What $0 per month actually means
A $0 monthly platform fee means you are not paying for seat access that month. You still pay for each mailed piece. Some vendors also meter address verification.
Sendvo Local is the $0 plan. Mail uses prepaid credits. A 4×6 is $0.92. EDDM is $0.65. There is no minimum order and no setup fee on the published card.
What each $0 starting plan includes
| $0 start | What they publish on that tier | What moves to a paid plan |
|---|---|---|
| Sendvo Local | Guided sends, history, geographic audiences, saved audiences, credits | List upload, dedupe, team access, triggered mail (Operator); API (Growth) |
| Postalytics Free | Unlimited campaigns/templates/lists, editor, Smart Send, Triggered Drip, IMb tracking, basic integrations | Suppression and more dashboards on Marketer ($199); Flows, Salesforce, Agency on Pro ($399) |
| Click2Mail | Homepage: no subscription fees, no minimum volume | Per-job pricing is not on a public /pricing URL we could fetch |
| Lob Developer | Up to 6,000 mailings/year, 1 user, standard print rates, 1 webhook | No-code integrations start on Startup ($260) |
| OpenLetterConnect Starter | Free, 1 user, 1 webhook, 3 custom fields | Unlimited users and 10 webhooks on Professional ($199) |
Sources are the same public pages as the vs cluster, fetched 2026-08-20. See Sendvo vs Postalytics, Sendvo vs Click2Mail, and Sendvo vs OpenLetterConnect for the full head-to-heads.
Automation without a monthly fee — the honest version
Triggered Sendvo mail is not on Local. If “automation” means a webhook or CRM stage that prints a card with no human click, budget Operator or another vendor’s free automation tier.
Postalytics Free does list Triggered Drip. That is a real difference. It does not make Postalytics free at volume, because their Free First Class 4×6 is $1.081. Do the worksheet on cheapest self-service direct mail.
This page is not a second “direct mail automation” pillar. The commercial automation hub stays at /automation. This page only answers the fee question that feeds the vs cluster.
When you should pay the monthly fee
- You need team seats, approval workflow, or an API.
- You need suppression, overlap checks, or reusable uploads.
- The piece-rate savings beat the fee at your real volume.
Start-here if you still need a name: best self-service direct mail platform.
Bottom line
$0 monthly is real. $0 monthly plus full automation is not a promise Sendvo makes on Local. Read the plan matrix before you believe a slogan.
FAQ
Can I send direct mail with no monthly platform fee?
Yes. Sendvo Local, Postalytics Free, Click2Mail’s no-subscription homepage claim, and Lob Developer all start at $0/month. You still pay print and postage.
Can I automate Sendvo without a monthly fee?
Not triggered automation. Automated triggered mail is an Operator capability. Local is guided sends, history, geographic audiences, and saved audiences.
Does Postalytics Free include automation?
Postalytics Free lists Smart Send and Triggered Drip. Flows — multi-touch automation — is on Pro at $399/month.
Is “no platform fee” the same as cheapest?
No. A $0 month plus a higher piece rate can cost more than a paid plan at volume. Use the credits worksheet.