If you sell on Shopify in the US, you already have a label tool: Shopify Shipping, sitting on every order page. So why would anyone pay for anything else? Usually for one of three reasons: they have their own carrier rates, they want the label bought somewhere other than the Shopify order page, or they've hit a limit. EasyPost is the most common answer to all three, because it's what many shipping apps run on behind the scenes.
Full disclosure: Pickadoodl's label step uses EasyPost, so I have a horse in this race. I'll tell you where Shopify Shipping is the better choice, too.
What each one is
Shopify Shipping is Shopify's own label service. You buy, print and manage discounted labels from the order page or in bulk, and the tracking goes on the order automatically. It's included in your plan, with no separate subscription.
EasyPost is a shipping API: a service that software uses to fetch rates and buy labels from many carriers. You don't usually use EasyPost on its own. You use it through an app or system that's connected to it, with your own EasyPost account paying for the postage.
What they cost
| Shopify Shipping | EasyPost | |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | None; "shipping included in your Shopify plan" | Free Access plan: free up to 3,000 labels a month. Bring your own carrier accounts: $20 a month (EasyPost pricing) |
| Postage | Shopify's discounted rates, which vary by Shopify plan | EasyPost's carrier rates on Free Access, or your own negotiated rates with your carrier accounts |
| Insurance | Up to $200 included on eligible labels, with Shopify Payments on Grow, Advanced or Plus | Optional, priced per shipment |
| Where labels are bought | Shopify admin | Whatever app you've connected it to |
Two cost details worth checking against your own numbers. EasyPost charges per label once you pass 3,000 a month. And Shippo, an EasyPost competitor, reports that since June 1, 2026 EasyPost adds 3% to USPS postage bought through EasyPost's own USPS account. I couldn't confirm that on EasyPost's pricing page, so ask EasyPost before you count on USPS rates through its wallet.
Where Shopify Shipping wins
- Nothing to set up. No account, no API key, no extra bill. If you sell in the US or Canada, it's already there.
- Carriers. From a US location you can buy USPS, UPS, DHL eCommerce, DHL Express and FedEx labels.
- Bulk buying. Up to 250 labels at once from the Orders page.
- Included insurance on eligible plans, which most label services charge for.
- Returns. If the customer is in the same country as your location, in the US or Canada, you can send a return label straight from the order.
Where Shopify Shipping falls short
- It lives in Shopify admin. Shopify doesn't let apps buy Shopify Shipping labels for you. If you pick and pack in an app, or on a phone at the bench, the label is a trip back to the order page.
- Your own carrier rates. If you've negotiated a UPS or FedEx account with real discounts, Shopify Shipping's rates aren't those.
- International value cap. Bulk labels can't go out with a declared value over $2,500.
- Where it's offered. Shopify Shipping's carriers depend on your location, and some countries have few or none.
Where EasyPost wins
- The label is bought where the work happens. Inside the app you pick, pack or ship in, at the moment the box is weighed.
- Your own carrier accounts. On the $20 plan, rates come from your UPS, FedEx or USPS accounts, discounts included.
- One account, many apps. Change apps later and your EasyPost account, label history and carrier setup come with you.
- Rate shopping across carriers for every shipment, in whatever app you've connected.
Where EasyPost falls short
- One more account and one more bill. Postage is charged to your EasyPost account, separately from Shopify.
- It needs an app. On its own it's an API; what you can do with it depends on the app you connect.
- Fees at volume. Past 3,000 labels a month, and on USPS through its wallet if Shippo's report holds, you pay a little more per label.
How to choose
- Price ten real orders both ways. Take last week's orders, a mix of light and heavy, near and far, and price each in Shopify Shipping and in an EasyPost-connected app. Rates differ by plan, account and zone, so your numbers beat any blog's.
- If you have negotiated carrier rates, EasyPost's carrier-account plan usually pays for itself.
- If one person packs and ships from the Shopify order page, Shopify Shipping is hard to beat.
- If a team packs in batches or at a bench, a label bought in the same flow saves the trip back to each order.
How Pickadoodl does it
On the Pro plan, Pickadoodl connects to your own EasyPost account. After packing, a Ship step shows rates for each order, buys and prints the label, and sends the tracking to Shopify with the fulfillment. It handles orders in several boxes, customs forms and return labels. It can't buy Shopify Shipping labels; no app can. If Shopify Shipping already works for you, Pickadoodl's Free and Standard plans don't touch labels at all. See shipping labels for the details.
