3PL Minimums Compared: Amounts, What Counts and Contract Terms

The short answer

Of the eight providers below, four publish a dollar minimum (Flexport, ShipCalm, Fulfillrite and Simpl), two say they have one but set it in your quote (ShipBob and ShipMonk), and two say they have none (Red Stag and eFulfillment Service). The published figures aren't directly comparable, because each provider counts different spend toward its minimum.

Flexport, which now runs what used to be Deliverr, changed its minimum this year. Its help center says a $5,000 monthly minimum applies to all accounts from January 1, 2026. Its 2026 pricing FAQ says that was up from $500. Older lists of low-minimum 3PLs may still show the $500 figure.

Published minimums side by side

Provider	Monthly minimum	What counts toward it	Setup or account fees	Contract term
Flexport	$5,000 in monthly spend; you're charged the difference	Fulfillment, reserve storage, parcel shipping, freight booked in its portal, pallet and case handling, labels, prep and card processing. D2C storage doesn't count.	Not published	Not published
ShipCalm	$3,000 a quarter on its FAQ; $6,000 a quarter on its pricing page	Its pricing page says "including all costs"	Weekly plans, from $49 a week	Month to month, 90 days' notice
Fulfillrite	$399 a month in pick-and-pack fees ("about 140 orders")	Pick-and-pack fees only	$59.99 a month account fee; no onboarding fee	Month to month, 30 days' notice, no early-termination fee
Simpl Fulfillment	$750 a month; you pay only the difference	Per-order charges, which include postage, packaging, picking (up to 3 picks) and packing	No onboarding fee	3-month term that renews automatically; 60 days' notice
ShipBob	Has one; amount not published	Fulfillment spend, per its wording; details not published	Not published	You can terminate at any time if no balance is owed
ShipMonk	Set per account: monthly order volume × first-item pick fee, minus 20%	Not published	Not published	1-year term that renews automatically; also allows closing the account on 30 days' notice
Red Stag	None	Not applicable	Not published; no monthly fee	"We don't lock you in"; 30-day free trial
eFulfillment Service	None	Not applicable	No setup fees; $25 a week client support fee	No long-term contracts

Each provider's name links to the page the figures come from.

What counts toward the minimum

A minimum is only comparable once you know what spend fills it, and three of the published figures define it very differently.

Fulfillrite counts pick-and-pack fees only. Postage, storage and its $59.99 account fee sit outside the $399, and Fulfillrite itself translates the minimum into about 140 orders.

Flexport counts nearly everything except D2C storage, including parcel shipping. It says it expects the fee to affect only merchants fulfilling under roughly 500 orders a month.

Simpl's per-order rate includes postage, packaging, picking and packing, so all of it counts toward the $750. That works out to roughly 90 to 100 orders a month for light packages on standard shipping; heavier, larger or faster shipments reach it with fewer orders.

A minimum that excludes postage looks smaller on paper than one that includes it, even when both are reached at a similar order count. The useful conversion is the one Fulfillrite and Flexport already give: how many of your orders, at your weights and shipping speeds, fill the minimum each month.

What the table can't show

Flexport assesses the minimum at the end of each month and bills any shortfall on the next month's first invoice. Its pricing overview also lists a minimum storage charge of $0.10 per SKU per day.

ShipCalm publishes two figures on its own site: its FAQ gives $3,000 a quarter ("essentially $1,000 / month") and says it has no minimum order volume, while its pricing page lists $6,000 a quarter. Ask which applies to your account. Our ShipMonk vs ShipCalm comparison covers the rest of its pricing.

ShipBob says on its affordable fulfillment page that "there is a minimum monthly spending requirement for fulfillment and minimum order volume requirements", and that "you can start with even just a thousand orders monthly". It doesn't call that thousand-order figure its minimum, and it doesn't publish a dollar amount. For what ShipBob does publish, see our ShipBob pricing breakdown or ShipBob vs ShipMonk.

ShipMonk publishes the formula on its pricing page but not the inputs, so the minimum depends on the pick fee and volume in your quote. Its terms of service also let it revise your pricing after the first 90 days if your actual volume falls short of the estimate you gave at signing. The same terms set a one-year term that renews automatically, but also say you can close your account on 30 days' notice, so ask which one governs your contract. More in our ShipMonk pricing breakdown.

eFulfillment Service advertises "No Set-Up Fees · No Minimum Order Requirements · No Long-Term Contracts" on its homepage. Its 2026 fee list includes a $25 weekly client support fee alongside pick and pack at $1.15 per order plus $0.35 per item. That weekly fee belongs in any cost comparison.

No minimum isn't the same as no volume bar

Some providers without a billed minimum still describe who they're built for. Red Stag says it generally works with companies shipping "hundreds to thousands of orders per month" (more in our Red Stag breakdown). Shipfusion, asked on its pricing page whether it has minimum order volume requirements, says it typically works with brands shipping 2,000 or more orders a month. Neither is a fee, but both tell you who the provider expects to serve.

Questions to ask before you sign

Does postage count toward the minimum, or only fulfillment fees?
Is it pay-the-difference, or a flat monthly fee on top of usage?
Does it apply from your first month, or is there a ramp-up period?
Can the provider reprice you if your volume comes in below your estimate?
Which account, platform or support fees are billed on top?
How long is the term, and how much notice do you need to give to leave?

For how the other fees on a 3PL quote work, see our 3PL pricing guide.

Where Simpl fits

Simpl Fulfillment is a 3PL too, and one of the providers in the table. Our minimum is $750 a month, billed as the difference: if a month's per-order charges come to less than $750, you pay only the gap. Fulfillment starts at $7 an order, and that rate includes postage, so a brand shipping light packages on standard shipping reaches the minimum at roughly 90 to 100 orders a month. Merch drops are exempt from the minimum, and FBA-prep-only accounts have a different minimum of 1,000 units a month.

If you're shipping far fewer orders than that, keeping fulfillment in-house for now is usually the better call. When you're ready, our pricing page has the details.

Sources

Updated October 2026.

FAQs

Which 3PLs have no monthly minimum?

Red Stag Fulfillment and eFulfillment Service both say on their own sites that they have no order minimum. Red Stag adds that it generally works with companies shipping hundreds to thousands of orders a month, and eFulfillment Service's 2026 fee list includes a $25 weekly client support fee. Fulfillrite says it has no strict minimum but charges a $399 monthly pick-and-pack minimum.

What is Flexport's monthly minimum?

Flexport's help center says a $5,000 monthly minimum applies to all accounts from January 1, 2026, up from $500. It counts fulfillment, reserve storage, parcel shipping, freight booked in its portal, pallet and case handling, labels, prep and card processing, but not D2C storage. If your spend falls short, Flexport charges the difference on the next month's first invoice, and it expects the fee to affect only merchants fulfilling under roughly 500 orders a month.

Does ShipBob have a monthly minimum?

Yes. ShipBob's affordable fulfillment page says there is a minimum monthly spending requirement for fulfillment and minimum order volume requirements, but it doesn't publish the amount. The same page says you can start with a thousand orders a month; ShipBob doesn't label that figure its minimum. Ask for the amount in writing with your quote.

How is ShipMonk's monthly minimum calculated?

ShipMonk's pricing page says it multiplies your monthly order volume by your first-item pick fee and then reduces the result by 20%. It doesn't publish pick fees, so the dollar amount depends on your quote. ShipMonk's terms also allow it to revise pricing after the first 90 days if your actual volume falls short of your estimate.

Does postage count toward a 3PL's minimum?

It depends on the provider. Flexport counts parcel shipping toward its $5,000 minimum. Fulfillrite counts only pick-and-pack fees toward its $399 minimum. Simpl's per-order rate includes postage, so postage counts toward our $750 minimum. A minimum that excludes postage looks lower on paper, so ask each provider what spend fills it.

What is Simpl Fulfillment's monthly minimum?

$750 a month, billed as the difference: if a month's per-order charges come to less than $750, you pay only the gap. Because the per-order rate includes postage, packaging, picking and packing, that's roughly 90 to 100 orders a month for light packages on standard shipping; heavier, larger or faster shipments reach it with fewer orders. Merch drops are exempt, and FBA-prep-only accounts have a minimum of 1,000 units a month.