TL;DR
If you ship 50-500 shipments monthly, ShipStation now requires the $100/month plan for API key access. But there are alternatives.
Contents
5/15/25 Update
ShipStation is rolling out this requirement for some users earlier than they claimed in the announcement. Given this fact, and the difficulty it’s causing for developers and customers, I’m not sure I recommend staying with ShipStation if you can help it.
The announcement one month before the change
ShipStation announced by email on 4/25/25 that API access requires a higher tier plan starting 5/25/25:
If you connect ShipStation to other services, like ShipAware, or warehouse management/inventory software, your subscription cost increases from $30 to $100. This assumes you’re like most small businesses with 50-500 shipments monthly.
Price increase judgments aside, it’s likely a strategic move to persuade customers to use ShipStation’s own add-on solutions for inventory, dropshipping, etc. instead of using external solutions that require API keys.
Alternatives
Shippo – It may not have all of the features, but it’s worth trying. Integrates with ShipAware.
EasyShip – Sick interface. This seems to integrate better with Shopify. Integrates with ShipAware.
Shopify – You can ship directly from their platform. Integrates with ShipAware.
PirateShip – There’s no public API so it doesn’t integrate with ShipAware or other software. But it’s great if you only ship a handful of orders.
What should you do?
If you’re already increasing prices due to tariffs, this increase is easily absorbed.
However, if this increase doesn’t coincide with your product price increases, and you have time to learn new software, try an alternative.
ShipStation has steadily increased costs, such as charging for using your own carriers. Each time, there’s an outcry from the userbase. The majority of users likely stayed because ShipStation was better than the alternatives.
I have a small business that ships products (why I made ShipAware). I’ll upgrade to ShipStation’s $100 plan. Why? The cost of switching is too high. There are process changes, muxing around with product data that didn’t import correctly, and learning quirks of a new interface.
If you know of an alternative with similar features and a relatively painless changeover, let me know and I’ll add it to the list.