Shippo Review 2023: Simplest Shipping Software for SMBs
This article is part of a larger series on Retail Management.
Shippo is a multicarrier shipping software platform geared toward small ecommerce businesses. It streamlines order fulfillment and shipping through order management tools, integrated shipping services, and direct connectivity with popular ecommerce apps, platforms, and marketplaces.
In our evaluation of the best shipping software for small businesses, Shippo scored 3.59 out of 5. We found that it lacks certain important functionality, such as peripheral hardware compatibility, inventory management features, and reliable customer support. But its simple, user-friendly platform and helpful shipping features make it a popular choice— especially for shipping beginners.
Overall Score:
3.59 / 5
Pros
- Simple, user-friendly interface
- Discounted shipping rates
- Wide range of paid plan options
- Helpful multichannel management tools
Cons
- Per-label surcharges
- Inaccessible customer service and tech support
- Rudimentary features
- Limited peripheral hardware support and automation rules
Supported Business Types | Ecommerce stores, retail stores, small to midsize businesses, enterprise-level businesses, startups, dropshippers, DTC sellers, B2B sellers, resellers, subscription-box services |
Standout Features |
|
Carrier Discounts | United States Postal Service (USPS) Commercial Base Pricing and discounted UPS and DHL Express rates |
Free Starter Plan | Unlimited shipments and a 5-cent per-label transaction fee |
Pricing | From $10 per month for 60 shipments to $200 per month for 10,000 shipments |
Contract Length | 1 month |
Peripheral Integrations | Supports basic printers |
4.52 out of 5 | |
Customer Support | Via email or live chat from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific time Monday through Friday, and 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. PT Saturday and Sunday |
Best for | Free Plan | Paid Plan Pricing | Read full review | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Small-scale sellers and ecommerce beginners | ✓ | $25–$180/mo | N/A |
 | Companies scaling to meet shipping demands | ✕ | $9.99–$229.99/mo | |
 | High-volume sellers and dropshippers seeking a multipurpose tool | ✓ | $59–$149 | N/A |
 | Managing all aspects of a warehouse or in-house fulfillment operation | ✕ | $1,995–$2,145/mo | |
Shippo’s “free” starter plan actually includes per-label surcharges with your own carriers, reducing its score in this category. However, its wide array of plan options and shipping rate discounts using the company’s accounts boosted its score.
In addition to its starter plan, Shippo offers two levels of paid plans. The Professional plan has nine pricing options that provide different volumes of shipping labels. Each Shippo pricing tier in this level comes with the same features and functionality.
Plans | Pricing ($/Month) | Monthly Shipments | Users |
|---|---|---|---|
Free Trial | 30-Day | ||
Starter | Free | Unlimited; 5-cent per-label surcharge with your own connected carrier accounts | 1 |
Professional | $10 $25 $35 $50 $75 $100 $125 $150 $200 | 60 200 450 750 1,750 3,500 5,000 7,500 10,000 | 5 (all Professional options) |
Premier | Custom pricing (contact Shippo) | 10,000-plus | 15 |
All accounts have an unlimited allowance of sales channels and integrations. Unlike our other shipping software picks, Shippo doesn’t have the option to add users to an account a la carte.
There’s no contract required to use Shippo, so plans can be changed or canceled at any time. However, discounts are available for users who prepay plan fees multiple months in advance.
The main differences between each plan level are the included features and shipping label surcharges as well as the cost for extras like insurance, address validation, and tracking options.
Here’s what you need to know about Shippo’s three plan options:
We gave Shippo a moderate score in this category, awarding points for its cloud-based platform, unlimited channel allowance, and extensive integrations list. We also considered its automation capabilities, but other providers offer better automation features.
It was docked for its lack of peripheral connectivity, which could be a substantial hurdle for businesses that rely on devices like scales and scanners.
Here are the contributing factors to Shippo’s overall functionality:
Users at all levels of scale love Shippo’s web app interface and reliability. For this reason, the company receives a lot of converts from other platforms, like ShipStation, that have a steep learning curve.
Shippo’s user interface is easy to navigate and makes accomplishing tasks, such as connecting your ecommerce platform, very simple. (Source: Shippo)
The platform is also available from a RESTful API for use by developers. This option allows for greater customization and more automation capabilities. Shippo’s API capabilities appear to be more built-out than many competing providers, which makes it a good choice for businesses with an in-house dev staff.
Shippo’s platform also boasts 99.9% uptime—a reliability feature that isn’t offered by other shipping software providers.
Shippo’s customer service team is reachable via email and live chat, but hours of availability aren’t currently disclosed online. They were previously listed as 6 a.m.–6 p.m. Pacific time Monday through Friday, and 6 a.m.–2 p.m. PT Saturdays and Sundays.
From your Shippo dashboard, reaching a person isn’t as simple as it should be. There are multiple embedded “Contact Support” links as well as a floating “Help” icon in the bottom corner of the screen that looks deceptively similar to a live chat feature.
Each one of these elements links to the same request form, which appears to be the only way to receive support.
The request form on Shippo’s web app
Online Shippo reviews state that the sales team is highly accessible, informative, and knowledgeable but that’s where the human support ends. According to their accounts, customer service and tech support can take seven or more days to respond and are often ineffective.
This issue is one of the biggest reasons we recommend checking out OrderCup instead if you’re seeking a free shipping software solution. The company’s customer support is extremely accessible, effective, and highly rated.
Shippo has a wealth of well-developed resources to help sellers use its platform and generally succeed in the ecommerce space. We found that its demos and tutorials are thorough and easy to understand.
These online resources are available through Shippo:
- YouTube channel
- Recorded webinars
- E-books
- Case studies
- Tutorials
- Featured podcasts
- “Shippo 101” guide library
- “Shippopedia” collection
Shippo’s hardware connectivity is very limited. Users can connect standard printers, although not much information is available concerning compatible models.
This app can’t connect to USB scales or scanners, unlike all of our top picks for shipping software. If you use (or plan to use) one of these devices in your shipping workflow, we recommend trying ShippingEasy instead.
The platform integrates with a variety of ecommerce tools, services, platforms, and marketplaces. This allows Shippo users to sync data and streamline processes.
Here’s a complete list of Shippo’s current direct integrations:
- Ecommerce platforms and carts: 3dcart, Arcadier, BigCommerce, ChannelAdvisor, Commerce7, Ecwid, ePages, GoDaddy, Magento, Reaction Commerce, Shopify, Spree, Square, Squarespace, Volusion, Webflow, Weebly, Wix, and WooCommerce
- Marketplaces: Amazon, Bump, Depop, eBay, Etsy, Mercari, OfferUp, Vinted, and Zibbet
- Order and inventory management: Boxstorm, Duoplane, Ecomdash, Fishbowl, Freestyle, Fulfil, Jetti, Orange Manager, Peoplevox, Picqer, Pulse Commerce, SKULabs, Selro, ShipHero, ShopMaster, SnapFulfil, and Soapbox
- Services: CartRover, CommentSold, DSync, DYK Post, DocketManager, Dsco, parcelLab, Return Magic, ReturnLogic, Returnly, ShipShape, Stitch, Truepill, and Zapier
- Finance and enterprise resource planning (ERP): Authorize.net, Avalara, CORESense, PacknShip, ParagonERP, Riskified, Shipsurance, Shipware, and WorldFirst
- Fulfillment and logistics: AMS.Ship, Baja, cahoot, Deliverr, Flexe, GrowthJet, Jetti, Mainfreight, ShipBob, ShipDaddy, ShipHero, Snap Ship, Soapbox, and Wizmo
Compatible Carriers
Shippo is compatible with a wider range of carriers than most competing providers. Plus, if you don’t see your carrier listed, Shippo accepts requests for new carrier connections.
Shippo users can ship parcels with the following carriers:
- Australia Post
- AxleHire
- CDL
- Canada Post
- CouriersPlease
- DHL
- DHL eCommerce
- Deutsche Post
- Fastway
- FedEx
- FedEx SmartPost
- General Logistics Systems (GLS) France
- GLS Germany
- GLS US
- Hermes
- Lone Star Overnight
- Newgistics
- OnTrac
- OrangeDS
- Purolator
- Sendle
- UPS
- UPS
- USPS
- ePost
- ePost Global
The platform works with these carriers and services for tracking purposes only:
- Aramex
- BorderGuru
- Boxberry
- Bring
- Collect
- Correos
- Courier Post
- Estafeta
- Gopher
- Hongkong Post
- NZ Post
- Nippon Express
- Parcel
- Posten Norge
- Posti
- SkyPostal
- Stuart
- Yodel
- DPD Germany
- DPD UK
- Russian Post
We found that Shippo can help sellers purchase labels and manage shipments pretty well, but competing platforms deliver better features.
Rather than providing the baked-in tools to handle important extras like dropshipping, inventory management, marketing, or customer relations, Shippo encourages users to integrate its platform with separate apps.
Here’s a look at the features Shippo has to offer.
Shipping Management Tools
Shippo works with a greater range of domestic and international shipping carriers than most of its competitors. It allows users to import orders from their sales channels, calculate shipping costs while comparing rates, purchase postage, and print labels directly from the app.
It also enables sellers to schedule pickups through USPS and DHL Express as well as process shipments in batches.
Shippo gives users the following tools to make and manage their shipments:
- Shipping calculator
- Rate comparison tool
- Discounted rates
- Label creation
- Pickup scheduling
- Tracking
- Return label creation
- Address validation
- CVS upload
- Branded packing slips and tracking pages
- Shipping notification emails
We found that Shippo’s rate comparison tool isn’t as robust as those of competitors, such as ShippingEasy, ShipStation, or OrderCup. More steps are required to get a comprehensive view of your options, and the layout isn’t as intuitive. Furthermore, some Starter plan users complain that it’s impossible to predict how much they’ll be charged before purchasing a label.
Discounted USPS and DHL Express rates are available on all Shippo plans. Plus, users are eligible to sign up for a discounted FedEx account through Shippo’s carrier partnership.
It should be noted that a number of online Shippo reviews express disappointment in Shippo’s discounts. Some users state that they compared the “discounted” prices against standard retail postage prices and found that they weren’t receiving any discount at all. Others claim that the discounted services are compromised as compared to what is included normally.
Automation
Automation is a time-saving feature that allows users to specify a set of conditions that trigger certain actions. For example, through Shippo, you can program the app to select a specific carrier and service automatically based on the customer’s delivery preferences chosen at checkout.
Shippo’s automation rules can assign package templates and assign carrier service levels based on the following conditions:
- Item name
- Item stock keeping unit (SKU)
- Order quantity
- Order weight
- Shipping destination: Domestic/international
- Shipping destination: State/province (US and Canada)
- Shipping destination: ZIP code (US and Canada)
These automation capabilities don’t stack up to those of competitors. Platforms like Ordoro and ShippingEasy allow users to set a much wider range of actions that can be triggered by more granular conditions and customize automation rules directly from the web app.
However, Shippo’s API allows for greater customization of automation rules, but it requires significant tech savvy.
Shippo was awarded points in this category for its user-friendly interface and the quality of its online resources. We also considered its user management options, but Shippo lacks more granular control that other providers offer.
Shippo’s ease of use is also compromised by its hardware limitations and lackluster customer support, which brought its score down significantly.
Here’s an overview of the factors we considered:
- Customer service hours: Support is available from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific time Monday through Friday, and 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. PT on weekends.
- Customer service accessibility: All users may receive support via email and live chat. Shippo’s customer service is very poorly rated.
- User interface: Shippo’s UI is easy to navigate and features a much friendlier learning curve than competing options.
- User management options: Paid plan subscribers with multiple user accounts can customize user permissions, although options are not as granular as some competitors. Unlike competing shipping solutions, Shippo doesn’t allow additional users to be added to any plan.
- Insurance: Shippo provides the option for discounted shipping insurance on domestic and international parcels through InsureShip.
- Returns: The platform includes returns management features and supports pay-on-use return (POUR) labels, which only trigger payment once they’re used.
The majority of Shippo’s points in this category came from its impressively easy-to-use software, a standout attribute compared to most competing options, which have a sizable learning curve.
But its popularity, features, and value have room for improvement, which is why it came in last place on our evaluation of the top small business shipping software.
User reviews often mention switching from Shippo to competitors like ShippingEasy and EasyShip, making it hard to endorse Shippo as a comprehensive option. Ultimately, despite being slightly pricier than its rivals, Shippo’s feature set doesn’t justify the cost. For more robust functionality, users should consider Shippo alternatives.
What Users Say in Shippo Reviews
Since our last update, Shippo has improved its reviews considerably, moving away from the deeply negative feedback received in 2021 and 2022. The company now boasts a high aggregate score on reputable user review sites, with most recent reviews being 4- and 5-star ratings.
Satisfied users mention switching to Shippo from platforms with a steep learning curve. These sellers applaud Shippo’s interface and general ease of use. Others commend Shippo’s ability to stream their multichannel order flow smoothly, and its economical paid-plan pricing structure.
Negative reviews often cite poor customer service, highlighting delays in support response for bugs, glitches, or shipping errors that result in substantial losses. Shippo users also report syncing issues and faulty batch functions, leading to manual workarounds. Complaints extend to questionable shipping rate discounts and unexpected per-label surcharges.
- Capterra: 4.9/5 from about 800 reviews
- Shopify App Store: 4/5 from 500-plus reviews
- G2: 4/5 from about 50 reviews
| Users Like | Users Don’t Like |
|---|---|
| Easy to get started | Poor customer service and tech support |
| Simple and usable interface | Frequent technical issues |
| Economical plan pricing structure | Costly surcharges |
| Effective multichannel management | Problematic or nonexistent rate discounts |
Methodology: How We Evaluated Shippo
To review Shippo and other shipping software, we used a 28-point assessment focused on small-business shipping need small-business shipping needs. We gathered data from third-party Shippo reviews, user ratings, articles, and directly tested Shippo’s platform. We prioritized functions, interface, customer support, additional features, and economical pricing for overall ease of use. Our ecommerce experts also contributed their assessments.
Click through the tabs below for our full evaluation criteria:
20%
Pricing
20%
Functionality
20%
Features
20%
Ease of Use
20%
Expert Score
20% of Overall Score
Here we assessed providers on the availability of a free starter plan, the range and competitiveness of paid plans, and features at each pricing tier. We only included options that support negotiated rates with major carriers like UPS, FedEx, and DHL, and offer significant USPS discounts.
Shippo’s score of 4.25 out of 5 reflects its wide range of plans and shipping discounts, but it lost points for its noncompetitive pricing and not-so-free starter plan.
20% of Overall Score
We evaluated shipping solutions on essential features that enhance efficiency and accessibility, such as batch processing, label printing, CSV entry, and hardware compatibility. Additional criteria included the range of prebuilt integrations, open API access, sales channel flexibility, and automation features.
Shippo scored well for its cloud-based platform, extensive integrations, and unlimited sales channels. However, its limited automation and lack of hardware compatibility lowered its score to 3.23 out of 5.
20% of Overall Score
This score graded providers on core features like reporting, returns management, email notifications, and user options, focusing on overall effectiveness. The best shipping software solutions are multi-taskers that save you time and money by handling functions outside of shipping management, so we also evaluated each provider on their dropshipping, order management, inventory management, and marketing features.
Shippo’s order and inventory management features aren’t as powerful as competitors, which cost it points here. We found that its marketing and reporting and analytics tools are equally lacking. But it earned points for its international shipping features as well as its email and order entry options, achieving a score of 3.8 out of 5.
20% of Overall Score
We evaluated each company for its user interface by considering how intuitively it works, reported uptime, site speed, and the learning curve to start. This factor also looked at the number of learning resources available from each company, including webinars, demo videos, blogs, frequently asked questions (FAQs), case studies, libraries, guides, calculator tools, and forum activity. Customer service accessibility was also weighted heavily to provide the best recommendation.
Shippo’s user-friendly interface helped it score in this category as well as its online resources. But it was docked for its poor customer service offerings and user management options, earning a final score of 3.25 out of 5.
20% of Overall Score
This score combined our ecommerce experts’ final evaluations of value, ease of use, and stand-out features with scores from real-world users. We combed through thousands of reviews to identify consistent pain points and high-performing features of each tool.
We gave Shippo an expert score of 3.44 out of 5—it lost points for its value and features, but its usability helped bolster its final score.
*Percentages of overall score
Shippo Review Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Shippo can help small businesses streamline their order fulfillment and shipping, as well as get discounts on shipping rates. Shippo is also easy to get started and comes with a simple, user-friendly interface—making it a good choice for ecommerce beginners.
However, some of Shippo’s competitors provide better pricing and features for small businesses, especially if you’re looking for marketing tools, inventory management, and dropshipping capabilities.
Shippo’s customer support is only accessible via email and live chat, so there is no customer service number that users can call.
Shippo offers affordable paid plan options that come with deeply discounted shipping rates, so the monthly subscription fee may end up paying for itself. Plus, its time-saving features can help save on labor costs, so Shippo is often cheaper than traditional shipping at the post office.
However, Shippo is not cheaper than many competing shipping software solutions, which have lower prices and better value.
Bottom Line
Shippo is a popular shipping and fulfillment software solution reportedly used by 10,000+ businesses across the globe. However, it comes with inaccessible customer support and lackluster features, making it a poor fit for many small businesses.
One area where Shippo outperforms its competitors is the user-friendliness of its platform, making it a top choice for those who may be less tech-savvy or new to shipping. Shippo reviews also mention its effective multichannel tools.
We recommend exploring other shipping software options before signing up for Shippo. But thanks to its free starter plan and 30-day free trial on all paid plans, you can try Shippo with minimal risk.
