3PL companies compared: who takes a business your size, and what they charge

Our pick, per order volume

Two must-haves for every volume: a warehouse in the US, and a minimum your volume meets. Most 3PLs only quote, so few can be priced here.

Postage billed on top

• For 50 orders a month, 250 orders a month, 1,000 orders a month or 2,500 orders a month · must have a warehouse in your country, a minimum your volume meets

  Our pick

  Amplifier

  • 50 orders a month: $255 a month
  • 250 orders a month: $837 a month
  • 1,000 orders a month: $2,900 a month
  • 2,500 orders a month: $7,100 a month

  Visit Amplifier→

  Lowest cost, and it has a warehouse in your country and a minimum your volume meets.

  Why not the others?

  Left out: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) US, Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) US (fulfils only its own marketplace's orders); 4 others (delivery is included in its price).

  Missing a must-have: Fulfillrite, Shipfusion (misses: a minimum your volume meets).

  Can't confirm here (a must-have or the full price isn't published): Shopify Fulfillment Network (3PL partner directory), ShipBob, ShipMonk, Red Stag Fulfillment, ShipHero Fulfillment (now LVK), Rush Order Inc, eFulfillment Service (EFS), Saltbox, ShipNetwork, Stord (incl. former Ware2Go by UPS), Ryder E-commerce Fulfillment (formerly Whiplash), Easyship Fulfillment, ShipTop, Fulfillrite, Shipfusion.

How we picked

Pick and pack for single-item orders plus fixed monthly fees and minimums, before storage, receiving and postage, at regular-season rates. Our pick is the lowest cost option that has every must-have; within 10% of it, no contract, faster payouts and longer support hours win. Payment from a provider never changes it. How we pick

Delivery included in the price

• For 50 orders a month or 250 orders a month · must have a warehouse in your country, a minimum your volume meets

  Our pick

  Fulfyld

  • 50 orders a month: $399 a month
  • 250 orders a month: $1,995 a month

  Visit Fulfyld→

  Lowest cost, and it has a warehouse in your country and a minimum your volume meets.

  Why not the others?

  Left out: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) US, Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) US (fulfils only its own marketplace's orders); 17 others (postage is billed on top).

  Can't confirm here (a must-have or the full price isn't published): Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) US, Flexport eCommerce Fulfillment, Simpl Fulfillment.

• For 1,000 orders a month or 2,500 orders a month · must have a warehouse in your country, a minimum your volume meets

  Our pick

  None with a full price

  No option publishes every must-have with a full price.

  Lowest cost: Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) US

  • 1,000 orders a month: $8,456 a month
  • 2,500 orders a month: $21,140 a month

  Cheapest overall. It doesn't publish whether it meets this must-have: a minimum your volume meets.

  Visit Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) US→
  Why not the others?

  Left out: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) US, Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) US (fulfils only its own marketplace's orders); 17 others (postage is billed on top).

  Can't confirm here (a must-have or the full price isn't published): Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) US, Flexport eCommerce Fulfillment, Simpl Fulfillment, Fulfyld.

How we picked

The fulfillment fee with delivery included, for single-item orders (8+ to 12 oz package), plus fixed monthly fees and minimums, before storage and receiving, at regular-season rates. Our pick is the lowest cost option that has every must-have; within 10% of it, no contract, faster payouts and longer support hours win. Payment from a provider never changes it. How we pick

Just starting: what your first year costs

A new store needs more than a low per-order fee: a minimum it can meet, a setup fee it can see before signing, a per-order fee it doesn’t have to request, and no long contract while sales are still uncertain. The totals here cover the first year: 12 months plus the setup fee.

Do you need a 3PL yet?

A 3PL replaces your packing time and supplies, not your postage: with most 3PLs you still pay for every label, unless the price includes delivery. So compare what a 3PL charges per order with what packing costs you now. At 30 orders a month, the cheapest 3PL that publishes every per-order fee, Amplifier, comes to $193 a month, $6.43 an order before postage. If your box, mailer, tape and time come to less than that per order, packing yourself still costs less.

What a monthly minimum means at low volume

A minimum or fixed monthly fee is billed even in a slow month, so at low volume it can cost more per order than the work itself. The lowest published floor, Amplifier's, adds $3.33 to each order at 30 orders a month; the highest, Flexport eCommerce Fulfillment's, adds $166.67.

Who takes a store doing about 30 orders a month

From published minimums only: Flexport eCommerce Fulfillment, ShipMonk, eFulfillment Service (EFS), Simpl Fulfillment, Amplifier, ShipCalm and Fulfyld state no order minimum, a minimum at or below it, or a minimum in dollars. Fulfillrite (250+) and Shipfusion (2,000+) state a higher order floor. The other 12 don't state a minimum either way, so ask.

How to read a 3PL’s fees

3PLs bill in pieces. New to 3PLs? Start with what a 3PL is and every fee it can bill. Expect some mix of these:

• Pick and pack: a fee per order, often plus a fee per extra item. Amplifier and ShipCalm charge their item fee on every item, the first one included. See every published pick and pack fee side by side, or what the whole order costs once you add the platform’s cut, card fees and the label.
• Storage: by bin, shelf, pallet or cubic foot, monthly or weekly. A pallet runs from $30 a month at Amplifier to $40 at ShipBob, on their own rate cards.
• Receiving: by the hour, the carton, the pallet or the delivery. ShipBob’s first 2 hours per receiving order cost $40.
• Monthly floors: a minimum bill, an account fee or a platform fee, charged even in a slow month.
• Postage: passed through at the provider’s carrier rates, unless the price says delivery is included (Amazon MCF, Walmart WFS, Fulfyld, Simpl Fulfillment).

Already keep stock at Amazon? Amazon MCF vs a 3PL compares its delivery-included fee per order with a 3PL’s fee plus the label, by package weight. Weighing up ShipBob? See ShipBob alternatives for the 3PLs that publish their per-order fees.

Selling on TikTok Shop? TikTok runs its own fulfillment service with a published per-unit rate card. TikTok Shop fulfillment covers what it costs and which 3PLs connect to it.

Before you sign: contracts and leaving

Exit terms matter as much as the rate. From each provider’s own pages:

• ShipBob: No fixed term in the public ToS; merchant may terminate any time with no balance owing. Leaving: Not published.
• ShipMonk: Account can be closed for any reason with 30 days' written notice. Leaving: Remaining inventory shipped back at the client's expense.
• Red Stag Fulfillment: Month-to-month or long-term, client's choice.
• ShipHero Fulfillment (now LVK): Initial term per agreement, then auto-renews for 1-year terms unless 30 days' notice. Leaving: 90 days' notice 'with penalty fee outlined in signed agreement' plus USD 45/hr removal labor.
• eFulfillment Service (EFS): No long-term contracts.
• Fulfillrite: Month-to-month, 30-day minimum commitment. Leaving: No early-termination fee; 30 days' notice.
• Amplifier: No commitment (standard plan).
• ShipCalm: Month to month. Leaving: 90-day notice period; the platform fee keeps being charged while inventory remains on site.
• Fulfyld: No long-term contracts.
• Saltbox: Month to month.
• ShipTop: 30 days, renewing every 30 days; either side can end it on 1 day's written notice. Leaving: collect your stock within 7 calendar days at your own cost, or ShipTop may sell or dispose of it without notice.

Providers not listed here publish no contract terms. Ask for the notice period and any exit fee in writing before you send stock.

3PL warehouse: where your stock sits

A warehouse closer to your customers means fewer shipping zones and cheaper, faster labels. Big networks like Stord (over 80 facilities, counting partners) and ShipBob (50+ locations worldwide) spread stock across many sites. Smaller 3PLs often run one site: Simpl Fulfillment (Austin, TX), eFulfillment Service (Traverse City, MI) and Fulfyld (Madison, AL). One well-placed warehouse is often enough under a few hundred orders a month.

Still packing orders yourself?

At low volume, packing orders yourself with discounted labels can still cost less than any 3PL minimum. See what shipping costs for a small business and shipping software. When you’re ready to hand it off, start with 3PLs that take small businesses.