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Perhaps the most nerve-wracking, nail-biting time in the order fulfillment process is shipping. So much can happen between the moment when the package leaves storage and the moment it lands on your customer’s doorstep. That is why eCommerce store owners rely on shipping management software, which helps them stay on top of every order at every point in the process.

There are quite a few apps you can choose from when looking for your store’s go-to shipping solution. Two of the most popular are ShippingEasy and ShipStation, which are both SaaS solutions that strive to provide customers with a variety of ways to handle the fulfillment process. To help settle the question of which one best suits your business’s needs, here is a comparison of the two shipping management apps.

ShippingEasy vs. ShipStation Features

To be fair, both ShippingEasy and ShipStation can accomplish many of the important tasks that eCommerce entrepreneurs need from their shipping management apps. If you need shipping labels and want them to bear your own logo and branding, you can do just that with either of them. Both apps provide helpful tools for inventory management and allow for dropshipping capabilities.

To be comprehensive, there are a few differences that just might tip the scales for you, one way or another. For example, ShippingEasy provides real-time inventory updates across all sales channels, while ShipStation requires you to manually input those updates yourself. On a related note, ShipStation can connect with over 50 marketplaces and online shopping carts, a slight step up from ShippingEasy’s 35+. It is also worth mentioning that ShipStation has its own mobile app, for entrepreneurs on the go.

ShippingEasy vs. ShipStation Pricing

ShippingEasy offers six different payment tiers, including a free plan:

·         Starter — Free

o   50 shipments/mo

o   No personalized labels

o   No set-up assistance

o   24/7 Knowledgebase

·         Bronze — $29/mo

o   500 shipments/mo

o   Personalized labels

o   Exclusive set-up and training

o   24/7 Knowledgebase, email support, phone support, and live in-app chat

·         Silver — $49/mo

o   1500 shipments/mo

o   Personalized labels

o   Exclusive set-up and advanced dedicated training

o   24/7 Knowledgebase, email support, phone support, and live in-app chat

·         Gold — $69/mo

o   3000 shipments/mo

o   Personalized labels

o   Exclusive set-up and advanced dedicated training

o   24/7 Knowledgebase, email support, phone support, live in-app chat, and dedicated customer success advisor

·         Platinum — $99/mo

o   6000 shipments/mo

o   Personalized labels

o   Exclusive set-up and advanced dedicated training

o   24/7 Knowledgebase, email support, phone support, live in-app chat, and dedicated customer success advisor

·         Enterprise — $149/mo

o   Unlimited monthly shipments

o   Personalized labels

o   Exclusive set-up and advanced dedicated training

o   24/7 Knowledgebase, email support, phone support, live in-app chat, and dedicated customer success advisor

Interestingly, ShipStation also offers six different payment tiers that mostly corresponds in price and even shares some names with those of ReadyShipper:

·         Starter — $9/mo

o   50 shipments/mo

o   1 user

o   Branded labels and packing slips

o   Email support and community forum support

·         Bronze — $29/mo

o   500 shipments/mo

o   1 user

o   Branded labels and packing slips

o   Email support and community forum support

·         Silver — $49/mo

o   1500 shipments/mo

o   2 users

o   Customized packing slips and branded labels

o   Email support, community forum support, and live chat support

·         Gold — $69/mo

o   3000 shipments/mo

o   3 users

o   Customized packing slips and branded labels

o   Email support, community forum support, and live chat support

·         Platinum — $99/mo

o   6000 shipments/mo

o   5 users

o   Customized packing slips and branded labels

o   Email support, community forum support, and live chat support

·         Enterprise — $159/mo

o   Unlimited monthly shipments

o   10 users

o   Customized packing slips and branded labels

o   Email support, community forum support, live chat support, and phone support

Despite appearing identical, there are some notable differences between ReadyShipper and ShipStation’s pricing plans. The former offers a free plan, while the latter does not. ReadyShipper’s Enterprise plan costs $149/mo, while ShippingStation’s Enterprise plan costs an extra $10/mo — or, seen another way, an extra $120/yr.

With all that said, a more solid comparison would be qualitative in addition to quantitative. Those numbers seem to speak for themselves, but what features are included with these prices? The answers may be surprising and complex, and it would be worth taking a moment to compare which tools and resources can be used in each tier.

ShippingEasy vs. ShipStation Customer Support Availability

One interesting example of the need for quantitative comparison is customer support. ShippingEasy’s free plan does not include a live chat feature, nor phone support, nor even email support. Only a collection of articles on Knowledgebase is available. ShipStation’s cheapest plan ($9/mo) at least includes email and community forum support.

On the other hand, live chat only becomes available to ShipStation customers at the Silver tier, while phone support is for Enterprise-level accounts only. ShippingEasy provides all these forms of customer support at the lowest paid plan. Any business owner will want as much access to professional help as possible in case of emergencies, and ShippingEasy provides that for less. Just as we said earlier: this can be more complex than meets the eye.

ShippingEasy vs. ShipStation Order Volume

On that note, both apps include different caps on how many monthly shipments a business can make based on their plan. We noted that their tiers are almost identical in terms of price, and they are also highly similar in terms of monthly caps. Both their Enterprise plans allow unlimited monthly shipments, their $99/mo plans allow 6000 shipments each month, their $69/mo plans allow 3000 each month, and so on.

One notable deviation is with the Starter ones: you can ship 50 orders each month under ShipStation’s $9/mo plan. Alternatively, you can ship the same number without paying anything for ShippingEasy’s free plan. In this sense, at least, ShippingEasy may be preferable for businesses with low volumes of shipments.

ShippingEasy vs. ShipStation Carrier Integrations

As you should expect, ShippingEasy and ShipStation both connect to some of the most important and wide-reaching shipping carrier services in the world. These integrations also come with plenty of options for parcel delivery, with varying times, fees, and discounts from special partnerships and programs. This means that eCommerce businesses of any size and sales volume will do well with either of these apps.

To be more specific, however, we should clarify that ShippingEasy integrates with one dozen different carriers, namely:

·         UPS

·         USPS

·         FedEx

·         DHL (including DHL Express and DHL eCommerce)

·         Globegistics

·         APC Postal Logistics

·         Asendia USA

·         RR Donnelley

·         OnTrac

·         International Mail Service

·         International Bonded Couriers

That selection is good, but businesses with a global reach and a lot of shipments may want as many options as they can get. This is where ShipStation shines: they provide customers with access to three dozen, including national carriers and more private services. That number includes, but is not limited to:

·         UPS (including UPS UK, UPS Australia, and UPS Canada)

·         USPS

·         FedEx (including FedEx Canada and FedEx UK)

·         Royal Mail

·         Canada Post

·         Globegistics

·         APC Postal Logistics

·         Parcelforce Worldwide

·         Australia Post

·         Amazon (including Fulfillment by Amazon and Seller Fulfilled Prime)

·         DHL (including DHL Express and DHL eCommerce)

·         RR Donnelley

·         Landmark Global

·         OnTrac

·         Asendia USA

ShippingEasy vs. ShipStation Summary

ShippingEasy offers both a free plan and a slightly less expensive Enterprise plan. Even their most economical plans come bundled with abundant features, as well as extensive customer support.

ShipStation has its own advantages, including a mobile app and extensive marketplace and shopping cart integrations. On that note, its many integrations with a variety of carriers and sales channels are excellent for stores with a high volume of orders.

There are more than a few differences between the apps. How much these differences matter really depends on your business’s size, reach, and number of shipments each day and month. With that said, both apps are among the best shipping software out there, and either one can provide the most essential features you need at reasonable prices. If you still have any doubts about which to pick, they both offer 30-day free trials that let you fulfill orders and try out their interface. Whichever you pick, your customers’ orders are in good hands.

 


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