ShipBob vs ShipMonk 2023: Pricing & Features

There is no setup fee required to start using ShipMonk, which typically means that you’ll be handling the process of onboarding on your own—including stock migration, platform integration, and account setup. The same is true of ShipBob’s Growth Plan, which aims to be a cheaper option geared toward startups.

ShipBob’s full implementation package costs $975 and employs a dedicated implementation specialist who even stays with you for 30 days after going live. This option is less affordable but can create a more hands-off experience and help avoid bumps down the road. ShipMonk doesn’t offer a full-service implementation package.

ShipMonk doesn’t charge for inbound inventory receiving as long as your shipments meet its guidelines. These guidelines include having SKUs separated into individual cartons and each bag, box, and/or carton being clearly labeled with SKU number and quantity.

ShipBob charges for receiving by the hour. According to the company, most shipments are received, checked in, sorted, and stored in less than two hours.

ShipMonk’s receiving process doesn’t include many of the services performed by ShipBob during this step. The company calls it “good faith receiving”: employees don’t count products or sort SKUs. They operate under the assumption that the quantity of SKUs listed on each carton aligns with the quantity present in the shipment and the quantity that you ordered.

This method requires less time and labor, which allows ShipMonk to provide the service for free. It’s a great way to save if you have consistent, reliable retail suppliers and/or low-cost goods—but it leaves you vulnerable to the risk of being short-shipped without realizing the error until months down the road.

Both companies provide a storage-optimization service that’s included in the primary cost. Staff use Warehouse Management System software to constantly evaluate the space your goods are occupying and how they could be most efficiently arranged.

For example, if you have a pallet of merchandise at the beginning of the month and 50% of it sells, your fulfillment partner will reorganize the remaining products into bins or shelves. This reduces your storage bill and creates more usable space for the warehouse.

Beyond that shared benefit, ShipMonk’s storage costs are significantly more affordable than ShipBob. Especially if you stock plenty of slow-moving products or maintain a low sale-to-SKU ratio, choosing ShipMonk can help you save on warehousing.

ShipBob charges a single fulfillment fee for each order, which includes pick and pack (up to four items), basic packaging materials, and shipping costs. ShipMonk, on the other hand, charges for each of these cost centers individually. Both companies offer volume discounts.

In our evaluation of these charges (shown below), the total fulfillment fees from each company work out to be very comparable for orders containing a single item. But for multi-item orders, ShipBob’s pricing structure takes the lead in affordability.

Both companies provide similar discounts for major shipping carriers, although ShipBob delivers consistently more aggressive two-day rates.

ShipBob uses sophisticated in-house technology throughout its packing and shipping workflows to achieve 99.96% of orders shipping on time and a 99.95% accuracy rate. Furthermore, it promises to complete inbound inventory receiving within five days of arrival.

However, it’s worth noting that ShipBob has recently been criticized on social media and in user reviews for frequent processing delays and order errors, which contradict the company’s reported accuracy rates.

ShipBob offers its clients access to 35 fulfillment centers strategically located across the United States. This enables faster deliveries at lower shipping costs, leading to reduced fulfillment expenses as well as a wider customer base and excellent scalability.

Unlike ShipMonk, ShipBob has the infrastructure to support efficient international expansion, making it the best choice for international sellers. Merchants can use any of the company’s eight global warehouses to provide their target foreign markets with fast and affordable shipping through local fulfillment.

ShipBob operates fulfillment centers in the following regions:

ShipBob works with nine US shipping carriers, and users can achieve two-day shipping anywhere in the US from even just one of the company’s fulfillment centers. Additionally, ShipBob provides access to Prime-like badges that can be displayed on your website to promote two-day shipping and draw in customers.

Like ShipMonk, ShipBob’s fulfillment software features a rate-shopping tool to help you find the best shipping service.

For your international orders, ShipBob offers Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) shipping services that display shipping, tax, and duty costs at checkout, which help to eliminate unexpected fees upon delivery. Sellers can also expand into foreign markets much more effectively by offering local fulfillment through ShipBob’s non-US warehouses.

ShipBob and ShipMonk both offer an extensive list of integrations. ShipBob integrates with fewer ecommerce platforms and marketplaces than ShipMonk, but offers greater connectivity with shipping tools, finance tools, marketing agencies, and CRM platforms.

Here’s a complete list of ShipBob’s direct integrations:

• Ecommerce platforms and marketplaces: Shopify, Shopify Plus, Amazon, BigCommerce, eBay, Magento, Squarespace, Square, Walmart, Wix, WooCommerce, and NetSuite
• Operations, inventory and order management: Brightpearl, Brij, ChannelApe, Cin7, Cogsy, Cymbio, Fulfil.io, Inventory Planner, Linnworks, Logicbroker, Order Desk, PackageBee, Shypyard, Skubana, SPS Commerce, and Zentail
• Returns management platforms: Happy Returns, Loop Returns, and Returnly
• Freight and shipping solutions: DHL, FedEx, UPS, USPS, AfterShip, Anvyl, Echo Global Logistics, EasyPost, FlavorCloud, Flexport, Freightos, Route, Rush, Shippo, and ShipStation
• Ecommerce marketing, customer relationship management (CRM) and customer support: CartHook, CheckoutChamp, EcoCart, Gorgias, Klaviyo, Octane AI, Okendo, Omnisend, Ordergroove, PageFly, Privy, Quartile, Recharge, Rise.ai, Sezzle, Shop Circle, Simplr, Skio, Smartrr, TalentPop, Tydo, Zaius, and Zip
• Custom packaging and design solutions: Arka, Noissue, Packhelp, and Packlane
• Branding, marketing and web development agencies: adQuadrant, Blanka, BVACCEL, eHouse Studio, Envoy, Eventige, Hawke Media, Priceless Consulting, The Stable, MuteSix, ROI Revolution, and SeaMonster Studios
• Accounting, tax, and financing: Avalara, Avask, Bookkeeper360, Canusa Logistics, Clearco, DSP Insurance Services, Firstbase.io, Go Global Ecommerce, Kickfurther, Mercury, OFX, Rho, SimplyVAT, TaxJar, and ZonKeepers

ShipMonk’s reported accuracy rate is slightly lower than ShipBob, although both companies produce remarkably few errors. Similar to ShipBob, ShipMonk uses fulfillment technology to automate and improve many of its processes.

According to ShipMonk, its machines can pick 4x faster than the industry average and boast a 400% increase in storage efficiency—ultimately leading to lower fulfillment costs for its clients.

However, a large number of ShipMonk reviewers mention frequent packing and shipping errors, which doesn’t align with the company’s reported performance.

ShipMonk’s fulfillment network is smaller than ShipBob’s, but quickly growing. It currently has eight US warehouse locations mainly positioned near the coasts, allowing sellers to store and ship inventory strategically. An additional warehouse in Texas is scheduled to launch soon.

The company also has three international locations: Mexico, Canada, and the UK. According to ShipMonk, a second European warehouse is coming soon.

ShipMonk works with six US shipping carriers. Its software features an intelligent rate-shopping tool that finds the best service for your orders based on price, speed, and carrier performance.

ShipMonk’s warehouse network is based in North America, except for one location in the UK— which limits its global reach for local international fulfillment.

However, sellers can use the company’s cross-border shipping services to fulfill international orders with stock stored domestically. Like ShipBob, ShipMonk offers DDP shipping services.

The company also offers a proactive exception handling service, which will contact your customers to let them know of any problems with their delivery (like delayed delivery or incorrect address).

ShipMonk and ShipBob provide roughly the same amount of pre-built integrations to connect your fulfillment platform to your other ecommerce tools.

However, ShipMonk integrates with more ecommerce platforms and marketplaces—including Groupon and Etsy, which ShipBob doesn’t connect with directly.

Here’s a complete list of ShipMonk’s current integrations:

• Ecommerce platforms and shopping carts: 3dcart, AmeriCommerce, Big Cartel, BigCommerce, Cratejoy, CoreCommerce, CS-Cart, Ecwid, FoxyCart, Magento, MijoShop, Miva, Neto, OpenCart, Oxatis, PayPal, PrestaShop, RevolutionParts, Shopify, Shopify Plus, Soldsie, Squarespace, UltraCart, Volusion, Weebly, WooCommerce, X Cart, Zen Cart, Zoey
• Marketplaces: Bonanza, Bandcamp, Cratejoy, eBay, eBay.ca, eBay.co.uk, eBay.com.au, Etsy, Groupon Goods, houzz, Jane, Jet, Newegg Marketplace, OpenSky, Reverb, Sears, Storenvy, Tophatter, Walmart.com, Wish, Yahoo, Best Buy Marketplace, Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, QVC, Target, Walmart
• Freight and shipping solutions: ShipStation, Rakuten Super Logistics
• Operations, inventory, and order management: Acumatica, Cin 7, DEARsystems, Freestyle Solutions, Skubana, Returnly, GeekSeller, Optoro, Spark Shipping
• Payments, accounting, tax, and financing: BlueVin, Brex, KickPay, Stripe Relay, PayPal
• Marketing and CRM: Fullscreen Direct (StageBloc), Salesforce (Demandware), LaunchBoom
• Multichannel management: Brightpearl, Channel Advisor, ChannelSale, Commerce Cloud, Linnworks, Sellbrite, SellerActive, Stitch Labs, SureDone, QuickBooks Commerce

ShipBob and ShipMonk offer many of the same customization options, but ShipBob doesn’t have branded tracking and claims portals like ShipMonk.

ShipBob allows you to train fulfillment staff by sending videos demonstrating how you want each custom-packed order to be done. Other customization options include:

• Custom sender labels that display your brand name
• Customizable gift notes
• Kitting
• Branded packaging
• Marketing inserts

ShipBob is not SFP-eligible, so its users must either

• Participate in the Fulfillment By Merchant (FMB) non-Prime program for their Amazon sales, or
• Have ShipBob prep and send a portion of their inventory to FBA, where it can be fulfilled for Prime orders.

ShipBob has an official partnership with Walmart and is eligible for the site’s “2-Day” badge, which can be used as an alternative to selling on Amazon Prime.

ShipBob offers excellent reporting and analytics services. Its fulfillment platform allows users to track key metrics and visualize data at an advanced level, while ShipMonk’s reporting tools are less robust.

ShipBob’s software can generate reports on peak fulfillment times, promotional impact, expense breakdowns, revenue of orders shipped by day, sales by channel, forecasted demand, sales and quantity of orders by zone, and much more. In addition to helping you track your stats, it maintains up-to-date reports on the company’s own performance and that of major shipping carriers for accountability and market research purposes.

Packaging customization is a robust feature from both providers, but ShipMonk takes packaging customization a step further by equipping its packing stations with a camera that photographs each customized order just before it’s sealed up. This gives you the opportunity to see exactly how your orders look to the customer and lends to high accuracy.

ShipMonk also offers customizable gift notes, kitting, branded packaging, and marketing inserts.

While both companies offer tracking capabilities, ShipMonk delivers branded tracking pages, as shown below. This service is part of a post-purchase suite called MonkProtect, which also includes delivery protection and an automated claims portal.

An example of a branded tracking page provided by ShipMonk (Source: ShipMonk)

Unlike ShipBob, ShipMonk is a qualified Amazon Seller-Fulfilled Prime (SFP) provider, making it the better option for Amazon sellers or multichannel merchants who rely on Amazon for a significant portion of their sales.

ShipMonk also offers FBA prep services and claims to specialize in meeting FBA’s complex packaging requirements.

ShipMonk’s reporting features pale in comparison to ShipBob, but its software comes with a helpful analytics suite. Users can set custom parameters to generate a range of reports on:

ShipBob users get access to free cloud-based software to manage orders and inventory and handle other operations. Unlike many competing companies, customers report that ShipBob’s software is intuitive and easy to use. It also delivers better functionality than ShipMonk’s online portal.

ShipBob’s software provides visibility into your billing invoices and stock levels across warehouse locations, and reports expected depletions. Additionally, multichannel sellers can manage orders on a unified dashboard or refine reports by channel.

It also allows you to easily manage returns and refunds, although users also have the option to let ShipBob handle returns for you.

Billing is equally transparent with both providers. Your monthly statements are itemized down to the individual charge, and pricing is generally predictable. That being said, users of both ShipBob and ShipMonk report finding hidden charges and having trouble resolving billing discrepancies.

ShipMonk’s minimum monthly billing requirements are similar to ShipMonk, but more generous and startup-friendly. The $250 minimum spend is spread across DTC, B2B, and kitting orders, and it doesn’t kick in until after you’ve been with the company for three full months. And, unlike ShipMonk, this minimum charge doesn’t increase along with your storage fees.

ShipBob’s customer support system is highly accessible, providing extended operating hours and multiple convenient communication channels. Furthermore, the company’s reported average response time is much faster than ShipMonk, despite not providing dedicated account representatives.

But unfortunately, some ShipBob users report poor issue resolution from the provider’s client support team. They state that the customer service is outsourced, and communicating with ShipBob’s hired call center (allegedly in India) is often difficult. ShipMonk has received many similar complaints stating that its support is ineffective.

ShipMonk’s software also has high levels of user satisfaction, although it delivers fewer useful functions than ShipBob. Some simple tasks require coordinating with your account rep rather than accomplishing it yourself on the software. Its reporting suite is also less robust.

However, we like ShipMonk’s impressive portal for managing returns and exchanges. The tool allows you to create return labels and monitor the status of each return.

Like ShipBob, you can see your monthly ShipMonk statements itemized down to the individual charge from your online portal. Additionally, ShipMonk’s pricing is highly transparent, allowing you to see the costs for different fulfillment and shipping options in advance.

However, a large number of ShipMonk reviews describe running into hidden charges and extreme billing discrepancies that are difficult to resolve. Some of ShipBob’s clients appear to have the same problem.

ShipMonk’s minimum monthly billing requirement starts at $250 or equals your storage fees. If you don’t hit the minimum spend with your pick and pack fees, you’ll be billed the difference.

ShipMonk employs all of its customer service staff domestically and assigns a dedicated support representative to each fulfillment account, called your “Happiness Engineer.” The service relies on a ticketing system to report and address customer issues.

While the company’s reported response time isn’t as quick as ShipBob, it’s very efficient compared to competitors such as FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon).

Similar to ShipBob, ShipMonk has recently received a lot of backlash from customers claiming that its customer support is unresponsive and ineffective. Users also mention extreme difficulty terminating service with ShipMonk and migrating to another 3PL.

ShipBob and ShipMonk are both 3PL (third-party logistics) companies that provide distribution and order fulfillment for a diverse range of retail businesses. Customers who use ShipBob and ShipMonk include DTC ecommerce brands, B2B sellers, expanding brick-and-mortar retailers, subscription box companies, crowdfunding ventures, and dropshippers.

Businesses that face overwhelming numbers of orders can hire ShipMonk or ShipBob to take care of their inventory storage, order processing, packaging, and delivery.

Over 7,000 companies use ShipBob, including:

ShipMonk is used by hundreds of ecommerce and retail companies, including: