EasyPost March 17 Deadline:
What Happens If You Don't Choose a Plan

What's Happening on March 17

EasyPost's pricing migration has two dates. The first already passed:

// EasyPost's auto-enrollment decision tree
if (hasPaymentMethod) {
  // Auto-enrolled to BYOCA
  plan = "BYOCA — $20/mo + $0.08/label";
} else {
  // Label generation disabled entirely
  plan = "Suspended — no labels until you choose";
}

That second branch is the dangerous one. If you're running a production shipping integration with no payment method on file, your label generation stops on March 17 until you log in and manually select a plan. No grace period. No warning in the API response beforehand.

The Two Plans Explained

EasyPost now offers exactly two plans. Here's what each includes and who it targets:

The hidden cost of Free Access is the carrier account deactivation. If you've configured your own USPS credentials through EasyPost and choose Free Access, those accounts go dormant. Your credentials still exist — EasyPost doesn't delete them — but any active trackers using those accounts may stop receiving updates.

Cost Impact at Different Volumes

What you'll actually pay on each EasyPost plan vs. a flat-rate alternative. EasyPost costs assume USPS-only usage.

Free Access:
  First 3,000 labels:  Free
  Labels 3,001+:       $0.08 each
  5,000 labels → 3,000 free + 2,000 × $0.08 = $160

BYOCA:
  Base fee:            $20/mo
  All labels:          $0.08 each (no free tier)
  5,000 labels → $20 + 5,000 × $0.08 = $420

RevAddress Starter:
  Flat:                $29/mo
  Per-label:           $0.00
  5,000 labels → $29

The BYOCA trap: Users who get auto-enrolled into BYOCA on March 17 pay more than Free Access at every volume tier. BYOCA charges $0.08 on all labels with no free tier, plus the $20 monthly base. At 5,000 labels, that's $420/month vs. $160 on Free Access. The only reason to choose BYOCA is to keep your own carrier accounts active.

What to Do Before March 17

Four concrete steps, in priority order:

The Flat-Rate Alternative

RevAddress is a USPS v3 API wrapper with flat monthly pricing and zero per-label fees. It's purpose-built for teams that ship exclusively through USPS and want predictable costs.

RevAddress won't replace EasyPost if you ship multi-carrier. It's not trying to. But if your integration is USPS-only — address validation, label creation, tracking — you're paying a multi-carrier abstraction tax for a carrier you don't use. Flat pricing eliminates the unpredictability that makes per-label billing dangerous at scale.

Migration Code: EasyPost SDK to RevAddress

The API surface is small. Here's what address validation looks like in both SDKs. You can test against the RevAddress sandbox before committing — no credit card, no deadline.

import easypost

client = easypost.EasyPostClient("EASYPOST_API_KEY")

address = client.address.create(
    street1="1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW",
    city="Washington",
    state="DC",
    zip="20500",
    country="US",
    verify=["delivery"],
)

print(address.verifications.delivery.success)
# True

from usps_v3 import USPSClient

client = USPSClient(
    client_id="REVADDRESS_CLIENT_ID",
    client_secret="REVADDRESS_CLIENT_SECRET",
    base_url="https://api.revaddress.com",
)

result = client.addresses.validate(
    street_address="1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW",
    city="Washington",
    state="DC",
    zip_code="20500",
)

print(result.delivery_point_validation)
# "Y" (confirmed)

import { USPSClient } from "usps-v3";

const client = new USPSClient({
  clientId: "REVADDRESS_CLIENT_ID",
  clientSecret: "REVADDRESS_CLIENT_SECRET",
  baseUrl: "https://api.revaddress.com",
});

const result = await client.addresses.validate({
  streetAddress: "1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW",
  city: "Washington",
  state: "DC",
  zipCode: "20500",
});

console.log(result.deliveryPointValidation);
// "Y" (confirmed)

Both SDKs handle OAuth token refresh automatically. Install with pip install usps-v3 or npm install usps-v3. Get a free sandbox key at /signup — no credit card, no trial expiration.

Timeline Summary