Intelliprint vs Franking machine
Franking machine alternative: send letters without the hardware
No lease, no ink, no calibration — send letters as data and let Intelliprint handle printing, franking and posting.
A franking machine makes sense when you're posting very high, steady volumes every day and already own the hardware outright. For most other businesses, the fixed lease, ink, calibration and manual per-item handling cost more in money and time than they save on postage. Intelliprint replaces the machine entirely: you send data, we print, personalise, frank at the right postage rate and post — with no hardware, no minimum volume and no contract to unwind.
Choose Intelliprint when
- You want to send letters without leasing, maintaining or calibrating hardware
- Your volumes fluctuate month to month and a fixed-cost lease doesn't make sense
- You need mail merge, personalisation or multi-recipient batches, not just postage
- You want one invoice covering print, post and handling instead of separate ink, lease and labour costs
Choose franking machine when
- You already own a franking machine outright and send very high, stable volumes every single day
- You need in-hand control over the exact moment an item is franked and leaves the building
Feature by feature
Intelliprint vs Franking machine
Cost structure
| Feature | Intelliprint | Franking machine |
|---|---|---|
| Ongoing cost model | Pay-per-letter, no fixed costEvery letter is one line item on one invoice — print, envelope, franking and postage included. | Fixed monthly lease plus variable postageYou pay the lease and consumables whether you post 10 letters or 10,000 that month.Source |
| Upfront commitment | None — no contract, cancel anytime | Typically a 3–5 year hardware leaseFranking machine suppliers commonly lease on multi-year terms with early-termination charges. |
| Consumables | None — handled in production | Ink cartridges and franking labels, ongoing monthly costSource |
Ongoing cost model
- Intelliprint
- Pay-per-letter, no fixed costEvery letter is one line item on one invoice — print, envelope, franking and postage included.
- Franking machine
- Fixed monthly lease plus variable postageYou pay the lease and consumables whether you post 10 letters or 10,000 that month.Source
Upfront commitment
- Intelliprint
- None — no contract, cancel anytime
- Franking machine
- Typically a 3–5 year hardware leaseFranking machine suppliers commonly lease on multi-year terms with early-termination charges.
Consumables
- Intelliprint
- None — handled in production
- Franking machine
- Ink cartridges and franking labels, ongoing monthly costSource
Operations
| Feature | Intelliprint | Franking machine |
|---|---|---|
| Manual handling per item | None — upload data, we print and postNo printing, stuffing, franking or trips to a post box. | Each envelope is individually fed and frankedLabour scales linearly with volume — the busier you are, the more staff time it costs. |
Manual handling per item
- Intelliprint
- None — upload data, we print and postNo printing, stuffing, franking or trips to a post box.
- Franking machine
- Each envelope is individually fed and frankedLabour scales linearly with volume — the busier you are, the more staff time it costs.
Personalisation
| Feature | Intelliprint | Franking machine |
|---|---|---|
| Mail merge / personalisation | Yes — {tokens} merged at print timeOne template can serve thousands of recipients with names, addresses and account details merged in automatically. | Not supported — a franking machine only stamps postage |
Mail merge / personalisation
- Intelliprint
- Yes — {tokens} merged at print timeOne template can serve thousands of recipients with names, addresses and account details merged in automatically.
- Franking machine
- Not supported — a franking machine only stamps postage
Compliance
| Feature | Intelliprint | Franking machine |
|---|---|---|
| PPI licence & Royal Mail contract | Not required — Intelliprint holds these | You need your own business mailing account, franking licence and periodic machine recalibrationSource |
PPI licence & Royal Mail contract
- Intelliprint
- Not required — Intelliprint holds these
- Franking machine
- You need your own business mailing account, franking licence and periodic machine recalibrationSource
Volume flexibility
| Feature | Intelliprint | Franking machine |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum volume to be cost-effective | None — cost-effective from letter one | Typically needs several hundred items a month to offset the lease and consumables |
Minimum volume to be cost-effective
- Intelliprint
- None — cost-effective from letter one
- Franking machine
- Typically needs several hundred items a month to offset the lease and consumables
Postage access
| Feature | Intelliprint | Franking machine |
|---|---|---|
| Access to discounted bulk postage rates | Yes — built into the rate card automatically | Possible, but requires a Mailmark-compatible machine and separate registrationSource |
Access to discounted bulk postage rates
- Intelliprint
- Yes — built into the rate card automatically
- Franking machine
- Possible, but requires a Mailmark-compatible machine and separate registrationSource
Competitor information last fact-checked 8 July 2026.
Want to see the numbers for your own volumes?