Multi-carrier labels and rates
AfterShip Shipping + Labels
Free label printing whose chat support answers in minutes and is genuinely good at first-time setup, but repeatedly fails to fix a broken shipment or a billing error — and nobody has reviewed it since November 2024.
Should you install it?
This is a free multi-carrier label app, and the clearest pattern across 101 reviews is a split between two kinds of user: people setting up for the first time, who consistently get fast, patient chat help and leave five stars within minutes, and people with a broken shipment or a billing problem, who report replies within minutes and resolutions that never come (9994, 7223, 8191, 2649). It works well enough as the label generator behind AfterShip Returns Center for small US and Canadian stores with USPS, UPS or FedEx accounts. The recurring risk is money: charges after uninstall (6145, 9737), cards silently rejected so returns stopped (6891), an undisclosed 30-day window to cancel a purchased label with refunds only via chargeback (8191), and payments that cannot be reversed as recently as October 2024 (2646). Verify your specific carrier and label format before you commit — TNT Australia and DPD UK were both confirmed as supported and then were not (3527, 7223). Most importantly, no one has reviewed this app since November 2024, so none of the above is current evidence.
Thin evidence. Two independent problems. First, 22 months with zero reviews means nothing here describes the app's current state. Second, review integrity is poor: 64% of reviewers used the app under a month, many five-star reviews are written minutes after install by people who say they have not used it yet (9222, 8293, 6679, 5259), and about ten thank a named chat agent, which reads as solicited inside the support chat. The negative reviews are detailed and internally consistent, so the failure modes are trustworthy; the 4.0 average is not.
Right for
- Small stores already using AfterShip Returns Center that need return labels generated (3168, 8779, 0580, 0205, 0095)
- US stores buying USPS labels who want a free option and rate a discount off retail (5299, 0135, 0057, 1037)
- Merchants with their own UPS or FedEx account who want a simple Shopify-side label screen (5142, 0128, 8286, 9788)
- Non-technical owners who want to be walked through setup on live chat (6679, 8293, 8473, 4590)
Wrong for
- Non-US merchants wanting USPS labels — one reviewer reports USPS requires a credit card with a US address (2961)
- DPD UK and TNT Australia users — both reported as broken or never actually supported (7223, 3527)
- Anyone who needs a specific label format confirmed before paying; a 4x6 requirement was promised and did not work (2649)
- Higher-volume shops needing default package dimensions or bulk import/export instead of per-order manual entry (2797, single report from 2021)
- Anyone who needs a bug fixed on a deadline — fixes were quoted in days or never arrived (7223, 9994, 8191)
What will annoy you
Support replies instantly but escalates without ever delivering a fix; merchants left waiting a week or more with a customer waiting: 12 reviews, steady, last seen 2024-07.
How the developer behaves when it breaks
The developer replies to about six in ten negative reviews, usually within a day, with a near-verbatim template: an apology, "this is not the experience we want to provide to our users", and a promise that a support executive has been assigned (6891, 2137, 7223, 5620, 9994, 2797, 2646). Occasionally the reply contains real content — pointing to a declined bank card (3194), naming a third party they are chasing (5134, 6891), or confirming a refund was issued on a screen share (1237). Reviewers themselves confirm a resolution in a minority of cases (3783 "it has been solved in the end", 1037 "App works well now", 3999, 0396, 2943), while others state plainly that no fix ever came (7223, 9994, 8191, 2649). Positive reviews mostly go unanswered.
What goes wrong 5 recurring themes
- Support replies instantly but escalates without ever delivering a fix; merchants left waiting a week or more with a customer waiting 12 reviews steady, last seen 2024-07
“Being quick to respond is useless if you never provide a solution.” review 9994
- Billing problems: cards rejected, charges after uninstall, payments that cannot be reversed, and an undisclosed 30-day window to cancel a purchased label 6 reviews steady, last seen 2024-10
“I've had problems with billing, including the impossibility of going back once a payment has been made.” review 2646
- Carrier account setup fails, or a carrier confirmed as supported turns out not to be 7 reviews steady, last seen 2024-07
“I contacted to confirm the use of TNT in Australia and was told its fully supported. After a week of back and forth setup with postmen and TNT it was realised that it actually was never supported in the first place.” review 3527
- Bug fixes take days to weeks, during which labels cannot be printed 4 reviews fading, last seen 2022-05
“please solve bugs in a shorter time, our customers can't wait for days for us to make their label and ship their items” review 3783
- Missing bulk-operations features: no default package dimensions, no import/export, gaps in search and invoices 4 reviews fading, last seen 2021-07
“You have to manually add product dimensions each order?” review 2797
What it does well 5 themes
- Live chat answers within minutes and patiently walks people through initial setup 42 reviews
“I am not tech savy at all, but the chat support was so patient and helped walk me through the set up to be able to create return labels.” review 6679
- Free to use for label creation, with USPS rates reviewers rate well 9 reviews
“Legit FREE. No hidden paid services. Great app for shipping at a discount.” review 5299
- Works as the label engine behind AfterShip Returns Center for return labels 10 reviews
“We use this app in connection with AfterShip Returns. It app does everything it needs to do in regards to label creation.” review 3168
- Connecting your own carrier account to Shopify is straightforward when it works 12 reviews
“Does exactly what it says and integrates perfectly with the preferred carriers even with custom negotiated rates.” review 8286
- A handful of long-tenure stores report it running steadily for years 6 reviews
“works perfectly with our store and support is always fast and super helpful! Easy to use and setup too.” review 4286
Red flags
- Billing is the one complaint present in every era of this listing, right up to the final substantive review: charged after uninstalling (6145), "Cancelled service, they kept charging" (9737), every card rejected so returns were blocked for over a week (6891), refunds only obtained via Shopify escalation or a credit-card chargeback (8191), "Scammers. I have been a victim of this scam where my money was stolen" (1237), and no way to reverse a payment (2646, October 2024). 2646 1237 6891 8191 9737 6145
- A 30-day deadline to cancel a purchased label was not disclosed, and the reviewer says support themselves did not know it for a week and a half. 8191
- One store reports AfterShip tracking links being sent to its customers although it does not use the AfterShip tracking app — merchant-visible behaviour they did not opt into. Single report, from 2020. 5170
- Negative reviews get a near-identical templated apology ("Please accept my sincere apology for the experience you had. However, this is not the experience we want to provide to our users") across multiple years, often without a described fix. 6891 2137 7223 5620 2646
Trend
The critical fact is silence: the newest review is 12 November 2024 and its entire text is \".\" — there are zero reviews in the last 12 months and only five in the 12 months before that. That means there is no evidence at all about how this app behaves in 2025 or 2026, roughly 22 months with nothing. Volume peaked in 2020–2022 and collapsed after; earlier praise skews heavily toward minutes-old installs, while the substantive negative reviews cluster in 2021–2022 and then trickle (2649 July 2024, 2646 October 2024). Where I have marked a failure \"fading\", that means reports stopped arriving, not that anyone confirmed a fix — the last era of reviews still contained billing complaints and still contained \"support never resolved it\" complaints, so nothing here should be read as repaired. Anyone installing today is doing so on 2022-era evidence.
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