Buyer's guide

Direct mail software in the UK: pick the job first, then the vendor

Stannp, Docmail, Paperplanes, Lob and Rockkt are not competitors. They do three different jobs, and buying the wrong one is why most direct mail programmes die after a single campaign.

SH Sam HillRockkt, UK Published 8 August 2026
Last updated 8 August 2026

Declared interest. Rockkt is one of the five. This page has no price table because quotes in this category are volume dependent and the comparison sites that appear to list prices are mostly out of date. Ours are public and on our pricing page.

Job one: the mailshot

Thousands of pieces, one design, a data file, and the goal is the lowest sensible cost per piece with decent print. This is a print and postage problem, and UK mailing houses are extremely good at it. Stannp, Docmail and Paperplanes all live here. If this is your job, stop reading comparison pages and get three quotes.

Job two: the triggered send

A system sends a letter when something happens: a trial expires, a basket is abandoned, a customer hits a milestone. What matters is the API, the webhooks, address verification and templates you can version like code. Lob is the best known name for this shape of problem. If your buyer is an engineer, this is your category.

Job three: one prospect at a time

A rep has a good call, or spots the right person on LinkedIn, and wants something physical in front of them this week. Nobody has a clean address file. The letter has to be about that one person. And somebody needs to know whether it worked. This is a sales tool, not a print job, and it is what Rockkt is for.

The mistake we see most. A team buys a mailing house to do job three, discovers that everything except the printing is now manual, and quietly stops after one campaign. The printing was never the hard part. Finding the address and knowing what happened next is the hard part.

Six questions that will sort any shortlist

  1. Can I send exactly one piece, without uploading a file?
  2. Who finds the address, you or me?
  3. What do I know after it lands, beyond that it was printed?
  4. What triggers a send: a date, or something a person did?
  5. What is the all in cost of one piece, including postage and platform fee?
  6. Where does the data sit, and can you tell me plainly?

Do not use Rockkt if

That list is short, and it is the most useful thing on this page.

SH
Sam Hill

Sam works at Rockkt, one of the platforms named here. If you have a current quote from any of the others and are willing to share it, we will publish it with the date and the source. More on how we write these guides.

Built for one prospect at a time

Address found, letter written, page built, response tracked. Studio Free is five fully worked prospects a month, by invitation.