# Pirate Ship > Free web app for discounted USPS and UPS labels, with no monthly fee Pirate Ship is free, browser-based shipping software for US shippers. It compares discounted USPS and UPS rates, prints labels one at a time or in batches from a spreadsheet or a connected store, and sends tracking emails you can customize. The software has no monthly fee; you pay only for the postage, and the company says the carriers pay it instead. - **Category:** Shipping Software - **Made by:** Pirate Ship (since 2014) - **Website:** https://www.pirateship.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Facts last checked:** Oct 18, 2026 ## Pricing Pirate Ship is free to use. - **Pricing model:** Free - **Free plan:** The software is free with unlimited users and no monthly fee, markup or minimum volume. You pay for each label's postage with a card or PayPal. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free account | $0 | Every feature and unlimited users at no charge; postage is paid per label at Pirate Ship's discounted rates. | Read from https://www.pirateship.com/rates on Oct 18, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Pirate Ship before buying. ## Key features - **Discounted USPS and UPS rates:** Rate-shops every USPS and UPS service, including Priority Mail Cubic and Ground Saver. Pirate Ship says the discounts reach up to 88% off retail rates; that is its claim. - **Simple Export Rate:** An international service Pirate Ship says is exclusive to it, alongside USPS and UPS international services with electronic customs forms. - **Store and spreadsheet imports:** Imports orders from Shopify, Etsy, eBay, WooCommerce, Squarespace, BigCommerce, Square, Wix and others, or from CSV, Excel and ODS spreadsheets. - **Batch labels and presets:** Buy and print many identical labels at once from a spreadsheet or integration, and save presets for packages you ship often. - **Tracking emails and reports:** Customizable HTML tracking emails for recipients, plus tracking and accounting reports for your own records. - **Insurance and return labels:** Discounted shipping insurance is available, and return labels are pay-on-use, so you are charged only when one is used. ## Good for - Small sellers and occasional shippers in the US who want no software fee - Etsy, eBay and Shopify sellers shipping with USPS or UPS - Subscription box and crowdfunding shippers printing labels from a spreadsheet ## Worth knowing - Only USPS and UPS are offered; there is no FedEx or DHL option. - Postage is the only cost. The "up to 88%" savings figure is Pirate Ship's own comparison with retail rates. - UPS discounts apply only to shipments that start in the US. - It runs in a web browser only; the site lists no mobile app, and support is by chat and email. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 3.0 out of 4**, graded Oct 18, 2026. Pirate Ship is the one to beat on price: the software is free, with unlimited users and no monthly fee or markup, and you pay only the postage. It imports orders from Shopify, Etsy, eBay and others and sends tracking emails you can customize. The catch is it's USPS and UPS only, with no FedEx or DHL, and it runs in a browser. - **Value for money: A.** The software costs $0, with unlimited users and no monthly fee, markup or minimum volume, so 200 parcels a month costs only the postage. Free and this substantial is an A in any category. - **Free plan and trial: A.** Free outright: every feature and unlimited users, with no paid plan to upgrade to. You pay each label's postage by card or PayPal, and return labels are charged only when used. - **Features: C.** Rates for every USPS and UPS service, batch labels from a spreadsheet or store, presets, custom tracking emails, reports, insurance and pay-on-use returns. The gap is carriers: no FedEx or DHL, and UPS discounts only for shipments from the US. - **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. You sign up free and can buy a label straight away, but for a shop the work is connecting the store and saving package presets, which is the ordinary setup here. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web only, with no mobile app listed, but orders come in from Shopify, Etsy, eBay, WooCommerce, Squarespace, BigCommerce, Square and Wix, or from CSV, Excel and ODS files. Web with integrations is a B. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Pirate Ship's own pages on 18 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among shipping software - Pirate Ship's GPA of 3.0 is higher than 9 of the 10 other shipping software we grade, and level with 1. - It stands best on value for money (A, above 9 of 10) and worst on features (C, above 0). - Pirate Ship has no paid plan. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4, and no tool on the category's chart scores higher without costing more. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/shipping ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** Pirate Ship is free, so making your own would save you nothing. And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 3.0 is higher than 9 of the 10 other shipping software we grade. - You could make: Reports: an app builder makes this well. - You could not: Discounted carrier rates and labels, which take an agreement with each carrier. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Shopify, Etsy and eBay among them. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Shopify, Etsy, eBay, WooCommerce, Squarespace, BigCommerce, Square, PayPal **Tags:** Shipping labels, Reports ## Alternatives - [Shippo](https://toolgpa.com/tools/shippo): Multi-carrier shipping app and API, priced by labels a month. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pirate-ship-vs-shippo) - [Stamps.com](https://toolgpa.com/tools/stamps-com): Print postage, stamps and discounted shipping labels from the office. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pirate-ship-vs-stamps-com) - [ShipStation](https://toolgpa.com/tools/shipstation): Shipping software for online sellers, priced by shipments a month. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pirate-ship-vs-shipstation) - [PitneyShip](https://toolgpa.com/tools/pitneyship): Pitney Bowes app for discounted labels, stamps and Certified Mail. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pirate-ship-vs-pitneyship) - [Easyship](https://toolgpa.com/tools/easyship): Shipping software with 550+ courier services and duty estimates. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/easyship-vs-pirate-ship) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 18, 2026: - https://www.pirateship.com/rates - https://www.pirateship.com/ - https://www.pirateship.com/features - https://www.pirateship.com/integrations/shipping Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/pirate-ship Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).