Disclosure: this page is published by TouchDrop, which offers a competing direct mail product. Competitor facts are checked against each vendor's own live pages.
PostPilot vs Lob for Ecommerce Direct Mail
PostPilot and Lob both put a printed card in a US letterbox. PostPilot sells the whole programme: software, a team that builds your flows, and its own print plants. Lob sells infrastructure, an API and routing network your developers build on. So the choice comes down to who does the work, and what each option costs at your volume.
Last updated: 26 September 2026. PostPilot facts checked against postpilot.com and its Shopify App Store listing; Lob facts against lob.com and Lob's help centre. Prices change, so confirm them on each vendor's site.
Short answer: PostPilot suits a US Shopify brand that wants direct mail run for it, prospecting included. Lob suits a company with engineers that sends operational mail (letters, cheques, statements) alongside marketing, or needs HIPAA-compliant mailing. On published US rates the two cost about the same per month at mid volume; the difference is who builds the triggers. Neither prints inside Australia.
Five questions that decide it
- Who will build and run the flows? PostPilot's Growth plan includes built-for-you winback and retargeting automations, a kickoff strategy call and monthly design. With Lob, your team wires every trigger to the API, and Lob's own Zapier guide says Zapier suits small-scale sending and is no replacement for a proper integration at hundreds or thousands of pieces.
- Do you want new customers or only returning ones? PostPilot sells prospecting: AcquisitionAI lookalike audiences (its FAQ recommends 20,000 recipients and accepts 5,000), SiteMatch visitor retargeting and MailMatch address matching. With Lob, you supply every address you mail.
- What else goes in the post? Lob prints letters and cheques as well as postcards, and offers HIPAA-compliant mailing on its Enterprise tier. PostPilot stays with marketing formats: three US postcard sizes, robot-handwritten cards and its trifold Cardalog.
- How will you prove it worked? PostPilot reports holdout-tested incremental ROAS and tracks each Shopify customer who received a card for 60 days. Lob gives you in-transit tracking and an analytics dashboard; tying a delivered card to a Shopify order is your build.
- Where do your customers live? Both are US-centred. PostPilot also mails the UK from its plant in Erith, south-east London (A5 postcards, existing-customer campaigns for now). Lob sends abroad from the US by First Class Mail.
What US postcards cost each month at list price
Arithmetic on each vendor's published US rates, postage included, monthly billing, before tax. PostPilot's Growth plan is US$99 a month with 4x6 cards at 68 cents. Lob's Developer plan is free up to 6,000 mailings a year with postcards starting at 90.5 cents; above that, the Startup plan is US$260 a month with postcards starting at 64.5 cents. Lob's figures use its lowest published postcard rate on each plan.
| Volume | PostPilot Growth | Lob |
|---|---|---|
| 250 a month (3,000 a year) | US$99 + 250 x 68c = US$269 | Developer: US$0 + 250 x 90.5c = US$226 |
| 1,000 a month (12,000 a year) | US$99 + 1,000 x 68c = US$779 | Startup: US$260 + 1,000 x 64.5c = US$905 |
| 5,000 a month (60,000 a year) | US$99 + 5,000 x 68c = US$3,499 | Startup: US$260 + 5,000 x 64.5c = US$3,485 |
Lob's column excludes the developer time to build and maintain triggers. PostPilot's Pro plan (US$499 a month, cards 64 cents or less by volume) buys a dedicated account team rather than a cheaper card at these volumes.
PostPilot vs Lob vs TouchDrop
| PostPilot | Lob | TouchDrop (AU) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you buy | A managed marketing-mail platform with a strategy and design team | A print-and-mail API with campaign tools | A self-serve Shopify postcard platform |
| Who builds the flows | PostPilot (built-for-you automations on Growth) | Your developers or ops team | You, from pre-built triggers |
| Shopify | Native app, 4.9 stars from 176 reviews | Address Cleanser app for address checks; mail goes through the API | Native event triggers |
| Klaviyo | Native list and segment sync (Premier Tech Partner) | Klaviyo Flow webhook to Lob's API | Native segment sync |
| Formats | Postcards in 3 US sizes, robot-handwritten cards, Cardalogs | Postcards, letters, cheques; custom envelopes on Enterprise | Marketing postcards |
| Printing | Its own plants in South Carolina, Arizona and London | A nationwide US Print Delivery Network | Printed and lodged inside Australia |
| Currency | USD | USD | AUD, GST included |
If your customers are in Australia
Lob's help centre spells out what international mail from the US involves: USPS First Class only, 4x6 postcards only, an extra 5-7 business days, a US return address on every piece, and tracking that ends at the last US scan. PostPilot does not mention Australia on its pricing or FAQ pages. TouchDrop is the Australian option in this comparison: Shopify, Klaviyo and Omnisend triggers, a unique Shopify discount code and QR on every card, printed and lodged inside Australia via Australia Post and billed in AUD with GST. It sends postcards only, with no prospecting audiences and no letters or cheques.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, PostPilot or Lob?
At published list rates it depends on volume. For 250 US postcards a month, Lob's Developer plan comes to about US$226 and PostPilot's Growth plan to about US$269. At 1,000 a month, Lob needs its Startup plan and comes to about US$905 against PostPilot Growth at about US$779. At 5,000 a month the two land within US$15 of each other. Lob's figures leave out the engineering time to build triggers, which PostPilot includes. Prices checked 26 September 2026, in USD.
Can I use Lob with Klaviyo the way PostPilot works with Klaviyo?
You can trigger Lob from Klaviyo, but you build the connection. Lob's help centre documents a Klaviyo Flow webhook that posts to Lob's postcards endpoint with a Base64-encoded API key, and notes that Klaviyo does not require mailing addresses on profiles by default. PostPilot syncs Klaviyo lists and segments natively and describes itself as the only direct mail company with Klaviyo Premier Tech Partner status.
Does PostPilot or Lob mail Australian customers from inside Australia?
Neither says so. PostPilot prints in South Carolina, Arizona and London and its site does not mention Australia. Lob sends international mail from the US by USPS First Class, 4x6 postcards only, with an extra 5-7 business days in transit. TouchDrop prints and lodges inside Australia via Australia Post, typically 3-7 business days.
Does either platform lock you into a contract?
PostPilot advertises no contracts, setup fees or minimums, and says you can change or cancel a plan at any time; card costs come out of a balance you top up. Lob's Developer plan has no subscription fee, and its FAQ says you can upgrade, downgrade or drop back to the free Developer plan from the dashboard.
Related reading
Mailing Australians instead?
Shopify-native postcard flows, printed and lodged in Australia, billed in AUD.
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