“Cheapest” depends on scope
Compare current subscription, order allowance, overage, users, warehouses, connectors, onboarding, migration, support and required third-party services. A free or low entry tier can still be unsuitable if it omits a required workflow — and a platform that omits a workflow is not cheap, it is just billed to your staff instead.
Order caps and overage, in pence
This is the part most comparisons skip, and it is the part that decides what a good month costs. Our published figures:
| Plan | Monthly | Orders included | Above allowance | Annual prepay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | £99.99 | 1,000 | 5p/order | £1,080 |
| Growth | £299.99 | 5,000 | 5p/order | £3,240 |
| Scale | from £499 | up to 15,000 | from 5p/order | from £5,389 |
Worked examples on Starter, at 5p per order above the 1,000-order allowance:
- 800 orders — £99.99, no overage.
- 1,400 orders — £99.99 plus £20, so £119.99.
- 2,500 orders in a peak month — £99.99 plus £75, so £174.99. No forced upgrade and no suspension.
- 5,000 orders — Starter plus overage reaches £299.99, the same as Growth, so that is the point to move up.
Published overage terms: 5p/order on Starter and Growth; Scale volume overage from 5p/order. Standard pricing is £149.99, £499.99 and from £999 per month.
Use current vendor evidence
Enter prices from each vendor's current public page or written quote. Do not rely on this article for competitor prices. Date the evidence and model the same order, user and channel assumptions for every option. If a vendor will not give you a pence-per-order figure, note that as an answer rather than a gap.
When free is genuinely the right answer
If Amazon is your centre of gravity, you ship parcels from one location, and your channels are Amazon and eBay, a free platform is a rational choice and we would rather say so. The honest comparison is not £0 against £99.99; it is £0 plus your hours against £99.99 plus fewer of them. See the free-versus-paid question in full.
Make a fit decision
Verify channel records, warehouse scope, parcel rules, carrier eligibility, accounting direction, hosting regions and migration controls. Standard Starter and Growth onboarding is included; complex Scale or Enterprise migration is quoted after discovery. The B2B portal belongs in Growth and above. MaxInvent is not presented as universally cheapest; use your own requirements and current quotes.
Next: the six hidden cost lines and the full contract terms.