🧩 Which Integration Option is Best for My Business?

Quoting shipping rates to your customers one by one? There’s a better way.

Whether you're running a slick Shopify store or hustling on WooCommerce, choosing the right integration can save your South African business hours in admin and open the door to global growth. This guide answers two separate questions, so you can pick the setup that fits:

How do shipping rates get into your checkout? Available on every TUNL plan, including Launch.
Do your orders sync into TUNL? Part of the Grow and Scale plans.

🛒 Question 1: How do shipping rates get into your checkout?

💡 Rates at checkout are on every TUNL plan, including Launch. What differs is what your store platform needs, shown in the first row below.

💡 Feature / Criteria	🚀 Shopify Live Rates	🧱 Shopify Basic Rates	🌐 WooCommerce Live Rates
What your store needs	Shopify's Grow plan or higher	Any Shopify plan, including Shopify's Basic plan	WooCommerce + the TUNL plugin
Type of rates at checkout	✅ Live / dynamic rates - Matches tunl.to pricing incl. surcharges & outlying fees	🧾 Static rates - Cart weight & destination	✅ Live / dynamic rates - Matches tunl.to pricing incl. surcharges & outlying fees
Real-time surcharges	✅ Included	❌ Not included	✅ Included
Outlying area fees	✅ Included	❌ Not included	✅ Included
Carriers available	TUNL Economy, UPS & FedEx	TUNL Economy & FedEx only	TUNL Economy, UPS & FedEx
Duties & taxes at checkout	✅ Available - Full landed cost shown	❌ Not available	✅ Available - Full landed cost shown
Discounts, free shipping and handling fees	✅ Set up in TUNL	❌ Set in Shopify's flat rates	✅ Set up in TUNL
Best for cost savings	💸💸 If you’re doing over R50k/month, Shopify's Grow plan usually costs less overall	🆓 Free to use - Great for low-volume stores	🆓 Free to use - Ideal for WooCommerce users
Shopify's fee for third-party live rates	💵 Shopify charges $20/month for third-party live rates - waived when you bill Shopify annually. This is Shopify's fee, not TUNL's	❌ Not applicable	❌ Not applicable - the TUNL plugin is free to use
Product data requirement	📝 Add accurate weights & HS codes	📝 Add accurate weights only	📝 Add accurate weights & HS codes
Integration setup	📖 Use the helpdesk article to DIY or R5000 if done by TUNL	🛠 R3500 if TUNL assists - DIY guide available	🛠 Use the helpdesk article to DIY or R5000 if done by TUNL

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📦 Question 2: Do your orders sync into TUNL?

Order sync is part of the Grow and Scale plans. It's separate from how rates reach your checkout: you can have live rates on any plan, and add order sync when you're ready to book faster.

💡 Feature / Criteria	🛍 Shopify (TUNL Shopify app)	🌐 WooCommerce (TUNL plugin)
TUNL plan needed	Grow or Scale	Grow or Scale
Status	✅ Live	✅ Live
What syncs into TUNL	Unfulfilled international Shopify orders	Unfulfilled “Processing” WooCommerce orders
One-click booking	⚡ The booking form is pre-filled with recipient and customs details	⚡ The booking form is pre-filled with recipient details, HS codes and declared values
Fulfilment updates	🔗 Tracking number and URL go back to Shopify, and the order is marked as fulfilled	🔗 Tracking number and URL go back to WooCommerce as a customer note, and the order is marked as Completed
If you're on Launch	Your orders still show in the Orders tab in TUNL. Clicking Book shipment shows you what Grow unlocks, as booking from synced orders needs Grow. You can still book shipments the usual way.	Your orders still show in the Orders tab in TUNL. Clicking Book shipment shows you what Grow unlocks, as booking from synced orders needs Grow. You can still book shipments the usual way.
Learn more	Automate Orders & Fulfilment with TUNL’s Shopify App	Automate Order Fulfilment with TUNL’s WooCommerce Integration

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🏁 Summary & Recommendation

✅ Choose Shopify Live Rates (Shopify's Grow plan or higher) if:

You want a professional, seamless shipping experience with accurate live pricing.
You don’t need to sell R50,000/month to use Shopify's Grow plan - but if you do, it becomes the better deal compared to Shopify's Basic plan.
You’d prefer duties, fees, and taxes at checkout.
You’d like UPS as a shipping option at checkout too.
You value checkout conversion, transparent landed costs, and reduced admin.

✅ Choose Shopify Basic Rates if:

You're just getting started.
You prefer a free option.
You are happy to add a handling fee to cover surcharges and outlying area costs.
You’re okay with a less accurate shipping cost at checkout.
You don’t need UPS at checkout.

✅ Choose WooCommerce Live Rates if:

You want a professional, seamless shipping experience with accurate live pricing.
You’d prefer duties, fees, and taxes calculated at checkout.
You’d like UPS as a shipping option at checkout too.
You value checkout conversion, transparent landed costs, and reduced admin.

📦 Add order sync (Grow or Scale) if:

You want your Shopify or WooCommerce orders to show up in TUNL automatically.
You'd like faster booking, with the shipment form pre-filled from your order.
You want tracking and fulfilment status to go back to your store without extra steps.
You're on Launch and just want to see your orders in TUNL for now. They still show in your Orders tab, and you can move to Grow when you're ready to book from them. Until then, you can keep booking shipments the usual way.

🦸‍♀️ Have more questions? We're here to help!

If you run into any issues or have questions, reach out to our support team via Whatsapp here or email support@tunl.to.

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Updated on: 30/10/2026

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