ShipStation and ShipHero are two major eCommerce shipping and fulfillment platforms that get the most buzz in today’s commercial market niches globally. Both provide unprecedented order management opportunities that help companies streamline their eCommerce activity and get higher sales rates. But while reports rate both solutions almost equally, it is important to understand these platforms fit certain types of businesses better than others. Moreover, there are more underlying aspects based on which you should make the final decision.
To make your life easier, we have composed this brief ShipHero vs ShipStation comparison to give you a clearer idea of which solution should fit your eCommerce best. Further on, we also highlight some alternative solutions that are worth mentioning.
Market Segments
As much as both platforms are focused on eCommerce fulfillment, inventory management, and shipping, one may fit better based on the scope of your business.
ShipHero
ShipHero packs a wide range of enterprise features and tools that may efficiently help large companies handle eCommerce business tasks as well as 3PL operations. Two factors indicate this – the platform’s per user monthly plan and support for up to 500 depending on the company’s budget. And the budget plays quite a significant role when you compare ShipStation to ShipHero. However, there is a free version of ShipHero that ShipStation lacks, which rigs the weights a bit.
ShipStation
This platform has a per feature monthly plan, which means that it can come in quite cost-efficient for smaller businesses (e.g., companies that house up to 50 employees). You can pay only for the features you need, avoiding any extra or hidden costs. And you can scale based on your growing budget capabilities, enabling more features and tools over time.
Summary
Both platforms have a free trial opportunity for businesses of different scales to try them out and pick what fits best before purchasing. And while ShipStation is more affordable to small companies, ShipHero can fit them too, at least with its free version offering. However, you still will be able to save more while getting exactly the capacities you need with its competitor.
Result
When it comes to ShipHero vs ShipStation comparison in terms of market segments:
- ShipHero is best for bigger enterprises, packing up to 500 people;
- ShipStation perfectly fits smaller businesses of up to 50 people.
Price
As we already mentioned in the above section, the major difference between ShipHero and ShipStation platforms is their pricing plans. While the total price of using ShipHero depends on how many people will be using it in total, ShipStation’s pricing is bound to the number of features unlocked.
ShipHero
This ShipStation competitor costs a pretty penny, even if only several employees are to use it. The official ShipHero pricing right now is $1,850 per user per month. However, keep in mind that there is also a free trial and a free version available for demonstration and basic toolset use.
ShipStation
Alternatively, ShipStation is quite affordable and offers dynamic pricing that may grow in tune with your business scaling and budget accumulation. The ShipStation pricing right now is $9 per feature per month. And you will need to have a real appetite for features if you wish to go over a thousand bucks mark (which is pretty impossible). There is a free trial, but there is no free version of the platform due to obvious dynamic pricing reasons.
Summary
When all is said and done about ShipHero vs ShipStation in terms of pricing, ShipHero definitely comes in more expensive, especially if you are looking to involve a number of users in its operation. This is why it is better considered by established enterprises. On the other hand, ShipStation should be a reasonable choice for a growing company.
Result
- ShipHero – more expensive, but more complete;
- ShipStation – affordable, but requires expansion.
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Deployment
The major value of an eCommerce fulfillment platform is in its universality of deployment. I.e., the supported range of operational environments, or, in simpler words, the number of OSs and platforms the software can be installed on.
ShipHero
When we compare ShipStation and ShipHero in terms of deployment opportunities, we can see almost the same number of compatible platforms and environments. ALMOST. It may come as a surprise for many, but ShipHero doesn’t support Android. This means that the ShipHero mobile app can only be used by iPhone or iPad owners, which may spawn certain difficulties and extra costs for some companies.
ShipStation
The extent of ShipStation integration and installation opportunities equals that of ShipHero’s, yet it supports Android out-of-the-box. This can be a major ShipStation competition booster as many small businesses would prefer to employ more versatile and cost-efficient platforms (like Android).
Summary
Both platforms support the following list of operational environments:
- Web
- Cloud
- SaaS
- Windows desktop
- Mac desktop
- iOS phones and tablets
With the exception that ShipStation also easily supports Android phones and tablets, which makes it a more versatile choice. Mind that neither solution supports Linux and Chromebook desktops as well as Windows and Linus on-premise environments.
Result
ShipStation supports one platform more…
