USPS
Priority Mail Intl
10–15 days$18.30
$10.00 of taxes & duties included
all-in · no surprises
A migration guide, not a sales page.
Overlap first. Cancel last.
Switching from ShipStation, step by step
Overlap first. Cancel last.
Cancel-and-switch from ShipStation is low-risk: GoatLabels needs no annual commitment, drafts labels with Billy AI, and its unlimited free API covers custom workflows ShipStation gated behind higher tiers.
The carriers come with you
USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL — rate-shopped on every parcel from day one of the overlap.
all quoted Four quotes One all-in price each.
Quote = debit No day-after invoice.
Same via API Dashboard or endpoint.
The subscription doesn't
A prepaid wallet replaces it: card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH, or crypto, spent label by label.
Prepaid Spent label by label.
No commitment Nothing annual to sign.
Voids credited Back to the balance.
The migration inventory
What carries over, what doesn't, what stops mattering.
The fear in leaving an entrenched tool is losing something you forgot you depended on. So here is the inventory up front — every category of thing a ShipStation account contains, and what happens to it on the other side.
| GoatLabels | ShipStation | |
|---|---|---|
| Store connections | Reconnect Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, and TikTok Shop in minutes — orders flow into To Ship. | Your existing store syncs stay working until the day you cancel — no forced cutover date. |
| Order history | Starts fresh here; export your ShipStation history first if you want the archive. | Lives in their system — export it before the subscription ends. |
| Automation rules | Mostly unnecessary: Billy drafts labels from raw orders, so there is less to automate around. | Configured rules do not port — list the ones you actually use before assuming you need them. |
| Custom workflows / API | REST API free and unlimited on every plan — rebuild integrations without a tier requirement. | API access is tied to plan level — one of the things you stop paying tiers for. |
| Cost of overlap | Zero. No subscription and no minimum means running both during the trial costs only the labels. | One more month of the subscription while you verify the new setup. |
| Commitment | None — no annual contract, so switching back is as easy as switching in. | Check your plan's billing terms before cancelling mid-cycle. |
ShipStation is a trademark of its owner and is not affiliated with GoatLabels. Their plans, export tools, and billing terms change — verify them in your own account before you cancel.
The three-week switch, de-risked.
Week one: run both, risk nothing
Keep ShipStation exactly as it is, reconnect one store here, and ship a handful of real orders from the GoatLabels queue. No subscription and no minimum means the overlap costs only the labels themselves — the entire trial is reversible on any day of it.
Week two: move the workflows, not the rules
Most ShipStation automation exists to compensate for structured-input rigidity. Before rebuilding rules, try the raw order on Billy: paste it, screenshot it, or say it, and the label arrives drafted. The rule you don't need is the easiest migration of all.
Week three: cut over and cancel
Point the remaining stores here, export your ShipStation order history for the archive, rebuild any custom integrations on the free unlimited API, and cancel the plan. Nothing on this side has an annual commitment, so the decision stays reversible even after it's made.
And when staying on ShipStation is the right call
- You run multi-warehouse operations on ShipStation's automation rules, batching, and branded tracking at a volume where they earn the subscription back — that depth is real and we don't replicate all of it.
- You need a carrier GoatLabels doesn't rate-shop — we quote USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL, and that is the honest list.
- You are mid-peak-season. Migrate in a quiet week, not during the rush your current setup is already handling.
Day one of the overlap
The pipeline you land in. Familiar on purpose.
The first day on the other side should feel like the tool you left, minus the parts you left it over. Stores reconnect and orders flow into the To Ship queue with tracking pushed back on print — the loop you already run. What's new is the input ShipStation never had a field for: paste a DM, drop a screenshot, or dictate an address and Billy drafts the whole label for you to confirm. Every label debits a prepaid wallet funded by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH, or crypto, so the subscription you are winding down is the last one in the stack. Rate-shop USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL at the all-in price on every parcel, from the first overlap order onward.
1
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
TikTok Shop
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 — one queue, no import mapping to rebuild.
2 Billy AI
The automation you don't have to configure.
- Reads a DM, comment thread, voice note, or screenshot
- Fills the addresses and the package details
- Rate-shops USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL at the all-in price
- Hands the drafted label back for you to confirm
Drafted. Checked. Yours to confirm.
3
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
Tracking pushes back to the store the order came from — the loop you already had, without the plan under it.
Reconnect, don't rebuild.
Your storefronts link here in minutes, not migrations.
Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, and TikTok Shop connect to GoatLabels directly — there is no export-import dance for the stores themselves. Orders sync into To Ship, tracking pushes back on print, and the DM and screenshot orders that ShipStation never saw get drafted by Billy in the same queue.
Via AI tiles: an order that never became a record still becomes a label.
13 connected today 2 via AI 8 coming soon
Connected today 13 storefronts sync to To Ship
Shopify 
Etsy 
WooCommerce 
TikTok Shop 
Amazon 
eBay 
Squarespace 
Wix 
Walmart 
Square 
BigCommerce 
Magento 
Temu Coming soon Shopify Plus Soon 
Zapier Soon 
NetSuite Soon 
Ecwid Soon 
Shein Soon 
ChannelAdvisor Soon 
SkuVault Soon 
Zoho Inventory Soon
Shopify Plus Soon Zapier Soon NetSuite Soon Ecwid Soon Shein Soon ChannelAdvisor Soon SkuVault Soon Zoho Inventory Soon The post-migration inventory. What your stack looks like
What your stack looks like
after the cutover.
A migration is judged by what the second month feels like, not the first day. This is the standing setup once ShipStation is cancelled: fewer moving parts, no tier decisions, and two capabilities that did not exist where you came from.
One prepaid wallet
where the plan used to be
Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH bank transfer, and crypto all top up the same balance. Every label debits it at the quoted all-in price, a void credits it back, and no invoice arrives on the first of the month.
Wallet balance
$1,247.36 USD
AI
AI drafting for orders
that are not JSON
A DM, a comment thread, a voice note, a screenshot — Billy reads any of them and drafts the whole label. The workflows you used to maintain automation rules for often just stop needing to exist.
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 commitment
in either direction
No annual contract and no minimum means the switch stays reversible after it's made. If GoatLabels stops earning its place, leaving is as cheap as arriving was — which is exactly the standard your last tool should have been held to.
Shipment summary
UPS Ground $12.49
Insurance $0.75
Fuel surcharge $0.32
Total $13.56
USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL
in one quote
Live all-in rates side by side on every parcel, and the number you see is the exact amount that leaves your balance. That is the honest carrier list — if your operation needs one outside it, ShipStation's broader network is a fair reason not to migrate at all.
Compare rates
UPS $12.48 FedEx $13.22 DHL $14.10 USPS $11.79
Duties & taxes paid
The API tier you paid for,
now just the API
REST and JSON, one Bearer header, idempotency keys so a retry cannot double-buy a label, and signed webhooks for tracking events. Unlimited on every plan — rebuilding your custom workflows here removes a tier requirement rather than adding one.
POST /v1/shipments
{
"to" : { "name" : "Maya" },
"from" : { "name" : "Alex" },
"service" : "ups_ground" ,
"label_format" : "pdf"
}
Webhook delivered
Label ready
CL-1038 · Brooklyn, NY
The workflow that doesn't need the desk
Your shipping station is now whatever's in your hand.
ShipStation's center of gravity is a dashboard at a desk. After the switch, the queue, the four carrier quotes, and the buy button travel with you — the packing table, the storage unit, and the post-office line are all valid places to finish an order.
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, FedEx, and DHL come back as four all-in prices on one screen.
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.
Replaces the rules you never finished configuring
Talk to Billy, skip the setup screen.
The most honest migration finding: much of what you configured in ShipStation was scaffolding around structured input. Hold the mic, say who the parcel is going to, and Billy looks up the buyer, rate-shops USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL, and queues the label against your prepaid balance — then answers for it afterwards. This is the real product, not a render.
goatlabels.io/dashboard/shipments — Billy
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.
All-in quotes
The quote is the debit.
Use the overlap week to verify this yourself: every carrier column is one all-in number locked at quote time, and that exact amount leaves your prepaid balance. No fuel line, no residential line, no carrier invoice the day after — the comparison you run is the price you pay.
US → DE 2.6 lbs 12×8×4 in
Best balance
FedEx
Intl Connect Plus
3–5 days$22.80
$11.00 of taxes & duties included
all-in · no surprises
DHL
Express Worldwide
1–2 days$26.20
$12.20 of taxes & duties included
all-in · no surprises
No carrier invoice the day after Void → credit back to the wallet you funded Multi-currency display
Public API v1
Rebuild the integration without the tier.
If custom workflows kept you on a higher ShipStation plan, this is the part of the migration that pays for itself. REST, JSON, one Bearer header, real idempotency keys so a retried request cannot double-buy a label, and signed webhooks for tracking and label events instead of polling — free and unlimited on every plan.
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 POST /api/v1/shipments
Authorization: Bearer sk_live_…
Idempotency-Key: ord_8421
{
"to": { "name": "Joyce", "city": "Berlin", "country": "DE" },
"parcel": { "weight": 1.2, "weight_unit": "kg" },
"service": "fedex_intl_priority"
}
What billing looks like after the cutover
No plan to land on.
Free covers 50 shipments a month with the public API, the store connectors, and Billy all unlimited underneath it — we make a little on each label instead of billing you monthly. Pro is a flat optional plan for unlimited shipments and cheaper label pricing when volume justifies it. Migrating shops usually start on Free during the overlap and decide about Pro with a month of real numbers in hand.
Pro
Most popular $40 / month
Unlimited shipments — no monthly cap
Cheaper label pricing that scales down as your volume grows
Billy AI on Telegram — draft a label without opening the dashboard
API access still free and unlimited
Volume pricing
illustrative less volume more volume
more volume → lower per-label rates
Free
$0 / forever
The landing plan for the overlap week — and often for good.
50 shipments a month, no monthly minimum to print
USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL rate-shopped on every parcel
The full REST API with unlimited calls and signed webhooks
Billy AI in the web app, unlimited — paste, screenshot, or speak
Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, and TikTok Shop sync included
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.
Bring the invoice you pay today
On Pro we will work with you to beat the label rates you are already getting from
ShipStationShippoPirate Ship No contracts No monthly minimum to print Start in seconds
Label prices are quoted live from USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL and shown as one all-in number — the same number that leaves your wallet. ShipStation's plans and billing terms change, so verify yours in your own account before cancelling. Full pricing details
Who the switch pays off for fastest
Four migrations, four different first wins.
The switch lands differently depending on what kept you on ShipStation. These are the four common shapes and what each one notices first on the other side.
Sellers tired of the fee
TikTok Shop & live commerce
First win: the invoice that doesn't arrive. Pre-fund before a drop, print all night, and let the quiet weeks after cost nothing — the billing model finally matches the sales pattern.
4 carriers per quote no monthly minimum bulk print
goatlabels.io/dashboard/shipments
Shops with off-platform orders
Etsy & independent creators
First win: the DM commission and the market-stall sale land in the same queue as the store orders — no more running two workflows because one tool only understood one kind of order.
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 leaving an API tier
REST and the UI, one balance
$0
for the API access you used to pay tiers for
Real sellers, real words
Sellers who made the switch stick.
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
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
The API is what every shipping API pretends to be. Idempotency that actually works.
Sasha R.
Staff engineer, marketplace
Switching from ShipStation, answered
- What actually carries over from ShipStation?
- Your stores reconnect rather than transfer: Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, and TikTok Shop link to GoatLabels directly and orders flow into the To Ship queue. Your carrier choice carries over conceptually — USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL are rate-shopped on every parcel. Order history and configured automation rules do not port, so export the history you want to keep before cancelling.
- Do I have to cancel ShipStation before trying GoatLabels?
- No, and you shouldn't. GoatLabels has no subscription and no minimum, so running both side by side costs only the labels you print here. Ship a few real orders through, compare all-in rates and workflow, and cancel only when the new setup has proven itself.
- What replaces my ShipStation automation rules?
- Often, nothing needs to. Many rules exist to route and reshape structured orders; Billy drafts labels from raw input — a pasted DM, a screenshot, a spoken address — so the reshaping step disappears. For genuinely custom logic, the REST API is free and unlimited on every plan, with signed webhooks and idempotency keys.
- I used ShipStation's API. What does migration look like?
- Rebuild against a smaller, cleaner surface: REST and JSON, one Bearer header, idempotency keys so retries cannot double-buy labels, and signed webhooks for tracking and label events. There is no plan tier to qualify for — API access is unlimited on Free, which may itself be one of your reasons for moving.
- How does billing change after the switch?
- The subscription disappears and a prepaid wallet replaces it. Top up by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH, or crypto and each label debits the balance at its all-in quoted price. A quiet month costs nothing; a busy one costs exactly its labels. Pro exists as an optional flat plan for high volume.
- Will tracking still flow back to my stores?
- Yes. When a label prints for a synced order, tracking is pushed back to the store it came from — the same loop ShipStation ran, without the plan under it.
- How long does the whole switch take?
- Reconnecting a store takes minutes; a cautious full migration — overlap week, workflow week, cutover — fits comfortably inside a month, which matters because that is at most one final subscription cycle. Shops without custom API integrations routinely finish in an afternoon.
Still deciding rather than migrating? Start with GoatLabels vs ShipStation or the pricing teardown. Smaller shop? The small-business break-even page covers whether the subscription ever paid for itself, and the no-monthly-fee page covers the model you land on.
Start the overlap today. Cancel when it's proven.
The switch is three weeks.
The risk is one label.
Fund a wallet with card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH, or crypto, reconnect one store, and ship one real order next to your ShipStation workflow. Everything after that is just repeating what worked.
Sign up in seconds. No card required. No annual commitment.