ShipStation for WooCommerce: Pros, Cons, and What You Should Know

If you run a small e-commerce online store with WooCommerce, choosing the right shipping tool can make a big difference. One of the most popular options is ShipStation. It helps you manage and automate your shipping, so you don’t have to do everything manually. In this article, we’ll go over 5 pros and 5 cons of using ShipStation, especially for small business owners who ship packages often.

Why ShipStation is Popular

ShipStation is popular because it makes shipping a lot easier. It integrates with over 150 online marketplaces like WooCommerce, eBay, Amazon, and more. It also works with major carrier services like USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL. Instead of jumping between websites, you can see all your orders and shipping information in one ShipStation dashboard. It offers helpful automation features that save you time by doing a lot of the work for you, like calculating shipping costs and letting you add your own logo to the shipping labels. That’s why many small online stores like using it to keep shipments running smoothly and improve customers’ shopping experience.

✅ 5 Pros of Using ShipStation for Small WooCommerce Stores

• Multi-Carrier Support: ShipStation supports many carriers, so you can compare shipping rates and pick the one that gives you the best deal and fastest delivery.

• Automation Features: You can set it up to handle repetitive tasks like assigning shipping services and printing shipping labels, so you save time and make fewer mistakes.

• Live Shipping Rates ( with API Access): For users on Gold or Scale plans, ShipStation’s API provides access to retrieve live shipping rates. This helps ensure you’re not undercharging or overcharging for shipping and improves the shopping experience for your customers.

• Centralized Order Management: Manage orders from all your sales channels in one place, making your workflow simpler and more efficient.

• Custom Branding: ShipStation allows you to customize shipping labels and tracking orders to maintain a professional brand impression.

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⚠️ 5 Cons of Using ShipStation for Small WooCommerce Stores

• API Access Limited to Gold/Scale Plans: Only users on Gold/Scale plans (or higher) can access the ShipStation API, including live shipping rates. Lower plans do not have API access, limiting integration capabilities. With API access, you can use the ShipStation Shipping PRO plugin to display live shipping rates at checkout and print shipping labels from WooCommerce without the need to go to the ShipStation dashboard to create shipping labels manually.

• Can Be Expensive for Low-Volume Shippers: If your store doesn’t ship many packages, the monthly subscription cost can be high. It’s more cost-effective for businesses with higher shipment volumes.

• Learning Curve: New users might find that it takes some time to learn how to set up automation and customize the workflows to fit their business needs.

• Customer Support Efficiency: Some users have mentioned that support response times can be slow, especially when dealing with more complex issues.

• Occasional Software Glitches: Like any service, ShipStation may occasionally have bugs or glitches that can temporarily disrupt shipping workflow.

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ShipStation Pricing Overview

All ShipStation plans are mainly based on how many shipments you send each month and how many users need access. Higher-tier plans provide advanced features like API access and support for multiple users. 

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Hidden Costs to Watch Out for When Using ShipStation

ShipStation can be a great tool for managing your WooCommerce store’s shipping, but it’s important to be aware of some additional costs that aren’t always obvious upfront. These additional fees can catch small business owners off guard if they’re not prepared.

1. Extra Monthly Fees for Using Your Own Carrier Accounts
If you have your own carriers’ accounts, such as USPS, UPS, or FedEx, and prefer to use your own carriers’ account instead of ShipStation’s built-in master account with discounted rates, you’ll need to pay an extra monthly fee. This can add up if you’re on a tight budget.

Your Carriers add-on fees by plan:

Plan	Shipment	Monthly Fee
Starter	up to 50 shipments/month	$5/month
Growth-Bronze	up to 500 shipments/month	$20/month
Growth-Silver	up to 1,000 shipments/month	$30/month
Scale-Gold	up to 2,000 shipments/month	$40/month
Scale – Platinum	up to 5,00 shipments/month	$60/month
Scale – Enterprise	up to 7,500 shipments/month	$95/month
High Volume	unlimited shipments	Based on usage

2. Price Increase and Plan Upgrades
ShipStation has increased its subscription prices in recent years, sometimes by quite a bit. If you’re on a fixed budget, these changes can feel unexpected and make your monthly expenses go higher than you originally estimated.

3. No Per Label Fee, But Watch for Adjustment Fees
ShipStation doesn’t charge per shipping label, which is great. However, some users have reported unexpected “adjustment fees,” when using discounted USPS rates. These aren’t clearly listed in the pricing.

4. Extra Costs for Some Shipping Features
Certain features that used to be free now come charge extra costs. For example, using Amazon Buy Shipping through ShipStation now has a $20/month fee. This is something to keep in mind if you rely on specific carriers’ services. Additionally, there is a cost for address validation each time a shipping rate request is made for a non-U.S. (international) address via the API. This cost varies depending on your Shippo pricing plan.

5. Not Ideal for Stores with Low Shipping Volume
ShipStation’s pricing is based on how many shipments you send each month. If you run a smaller store and ship only a few orders, the monthly subscription might feel pricey compared to the value you get.

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🤓 Final Thoughts

ShipStation is a powerful and popular shipping platform because it integrates various carriers and sales channels into one system, with powerful automation and customization features. But for small WooCommerce store owners, the cost and API access limits can be a challenge. If you ship a high volume of orders each month and want to take full advantage of automation features and API access for live shipping rates, upgrading to a Gold or Scale plan can be a worthwhile investment. 

Hopefully, this balanced overview helps you decide whether ShipStation is the right fit for your WooCommerce store business.

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⚙️ Related Shipping plugin:

• ShipStation Shipping PRO

📍 Related Article:

• ShipStation vs Shippo vs EasyPost: Which WooCommerce Shipping Plugin Is Right for You?

• ShipStation API Access Limited to Gold & Scale Plans – Effective May 2025