EasyPost and EasyShip — the names are so similar that people confuse them constantly. But these two shipping solutions couldn't be more different in their approach, target audience, and what they actually do.
EasyPost is a shipping API. It's built for developers who want to integrate shipping functionality directly into their own software, marketplace, or custom workflow. You don't get a dashboard to print labels from — you get endpoints to call.
EasyShip is a shipping platform. It's built for ecommerce merchants who want a visual interface to manage shipments, compare rates, and handle international shipping without touching any code.
Choosing between them isn't about which is "better" — it's about what you are. Let's break it down.
The Fundamental Difference
Before getting into features and pricing, understand this core distinction:
EasyPost = Infrastructure. You build on top of it. Think Stripe for payments, but for shipping. Your customers never see EasyPost — they see your platform.
EasyShip = Application. You use it directly. Log in, see orders, print labels, track packages. It's a standalone tool for your business.
This means comparing them feature-for-feature isn't entirely fair, but we'll do it anyway because people shopping for shipping solutions need to understand the trade-offs.
Pricing Comparison
EasyPost Pricing
EasyPost's pricing is API-call based:
- Free tier: 120,000 free shipment API calls per year (tracking, rating, etc.)
- Pay-as-you-go: No monthly subscription
- Per-shipment cost: $0.02-0.05 per label (varies by volume)
- Tracking: Free for shipments created through EasyPost
- No markup on carrier rates: You pay the carrier's rate directly
Additional costs:
- Address verification: $0.01 per verification (first 2,500 free/month)
- Insurance: Varies by declared value
- SmartRate (delivery date prediction): Free with label purchase
EasyShip Pricing
EasyShip uses a tiered subscription model:
- Free plan: 50 shipments/month, basic features
- Plus: $29/month — 500 shipments, automation rules
- Premier: $69/month — 2,500 shipments, branded experience
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Additional notes:
- No per-label markup on most plans
- Crowdsourced courier rates may have variable pricing
- International features included in all plans
Cost Analysis
For a developer building a shipping feature into their platform:
- EasyPost: ~$0.03/label × 1,000 labels = $30/month
- EasyShip: Not applicable (you can't embed EasyShip into your platform)
For a merchant shipping 500 packages/month:
- EasyPost: You'd need to build your own interface or use a partner integration
- EasyShip Plus: $29/month with full platform access
The pricing comparison only makes sense when both tools can solve your problem. For most merchants, EasyShip is the relevant option. For developers and platforms, EasyPost is.
Feature Comparison
Carrier Access
EasyPost:
- 100+ carrier integrations worldwide
- USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, and dozens of regional carriers
- Bring your own carrier accounts or use EasyPost's negotiated rates
- New carriers added regularly via API updates
- Same API regardless of carrier
EasyShip:
- 250+ shipping solutions globally
- Strong international carrier network
- Crowdsourced last-mile delivery options
- Pre-negotiated rates (no carrier account needed)
- Dynamic courier recommendations based on destination
Winner: EasyShip for breadth of pre-integrated options. EasyPost for flexibility to use your own accounts.
Rate Shopping
EasyPost:
- Real-time rate requests across all carriers via single API call
- SmartRate adds delivery date predictions
- Carbon offset calculations available
- Custom rate logic (you build the selection rules)
EasyShip:
- Visual rate comparison dashboard
- Rates include duties, taxes, and fees for international
- "Cheapest" and "Fastest" sorting
- Automated rate selection rules
- Landed cost calculator built in
Winner: EasyShip for user-friendliness. EasyPost if you need programmatic rate selection with custom logic.
International Shipping
This is where EasyShip significantly outshines EasyPost.
EasyPost:
- Customs forms generation via API
- HS code lookup (limited)
- Carrier-specific international documentation
- You handle duties/taxes calculation yourself
- No pre-paid duty options native to the platform
EasyShip:
- Automatic HS code assignment
- Pre-calculated duties, taxes, and import fees for 220+ countries
- DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) shipping options
- Prohibited items detection
- Country-specific documentation automation
- Landed cost displayed to end customer before purchase
Winner: EasyShip, clearly. If international shipping is a significant part of your business, EasyShip's international capabilities are far superior out of the box.
Tracking
EasyPost:
- Unified tracking API across all carriers
- Webhook notifications for status changes
- Real-time tracking updates
- Estimated delivery dates
- You build your own tracking page/notifications
EasyShip:
- Branded tracking pages
- Automatic customer email notifications
- Real-time tracking dashboard
- Multi-carrier tracking in one view
- Customizable tracking page branding
Winner: EasyShip for out-of-the-box tracking experience. EasyPost if you want to build a completely custom tracking experience.
Automation
EasyPost:
- Everything is automated by definition (it's an API)
- You build whatever automation logic you need
- Batch API for high-volume operations
- Webhook-driven workflows
- Unlimited customization
EasyShip:
- Automation rules (if/then conditions)
- Automatic courier selection
- Automatic HS code assignment
- Scheduled pickup requests
- Bulk shipment processing
- Limited to platform's rule options
Winner: EasyPost for unlimited automation possibilities (if you can code). EasyShip for no-code automation that covers common scenarios.
Ecommerce Integrations
EasyPost:
- No native ecommerce integrations
- Partner integrations (some platforms have EasyPost built in)
- You build your own integrations via API
- Popular with marketplace platforms and custom carts
EasyShip:
- Shopify, WooCommerce, eBay, Amazon, Etsy, BigCommerce
- Direct integration — import orders automatically
- Sync tracking back to sales channels
- Checkout rate display plugins
Winner: EasyShip, decisively. If you're running a standard ecommerce store, EasyShip connects to your platforms. EasyPost requires development work.
Analytics and Reporting
EasyPost:
- Basic shipment analytics in dashboard
- Raw data available via API for custom reporting
- You build your own analytics
- Cost analysis requires your own tracking
EasyShip:
- Shipping cost analytics dashboard
- Carrier performance comparisons
- Delivery time analysis
- Cost savings reports
- Exportable data
Winner: EasyShip for immediate insights. EasyPost if you want to build custom analytics into your own BI tools.
Who Should Use EasyPost?
EasyPost is the right choice if:
You're building a platform or marketplace that needs shipping built in. Think: you're creating the next Etsy, and sellers on your platform need to ship things.
You're a developer who wants full control over the shipping experience and can invest engineering time.
You have a custom tech stack and need shipping to integrate with your existing systems via API.
You need to process millions of shipments and need infrastructure-level reliability and pricing.
You want to use your own negotiated carrier rates through a unified API rather than a platform's pre-negotiated rates.
EasyPost Strengths
- Clean, well-documented API
- Carrier-agnostic — one integration works for all carriers
- No platform lock-in — your shipping logic lives in your code
- Scales to millions of shipments
- Pay only for what you use
EasyPost Weaknesses
- Requires development resources
- No user interface for non-technical team members
- No ecommerce platform integrations (you build them)
- International shipping support is bare-bones
- Address verification costs extra
Who Should Use EasyShip?
EasyShip is the right choice if:
You're an ecommerce merchant selling on Shopify, WooCommerce, Etsy, or Amazon.
You ship internationally and need help with duties, taxes, and customs.
You want a visual tool — log in, see orders, print labels, no code required.
You're a small to mid-size business that needs shipping tools without hiring a developer.
You want pre-negotiated rates without setting up your own carrier accounts.
EasyShip Strengths
- Best-in-class international shipping features
- No technical skills required
- Pre-negotiated rates across dozens of carriers
- Ecommerce platform integrations out of the box
- Branded tracking and customer notifications
EasyShip Weaknesses
- Monthly subscription costs add up
- Limited customization compared to API approach
- 50-shipment cap on free plan is restrictive
- Automation rules are less flexible than code
- Can't embed into your own platform
What About Alternatives?
Neither EasyPost nor EasyShip might be the best fit. Consider these alternatives:
If you want free shipping with commercial rates (no code needed): Atoship offers free access to commercial USPS and UPS rates with no monthly fees or per-label markups. Great for merchants who just need cheap labels without the complexity.
If you want a developer-friendly API with a UI: Shippo sits between EasyPost and EasyShip — it offers both an API and a web dashboard. Good for businesses that want API flexibility but also need a non-technical team to occasionally print labels manually.
If you need powerful automation for high volume: ShipStation offers the most sophisticated automation rules for merchants processing hundreds of orders daily.
If you want both an API and international expertise: Consider using EasyPost for domestic shipping (API integration) and EasyShip for international orders (better landed cost calculations). Some businesses use both.
Migration Considerations
Moving from EasyPost to EasyShip
If you've been using EasyPost and want to switch to EasyShip:
- Your carrier accounts may be transferable
- Tracking history won't migrate (keep EasyPost active for historical tracking)
- Allow 1-2 weeks for integration setup and testing
- Test international shipments thoroughly before full cutover
Moving from EasyShip to EasyPost
If you've outgrown EasyShip and want to build custom:
- Budget 4-8 weeks of development time for basic integration
- You'll need to handle customs/duties calculation separately
- Set up carrier accounts directly (or use EasyPost's rates)
- Build your own tracking notifications
Final Verdict
Choose EasyPost if you're a developer or platform builder who needs shipping infrastructure. You want an API, not an application. You have (or will hire) engineering resources to build and maintain the integration.
Choose EasyShip if you're a merchant who needs to ship products — especially internationally. You want a tool you can log into and use today, without writing any code.
The name confusion is just that — confusion. These products serve fundamentally different users solving fundamentally different problems. If you're reading this article trying to decide between them, you're almost certainly an EasyShip user (because EasyPost users are searching for "shipping API" not "EasyPost vs EasyShip").
And if neither fits perfectly, the shipping software landscape is broad. Free platforms like Atoship and Pirate Ship cover the basics excellently, while tools like Shippo and ShipStation offer middle-ground solutions between pure API and pure platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use EasyPost without coding?
Not really. EasyPost is fundamentally an API service. While there's a basic web dashboard, the core product requires API integration. If you can't code (or don't want to hire someone who can), EasyPost isn't for you.
Does EasyShip have an API?
Yes, EasyShip does offer an API, but it's secondary to their platform. The API allows you to programmatically create shipments and retrieve rates, but it's not as comprehensive or developer-focused as EasyPost's API.
Which has better rates?
It depends on the carrier and route. EasyPost lets you use your own carrier accounts (so rates are whatever you've negotiated). EasyShip offers pre-negotiated rates that can be very competitive, especially for international shipments. Neither marks up carrier rates on standard plans.
Can I use both EasyPost and EasyShip?
Yes, some businesses do. A common pattern: EasyPost for domestic US shipping (integrated into a custom platform) and EasyShip for international orders (using their superior duty/tax calculations). It adds complexity but optimizes for both scenarios.
Which is better for Shopify?
EasyShip, without question. It has a native Shopify integration, handles everything from rate display at checkout to label printing to tracking updates. Using EasyPost with Shopify would require custom development.