The best tools to estimate Canada and US duties for online stores, compared honestly

Short answer: there is no single best tool. The right one depends on where you sell, how many orders cross the border, and whether you want the charges collected at checkout or only known before you ship. Below is every kind of tool a small store is likely to try for Canada and US orders, with what each does well and where each stops. Othermile is one of them, and we say where it stops too.

We do not quote other companies' prices here, because they change often and their own pages disagree with outside reviews. Each section links to the company's own page, so you can check today's price there.

What a duty tool has to get right

Before comparing tools, it helps to know what a good estimate needs. For a parcel between Canada and the US, the charge at the door is made of:

• Duty, set by the tariff code and the country where the product was made.
• Extra tariffs or surtaxes on goods of certain countries, which change more often than ordinary duty.
• Sales tax: GST or HST into Canada, which depends on the province.
• The low value limits, which into Canada depend on whether the parcel goes by mail or courier.
• Fees from the carrier or Canada Post for clearing the parcel.

A tool that knows the duty rate but not the surtaxes, the province or the carrier's fee can be wrong by more than the duty itself. What Canadian customers pay at the door walks through a real example.

Government lookups: free and official, but you do the math

Who it fits: anyone who wants the official rate for one product.

Canada's border agency offers an estimator inside its CARM Client Portal, and publishes the full Customs Tariff. The US International Trade Commission runs HTS search, where you can look up the ordinary US duty for a tariff code.

Where it stops: these are lookups, not order tools. You find the code, read the rate, then add any extra tariffs, the tax for the province and the carrier's fee yourself. The US schedule shows extra tariffs only through footnotes and chapter 99, which is easy to miss. Canada's agency also says plainly that it is not bound by its own estimate.

Shopify's own duty collection

Who it fits: Shopify stores that want to charge duties at checkout and ship duty paid.

Shopify can calculate duties and import taxes at checkout and add them to the order. See Shopify's help page on collecting duties at checkout for which plans can use it today.

Where it stops: it needs a tariff code on each product, and Shopify asks you to pair it with duty paid labels, so you pay the carrier and the customer is not charged twice. Shopify charges a small fee on every international order it calculates, even when the duty comes to zero. It also prices the order at checkout and does not stop an order that turns out to cost you money from shipping.

Shopify Managed Markets: hand the whole thing over

Who it fits: Shopify stores selling to many countries that would rather not handle duties, taxes or registrations at all.

With Managed Markets, a partner becomes the seller of record for international orders. Shoppers see prices with duties included, and the partner pays the duties and taxes before paying you out.

Where it stops: you give up control of the international price and pay a percentage of each international order, on top of currency conversion. For a store that mostly sells between Canada and the US, that can cost more than the border charges it saves the customer.

Zonos

Who it fits: stores selling worldwide that want landed cost at checkout on Shopify or other platforms.

Zonos calculates duties, taxes and fees at checkout so the shopper pays them up front, and says it covers the difference when the customs bill comes in higher than the quote.

Where it stops: it is built for global selling, with plans priced for stores that ship a lot of international orders. A small store with a few Canadian or US orders a week may find it more than it needs.

Avalara

Who it fits: larger businesses that already use Avalara for sales tax.

Avalara offers duty and import tax calculation as an add on to its AvaTax product, and an estimated version for Shopify Markets that works without tariff codes.

Where it stops: pricing is by quote, and it is aimed at businesses with an accounting and tax setup, not at a store owner on their own.

Shipping platforms such as Easyship

Who it fits: stores that already buy labels through a shipping platform.

Easyship estimates taxes and duties when you buy a label and lets you choose who pays. Other label platforms offer something similar.

Where it stops: the estimate comes at label time, after the customer has paid. Easyship also says its estimates are not available for every courier, and not for postal services, which many small stores use to send orders into Canada.

Othermile

Who it fits: small stores and print on demand sellers whose orders cross between Canada and the US.

Othermile checks every order before it is printed or shipped: duty, extra tariffs, tax for the province, carrier fees and the margin left after them. Orders that pass go out on their own. Costly ones wait for your OK on your phone, with each way to ship them priced side by side. Shoppers can see the estimate on the product page, and you can offer shipping with duties included at checkout. It connects to Shopify, WooCommerce, Printify, Printful and more, and the free plan checks 100 orders a month.

Where it stops:

• Canada and the US only. Orders to other countries are costed without border fees and marked as outside what it covers.
• Estimates, not customs advice. Every figure names the rules it used and their date. The carrier and customs decide the final amount.
• It is not a seller of record. It does not collect duty from your customers or pay it for you. With duties included shipping, the amount goes into the shipping price and you pay the carrier.
• Some connections are still waiting on the marketplace's approval, such as Etsy.

Side by side

How to choose

1. Count your cross border orders. A few a month: the free tools and lookups may be enough. Dozens or more: you want something that checks every order.
2. Decide who pays. If you want customers to pay at checkout, pick a tool that collects. If they pay at the door, what matters is warning them and catching the costly orders first. How to charge Canadian duties at checkout compares the options.
3. Look at where you sell. Worldwide stores need global coverage. Canada and US stores need province tax and the mail and courier limits right.
4. Get your tariff codes and origins right first. Every tool on this list is only as good as those two facts.

Not sure where to start? Run your last few months of orders through the free border cost audit. It shows what your customers paid at the door and which changes would have lowered it, before you pay for anything.

This guide explains public rules in plain language for general information. It is not customs, tax or legal advice; the exact tariff code, your paperwork and the carrier decide the final amount.