Smart Send vs Pack to the Future for bulky AU Shopify shipping

If your Shopify catalogue includes heavy, bulky, or long goods — furniture, bikes, outdoor gear, awkward cartons — you've probably seen Smart Send. Their Premium Shopify app is free to install, marketed for 50+ domestic AU services and BYO MyPost Business, and sits at 4.9 stars from 11 reviews as of 21 Sep 2026 (App Store). Stafford, QLD; launched July 2020.

Pack to the Future is a newer AU-only Shopify shipping app based on the Gold Coast, Australia. Same date: 5.0 stars. Free Forever is the full product capped at 100 bookings per Shopify billing cycle (multi-parcel = 1). Past that, Starter is $49/mo (or $580/yr). Enterprise $3,990/yr for API / retail fulfilment / SLA / white-label / 3PL. Listing notes a $0.75 platform label fee per booking. Postage separate either way.

Fair up front: Smart Send owns the public bulky / heavy / long narrative. Pack should not pretend to "beat Smart Send on bulky" without inventing proof. Pack's wedge is Product AI + a growing SKU database aimed at bulky and pallet rates and accurate rates for cubically larger shipments, plus a clearer Free → $49 SaaS story. Both can be right for different warehouses.

Who each product is for

Smart Send is an AU multi-carrier label + rate shop with a long freight-lean: Allied Express, Aramex, Couriers Please, MyPost Business, StarTrack, TNT among Works-with examples; listing copy pushes heavy/bulky/long + multi-item + Smart Pack logic. Think merchants who already think in freight services, not just satchels.

Pack to the Future is aimed at Australian Shopify SMBs who want rate shopping, labels, and Product AI parcel sizing / multi-parcel — especially when catalogues include bulky, pallet, or cubically larger shipments. Not a full TMS. Not a "50+ services" claim.

If your pain is "we ship awkward freight and Smart Send already works," stay or trial them second. If your pain is checkout dims / multi-parcel / residential-vs-commercial rate honesty before pay / wanting a full-product Free trial before $49, start with Pack Free — Pack's live address checker (theme blocks + forklift/tailgate + cart confirm) sits alongside Product AI sizing for that rates-before-checkout job.

Shopify App Store snapshot (as of 21 Sep 2026)

| | Smart Send Premium | Pack to the Future | |---|--------------------|-------------------| | Rating | 4.9 stars (11 reviews) | 5.0 stars (7 reviews) | | HQ (listing) | Stafford, QLD | Gold Coast, Australia | | Launched | Jul 2020 | ~Aug 2025 | | Software model | Free to install · pay freight/labels | Free Forever ≤100 bookings/cycle | | Paid SaaS | VIP/BYO fees on site — reconfirm before hard $ claims | Starter $49/mo ($580/yr) · Enterprise $3,990/yr | | Extra fees | Additional charges may apply (listing) | Platform label fee $0.75/booking (listing) | | Scope lean | Heavy / bulky / long · 50+ AU services · BYO MyPost | AusPost + Aramex + Couriers Please · Product AI sizing / multi-parcel |

Both review samples are small. Treat scores as directional, not "statistically best app in Australia."

Pricing compared honestly

Smart Send

App Store: free to install; "pay for shipping costs/labels when you fulfill."
Site (profile/baseline, not re-fetched as hard dollars for this draft): VIP plans historically No Frills $0 → Ultra ~$79.99/mo; BYO MyPost label fees historically ~$0.25 / $0.15 / $0.08 by volume — UNKNOWN / reconfirm on smartsend.com.au before publishing those figures as current. Stick to App Store "free install / pay freight" in any paid media until verified.

Pack

Free Forever — full product, 100 bookings/cycle (multi-parcel = 1)
Starter — $49/mo or $580/yr — volume unlock only
Enterprise — $3,990/yr — API / retail / SLA / white-label / 3PL
Platform label fee $0.75 per booking + postage

Apples-to-oranges: Smart Send's free SaaS + freight/VIP curve vs Pack's Free cap then flat $49 + $0.75/booking. Do your napkin maths. We will not invent "Pack is cheaper" or "Smart Send is cheaper."

Where Smart Send wins

Public bulky / heavy / long narrative — listing copy and merchant praise themes lean freight/awkward goods
"50+ domestic AU services" breadth claim vs Pack's three named listing carriers
Free-to-install SaaS with no App Store monthly floor
BYO MyPost Business as a named feature
Tenure since 2020 and QLD AU roots

If you already buy Smart Send for furniture or long goods and labels just work, switching cost is real.

Where Pack wins

Product AI + SKU database → bulky / pallet / cubic rate accuracy as the intentional Pack lead (no invented accuracy %)
Clear Free Forever full product to 100 bookings, then $49 volume unlock — transparent SaaS ladder
Modern multi-parcel (counts as one toward Free 100)
Founder-led AU SMB tone; Gold Coast, Australia; Australian merchants only
Live 5.0 stars early score (verify at publish; small n like Smart Send)

Pack does not automatically win the freight-service catalogue war. Don't pretend otherwise.

Where it's a tie (or depends)

Both are AU-native multi-carrier Shopify shipping tools
Both can help stores that outgrew satchel-only thinking
Catalogue mix (satchel vs pallet), appetite for VIP tables vs flat Starter, and support preference decide more than a star score

Sendle context: AU bookings ceased ~January 2026; Jul 2026 press — McKenna Worldwide acquired the Sendle brand with a September 2026 relaunch target (SmartCompany); pricing/coverage confirm-at-publish. See Sendle replacement landscape.

How to choose (checklist)

Heavy / bulky / long already working on Smart Send? → Stay, or A/B Pack Free on a subset of SKUs.
Need Product AI sizing + multi-parcel on a Free trial? → Pack Free (100 bookings).
Want transparent $49 SaaS after Free? → Pack Starter. Need Smart Send VIP dollars? Reconfirm site fees live.
AusPost-only cheap SaaS? → Also compare AMP, Ricemill, Joovii.
Checkout cubic accuracy without labels? → Adjacent: ShippingIQ and bulky/cubic pillar.

Try Pack Free (honest CTA)

Install Pack to the Future — Free Forever, full product, 100 bookings per Shopify billing cycle. Need volume? Starter $49/mo (or $580/yr). Platform label fee $0.75 per booking. Australian merchants only. HQ: Gold Coast, Australia.

/pricing · /features · /kb/billing · /kb/getting-started · /kb/troubleshooting/checkout-rates-wrong

If Smart Send already solves your bulky freight desk, keep shipping. This page exists so the compare is fair — not so we steal their narrative.