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Best shipping and label software for small UK online shops in 2026
Seven shipping and label tools for a small UK online shop, scored on the jobs each covers, independent ratings, a price you can read and UK carrier choice.
A shop selling on two channels prints its labels from two screens until something joins them up. Shipping and label software pulls the orders into one list, applies a rule to choose the service, prints the labels in a batch and sends the tracking number on. Seven tools sold to UK shops do that job, and three of them cost nothing.
We priced each one for the same example shop: 600 parcels a month, two sales channels and two staff logins. Every figure is the software subscription only, read from the vendor's own page on 1 October 2026. Postage is paid to the carrier or the broker on top, and it is the bigger bill: at the £3.75 online price for a Tracked 48 small parcel from 5 October 2026, 600 parcels come to £2,250 a month.
Overlyft is an AI agency that can set up an AI assistant for online shops. It is not shipping and label software and it is not in this list.
At a glance
- Best free tool with several carriersVeeqo£0 a year: the Shipping plan is free, with unlimited shipments and unlimited users. Veeqo says it takes a commission on labels bought through it
- Best published price with rules and tracking emails includedShipStation£576 a year before VAT: the Starter plan in the 1,000-shipment band, billed annually. Billed monthly it is £60 a month, £720 a year
- Best for review ratingsZenstores£1,452 a year: Essential at £79 a month billed annually is £948, plus 7,200 shipments at 7p is £504. The page does not say whether VAT is added
- Best free tool for buying postage through a brokerParcel2Go Smart Send£0 a year: free to use, with no subscription and no contract. Postage is bought through Parcel2Go at its own rates
- Best for shops that also run accounts or ERP softwareShiptheory£1,188 a year: the Saturn plan at £99 a month billed annually, or £119 billed monthly. A further per-shipment line on the page is unclear, and the page does not say whether VAT is added
- Best for stock and orders across many channelsLinnworksPrice not published; quote on request after a demo. Plans are tiered on monthly orders, with overage charges
- Best for shops that send everything by Royal MailRoyal Mail Click & Drop£0 a year: free to use with no monthly costs; you pay for the Royal Mail postage
1. Best free tool with several carriers
Veeqo
Veeqo's Shipping plan is free with unlimited orders, shipments and users, so the example shop pays nothing for the software. It imports orders from Amazon, Shopify, eBay, Etsy and others, prints up to 100 labels in one go, and either passes tracking back to the store or emails the customer with your logo on the message. Rules that choose the service by order value or weight are described on its product pages; the pricing page does not say which plan they sit on. Stock control and picking start at £17 a month including VAT. Amazon has owned Veeqo since 2021. Reviewers disagree about it: 4.0 from 128 on the Shopify App Store, 2.0 from 308 on Trustpilot.
Pros
- Free, with no cap on shipments or users
- Names Royal Mail, Evri, DPD, DHL and Amazon Shipping
- Tracking can go back to the channel or straight to the customer by email
Cons
- 2.0 from 308 reviews on Trustpilot
- Earns from the labels you buy through it, so check the label price against your own carrier rates
- The pricing page does not say which plan includes automation rules
| Price | £0 a year: the Shipping plan is free, with unlimited shipments and unlimited users. Veeqo says it takes a commission on labels bought through it |
|---|---|
| Best for | Shops that want orders from every channel in one place without a subscription, and that are content to use an Amazon-owned tool |
| Set-up | Self-serve; its page says stores and carriers connect in minutes |
2. Best published price with rules and tracking emails included
ShipStation
ShipStation prices by the number of shipments a month. The example shop falls in the 1,000-shipment band of the Starter plan: £60 a month, or £576 for the year when billed annually. Starter has three users, unlimited store connections, return labels, basic automations and email support, and tracking emails are on every plan. Connecting carrier accounts you already hold is listed from the Standard plan, which is £115 a month in the same band, or £1,104 billed annually. Its UK page names Royal Mail, Evri, DPD, DHL and UPS. A free plan covers 50 shipments a month with one user and one store. Reviews are split: 4.2 from 706 on the Shopify App Store, 3.5 from 703 on Trustpilot.
Pros
- A full price list in pounds for every shipment band, with no per-label fee
- Three users and unlimited stores on Starter
- 706 reviews on the Shopify App Store, the most of the seven
Cons
- Using your own carrier accounts needs the Standard plan at about twice the price
- 3.5 on Trustpilot
- The price steps up by band: 500 shipments is £30 a month and 1,000 is £60
| Price | £576 a year before VAT: the Starter plan in the 1,000-shipment band, billed annually. Billed monthly it is £60 a month, £720 a year |
|---|---|
| Best for | Shops that want a paid plan with a fixed monthly figure and no charge per label |
| Set-up | Self-serve, with a 30-day free trial and no card needed |
AI staff and workflows for independent online retailers. Starting with "where's my order" and returns.See what we would set up3. Best for review ratings
Zenstores
Zenstores is run by a UK company, and its Essential plan fits the example shop exactly: two ecommerce integrations, two carrier integrations and two teammates. Billed annually it is £79 a month plus 7p a shipment, which is £948 plus £504, or £1,452 a year. Billed monthly it is £99 and 9p. Essential sorts orders automatically, but Shipping Rules, the automation builder and auto print are listed from the next plan at £159 a month plus 4p a shipment, £2,196 a year for this shop. Tracking goes to the sales channel and the customer at dispatch. It has the highest ratings of the seven: 4.9 from 103 on the Shopify App Store and 4.9 from 82 on Trustpilot.
Pros
- 4.9 on both listings we read
- Live chat, phone and email support on the entry plan
- Names Royal Mail, DPD, DHL eCommerce, Evri and Parcelforce
Cons
- Shipping Rules are not on the Essential plan
- A charge on every shipment on top of the monthly fee
- The dearest published price here for the example shop
| Price | £1,452 a year: Essential at £79 a month billed annually is £948, plus 7,200 shipments at 7p is £504. The page does not say whether VAT is added |
|---|---|
| Best for | Shops that want a UK-run tool with phone support and are willing to pay for it |
| Set-up | 14-day free trial with no card; its page says most businesses are live within a day and its own team handles the setup |
4. Best free tool for buying postage through a broker
Parcel2Go Smart Send
Smart Send is the free order tool from Parcel2Go, a parcel broker. Its page says there is no subscription and no contract. It links any number of 16 sales channels, including eBay, Amazon, Shopify and Etsy, has a rule manager, prints labels in bulk, creates return labels and sends a tracking link to the marketplace when an order is marked as dispatched. Postage is bought through Parcel2Go at prices shown before VAT, and a Royal Mail business account can be linked as well. The number of staff logins is not stated. Its Shopify app has 3.4 from 22 reviews. Parcel2Go's Trustpilot score of 4.4 from 213,752 reviews covers the whole parcel-booking business, so we did not count it.
Pros
- Free, with no limit stated on linked sales channels
- Rule manager, bulk labels and return labels included
- Royal Mail, Evri, DPD, DHL and UPS all named
Cons
- 3.4 from 22 reviews on the Shopify App Store
- Number of staff logins not stated
- Postage is bought from the broker, not from the carrier direct
| Price | £0 a year: free to use, with no subscription and no contract. Postage is bought through Parcel2Go at its own rates |
|---|---|
| Best for | Shops with no carrier contracts of their own that want to compare couriers parcel by parcel |
| Set-up | Self-serve and free to sign up; a demo can be booked |
AI staff and workflows for independent online retailers. Starting with "where's my order" and returns.See what we would set up5. Best for shops that also run accounts or ERP software
Shiptheory
On Shiptheory the example shop needs the Saturn plan, because the entry plan allows one user and one channel: £99 a month billed annually, £1,188 a year. Saturn covers three users, three channels, three carriers and 3,000 shipments a month. Each plan also lists "0.03 per shipment" with no currency sign and no explanation; if that is 3p on every label, 7,200 parcels add £216. Its pages describe shipping rules that take under a minute to create, bulk booking and automatic label printing, and show Shopify, eBay and Etsy; Amazon appears as a carrier only. We found no statement about tracking messages. Its ratings are 5.0 from 50 on the Shopify App Store and 4.8 from 380 on Trustpilot.
Pros
- 4.8 from 380 on Trustpilot and 5.0 from 50 on the Shopify App Store
- Royal Mail, DPD and Evri shown, with over 100 carriers claimed
- Three users, channels and carriers on the plan priced
Cons
- The per-shipment line gives no currency and no explanation
- Amazon is not shown as a sales channel on the pages we read
- Carriers are capped by plan: two on the entry plan, three on Saturn
| Price | £1,188 a year: the Saturn plan at £99 a month billed annually, or £119 billed monthly. A further per-shipment line on the page is unclear, and the page does not say whether VAT is added |
|---|---|
| Best for | Shops whose orders also pass through Xero, NetSuite or another back-office system |
| Set-up | Self-serve sign-up; tailored onboarding is listed from the Saturn plan |
6. Best for stock and orders across many channels
Linnworks
Linnworks is order and stock management for shops selling on many channels, with shipping as one part of it. Its pricing page gives no figures: plans are tiered on monthly orders, overage charges apply, there are no percentage fees, and you book a demo to get a quote. Its shipping page describes a rules engine that picks the carrier by weight, destination, channel or order value, bulk label printing, and tracking pushed back to Amazon, eBay or Shopify. It connects to carrier accounts you already hold, including Royal Mail, DPD, Evri and DHL Express. It is built for a bigger problem than labels. Trustpilot shows 4.2 from 640 reviews; its Shopify app has three.
Pros
- Rules engine, bulk labels and tracking back to the channel all described
- Uses your own carrier accounts and rates
- 640 Trustpilot reviews at 4.2
Cons
- No price on its site
- A sales call before you can compare it with anything
- Stock management a two-channel shop may not use
| Price | Price not published; quote on request after a demo. Plans are tiered on monthly orders, with overage charges |
|---|---|
| Best for | Shops whose real problem is keeping stock levels in step across several marketplaces |
| Set-up | A guided onboarding plan comes with every package, after a demo and a quote |
AI staff and workflows for independent online retailers. Starting with "where's my order" and returns.See what we would set up7. Best for shops that send everything by Royal Mail
Royal Mail Click & Drop
Click & Drop is Royal Mail's own tool and costs nothing to use: its page says there are no monthly costs and you pay only for postage. It imports orders from Amazon, Shopify, eBay, Etsy and other stores, applies shipping rules, batches orders for printing and allows several users on one account. It sends by Royal Mail and Parcelforce only, so a shop that also uses Evri or DPD has to buy those labels somewhere else. We found no statement about tracking emails on the pages we read. Its Shopify app is rated 1.5 from 90 reviews, the lowest of the seven.
Pros
- Free, from the carrier itself
- Shipping rules, batch printing and several users
- Imports from Amazon, Shopify, eBay and Etsy
Cons
- Royal Mail and Parcelforce only
- 1.5 from 90 reviews on the Shopify App Store
- Tracking emails not stated
| Price | £0 a year: free to use with no monthly costs; you pay for the Royal Mail postage |
|---|---|
| Best for | Shops whose parcels all go by Royal Mail or Parcelforce |
| Set-up | Self-serve registration on Royal Mail's site |
Side by side
| Veeqo | ShipStation | Zenstores | Parcel2Go Smart Send | Shiptheory | Linnworks | Royal Mail Click & Drop | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imports orders from Shopify, eBay, Etsy and Amazon | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not stated for Amazon; the other three are shown | Yes | Yes |
| Prints labels in bulk | Yes, 100 at a time | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, in batches |
| Shipping rules choose the service | Yes; plan not stated | Yes, basic automations | No on Essential; from the £159 plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sends tracking to the customer or the channel | Yes, either | Yes, tracking emails | Yes, both | Yes, to the marketplace | Not stated | Yes, to the channel | Not stated |
| Royal Mail plus two of Evri, DPD and DHL | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No: Royal Mail and Parcelforce only |
| Staff logins on the plan priced | Unlimited | 3 | 2 | Not stated | 3 | Not stated | Several; number not stated |
| Software cost a year, 600 parcels a month | £0 | £576 | £1,452 | £0 | £1,188 | Not published | £0 |
| Shopify App Store rating | 4.0 from 128 | 4.2 from 706 | 4.9 from 103 | 3.4 from 22 | 5.0 from 50 | 4.1 from 3 | 1.5 from 90 |
| Trustpilot rating | 2.0 from 308 | 3.5 from 703 | 4.9 from 82 | Whole firm only | 4.8 from 380 | 4.2 from 640 | Not read |
| Price | £0 a year: the Shipping plan is free, with unlimited shipments and unlimited users. Veeqo says it takes a commission on labels bought through it | £576 a year before VAT: the Starter plan in the 1,000-shipment band, billed annually. Billed monthly it is £60 a month, £720 a year | £1,452 a year: Essential at £79 a month billed annually is £948, plus 7,200 shipments at 7p is £504. The page does not say whether VAT is added | £0 a year: free to use, with no subscription and no contract. Postage is bought through Parcel2Go at its own rates | £1,188 a year: the Saturn plan at £99 a month billed annually, or £119 billed monthly. A further per-shipment line on the page is unclear, and the page does not say whether VAT is added | Price not published; quote on request after a demo. Plans are tiered on monthly orders, with overage charges | £0 a year: free to use with no monthly costs; you pay for the Royal Mail postage |
How we ranked them
What counted: Four parts adding to 5: the jobs covered on the plan priced for the example shop (importing orders from Shopify, eBay, Etsy and Amazon; printing labels in bulk; shipping rules that choose the service; sending tracking to the customer or the sales channel), half a point each, up to 2; evidence it works, up to 1.5 (1.5 where the Shopify App Store and Trustpilot listings both show 4.0 or more from 50 or more reviews, 1 where one of them does, 0.5 where a count was read but neither does); a full UK price you can read without a sales call, up to 1 (0.5 where part of it is unclear); and connections to Royal Mail and at least two of Evri, DPD and DHL stated on the vendor's own page, 0.5..
We read each vendor's own pricing and product pages in a browser on 1 October 2026, and each product's listing on the Shopify App Store and on Trustpilot the same day. We ran no trials, so the score measures what each company states, the price it publishes and what independent reviewers have scored it. Each price is the software subscription for the example shop worked out to a year; postage is extra in every case.
"Not stated" means the pages we read did not mention it. That is an absence of a statement, not proof the tool cannot do it. Features marked coming soon are not counted. Where products tie on score, the one with the lower yearly price is listed first. A Trustpilot score counts only where the profile is about the software: Parcel2Go's covers its whole parcel-booking business, and we did not read one for Click & Drop on its own.
Scurri was considered and left out. Its pricing page lists three bundles sold by consultation with no prices, the smallest covering any three carriers, and it had 15 Trustpilot reviews when we read it. Linnworks publishes no price either, but it is in the table because shop owners ask about it by name.
Questions people ask
How much does shipping software cost for a small UK online shop?
For a shop sending 600 parcels a month from two channels with two logins, on prices read on 1 October 2026: Veeqo, Parcel2Go Smart Send and Royal Mail Click & Drop are free; ShipStation Starter is £576 a year billed annually; Shiptheory Saturn is £1,188; Zenstores Essential is £1,452 with its 7p a shipment counted. Linnworks publishes no price. Postage is extra on all of them.
Which is the cheapest shipping software that works with more than one carrier?
Veeqo and Parcel2Go Smart Send are both free, and both name Royal Mail, Evri and DPD on their own pages. Veeqo says it earns a commission on labels bought through it, and Smart Send sells the postage at Parcel2Go's rates, so compare the label price as well as the software price. The cheapest paid plan for the example shop is ShipStation Starter at £576 a year billed annually, read on 1 October 2026.
Does Royal Mail Click & Drop work with Evri or DPD?
No. Royal Mail's page lists Royal Mail and Parcelforce services only. Its help centre has a way to mark an order as despatched by another courier, but the label for that parcel has to be bought elsewhere. Click & Drop is free, imports orders from Amazon, Shopify, eBay and Etsy and has shipping rules, so a shop that sends everything by Royal Mail can do the whole job in it. Read on 1 October 2026.
Which shipping software connects Shopify, eBay, Etsy and Amazon?
On the pages we read on 1 October 2026, Veeqo, ShipStation, Zenstores, Parcel2Go Smart Send, Linnworks and Click & Drop each show all four. Shiptheory shows Shopify, eBay and Etsy; Amazon appears on its site as a carrier, not as a sales channel. Check the plan limit too: Zenstores Essential includes two ecommerce integrations and Shiptheory Saturn three channels, while ShipStation Starter has unlimited store connections.
Is postage included in the price of shipping software?
No. Every price on this page is for the software alone. ShipStation's page says you are responsible for the cost of your postage. Zenstores adds a software charge on each shipment, which is not postage. Veeqo and Smart Send are free and sell labels. For scale, 600 Tracked 48 small parcels at the £3.75 online price from 5 October 2026 come to £2,250 a month.
Does a small online shop need shipping software at all?
Not always. A shop on one channel can buy tracked postage inside Shopify, Etsy or eBay, or in Click & Drop, at the online price. The software starts to save time when orders arrive from two or more channels or leave by two or more carriers, because a rule then chooses the service and one batch prints every label. Three of the seven tools here are free, so the cost of trying one is the setup time.
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.
