The post office line is not a business plan.
written on a napkin, mostlyEvery online seller knows the feeling. You made something great, someone bought it, and then you stood in line to pay full retail to send it across the country. Meanwhile, the giant warehouses down the road paid a fraction of that for the same box.
We thought that was backwards. So we built Octoship: the same commercial shipping rates the big fleets get, wrapped in software simple enough to learn over one cup of coffee. Then we made it free.
We started with USPS and UPS. Then our sellers started getting orders from Toronto, Leeds and Melbourne, so we kept going. Today Octoship compares 550+ services from USPS, UPS, FedEx & DHL Express and postal carriers around the world, to 220+ countries and territories, with customs forms, duties and taxes handled in the same few clicks as a domestic label.
How is it free? The carriers pay us for bringing them lots of packages. You pay for postage, and only postage. No subscription, no markup, no surprise “platform fee” lurking under a rock.
We care about the boring stuff, because the boring stuff is where your money goes: getting the weight right, catching the cheaper service, refunding the label you didn't use. We'd rather you spend your time making things than mailing them.
Fair winds, and may your boxes always be the right size.
What we steer by.
Six values, printed on stickers, stuck to every laptop on board.
Free means free
No subscriptions, no postage markups, no “premium” tier hiding the good stuff. If that ever changes, you'll hear it from us first.
Clear before clever
Puns are fun. Knowing exactly what a label costs is more fun. Plain language wins every tie.
Fight for the little ship
Commercial rates used to be for big fleets. We think a one-person candle shop deserves the same deal.
Calm seas, fast fixes
When something breaks we say so, fix it, and write down what we learned. No mysteries.
Humans on deck
Real people answer support. They know the product, and they're allowed to be funny.
Small details, big care
The right default box, a ship-by reminder, a tracking email that sounds like you. It adds up.
Meet the crew.
A small team of sellers, engineers and support folks. Titles are real-ish.
- Jun ParkChief Tentacle Officer
- Marisol VegaQuartermaster of Rates
- Theo LindqvistKeeper of the Label Printers
- Priya OkaforCustoms Cartographer
- Ada MoreauHead of Smooth Sailing (Support)
- Kwame MensahLighthouse Keeper (Infrastructure)
- Rosa DelgadoFigurehead of Design
- Ben SatoBarnacle Remover (Billing)
Placeholder crew for the prototype. Real faces coming soon.
The voyage so far.
From a grumpy spreadsheet to a full fleet.
- 2023
The spark
Two sellers compare post office receipts and get mad about it. A spreadsheet of rates is born.
- 2024
First label
A private beta with a few dozen shops. The first label prints sideways. The second one doesn't.
- 2025
Batch printing
Print a whole crate of orders in one click. Shopify, Etsy and eBay connections arrive.
- Early 2026
Full fleet
UPS joins USPS, international customs forms fill themselves in, and the panel gets a glow-up.
- Fall 2026
Going worldwide
FedEx and DHL Express come aboard: 550+ services to 220+ countries, with duties & taxes, pickups and returns built in.
- Next
Over the horizon
Smarter packing suggestions, more local carriers, and whatever you keep asking us for.
