7 Best Alternatives To A Franking Machine In 2026 (UK)

A franking machine isn't the only way to pay for business post, and for some firms it isn't the best one. If you send a handful of letters a week, a lease can cost more than it saves. If you send thousands, a mailing house may beat franking on price and on staff time.

Here are seven alternatives, what they cost and who each one suits.

The 7 alternatives at a glance

Option	Best for	Cost basis
1. Stamps	Very low volume	Stamp price per item, no equipment
2. Royal Mail Click & Drop	Parcels and online sellers	Online price per item, print your own labels
3. Post Office counter	Occasional or tracked items	Counter price per item
4. Hybrid mail	Invoices and statements	Price per letter including print and post
5. Mailing house	Large batch mailings	Price per item, volume discounts
6. Business account with Royal Mail	High volume regular senders	Contract pricing
7. Going digital	Anything that doesn't need paper	Software subscription

1. Stamps

The simplest option. No contract, no machine, no ink. The downside is price: from 7 April 2026, a 1st Class letter stamp is £1.80 against £1.77 franked, and a 1st Class large letter up to 100g is £3.30 stamped against £2.86 franked (Royal Mail Business Price Guide).

On standard letters the gap is just 3p. On large letters it's 44p. So stamps make most sense if you post mainly standard letters and not many of them. Our stamp costs page has the full price list.

2. Royal Mail Click & Drop

Click & Drop lets you buy postage online and print your own labels. Online prices for some items are lower than stamps. A 1st Class large letter up to 100g is £3.20 online, for example, against £3.30 with a stamp.

It's great for online sellers who post parcels and large letters. It's clumsy for an office posting letters, because you're printing a label for each item. Read our full franking vs Click & Drop comparison.

3. Post Office counter

Fine for the odd Special Delivery item or something that needs a receipt. Not practical as your main way of posting. The queue is the real cost: if someone spends 30 minutes a day at the counter, that's two and a half hours of wages every week.

4. Hybrid mail

With hybrid mail, you send documents digitally to a provider, who prints, envelopes and posts them for you. You pay a price per item that covers print, paper, envelope and postage.

It suits businesses that send lots of invoices, statements or letters from software. There's no machine, no ink and no stuffing envelopes. It's less useful for one off letters or anything that needs to be signed by hand.

5. Mailing house

A mailing house handles large batch mailings, such as newsletters, renewal notices or marketing campaigns. They sort the mail to qualify for Royal Mail's bulk discounts, which can be much cheaper than franked prices for big volumes.

If you only post in big bursts a few times a year, a mailing house can be cheaper than leasing a machine that sits idle the rest of the time. See our guide to cheaper bulk postage.

6. A Royal Mail business account

Businesses with high, steady volumes can set up a direct account with Royal Mail for collections and contract pricing. This usually goes hand in hand with franking or bulk mail rather than replacing it, but for parcel heavy businesses it can mean lower rates.

7. Going digital

The cheapest letter is the one you don't send. Many invoices, statements and reminders can go by email or through a customer portal. Some letters must still go on paper for legal reasons, so check before you switch everything.

When a franking machine still wins

A franking machine usually comes out ahead if you:

• Post a steady flow of letters and large letters every day.
• Send a good number of large letters, where the saving per item is biggest.
• Want to see exactly what each department spends on post.
• Want to print a return address or logo on every envelope.

As a rough guide, the savings on standard letters alone are small. It's the large letters that do the heavy lifting. If you send 20 large letters a day at a 44p saving, that's about £8.80 a day, or roughly £190 a month over 22 working days. That can cover a small lease on its own.

How to decide

Count your post for two weeks. Note how many standard letters, large letters and parcels you send, then:

1. Multiply each by the stamp and franked price.
2. Take the difference to find your monthly saving.
3. Compare that with the lease, ink and any software fee.

Our savings calculator does the maths for you, and our guide to whether a franking machine is worth it explains the break even point.

FAQs

What is the cheapest way to send business letters?

For large batches, a mailing house using bulk rates is usually cheapest. For everyday post, franking beats stamps on price.

Can I use Click & Drop for letters?

Yes, but you print a label for each item, which is slow for an office sending lots of letters.

Is hybrid mail cheaper than franking?

It can be once you count paper, envelopes and staff time. Compare the price per letter with your full franking cost.

Not sure which is right?

Tell us how much you post and we'll put you in touch with approved suppliers who can give you a clear quote. Compare franking machine prices.