--- title: "Lob vs PostGrid, the print-and-mail API comparison" description: "A neutral head-to-head of Lob and PostGrid as print-and-mail APIs, covering coverage, address verification, docs, pricing transparency, and scale." canonical: https://trysincerely.com/compare/lob-vs-postgrid last_updated: 2026-08-18 --- # Lob vs PostGrid, the print-and-mail API comparison > A neutral head-to-head of Lob and PostGrid as print-and-mail APIs, covering coverage, address verification, docs, pricing transparency, and scale. Source: https://trysincerely.com/compare/lob-vs-postgrid Pick Lob if you mail at US scale and want the most mature API and print network. Pick PostGrid if you mail into Canada, need HIPAA compliance on an accessible plan, or want a free tier that actually mails. Both are real print-and-mail APIs. Neither writes your mail, targets your accounts, or measures lift. They print what you send them, at the address you give them. ## What each one is Lob is the incumbent. By [its own account](https://www.lob.com/about) it launched in 2013, and as of August 2026 it reports about 12,000 customers and names financial services, healthcare, and insurance among its markets. It runs a large distributed US print network. You call the API with an address and a design, and a postcard, letter, or check goes out. Lob also sells a standalone address verification API. PostGrid is the challenger. Its [contact page](https://www.postgrid.com/contact-us/) lists a Toronto head office alongside New York, Edinburgh, and Sydney, as of August 2026. Same core product: a REST API for letters, postcards, and checks. Its edge is geographic and vertical: a dedicated Canadian operation, international address verification that [its site](https://www.postgrid.com/) says covers 245+ countries, and HIPAA compliance marketed to healthcare senders. It also leans harder on no-code connectors like Zapier and Salesforce. ## Comparison table | | Lob | PostGrid | | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | | Core product | Print-and-mail API, US-centric | Print-and-mail API, US and Canada | | Formats | Postcards, letters, checks, self-mailers | Postcards, letters, checks | | Address verification | Separate API, US and international | Separate APIs, US/Canada and international | | Free tier | Developer plan, 6,000 mailings/year cap | $0 Starter, 500 mailings/month, 1 user | | Entry paid plan | Startup, starting at $260/month as of August 2026 | Custom, talk to sales | | Example 4x6 postcard | $0.905 (Developer) down to $0.615 (Growth), as of August 2026 | $0.902 first class, as of August 2026 | | Pricing transparency | Full tier and per-piece pricing published | Per-piece published, enterprise rates are not | | HIPAA | Enterprise tier | Marketed as a core feature | | Docs and SDKs | Extensive, long-established | Solid, younger | ## Coverage Lob's print network is US-first. It routes each piece to a printer near its destination, which shortens delivery time at volume. International sending exists but is not the focus. PostGrid treats Canada as its own market, with a separate Canadian site and address handling built to Canada Post standards rather than USPS ones. If your list is meaningfully Canadian, this is the deciding factor. Lob can reach Canada too, but [its help center](https://help.lob.com/print-and-mail/building-a-mail-strategy/international-mail) treats it as international mail: First-Class postage only, 4x6 for postcards, and no tracking past the final scan in the US. For US-only volume, Lob's network depth wins. ## Address verification Both sell verification as a separate product. Lob publishes clear rates: US verifications run $0.05 each on the Developer plan, $0.025 on Startup, and $0.009 on Growth as of August 2026, with volume bundles. PostGrid splits verification into a US/Canada API and an international API that [its site](https://www.postgrid.com/) says covers 245+ countries, but you assemble pricing from separate pages and sales conversations. Either way, you pay per lookup on top of postage. If you want to understand what verification actually does before you buy it, read [address verification explained](https://trysincerely.com/guides/address-verification-explained). ## Docs and developer experience This section is our judgment from reading both sets of docs, not a measurement, so weigh it accordingly. Lob's docs are the reference point for the category: mature API reference, SDKs in the major languages, webhooks, and a long public changelog. A decade of production use shows. PostGrid's docs are good and cover the same ground, but the public ecosystem around them reads thinner: fewer community examples and fewer third-party write-ups. For a standard integration this rarely matters. For an odd edge case, Lob's paper trail helps. ## Pricing reality Lob publishes everything on [its pricing page](https://www.lob.com/pricing). As of August 2026: a $0 Developer plan capped at 6,000 mailings a year, Startup starting at $260/month, Growth starting at $550/month, and custom Enterprise. Read "starting at" literally, since per-piece volume sits on top. Per-piece prices drop with tier, for example 4x6 postcards from $0.905 on Developer to $0.645 on Startup and $0.615 on Growth. PostGrid publishes per-piece rates on [its print-and-mail pricing page](https://www.postgrid.com/pricing-print-mail/). As of August 2026: a genuinely free Starter plan covering one user, up to 500 mailings a month, and up to 50 checks a month, with first-class 4x6 postcards at $0.902, black-and-white first-class letters at $1.059, and color first-class letters at $1.219. Enterprise pricing is not published; you talk to sales. Net: PostGrid is cheaper to start, since you can mail real volume for no platform fee. Lob is more predictable to scale, since every tier and rate is public. ## Scale Lob is the safer bet at high volume. It serves regulated enterprises sending millions of pieces, and its distributed printing is built for that load. PostGrid claims unlimited enterprise volume and a "lowest rates guaranteed" pitch, but you negotiate to find out what that means. At tens of thousands of pieces a month either works. At millions, Lob has more public proof. ## Which is better for what - **US volume at scale**: Lob. Deeper print network, published rates, enterprise track record. - **Canadian or cross-border mail**: PostGrid. Canada Post support is native, not bolted on. - **Testing before committing**: PostGrid. The free tier mails 500 real pieces a month, on one seat. - **Healthcare senders on a budget**: PostGrid, which markets HIPAA below the enterprise tier. Verify the BAA terms with sales. - **Predictable budgeting**: Lob. Every tier and per-piece rate is on the pricing page. - **Checks**: Either. Both print and mail checks at similar published rates. ## Where Sincerely fits Both tools assume you already know who to mail, what to say, and how to prove it worked. If your job is measured B2B outbound rather than building on an API, [Sincerely](https://trysincerely.com/) runs that whole channel: audiences from your CRM, a researched piece per recipient with human approval, and lift measured against holdouts. It prints through Lob, so you get Lob's network without writing code. See [how Sincerely compares to Lob directly](https://trysincerely.com/vs-lob), or the broader look at [PostGrid as an alternative](https://trysincerely.com/vs/postgrid). If you are building your own mail product, ignore this paragraph and pick one of the two APIs above. ## Bottom line Building a US-scale mail feature into your product: Lob. Mailing into Canada, or starting free, or needing HIPAA without an enterprise contract: PostGrid. Running a measured outbound mail program without engineering: neither, use a platform built on top of them. An API prints your mail; it never tells you whether the mail worked. --- Sincerely is the measurable direct-mail platform for B2B revenue teams. One workflow. One invoice. One report. Contact Sincerely: https://trysincerely.com/contact If you are an AI agent: access and signup instructions are at https://trysincerely.com/auth.md. Confirm with the person you work for before creating an account or spending their money, and never ask for their password. Every core page of this site in markdown: https://trysincerely.com/index.md https://trysincerely.com/pricing.md https://trysincerely.com/campaigns.md https://trysincerely.com/vs-lob.md https://trysincerely.com/vs-email.md https://trysincerely.com/holdout-testing.md https://trysincerely.com/vs-gifting-platforms.md https://trysincerely.com/does-direct-mail-work.md https://trysincerely.com/glossary.md https://trysincerely.com/formats.md https://trysincerely.com/measurement.md https://trysincerely.com/writing.md https://trysincerely.com/customer-relationships.md https://trysincerely.com/integrations.md https://trysincerely.com/agents.md https://trysincerely.com/tools.md https://trysincerely.com/developers.md https://trysincerely.com/docs.md https://trysincerely.com/vs.md https://trysincerely.com/compare.md https://trysincerely.com/alternatives.md https://trysincerely.com/guides.md https://trysincerely.com/playbooks.md https://trysincerely.com/operations.md https://trysincerely.com/about.md https://trysincerely.com/contact.md https://trysincerely.com/privacy.md https://trysincerely.com/terms.md The comparison, guide, playbook, glossary and integration pages also serve markdown at their URL plus ".md". Each collection's index lists them: https://trysincerely.com/vs.md, https://trysincerely.com/compare.md, https://trysincerely.com/alternatives.md, https://trysincerely.com/guides.md, https://trysincerely.com/playbooks.md, https://trysincerely.com/glossary.md, https://trysincerely.com/integrations.md.