For cross-border e-commerce, Zonos is the most complete landed cost tool for small and mid-size merchants: it calculates duties and taxes at checkout in more than 200 countries and can guarantee the quote for $2 per order plus 10 percent of duties and taxes. Avalara suits businesses that already use it for sales tax and want cross-border duties, HS classification and tariff content from the same vendor. Descartes is the choice for importers and exporters that need classification, denied party screening and customs filings across many shipments. Altana is an enterprise trade intelligence platform for large importers mapping supply chain and tariff exposure. Since the US suspended de minimis for all countries in August 2025 and the EU began charging €3 per item on parcels under €150 on July 1, 2026, accurate landed cost has become a requirement rather than a nice to have.
Zonos, founded in 2009 in St. George, Utah, calculates duties, import taxes and fees at checkout for shipments to more than 200 countries, and offers HS classification and customs documentation. Its guaranteed landed cost costs $2 per order plus 10 percent of duties, taxes and import fees, and Zonos covers the difference if its quote is wrong. Classify starts at $500 a month, and setup is $2,000 standard or $4,000 premium. It integrates with Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, WooCommerce and Salesforce Commerce, though Shopify stores must use Shopify's own checkout. G2 lists 47 reviews averaging 4.8.
Pricing: Zonos pricing varies by product and integration. Classify starts at $500 per month, while standard setup is $2,000 and premium setup is $4,000. Guaranteed landed cost costs $2 per order plus 10% of duties, taxes and other applicable import fees; subscription and integration charges vary.
Combines landed cost, customs data, classification and international checkout in one cross-border stack.
Supports more than 200 countries and integrates with major ecommerce platforms and carriers.
Classify can use product images and incomplete descriptions to generate HS-code suggestions.
Pricing is split across subscriptions, implementation fees and per-order charges.
Guaranteed landed cost adds $2 per order and 10% of applicable duties, taxes and import fees.
Shopify users cannot use Zonos Checkout and must use the default Shopify checkout.
Avalara covers more than 190 countries and adds cross-border modules for landed cost calculation, HS code classification and tariff content to its sales tax and VAT products. For a US merchant that already calculates sales tax with AvaTax, adding duties keeps tax and customs data in one system and one contract. It integrates with more than 1,400 ERP, e-commerce and accounting systems. Cross-border pricing is quoted; Vendr reports a median Avalara contract of $16,898 a year. Reviewers in 2026 cite slow support and billing surprises, so negotiate add-ons carefully.
Pricing: Since July 2026, Avalara publishes per-state pricing for businesses under $50M in annual revenue through Avalara Select, with about 15% off for annual billing. Larger, high-volume and international deployments are quoted. Vendr reports a median negotiated contract of $16,898/year across 761 purchases (range ~$3,750–$73,000). Ask what counts as a billable transaction, how many returns are included and what overages cost.
Largest integration ecosystem in sales tax (1,400+ connectors)
Covers calculation, filing, exemptions, registrations and duties in one vendor
Published per-state pricing since July 2026 makes small-business costs predictable
Support responsiveness is a recurring complaint in 2026 reviews
Setup and configuration can be complex, especially with custom ERPs
Reviewers report billing surprises, add-on costs and cancellation friction
Trade compliance software for screening parties, classifying products and managing customs requirements across global logistics operations.
Descartes, a public logistics software group with $729 million in fiscal 2026 revenue and more than 10,000 customers in 160 countries, covers customs classification, filings, trade data, export controls and denied party screening against OFAC, BIS, EU and UN lists. It suits importers and exporters moving freight rather than parcels, and companies that need duty calculation inside a broader trade compliance process. Screening can start around $2,000 a year, and integrated deployments typically run $10,000 to $100,000 annually. It integrates with SAP GTS, SAP ERP and Salesforce.
Pricing: Descartes does not publish standard module tiers. Denied-party-screening guidance indicates pricing can start around $2,000 per year for minimal needs, while larger integrated deployments range from $10,000 to $100,000 annually; pricing depends on users, volume, lists, integrations and features.
Combines Visual Compliance screening with CustomsInfo classification and broader customs capabilities.
Supports online, batch, continuous and integrated screening workflows.
Provides broad government-list coverage plus ownership research and OFAC 50% rule support.
Pricing is quote-based and varies by volume, modules and integration scope.
The broad logistics portfolio requires buyers to define the compliance modules they need.
Complex global deployments can require integration, data-mapping and workflow implementation work.
4. Best for enterprise tariff and supply chain exposure
Altana
AI trade and supply-chain intelligence for enterprises, suppliers and government teams managing global value chains.
Altana, founded in 2019 and valued at $1 billion in 2024, maps product, supplier and logistics data across a network it says covers about half of global trade and more than 600 million companies. Large importers use it to understand country of origin, forced labor and sanctions risk, and how tariff changes affect their supply chain. It is not a checkout calculator. A UK government procurement listing puts its core platform at £550,000 to £950,000 a year, so it is only realistic for very large importers and governments.
Pricing: The £550,000 per instance per year figure is a UK G-Cloud procurement benchmark, not a universal published minimum price. The pricing document lists Atlas Core at £550,000–£950,000 annually and Atlas Platform at £1.4 million–£2.5 million, excluding cloud computing costs. Official terms set fees in the applicable order form.
Combines product, company and trade relationships in a broad supply-chain graph.
Covers classification, origin, duties, tariffs, screening and customs workflows in one platform.
Supports commercial compliance operations and government enforcement use cases.
The verified Atlas procurement benchmark starts at £550,000 per instance annually.
Enterprise pricing and contract terms are sales-led rather than publicly standardized.
Native ERP and TMS connector coverage is not documented.
Why landed cost moved to the center of cross-border selling
For most of the last decade, a US shopper could buy a $60 jacket from a Canadian, British or Chinese store and pay nothing at the border, because shipments worth $800 or less entered duty free under the de minimis rule. Many European shoppers had a similar experience for parcels under €150. Cross-border stores could quote one price and ship.
Both exemptions are now gone or going:
United States. Duty-free de minimis was suspended for all countries from August 29, 2025. After the Supreme Court ruled on February 20, 2026 that the emergency powers law did not authorise tariffs, the administration continued the suspension under a new order, and the Court of International Trade upheld it in August 2026. Congress has also legislated a permanent end to de minimis from July 1, 2027.
European Union. From July 1, 2026, the duty relief for consignments up to €150 was abolished. Until normal duty rates apply in 2028, a flat €3 duty is charged on each distinct item in a parcel. Product identifiers become mandatory in customs data from November 1, 2026.
At the same time, US tariff rates have changed repeatedly. After the IEEPA tariffs were struck down, a temporary surcharge under Section 122 of the Trade Act followed, along with tariffs under other laws. A merchant that quoted landed cost from a spreadsheet in early 2025 would have had to update it several times since.
What a landed cost tool does
A good landed cost tool covers four jobs:
Classification. Assign an HS code to each product, ideally the full national tariff code for each destination.
Calculation. Apply duty rates, trade agreement preferences, de minimis rules, import VAT or GST and carrier or broker fees for the destination, origin and value.
Collection. Show the total at checkout so the buyer pays it, and pass the amounts to the carrier for delivered duty paid shipping.
Documentation. Produce commercial invoices and customs data, and in some cases guarantee the quote.
Merchants rarely need all four from one vendor. A Shopify store shipping parcels needs checkout calculation and classification. An importer bringing in containers needs classification, entry data and duty planning, but not checkout.
How we chose these four
We reviewed the cross-border tax and trade compliance tools in our tax directory. Few tools specialise in landed cost, so we focused on the ones that calculate duties and taxes reliably, keep tariff data current and fit a clear type of buyer. We weighted country coverage, classification quality, checkout integrations, guarantees and published pricing. Prices are as of October 2026.
Others to know: Global-e and other cross-border checkout providers act as merchant of record for international orders and include duties in their service; carriers such as DHL, FedEx and UPS offer duty estimators and DDP services; and Shopify Markets includes duty and import tax collection for eligible stores. These can be enough for smaller stores.
Comparison at a glance
Tool
Best for
Pricing
Watch out for
Zonos
E-commerce checkout, DDP parcels
$2/order plus 10% of duties and taxes (guaranteed); Classify from $500/mo
Several fee types; Shopify checkout limits
Avalara
Merchants already on AvaTax
Quoted; median contract ~$16,898/yr overall
Add-on costs, support complaints
Descartes
Importers, exporters, trade compliance
~$2,000/yr for screening; $10,000 to $100,000 for integrated deployments
Broad portfolio needs scoping
Altana
Large importers, supply chain risk
£550,000+ a year
Not a checkout tool
Which tool fits which business
Online store shipping parcels from the US to Canada, the UK and the EU. Zonos for checkout calculation and guaranteed quotes, or Shopify Markets if you are on Shopify and your volume is modest.
Store shipping from the UK, EU or Asia into the US. Since de minimis ended, every parcel needs duties paid and the right entry type. Use Zonos or a carrier DDP service so customers are not hit with charges on delivery, and keep HS codes and country of origin data accurate.
US merchant already using Avalara for sales tax. Ask Avalara to quote its cross-border modules before adding another vendor. Compare the total against Zonos.
Importer or manufacturer bringing in freight. Descartes for classification, trade data, screening and filings, alongside your customs broker.
Large retailer or manufacturer rethinking sourcing because of tariffs. Altana or a similar trade intelligence platform to map supplier networks and origin, plus a trade compliance suite for day-to-day filings.
Guaranteed landed cost: is it worth it?
Zonos's guarantee costs $2 per order plus 10 percent of the duties, taxes and fees it calculates. On an order with $20 of duties and taxes, that is $4 extra. In return, if customs charges more than the quote, Zonos pays the difference rather than your customer or you.
The guarantee makes sense when:
Your products have tricky classification, such as apparel blends, cosmetics or electronics with batteries.
You ship to many countries with different rules.
A wrong quote leads to refused parcels, return shipping and lost customers.
It makes less sense for a store selling a few well-classified products to one or two countries, where the risk of error is low.
Common landed cost mistakes
Using six-digit HS codes only. Duty rates are set at eight to ten digits, and the same six-digit heading can carry very different rates.
Ignoring country of origin. Duty depends on where a product was made, not where it ships from. A product made in China shipped from a UK warehouse still pays US duty based on China origin.
Forgetting fees. Brokerage, carrier disbursement and handling fees can exceed the duty on low-value parcels.
Assuming EU items are per parcel. The €3 duty is per item category, so a mixed parcel can pay several times.
Not updating rates. Tariff changes in 2025 and 2026 took effect on short notice. Ask any provider how fast its data updates after an announcement.
Questions to ask in a demo
How do you classify products, and what is your accuracy rate for full national tariff codes?
How quickly do you update duty rates after a tariff change?
Do you support the EU €3 per-item duty and IOSS?
Which carriers and checkouts do you integrate with for DDP?
What exactly does the guarantee cover, and how are claims handled?
What do we pay in total at our order volume, including setup, subscription and per-order fees?
For VAT on cross-border sales to EU consumers, see our EU VAT guide. For US sales tax on domestic orders, see our sales tax nexus guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is landed cost?
Landed cost is the total price of getting a product to the buyer's door: the product price, shipping, insurance, customs duties, import taxes such as VAT or GST, and customs brokerage or handling fees. Showing it at checkout lets the buyer pay everything up front, which avoids surprise charges on delivery and refused parcels.
Is the US de minimis exemption gone?
Duty-free de minimis treatment for shipments of $800 or less was suspended for all countries from August 29, 2025, and the suspension was continued in February 2026. Shipments through carriers need formal or informal entry with duties paid; postal shipments pay duties under separate rules. Congress also legislated a permanent end to the exemption from July 1, 2027.
What is the EU €3 customs duty?
From July 1, 2026, the EU charges a temporary customs duty of €3 per item on consignments worth up to €150 sold directly to EU consumers from outside the EU. An item means each different tariff classification, so a parcel with a T-shirt and a watch pays €6. It applies until July 1, 2028, when normal duty rates are expected to apply. Import VAT still applies separately, often collected through IOSS.
What is DDP vs DAP shipping?
Under delivered duty paid (DDP), the seller pays duties and taxes and the buyer receives the parcel with nothing more to pay. Under delivered at place (DAP, sometimes called DDU), the buyer pays duties and fees to the carrier on delivery. Landed cost tools make DDP practical by calculating the amount at checkout.
What is an HS code and why does it matter?
The Harmonized System code classifies a product for customs. The first six digits are shared internationally and countries add more digits. The code determines the duty rate, whether trade agreements apply, and whether the goods need licences. A wrong code means a wrong duty quote and potential penalties.
Do I need landed cost software if I only sell domestically?
Not for sales, but importers still need to know duty costs on the goods they bring in. With tariff rates changing frequently since 2025, many importers use classification and duty tools to price products and plan sourcing.
Prices and ratings come from each vendor's public pricing pages and review sites as of October 22, 2026. Vendors change pricing often, so confirm with a quote. Nothing here is tax or legal advice.
