Shipping software: ShipStation, ShipHero, or build your own?

ShipStation

Best for the under-2,000-orders-per-month brand. Simple UI, every major channel out of the box, rate-shopping on most carrier accounts. Above 5K orders, the per-order cost climbs faster than the value.

ShipHero / 3PL WMS

Better at scale (5K–50K monthly orders), built-in WMS, picking flows, returns. Real overhead to set up; works best when your 3PL handles the implementation.

Build your own

Worth it above 50K orders/month with a steady engineering team — and only then. Below that, the engineering burn is more expensive than the SaaS bill.