shouldiuse.io

Categories

VERDICT

Should I use ShipStation?

Shipping software for ecommerce fulfillment - shipstation.com

Depends. Buy if you ship enough multi-carrier orders monthly that automation and rate discounts beat the fees. Low-volume sellers should pick a cheaper alternative — recent hikes hit small plans hardest.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 30+ public sources: review sites, Reddit threads, CVE databases, and official docs.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

Starter

Not disclosed in reviewed sources

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed

Best for

  • High-volume multi-channel ecommerce shippers
  • Warehouse teams needing barcode workflows
  • Sellers wanting multi-carrier rate shopping
  • Shopify, Etsy, and Amazon storefronts

Not for

  • Low-volume sellers — carrier sites and cheaper tools suffice
  • Anyone needing predictable monthly costs
  • Buyers who depend on responsive support
  • Small shops priced out by fee increases

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Per-shipment fees apply on Starter and lower plans — effective cost exceeds sticker price

high

Users report sudden 10x monthly fee increases with little warning

medium

Official community threads document fees tripling; many users migrating away

medium

Support and refund disputes are a recurring complaint theme

Pros and cons

Pros

  • 4.0/5 on G2 across ~2,961 reviews; G2's #1-rated shipping software
  • Rate-shopping tool compares carrier prices per label
  • Mobile, barcode-verified warehouse workflows praised by reviewers
  • Shopify sellers call it the standard for shipping apps
  • Officially GDPR and CCPA compliant

Cons

  • Users report 10x fee increases; others say fees are tripling
  • Support and refund handling draw repeated complaints
  • Trustpilot reviewers say costs keep rising over time
  • Vocal Reddit users actively hunting alternatives

Sources & method

Analyzed 10/02/2026 - 14 sources - GDPR/CCPA compliant; two 2020 CVEs disclosed, one high-severity (CS-Cart plugin, not core platform).

official x3review x8security x2news x1
  • CVE-2020-9009 — Missing authorization, Low severity (CVSS 3.7) missing-authorization vulnerability in ShipStation.
  • CVE-2020-8889 — High severity, CVSS 7.5 high-severity issue in the ShipStation plugin 1.0 for CS-Cart.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 2/5

    Rating

  • Not disclosed

    Starting price

  • 14

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 2/5. Repeated hikes; users report 10x increases
  • Ease of use: 4/5. G2 users consistently praise ease of use
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Barcode verification, rate shopping, freight support
  • Support quality: 2/5. Recurring poor-service and refund complaints
  • Security posture: 3/5. GDPR/CCPA compliant; two disclosed 2020 CVEs
  • 4.0/5 G2 rating ~2,961 reviews
  • 703 reviews Trustpilot Mixed sentiment, cost complaints
  • 2011 Founded Part of Auctane
  • 3,887 Companies using it Per Theirstack data

Pricing

Starter

Not disclosed

  • Per-shipment fees apply on this plan
  • Entry tier of a three-plan lineup

Security

GDPR/CCPA compliant; two 2020 CVEs disclosed, one high-severity (CS-Cart plugin, not core platform).

  • CVE-2020-9009 — Missing authorizationLow severity (CVSS 3.7) missing-authorization vulnerability in ShipStation.11
  • CVE-2020-8889 — High severityCVSS 7.5 high-severity issue in the ShipStation plugin 1.0 for CS-Cart.12

What users say

Longtime users praise ease of use and shipping workflows, but recent price hikes and support quality are driving vocal complaints and migrations.

“My god, Shipstation is awful”
Reddit, r/ecommerce
“10x increase in Shipstation monthly fee. Alternatives?”
Reddit, r/ecommerce
“Shipstation Cost Increases. Any Alternatives?”
Reddit, r/shipstation
Full analysis

Based on 30+ public sources: review sites, Reddit threads, CVE databases, and official docs.

Category leader for high-volume shipping, but repeated price hikes and support gripes push smaller sellers elsewhere.

Methodology

Based on 30+ public sources: review sites, Reddit threads, CVE databases, and official docs.

Sources

  1. ShipStation Reviews | G2g2.com
    review
  2. ShipStation Reviews | Trustpilottrustpilot.com
    review
  3. ShipStation Reviews | Capterracapterra.com
    review
  4. ShipStation Reviews | Shopify App Storeapps.shopify.com
    review
  5. My god, Shipstation is awful | Redditreddit.com
    review
  6. 10x increase in Shipstation monthly fee | Redditreddit.com
    review
  7. ShipStation Review | Freightwaves Checkpointfreightwaves.com
    review
  8. ShipStation Pricingshipstation.com
    official
  9. Shipment Fees by Planhelp.shipstation.com
    official
  10. Is ShipStation GDPR and CCPA compliant?help.shipstation.com
    official
  11. CVE-2020-9009 | NVDnvd.nist.gov
    security
  12. CVE-2020-8889 | Cyber-Defencecyber-defence.io
    security
  13. Best ShipStation Alternatives | Shippogoshippo.com
    review
  14. Companies that use ShipStation | Theirstacktheirstack.com
    news

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Comments

One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.

Save a name to write a comment.

0 / 200 words

No comments yet.