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 Paper Run: Two Done-for-You Direct Mail Services
PostPilot and Paper Run both sell direct mail as a service: a team plans your flows, designs the cards and reports on results. PostPilot publishes a price list and prints in its own plants. Paper Run does not publish pricing, assigns a strategist to every account and makes its fees refundable during a 60-day trial. Which one fits depends on where your customers are and how you want to buy.
Last updated: 26 September 2026. PostPilot facts checked against postpilot.com; Paper Run facts against paperrun.com. Terms change, so confirm them with each vendor.
Short answer: Pick PostPilot if you are a US brand that wants prospecting as well as retention, or you want to see prices before you talk to sales. Pick Paper Run if you mail the UK or Continental Europe, want enveloped letters or bi-folds as well as postcards, and prefer to test with a refundable trial. Both measure against holdouts. Neither mails Australia.
PostPilot vs Paper Run vs TouchDrop
| PostPilot | Paper Run | TouchDrop (AU) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service model | Software plus a team; managed service on Pro | Managed service for every customer | Self-serve software |
| Who runs it | Account manager and data science team on Pro | A dedicated Growth Marketing Strategist, weekly updates | Your own marketer |
| Creative | Monthly design on Growth, unlimited on Pro | Included in fees | Your artwork, per-recipient code and QR added |
| Pricing | Published: free, US$99/mo, US$499/mo, custom | Not published | Published AUD plans, GST included |
| Trial or commitment | No contracts, cancel any time | 60-day trial, fees refundable | No print minimums |
| Measurement | Holdout-tested incremental ROAS, in-app testing | Holdout by default, live dashboard, A/B tests | Per-recipient discount code and QR, 60-day window |
| Formats | 3 US postcard sizes, handwritten cards, Cardalog | Postcards, enveloped letters, bi-folds, catalogs | Postcards |
| Audience | Customers plus prospects (AcquisitionAI, SiteMatch, MailMatch) | Customers your email no longer reaches (its pitch) | Your existing customers |
| Markets | US and UK | UK, US and Continental Europe | Australia (plus UK and NL) |
How you buy each one
PostPilot prices in the open. Growth costs US$99 a month and pairs US 4x6 cards at 68 cents with built-for-you automations; Pro costs US$499 a month and adds the dedicated team. Card costs come out of a balance you top up, and PostPilot says there are no contracts, setup fees or minimums.
Paper Run does not publish prices. Its FAQ says fees include strategy and creative, that there is no rigid minimum (it suggests starting with at least one core audience or objective), and that fees are fully refundable during a 60-day trial.
How each one proves the mail worked
Paper Run's FAQ describes a holdout as its default method: a control group receives no mail, the test group does, and uplift in order conversion or revenue is measured against the control. PostPilot reports holdout-tested incremental ROAS in real-time dashboards, runs in-app incrementality testing, and tracks each Shopify customer who received a card for 60 days. Either approach answers the question a finance team will ask, which is how many of those orders would have happened anyway.
Where each one mails
- PostPilot: the US from its South Carolina and Arizona plants, and the UK from Erith in south-east London, where it offers A5 postcards for existing-customer campaigns and bills in USD.
- Paper Run: the UK, the US and Continental Europe, per its own FAQ, in formats from postcards to 4x6 enveloped letters, bi-folds and catalogs.
- Neither mentions Australia on its site.
The self-serve option for Australian customers
TouchDrop works differently from both: there is no account team. Your own marketer connects Shopify, Klaviyo or Omnisend, chooses a winback, abandoned-cart or post-purchase trigger and uploads artwork, and TouchDrop prints and lodges each card inside Australia via Australia Post, typically 3-7 business days. Every card carries a unique Shopify discount code and QR, and pricing is published in AUD with GST on the pricing guide. If you want a team to run the channel for you, TouchDrop is the wrong model.
Frequently asked questions
Is Paper Run cheaper than PostPilot?
There is no way to tell from their sites. PostPilot publishes its plans (Growth US$99 a month with US 4x6 cards at 68 cents, Pro US$499 a month). Paper Run does not publish pricing; its fees include strategy and creative, and its FAQ says they are fully refundable during a 60-day trial.
Which one measures incrementality better?
Both use holdouts. Paper Run makes a holdout its default: a control group gets no mail and uplift in orders or revenue is measured against it. PostPilot reports holdout-tested incremental ROAS and offers in-app incrementality testing alongside its dashboards.
Do PostPilot or Paper Run mail Australian customers?
Neither lists Australia. PostPilot prints in the US and London. Paper Run says it supports sending in the UK, the US and across Continental Europe. TouchDrop prints and lodges inside Australia via Australia Post, billed in AUD with GST.
How fast can each one launch?
Paper Run says most brands go live within two to three days, with its team handling integration setup and segmentation. PostPilot says it launches campaigns in days because it runs the whole process in-house.
Related reading
Run it yourself, in Australia.
Pre-built Shopify and Klaviyo flows, printed and lodged locally, priced in AUD.
Get started free