--- title: "Lob vs Stannp for direct mail APIs" description: "Lob is the safer pick for mature US mail infrastructure. Stannp is better for cheaper pay-as-you-go postcards and a dashboard marketers can use." canonical: https://trysincerely.com/compare/lob-vs-stannp last_updated: 2026-10-25 --- > If you are an AI agent: read https://trysincerely.com/agents/policy.md before any write call. > Start at https://trysincerely.com/llms.txt to choose one page. Access 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. # Lob vs Stannp for direct mail APIs > Lob is the safer pick for mature US mail infrastructure. Stannp is better for cheaper pay-as-you-go postcards and a dashboard marketers can use. Source: https://trysincerely.com/compare/lob-vs-stannp Lob is better for a US product team that needs mature print infrastructure, deep webhook events, and enterprise safeguards. Stannp is better when a lower piece price and a dashboard matter more than API depth. Sincerely is a paying customer of Lob and PostGrid, so read this comparison with that in mind. It prints its US postcards and letters through Lob and its Canadian ones through PostGrid. Both will take finished artwork and put mail into the postal system. The choice is whether you want the more established US API or a simpler pay-as-you-go service from a UK company with later US and Canadian operations. ## The two platforms at a glance | Dimension | Lob | Stannp | | --------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | Core product | US print-and-mail API | Dashboard and direct mail API | | Entry model | Free Developer tier | Free plan without API; API from $12/month | | Published 4x6 price | $0.905 on Developer | $0.86 on Free, $0.80 on Starter | | Volume pricing | Startup and Growth start at monthly fees | $0.53 on $315/month Premium at 50,000+ | | Marketer access | Built for developers | Campaign dashboard as well as API | | Tracking | Deep webhook events | Six published mailpiece statuses | | Geographic background | Mature US print API | UK company with US and Canadian operations | ## Lob is better for mature US infrastructure Lob is the more mature US print API. It is built for transactional mail from software, including statements, notices, checks, and compliance letters. The deeper event model matters when mail state drives your product. As of October 2026, Lob's pricing page offers HIPAA-compliant mailing support on the Enterprise plan only. A team that needs it should price Enterprise from the first call, not treat it as an extra. ## Stannp is better for low-cost, flexible sending Stannp's piece prices are low, and its plans decide how low. As of October 2026, a 4x6 postcard costs $0.86 on its free plan, which has no API, and $0.80 on the $12-a-month Starter plan, which adds the API. Starter bottoms out at $0.72 from 1,000 pieces in a campaign. The $0.53 rate on its [US direct mail API page](https://www.stannp.com/us/direct-mail-api) needs the $315-a-month Premium plan and 50,000 pieces in one campaign. There is no minimum order. It also has a dashboard, so a marketer can run a campaign without waiting for an API integration. The simpler API is easier to adopt but has less depth. Stannp publishes mailpiece statuses for printing, dispatched, cancelled, local delivery, delivered, and returned, which gives developers a concrete list to test against their needs. ## Lob is better when switching carries risk An existing mail integration has a real replacement cost. Small per-piece savings can disappear once engineers rebuild templates, callbacks, failure handling, and reporting. Lob is the safer choice when the current workflow works or when deep events are part of the product contract. Stannp earns the switch when the simpler interface and lower postage bill remove more pain than the migration creates. ## Pricing reality: Stannp is cheaper on published rates As of October 2026, [Lob's pricing page](https://www.lob.com/pricing) lists a free Developer tier for up to 6,000 mailings a year, with postcards at $0.905. Startup starts at $260/month and Growth at $550/month. The phrase "starting at" makes those monthly figures floors, not complete budgets. As of October 2026, [Stannp's full price grid](https://trysincerely.com/guides/stannp-pricing) puts a 4x6 postcard at $0.80 to $0.72 and a one-page color letter by Marketing Mail at $0.94 to $0.82 on the $12-a-month Starter plan, the lowest plan with API access, with printing and postage included. The $0.53 postcard and $0.70 letter need the $315-a-month Premium plan and 50,000 pieces in a campaign. There is no minimum order. Lob may still justify its premium when the integration and enterprise controls carry business value. ## Which is better for what - A US transactional-mail feature: Lob. - Sporadic dashboard campaigns without a subscription: Stannp. - Deep webhook events, or HIPAA mailing support on an Enterprise plan: Lob. - High-volume simple postcards at a published rate: Stannp. - A marketer who needs a dashboard alongside the API: Stannp. - An established integration that already works: Lob. ## Where Sincerely fits Sincerely runs the B2B mail channel end to end, building audiences from your CRM, writing each standard postcard or letter for one recipient, and measuring lift against account-level holdouts. Handwritten 4x6 postcards and letters are genuinely written by hand. Sincerely also sends gifts on a recurring plan: 46 physical gifts with a personalized note, prices starting at $49, and the exact price shown before confirmation, in the United States and Canada. See [gifts](https://trysincerely.com/gifts). Published pricing starts at a $199 one-time pilot for 100 live pieces. Artwork is where the two above begin. Sincerely builds the brand kit from your website, generates the postcard and letter designs, and proofs each version before it prints. Sincerely does not offer a raw print API like [Lob](https://trysincerely.com/alternatives/lob) or [Stannp](https://trysincerely.com/vs/stannp), and it is not built for their transactional mail workloads. ## The bottom line Choose Lob when mail is a durable feature inside a US product and reliability matters more than the lowest public rate. Choose Stannp when you want a straightforward API or dashboard, mail in bursts, and care most about pay-as-you-go economics. ## Related questions - [Lob vs Click2Mail for programmatic direct mail](https://trysincerely.com/compare/lob-vs-click2mail): Lob fits mail built into software. Click2Mail fits one-off jobs run in a browser. Pick infrastructure or a standalone mailing tool. - [PostGrid vs Stannp for direct mail APIs](https://trysincerely.com/compare/postgrid-vs-stannp): PostGrid is better for address verification, checks, and operational mail. Stannp wins on published volume pricing and a dashboard that marketers can run. - [Inkit vs Lob for documents and direct mail](https://trysincerely.com/compare/inkit-vs-lob): Inkit is better for generating, signing, and storing digital documents. Lob is the clear choice for a live print-and-mail API and transactional physical mail. - [Postalytics vs Lob for direct mail automation](https://trysincerely.com/compare/postalytics-vs-lob): Postalytics is better for marketers running triggered, template-based campaigns. Lob is the stronger print API for developers building mail into a product. - [Sincerely vs Stannp](https://trysincerely.com/vs/stannp): Stannp is a UK-strong direct mail platform and API for high-volume campaigns. Sincerely is US B2B outbound with per-recipient writing and holdouts. How to pick. - [Postalytics vs Stannp: CRM marketing or documents](https://trysincerely.com/compare/postalytics-vs-stannp): Postalytics offers CRM integrations and marketing flows. Stannp offers PDF uploads and a simpler API. Pick by workflow. ## More on Lob - [The best Lob alternatives and competitors](https://trysincerely.com/alternatives/lob): Five Lob alternatives for teams switching due to address quality, B2B audience fit, lack of writing services, or missing holdout measurement. - [Handwrytten vs Lob for automated direct mail](https://trysincerely.com/compare/handwrytten-vs-lob): Handwrytten automates robot-written cards. Lob automates printed postcards and letters at volume. Choose by format, volume, and who builds it. - [Lob vs PFL for enterprise direct mail programs](https://trysincerely.com/compare/lob-vs-pfl): Choose between Lob's API-driven print routing and PFL's in-house kitting for enterprise direct mail operations. ## More on Stannp - [Stannp vs Click2Mail for PDF-to-mail workflows](https://trysincerely.com/compare/stannp-vs-click2mail): Stannp prints from a virtual printer driver. Click2Mail accepts PDF, email, and API submissions. Choose by how your CRM exports mail. - [The best Stannp alternatives](https://trysincerely.com/alternatives/stannp): Stannp alternatives sorted by why you are leaving: API depth, UK or US coverage, CRM-triggered campaigns, cost at your volume, and B2B measurement. --- Sincerely is personalized direct mail and gifting for B2B revenue teams: postcards, letters, handwritten mail, and gifts, each written for one recipient. 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