Auteur vs iPostal1
iPostal1 runs one of the largest mailbox networks in the US, and we price our mailbox the same way they do: a monthly plan for the mail you receive, and a fee for each piece you open. That makes the comparison a line-by-line one, and we lay it out here.
Read this first: this comparison was written by Auteur, and we sell the plans on this site. It is our honest homework, not neutral advice, and it is not an Auteur Rating review. The Rating never covers our own products. Everything we say about iPostal1 comes from their official website, checked on August 25, 2026. Their pricing and policies can change, so please confirm current details on their pricing page. We deliberately do not quote their prices here.
Two different ways to charge for mail
iPostal1
A plan for receiving, then pay per action
iPostal1 keeps the monthly price low and charges separately for the things you do with your mail: opening and scanning is billed per request with a page cap per order, shredding is a paid order, and the price of the same plan changes with the location tier you choose. Personal plans do not receive mail in a company name; that takes their business plan line.
Auteur
The same shape, with fewer lines and a lower one on each
Our plans are priced on mail received too, in two products. Virtual Mailing Address, for personal mail, is $9.99 a month or $99.00 a year for 30 pieces and $14.99 a month or $149.04 a year for 60. Virtual Business Address, which also receives mail in your business or trade name, is $14.99 a month or $149.04 a year for 30 pieces and $19.99 a month or $198.96 a year for 60, all at the founding price. Every plan includes an envelope photo of every piece, junk filtered free and uncounted, shredding, and 30 days of storage. Opening and scanning is a flat $1.99 per piece with no page fee, and Henry's summary and translation come with every scan. Forwarding is actual postage with no handling fee, and one price applies in every city.
Side by side
| Dimension | iPostal1 | Auteur |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | Live today, with thousands of locations across the US, including many in California. | Pre-launch, in nine US cities: Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Washington DC, Delaware, Wyoming, Tampa, and Austin. Ordering is free, nothing is charged until launch, and it locks the founding price. |
| What the plan includes | Receiving and an envelope photo, with a monthly count of mail items. Shredding is a paid order. | Receiving and an envelope photo, with a monthly count of 30 or 60 pieces. Junk is filtered free and never counts. Shredding is included. |
| Company name | Personal plans receive mail in individual names only. Receiving in a company name requires the business plan line, at a higher price. | The same split. Virtual Mailing Address is individual names only, up to 2. Virtual Business Address receives mail in 1 business or trade name plus up to 6 individual names, and the two products share one scan price and one fee schedule. |
| Open and scan | Billed per request, with a page cap per order and a per-page charge beyond it, or prepaid scan bundles. | A flat $1.99 per piece, only when you ask. No page cap and no page fee: a forty-page letter costs the same as a postcard. |
| AI in the inbox | No AI reading layer. You read the scanned PDFs yourself. | Henry reads every letter you open and explains it in plain language, in English, Korean, or Spanish, with the deadline pulled out. |
| Price by location | The same plan costs more at higher-tier locations. An office-building address can cost several times the standard rate. | One price regardless of city. All nine cities cost the same. |
| Extra mail | A small per-item charge above the plan maximum. | $1.50 per piece received above your plan. If it happens often, the 60 version of your product doubles the mail for $5 more a month, and you can switch any time. |
| Forwarding | Shipping rates are shown at checkout and set by each location, so the handling margin is not visible as a separate line. | Actual carrier postage and nothing else, stated on the pricing page. No handling fee, no margin on postage. |
| Check deposits | Offered by mail at most locations: your checks are shipped to your bank, priced per deposit batch plus check scans and tracked shipping. | A flat $2 per check that covers the check scan too, postage included, electronic where your bank supports it. No percentage of the amount. |
| USPS Form 1583 | Supported through online notarization for a fee, or in person at the location. | We are building onboarding that works from anywhere without a notary trip, and we walk you through it at launch. |
| Storage | Free for 30 days for letters, with shorter windows for larger packages, then paid extended storage. | Letters and packages both get 30 days, then are shredded or discarded free with an email first. There is no volume-tiered storage window and no paid storage meter. |
iPostal1 facts from their official website, checked on August 25, 2026.
Where Auteur comes out ahead, line by line
Two products, one shape, fewer lines. Virtual Mailing Address for personal mail and Virtual Business Address for mail in your business name are priced at the same tiers they use, with shredding included, a lower flat scan fee, and forwarding at cost.
A flat scan fee with no page cap. Every open-and-scan is $1.99 per piece with us, whatever the page count. Theirs is billed per request with a page cap per order and a per-page charge beyond it.
Shredding included. Every piece you are done with is shredded free, with an email first. Shredding is a paid order on their side.
Forwarding at cost, in writing. You pay the actual carrier postage and nothing else, and that is stated on our pricing page. Their shipping rates are set by each location and shown at checkout, so any handling margin is not visible as a line.
One price in every city. All nine of our cities cost the same with us. The same plan costs more at their higher-tier locations.
Someone reads it. Henry explains every letter you open in English, Korean, or Spanish, with the deadline pulled out. Their scans are PDFs you read yourself.
One storage clock. Letters and packages both get 30 days, then are handled free with an email first. Their windows shorten for larger packages, followed by paid storage.
A flat check deposit. $2 per check, check scan included. Theirs is priced per deposit batch plus check scans and tracked shipping.
What a month actually costs
Because the two services now share a shape, the month adds up the same way on both receipts: the plan price, plus a fee for each piece you open. The difference is in the lines. Our plan prices sit at the same tiers, our scan fee is lower and has no page component, shredding is included rather than ordered, and forwarding carries no handling margin.
The comparison still depends on your habits, and we say so plainly. If you receive far more mail than you open, both services are inexpensive and the gap between them is small. If you open most of what you receive, the scan fees are the bulk of the bill on either service, and ours is the lower one per piece. And if you read nearly everything, a flat plan that includes scanning, like Stable or the virtual office plans of our partner save office, can come out cheaper than either of us.
Where each service sits
iPostal1 is the biggest aggregator: thousands of partner locations, one of the lowest entry prices in the market, and pay-per-action fees on top. Auteur uses the same shape and the same tiers, with fewer paid actions and an AI assistant that reads what you open, in nine US cities.
And if what you need outgrows a mailbox, an office-grade business presence or scanning included at volume, our partner save office runs US virtual offices, and we will point you there honestly.
Who should pick which
Pick iPostal1 if
- •You need an address today, or in a city we do not cover yet.
- •You want to pick from thousands of specific street addresses.
- •You need phone or fax answering, which we do not offer.
- •You want more than 60 pieces a month on one plan.
Pick Auteur if
- •You want shredding included and a scan fee with no page cap at the same plan tiers.
- •You open some of your mail and want a flat scan price with no page cap.
- •You read mail more comfortably in Korean or Spanish, since Henry translates every letter you open.
- •You are a founder abroad and want onboarding built for people outside the US.
See the full picture for yourself
Our pricing and our fair use policy are published in full, and nothing is charged today.