Shippo vs Shipstation: Which Shipping Software Is the Best?

Shipping software has become a crucial tool to help e-commerce retailers avoid late deliveries, incorrect addresses, and lost packages to streamline the supply chain management process, resulting in desired customer satisfaction.

But with so many alternatives on the market, choosing the right shipping management tool can be challenging.

Shippo and ShipStation are among the two popular shipping solutions that offer a range of features and have a loyal user base with some key differences.

Thus, if you have heard about the tools and want to know which would be ideal for your order fulfillment process, reading this Shippo vs Shipstation comparison will help you.

Round 1: An Overview of Shippo and Shipstation

1. Shippo

Shippo is a popular cloud-based shipping platform offering many order fulfillment features like tracking, automation, and return management.

Laura Behrens Wu, the CEO of Shippo, started the platform in 2013 to make shipping services affordable for businesses of all sizes.

Shippo is known for its simplicity, wide range of ecommerce platforms, and carrier integration at an affordable price.

Currently, over 100,000 businesses around the world are using Shippo as their shipping solution.

2. Shipstation

Shipstation is another web-based shipping and order fulfillment platform co-founded in 2011 by Byron Wier and Jason Hodges; it aims to help e-commerce businesses streamline their shipping process.

It integrates with over 40 popular marketplaces, shopping carts, and carriers, allowing merchants to manage their orders and shipments from a single dashboard.

Shipstation automates shipping labels, Packing slips, and tracking information, providing real-time visibility into shipping statuses and delivery updates.

It also offers advanced features such as custom branding, international shipping, batch label printing, and more. Currently, over 100,000+ online sellers across the globe are leveraging Shipstation to provide quality order fulfillment services everywhere.

Round 2: Shippo vs Shipstation- Head-to-Head Feature Comparison

1. Order Management:

A. Shippo

Shippo offers intermediate-level order management features such as creating and managing orders and updating their statuses.

With Shippo, you get a clean “Order Page” where you can easily integrate Shippo with popular eCommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, Bigcommerce, Amazon, eBay, Magento, Square, and others to import your orders.

And depending on your online store, your orders will be updated automatically in real-time or once an hour.

It also allows you to import your orders using CSV files and APIs. However, if you do not want to connect your e-commerce store immediately or upload a CSV file, you will also get an option to add orders manually.

But the Manual orders will not include the Packing Slip details.

Furthermore, from the Shippo’s order page, you can filter orders based on various criteria such as fulfillment status, date range, weight, destination, store, and shipping method.

You can also save filters for quick access and hide orders as needed.

B. Shipstation

Shipstation, on the other hand, provides robust order management capabilities for importing and managing order status. The platform integrates with over 40 selling channels, including e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, and others, to import orders and shipping from a single, centralized dashboard.

You can connect your store to ShipStation via API or import customer orders via a CSV file.

Along with these, Shippo offers some advanced order management features, such as combining and splitting orders, filtering orders, and editing orders.

For instance, you can use filters to categorize your orders based on different criteria, such as order destination, store, and tags, and prioritize orders by applying multiple filters.

Shipstation also allows you to edit orders in real-time, so you can quickly correct mistakes or make changes as needed. You can update shipping addresses, add or remove items, change shipping methods, and more from within the platform.

2. Shipping Capabilities:

A. Shippo

Shippo provides tons of features to streamline your shipping and receiving tasks. The platform integrates with over 85 shipping carriers, including FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL, and others, to help you ship your products across the globe.

With its real-time rate comparisons, you can easily compare ship rates, discounts, and delivery times from different carriers for both local and international shipments to choose the lowest cost for your business.

At the same time, Shippo’s advanced rate management allows you to set up customizable shipping rules based on weight, size, and destination.

And regarding Shipping labels, it allows you to automate print prepaid shipping labels, and return shipping label generation in bulk.

Regarding order tracing, you can update your customers with detailed shipping information, including comprehensive shipment tracking history, up-to-date ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival), and original ETA by sending customized email notifications that represent your brand.

Along with these, with Shippo’s address verification feature, you can ensure that the shipping address provided by the customer is valid and accurate.

B. Shipstation

ShipStation also integrates with 50+ shipping carriers and offers a wide range of shipping management features to help you ship your products worldwide safely at a minimum cost, improving the overall customer experience.

One of the critical benefits of ShipStation is access to discounted shipping rates from top carriers like UPS, DHL Express, USPS, and more. These savings can be as high as 88%, depending on the carrier and shipping option chosen.

ShipStation also offers a rate calculator that allows users to compare shipping rates from different carriers and choose the best shipping option for their needs, which can help you save even more on shipping costs.

ShipStation also offers several branding opportunities that allow businesses to customize their shipping materials with logos, colors, and other branding elements. It includes personalized emails, tracking pages, SMS notifications, and packing slips.

This feature enhances the customer experience by creating a personalized and memorable experience that reinforces the brand identity.

On the other hand, Shipstation’s return management capabilities are also noteworthy. The software offers an easy-to-use returns portal that allows customers to initiate returns independently, saving time and resources while making the returns process hassle-free.

3. Workflow Automation:

A. Shippo

Shippo offers intermediate-level automation capabilities through its Automation Rules feature, allowing users to apply a set of order conditions and automatically take order fulfillment actions in bulk.

With this feature, Shippo allows users to automate the assignment of package templates, package labels, carrier service levels, and sender addresses according to an order’s item name, SKU, order quantity, weight, and the shipping destination (domestic/international, state/province, zip code).

Shippo simplifies setting and managing automation rules. To create a rule, go to Settings, select Automation, and click Create New Rule in the If section; choose the order property (weight, item name, etc.) for which the rule should apply. Next, choose your action to be taken, give it a name, and save.

Once you save your automation rule, it will apply to all new orders imported into Shippo from either your connected stores or a CSV import. Managing automation rules is also easy with Shippo. You can reorder your automation rules by simply dragging and dropping them into the appropriate sequence.

Multiple automation rules can apply to an order, but only one of the same actions can be applied. If an order meets the conditions of two different rules with the same action, the rule listed first in the Automation Rules list will be applied.

B. Shipstation

ShipStation provides a powerful automation feature that saves time by enabling users to perform various actions automatically, without manual intervention.

It’s simple; the custom automation rules feature works by defining criteria and actions for orders that meet specific conditions. When an order meets the criteria set in the Automation Rule, the corresponding action is automatically applied to the order.

The criteria refer to the requirements an order must meet, while the actions are the field or order data that the automation rule changes.

ShipStation’s automation rules can handle many criteria, such as Ship To State, order Weight, and Order Tags. The platform also offers multiple actions that users can apply, including setting the service and package type, adding a tag, setting the Ship From Location, or assigning a user to the order.

The automation rules in ShipStation are flexible and allow for customization to meet the user’s needs and also work in conjunction with other automation methods, such as Product Defaults and Service Mapping, providing additional flexibility.

However, setting up an automation rule in Shipstation needs some learning because the dashboard has many powerful and advanced features that a beginner may find complex.

It’s important to note that ShipStation applies automation rules to orders when they import or move into the Awaiting Shipment status for the first time. Users should also remember that changes to orders already in Awaiting Shipment will not trigger automation rules.

4. Reporting and Analytics:

A. Shippo

Shippo offers basic analytics features with its Spend Analytics tool. It provides users with an easy-to-use dashboard that gives insights into their shipping spend.

On Shippo’s Spend Analytics dashboard, you can see your business’s shipping trends during a given period with a detailed overview of your total spending, including the total dollar amount and the total number of transactions.

The information can help you identify potential cost savings areas and optimize workflows.

The Spend Analytics tool also gives you an overview of the number of labels purchased and compares label purchases over a given time.

However, it is essential to remark that the data presented in the dashboard is based on invoice date rather than transaction date. If a label is purchased on a Tuesday, but the invoice is generated on a Friday, the spend will show on Friday in the report.

B. Shipstation

ShipStation offers several powerful analytics and reporting options to help you gather data about all your orders and shipments at a centralized dashboard.

The platform does not just show you data on your shipping cost; its Insights Pages offer visual dashboards containing graphs and charts to help you track key metrics such as order volume, revenue, business operation, sales trends, product highlights, customer engagement, and more.

For instance, in the sales trends section, you can see trends in your order volume, revenue, and shipping costs over time, which will help you make data-driven decisions. On the other hand, the customer engagement tab shows you the repeat orders and customer reviews at a glance.

And regarding reporting, Shipstation offers 20 plus pre-formatted reports for all your orders, shipments, accounting, inventory, and raw data exports. You can also create custom reports and short data using various filters like dates, selling channels, carriers, accounts, SKUs, and other options.

5. Third-Party Integrations:

A. Shippo

Shippo offers decent integration capabilities. The platform integrates with various e-commerce platforms, including Shopify, WooCommerce, Bigcommerce, and Magento; popular marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy; and 85+ carrier services such as USPS, FedEx, and DHL Express.

These integrations enable businesses to streamline their shipping processes, automate label creation and order tracking, and give customers real-time shipping rates at checkout.

Shippo can also be integrated with Zapier to help you access 5000+ third-party apps to enhance functionality.

However, if a specific platform does not support Shippo, you can use Shippo’s API to develop the integration for the platform.

B. Shipstation

Regarding integrations, Shipstation outperforms Shippo by providing 400+ native integrations under various e-commerce categories like Shipping Carriers, Online Stores and Shopping Carts, Order and Inventory Management, ERP and Accounting, and many more.

All popular integrations like Shopify, Bigcommerce, Woocommerce, Wix, Amazon, eBay, UPS, DHL, and others are available.

Besides these e-commerce stores, marketplace, digital selling platforms, and carrier services, you get many payment services and other integrations under individual categories.

For instance, you will get these sales and marketing integrations to enhance your overall order fulfillment process- Constant Contact, Klaviyo, Salesforce AppExchange, Zendesk, and PayPal, Mailchimp.

In addition, with Zapier, you get 5000+ apps to connect.

6. Customer Support:

A. Shippo

Shippo offers an extensive knowledge base of helpful articles and tutorials to help customers set up an account and troubleshoot common issues.

And if you need more personalized technical support, you can contact Shippo’s support team via email, phone, or live chat.

However, the support center team does not stay live 24/7, so you have to contact them only during selected business hours. For instance, the Live Chat customer support team is only accessible Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

One quality that sets Shippo apart is its dedicated customer success team, which works closely with customers and helps them optimize their shipping workflows to attain the most out of the platform.

You can also contact them via their social media channels on Facebook, Linkedin, and others.

And with all these, your overall support experience would be satisfactory.

B. Shipstation

Shipstation offers the same support options as Shippo, including email, phone, and live chat support, with an extensive knowledge base.

Though direct support is unavailable 24/7, the team is highly responsive during working hours, around 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

And for minor issues, the knowledge base is enough to help you with the resources. You can also join Shipstation’s online channels and community to find help.

Overall, Shipstation’s customer service is also satisfactory, and you will not be disappointed with the help you need.

7. Ease of Use:

A. Shippo

Regarding ease of use, Shippo has a clean user interface that makes it simple for users to navigate the software and perform shipping tasks.

It is uncomplicated and can be done in just a few minutes, from account creation to all the setup processes, like integrating your online store and shipping carriers.

On the other hand, order management and setting automating rules also become easy for the simple user interface.

Overall, the Shippo is straightforward to learn and use. Before signing up, a one-hour tutorial can teach you how to fulfill your order with Shippo quickly.

B. Shipstation

Shipstation also offers an intuitive shipping dashboard to manage and fulfill your orders. Creating an account and importing orders are also seamless.

However, if you have never used shipping software before, Shipstation may seem a bit harder to get used to because of its advanced order management and automation features.

But if you spend time with the tool, read some articles, or watch tutorials, you will be familiar with its advanced features in less than a week.

8. Pricing Plans:

A. Shippo

Sippo offers three pricing plans, including a free plan with a pay-as-you-ship offer. And all the paid plans offer a 30-day free trial.

B. Shipstation

Shipstation does not offer a free plan. Instead, it provides you with a 60-day free trial, and once you reach your free trial limit, you will have to choose from one of its six pricing models based on a monthly subscription fee.

However, none of the plans offer a pay-as-per-you-ship offer.

Round 3: Calculating the Advantages and Drawbacks

1. Advantages of Shippo

2. Drawbacks of Shippo

3. Advantages of Shipstation

4. Drawbacks of Shipstation

Round 4: The Ultimate Verdict: Which Shipping Platform is Right for Your Online Store (Shippo vs Shipstation)?

To conclude, Shippo and Shipstation are great shipping software solutions that can help you streamline your entire shipping process and minimize shipping costs. However, the choice between Shippo and Shipstation comes down to the business’s specific needs.

1. Who Should Use Shippo?

If you have just started your online business and are looking for a simple shipping solution, Shippo would be a great fit. Shippo is better suited for smaller companies with less complex shipping needs.

Its easy-to-navigate interface makes it an excellent choice for complete beginners who never used shipping software before!

2. Who Should Use Shipstation?

On the other hand, Shipstation is a more robust tool that can handle complex shipping management needs, advanced automation, and analytics features with high-volume domestic and international shipping orders. It’s ideal for larger businesses or those with a significant shipping volume.

Thus, if you run a larger business with complex shipping management needs, Shipstation would be a better order fulfillment platform for you.