AfterShip vs Sendcloud

AfterShip is a post-purchase platform for ecommerce brands, started in Hong Kong around 2011 to 2012 by Teddy Chan, Andrew Chan and Dante Tsang after Teddy built a script to cut where-is-my-order emails in his own store. It raised a $66M Series B led by Tiger Global in 2021. Its core job is keeping shoppers informed after checkout and reducing support tickets about deliveries, returns and delays.

The suite is sold as separate products: Tracking (branded tracking pages, delivery notifications, estimated delivery dates and analytics across 1,300+ carriers), Returns (self-serve returns and exchanges), Shipping (label printing and rate comparison), Protection (shipping insurance), plus personalization and warranty tools. AI features and an MCP server give assistants read access to shipment and return data. Each product has its own tiers, and the Shopify App Store versions are priced differently from direct plans.

AfterShip fits Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce brands that ship thousands of orders a year and want to turn tracking emails and pages into a marketing channel. Brands mainly needing cheap labels should look at Shippo, Easyship or ShipStation, and EU merchants often pick Sendcloud.

Buying tip: in mid-2026 AfterShip cut its direct Tracking plans from four to three, renamed Pro to Premium at $59 a month billed yearly, and moved to annual shipment quotas (6,000 a year on both paid tiers). API and webhooks start on Premium. On Shopify, compare the app's own plans, which include a free tier for 50 shipments a month.

Sendcloud is a shipping automation platform founded in 2012 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and one of the most widely used shipping tools for European e-commerce. It connects online stores with a large network of carriers, including PostNL, DHL, DPD, UPS, Colissimo, GLS and many national postal services, so merchants can create labels, track parcels and manage returns from one dashboard.

Orders flow in from Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Shopware, Lightspeed, Amazon and other channels, and shipping rules automatically pick the carrier, service and packaging based on weight, destination or product. Labels print in bulk, packing slips and customs documents are generated for non-EU shipments, and pick and pack features help small warehouses work faster. Customers see branded tracking pages and emails, can choose delivery options such as service points and time slots at checkout, and use a self-service returns portal that the merchant controls with return rules and fees. Sendcloud also offers discounted carrier rates or lets merchants use their own contracts. A free plan covers up to 20 parcels a month; Lite, Growth, Premium and Pro add a monthly fee, a per-label fee and more automation.

Sendcloud suits webshops of every size selling in and from Europe, especially those shipping to several countries with multiple carriers. It is less relevant for US-only sellers, where ShipStation or Pirate Ship fit better. Easyship is stronger on global landed cost and duties, while Shippo and ShipStation compete for multi-carrier label printing outside Europe.