polling

Real idempotency keys — a retried request never buys two labels

OpenAPI 3.1 spec, no SDK lock-in, unlimited calls on every plan

Read the API docs Get an API key $0 on every plan

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 plan to clear first

No plan to clear first.

Free covers 50 shipments a month with the public API, the store connectors, and Billy all unlimited underneath it — the quoted label price is what you pay from a prepaid wallet. Pro is a flat monthly fee for unlimited shipments and Billy on Telegram: something you buy because volume earned it. Neither one is a minimum you have to hit before a label prints.

Pro

Free

$0 / forever

A free plan with the API, store sync and Billy, up to 50 shipments a month.

50 shipments a month, no monthly fee

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

The full REST API with unlimited calls and signed webhooks

Billy AI in the web app, unlimited — paste, screenshot, or speak

Store connectors included: Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, eBay and Wix

Start free

Billy is not a paid tier

The assistant that reads a DM, a screenshot, or a voice note into a drafted label runs unlimited in the web app on Free. Pro adds Billy on Telegram.

Web, every plan

Telegram, Pro

API free on every plan

GET /api/v1/shipments

200 OK · plan: free

Unlimited calls on Free — still unlimited on Pro.

Compare on your own invoice

Quote last month's parcels here and compare them line by line against the invoice you pay today on

ShippoPirate ShipShipStation

No contracts No monthly fee Free to sign up

Label prices are quoted live from USPS, UPS and FedEx (plus DHL on international lanes) and shown as one all-in number, the same number that leaves your wallet. Shippo's fees and plans change; the Shippo figures on this page were checked against Shippo's own pricing pages on 2026-10-17, so confirm them there before you decide. Full pricing details

Who should actually go free

Free is right for most, not for everyone.

If the four carriers cover your parcels, free software is simply the cheaper way to do the same job. These are the shapes of business where that is most obviously true — and the exceptions are named on this page too.

Seasonal and drop-driven sellers

TikTok Shop & live commerce

Prepaid

Volume that arrives in bursts fits a prepaid wallet better than a plan. Pre-fund before a drop and print all night; on Free (up to 50 shipments a month) the quiet weeks after cost nothing.

4 carriers in one account no monthly fee bulk print

GoatLabels shipments queue with purchased labels

Shops that also sell off-platform

Etsy & independent creators

Connect the stores that have connectors, and handle the market stall, the comment sale, and the friend-of-a-friend order in the same queue as everything else.

One queue, connector or not

Order #1024 · pasted from a comment thread

Sellers living in the DMs

The orders that never became JSON

got the dress! can you ship to Austin?

Label drafted · CL-1024

Devs who refuse a metered API

REST and the UI, one balance

wallet behind the API and the dashboard

Real sellers, real words

Sellers who found out free wasn't the stripped option.

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