The one-sentence differences
- iPostal1: largest advertised map (4,250+). Most-searched, per Shoeboxed. Highest volume of public complaint-board noise we could cite.
- Anytime Mailbox: same partner model, slightly smaller advertised network, operator-set prices. A San Diego example we could confirm: Rancho Bernardo at $11.89/mo, run by Village Mail and More.
- PostScan Mail: hybrid. Terms admit independent operators. 2026 reviews describe a minority of company hubs. Standardized $10 / $20 / $30 plan card.
iPostal1
Store network- C-
- Banking / KYC
- F
- Google Business Profile
- F
An app that sends your mail to a local packing store, a UPS Store, a coworking desk, or an office building. The local store handles the mail.
CMRA: Yes, every partner location is a CMRA
Anytime Mailbox
Store network- C
- Banking / KYC
- F
- Google Business Profile
- F
Same store-network model as iPostal1. Each store sets price and day-to-day handling.
CMRA: Yes, partner locations are CMRAs
PostScan Mail
Some company rooms, mostly stores- C+
- Banking / KYC
- F
- Google Business Profile
- F
Some rooms the company runs, plus a larger set of partner stores. The stores are independent.
CMRA: Yes, hub and partner addresses are still CMRAs for USPS mail
Comparison table
| Brand | Model | CMRA likely? | Signup friction | Packages / scanning | Starting price (cited) | Mail / Bank / GBP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPostal1 | Store network | Yes, every partner location is a CMRA | USPS Form 1583 plus two IDs. Provider offers online notarization (reported $25). | USPS, FedEx, UPS, and DHL reported accepted. Open-and-scan and shred are typically per-item fees. | From $9.99/mo personal; $14.99/mo business at Standard locations. Select, Premium, and Prestige addresses cost more. | C- / F / F |
| Anytime Mailbox | Store network | Yes, partner locations are CMRAs | USPS Form 1583; process quality depends on the local operator. | Carrier mix and scan fees are location-specific. Confirm on the location page before you pay. | Homepage often shows $9.99/mo. Individual location pages have been reported from about $4.99 to $50. | C / F / F |
| PostScan Mail | Some company rooms, mostly stores | Yes, hub and partner addresses are still CMRAs for USPS mail | USPS Form 1583. Reviews more often credit PostScan with a clearer remote-notary path than marketplace-only brands. | Scanning and forwarding available. Partner locations can be slower or blurrier than hubs, treat that as reported, not guaranteed. | Starter $10/mo, Standard $20/mo, Premium $30/mo on the published plan card. Open-and-scan is extra on Starter (about $2/envelope in 2026 reviews). | C+ / F / F |
| US Global Mail | Company-run hub | Yes, company describes itself as a USPS-approved CMRA | Form 1583. Onboarding is the usual CMRA identity check. | Unlimited exterior scans and check deposit are advertised as included on published plans. | Scale plan marketed from $49/mo annual or $65/mo month-to-month (vendor site, 2026). | B+ / F / F |
| VirtualPostMail (mailbox) | Company-run hub | Yes for the standard mailbox product | USPS Form 1583 with two IDs. Registered-agent add-on is advertised on some plans, still a separate legal role. | Scanning, forwarding, and check deposit are core mailbox features. TruLease mail processing is described as weekly, not daily. | Mailbox plans reported from about $20/mo in 2026 third-party reviews. Confirm live prices on virtualpostmail.com/pricing. | B / F / F |
US Global Mail and VirtualPostMail are in the table as owned-hub controls, not as “also-rans” in a marketplace beauty contest. If you do not need a specific strip-mall zip code, they are the more coherent mail product.
Pricing you can cite, and pricing you cannot
Headline prices are marketing. Live prices are location-tiered or operator-set.
- iPostal1’s own San Diego page and FAQ advertise personal from $9.99/mo and business from $14.99/mo. Startup Owl, which says it re-checked prices in July 2026, lists Business Green at $14.99/mo or $149/year, content scans at $2.25 (up to 10 pages), shred $2.25, check deposit $4.95, and iPostal1’s online notary at $25. Advertised prices apply to Standard locations. We did not re-price every San Diego pin.
- Anytime’s national homepage commonly shows $9.99/mo. Shoeboxed’s 2026 Anytime review says individual pages have been seen from about $4.99 to $50, and that operators raise prices on their own schedule. A BBB comment quoted there: “I started out at $10/month and now up to $27.” Treat that as reported.
- PostScan’s public plan names in 2026 reviews: Starter $10, Standard $20, Premium $30. Open-and-scan is extra on Starter (about $2). PostScan’s terms say operators independently manage day-to-day operations and that you release PostScan from liability for operator handling if you choose a partner site.
Mail grade: why nobody gets an A
An A on Mail would mean company-run rooms, published handling rules, and no pattern of “the store lost it and the app company shrugged.” Marketplace brands structurally cannot promise that. PostScan’s hub story is the only reason it sits a notch above the other two, and only if you confirm the address is a hub. Shoeboxed’s PostScan review is blunt: call and ask.
iPostal1’s complaint-board file is the one we could quantify from the complaint boards that publish scores. ComplaintsBoard 2.2/5 (updated April 16, 2026); featured April 15, 2026 review titled “Stay away from ipostal1,” describing a reported uncompensated Amazon loss at a Staples-hosted box. PissedConsumer 2.1/5 (page updated July 21, 2026). Startup Owl points at Reddit r/llc and r/vandwellers thread titles. Those are reported experiences, not a census of 100,000 customers.
Banking and GBP grades: identical on purpose
All three are CMRAs. Laramie Ledger’s 2026 piece says moving from iPostal1 to Anytime does not clear the flag. We agree with the mechanism, and we cite the bank pages rather than the blog: Mercury names CMRAs; Relay names virtual mailboxes; Stripe Issuing names CMRAs. Google names virtual offices. There is no “Prestige tier” exception in those documents.
When we would still use a marketplace brand
- You need a street in a suburb no owned hub serves, for example a San Diego neighborhood pin, a Los Angeles 900xx listing, a Miami 331xx listing, an Austin 787xx listing, a Dallas 752xx listing, a Chicago 606xx listing, a Denver 802xx listing, or a Las Vegas 891xx listing. Then you are picking a store. Start with the San Diego page, the Los Angeles page, the Miami page, the Austin page, the Dallas page, the Chicago page, the Denver page, or the Las Vegas page and visit if you live nearby. Los Angeles, Houston, Las Vegas, and New York are the exceptions on this site: the Los Angeles page names a VirtualPostMail owned hub in Covina, the Houston page names a US Global Mail owned hub on Upland Drive, the Las Vegas page names a VirtualPostMail owned hub in Henderson, and the New York page names one in Long Island City, each separate from prestige and retail pins.
- Mail volume is low, the letters are not “if this is lost I lose the license,” and you will watch the app.
- You already have a home or lease for the bank field, and you only want scans plus a public filing address.
When we would not: Amazon seller verification, Stripe money-management products, Mercury operating address, or a Google Maps pin. Buy a different product. See Amazon / Stripe / Shopify.
Related guide: what a virtual business address is before you pick which of these apps rents the street.
Related guide: what a virtual mailbox costs is the monthly bill: the plan on this table, then the scans, postage, and ID form the starting price leaves off.
Sources
- Shoeboxed iPostal1 review 2026; Anytime; PostScan
- Startup Owl iPostal1 review (updated August 21, 2026)
- Ecommerce Paradise iPostal1 2026; PostScan 2026
- PostScan Mail terms
- Complaint boards linked from the homepage.