A category page is only useful if the numbers are real and the date is on them. Every row below carries the source and the day it was checked.
What we are and are not
It would be easy to slide SMKlog into a software list and let readers assume the wrong thing, so here is the boundary before anything else.
- We are not shipping software. There is no dashboard to run your operation from, no automation rules and no batch queue.
- We have no platform integrations. Orders do not sync in from a storefront, and tracking is not pushed back to one on the free tier.
- We do not do fulfillment or warehousing.
- International labels sell to four lanes only (Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia); other cross-border requests go to a review path rather than to checkout.
- What we do sell is a US domestic parcel label: describe the item, compare live USPS, UPS and FedEx rates, pay, print, get tracking.
If you run a store doing dozens of orders a day, a real platform will pay for itself and the rest of this page is a map of where to look. If you ship a handful of parcels a month, the honest answer is that you may not need software at all.
The published prices, side by side
Each row links to a fuller comparison rather than repeating the detail here. Prices are as published by the vendor on the date shown and they move, so treat this as a starting point and check before you buy.
| Tool | Published entry price | Shape of the product | More detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pirate Ship | $0 | No monthly fees, payment fees or hidden costs; paid by the carriers; USPS and UPS | Comparison |
| Shippo | $0 | Starter free to 30 labels a month; Pro at $17/mo; multi-carrier platform, account on every tier | Comparison |
| Easyship | $0 | Free tier plus Plus, Premier, Scale and Enterprise; built around cross-border duty and customs work | Comparison |
| ShipStation | $14.99/mo | Starter entry price; Standard from $29.99/mo, Premium from $349.99/mo; automation, API, inventory | Comparison |
| Stamps.com | $14.99/mo | Basic capped at 25 stamps and 10 labels; Professional $29.99/mo unlimited; mail-side products included | Comparison |
| SMKlog | $0 | Not software; single US domestic parcel labels across USPS, UPS and FedEx, bought as a guest | Our pricing |
Three of those entry prices are zero and they are zero for three different reasons: carrier funding, a capped free tier, and a per-label model with the charge inside the rate. A column of noughts hides more than it reveals, which is why the third column exists.
The part no software changes
Before paying anyone a monthly fee, it is worth seeing how much of your bill is decided by the box rather than the vendor. These three quotes hold the weight constant at 5 lb and change only the carton size.
| Carton size | Cheapest all-in | Service behind it | Against the baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 x 10 x 6 in | $13.52 | UPS Ground Saver | Baseline |
| 18 x 14 x 10 in | $20.50 | UPS Ground Saver | $6.98 more for the same 5 lb |
| 24 x 18 x 14 in | $36.75 | UPS Ground | $23.23 more for the same 5 lb |
Same contents, same weight, same lane, and the price nearly triples. That is dimensional pricing doing its work, and no subscription, integration or automation rule touches it. Packing the same goods into a smaller carton was worth more on this lane than any software decision on the page above.
Start from the bottleneck
Software earns its fee by saving handling time, not postage. If your evening goes on copying addresses and printing in batches, buy the tool. If it goes on wondering what a box weighs, a calculator solves more of your problem than a dashboard will.
Watch what a free tier meters
Every free tier meters something: labels, quotes, users or connected stores. The number that matters is the one you will hit first. Read that limit rather than the word above it.
Prices in this category move
Plans get repriced and tiers get renamed more often than roundups get updated. Each figure here carries its check date for that reason, and any page in this category without dates on its numbers is telling you less than it appears to.
Choosing a tool for a small operation
What is the cheapest shipping software for a small business?
Three tools publish a zero entry price: Pirate Ship, Shippo's Starter tier and Easyship's Free tier, all checked 2026-07-28. They differ in what the free tier covers, so compare the limit you would hit first rather than the headline.
Do I need shipping software at all?
Below roughly ten parcels a month, usually not. Subscription tools earn their fee on handling time, and at that volume there is not enough handling to save. A rate comparison and a printer covers it.
Is SMKlog shipping software?
No. There is no dashboard, no automation, no order sync and no inventory. We sell single parcel labels: US domestic across USPS, UPS and FedEx, plus international lanes to Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia. SMKlog sells parcel labels only and does not arrange pallet or freight shipments.
Which tools connect to a storefront?
ShipStation, Shippo and Easyship all present integrations as a core part of the product on their own pages. We do not offer platform integrations, so if order sync is the requirement, we are not the answer.