Pitney Bowes vs Quadient: 2026 Franking Comparison

Ask anyone who's shopped for a franking machine and they'll tell you it usually comes down to two names. Pitney Bowes is the American giant that's been making postage meters for over a century. Quadient is the French company you probably still think of as Neopost. Both make good machines. Both will happily sell you more machine than you need. So how do you pick?

We've put them side by side on the things that actually affect your bill and your day.

At a glance

	Pitney Bowes	Quadient
Former name	Same name throughout	Neopost (until 2019)
Entry model	DM50	iX-1 (about 18 letters a minute)
Popular mid model	SendPro C (up to 50 letters a minute)	iX-3 (about 45 letters a minute)
Top of range	Large mailing systems	iX-7 (up to 175 letters a minute)
Mailmark	Yes on current models	Yes on current models
Software	SendPro and online account tools	S.M.A.R.T. mailing software

Specs from manufacturer and dealer spec sheets, checked October 2026.

Prices

Here's the honest bit: neither company publishes a simple fixed price list for leases. What you pay depends on the model, the options, the length of the term, and how hard you push. A dealer who knows you're also talking to the other brand will nearly always sharpen their pencil.

What we can say is that postage costs are identical. Royal Mail sets the franking tariff, not the machine maker, so a 1st Class letter franked on a Pitney Bowes costs exactly the same as one franked on a Quadient: £1.77 against £1.80 with a stamp, from 7 April 2026 (Royal Mail Business Price Guide, checked October 2026). A 1st Class large letter up to 100g is £2.86 franked versus £3.30 stamped, whichever brand you choose.

That means the only price differences between the two are:

The monthly lease or rental.
Ink and label costs.
Software, meter and service fees.
What happens at the end of the contract.

So when you compare quotes, ask each supplier for the total cost over the full term with all of those included. A cheaper monthly figure can easily be wiped out by pricier ink or a software fee that wasn't mentioned upfront.

Ink and running costs

Both brands want you to use their own cartridges, and for Mailmark machines that's not just a sales tactic. The 2D barcode has to be read by Royal Mail's sorting kit, so a faint or patchy print can cause trouble. Most leases say you must use genuine ink.

In practice, the cost per frank depends on your machine's cartridge size and how much artwork you print with each frank. A big logo or advert in the impression uses more ink. If you want to keep running costs down, keep the slogan simple.

Our franking ink prices page has more on what cartridges cost for common models.

Contracts and exit fees

This is where people get caught out, and it's the same story with both brands. Franking leases are usually multi year agreements. Many renew automatically unless you give written notice inside a set window before the end date. Miss it and you can find yourself tied in for another term.

Some things to check on either contract:

Notice period. How many days before the end do you need to cancel, and does it have to be in writing?
Renewal terms. Does it roll over for a full new term, or month to month?
Early exit. If you need to leave early, is it the full remaining balance or a reduced settlement?
Price changes. Can the monthly fee go up during the term?
Equipment return. Who pays to collect the machine at the end?

We've written a separate guide to cancelling a franking contract if you're already stuck in one.

Service and support

Both companies have their own engineers and also sell through dealers. Your experience depends heavily on who you buy from. A good local dealer can be quicker and more helpful than the manufacturer's head office; a bad one can be hard to get hold of when your machine stops working on a Friday afternoon.

Questions worth asking before you sign:

Is servicing included, or charged per visit?
How fast is the engineer response time?
Is there a loan machine if yours needs to go away?
Who do I call: the dealer or the manufacturer?

Mailmark features

Since 1 January 2023, Royal Mail only accepts franked mail with a Mailmark barcode (Royal Mail, checked October 2026). Every current machine from both brands supports it, so this isn't a deciding factor between them. It is a deciding factor if you're thinking about a cheap second hand machine, because a non Mailmark machine is useless. More on that in our Mailmark guide.

Where the brands differ is in the software that sits around Mailmark. Quadient's S.M.A.R.T. software is strong on cost centre accounting and reporting. Pitney Bowes' SendPro tools focus on combining letters and parcel shipping in one place, which suits businesses that post a lot of packages.

A worked comparison

Here's how we'd approach it for a typical small office: about 60 items a day, mostly 1st Class letters with around ten A4 large letters and the odd small parcel.

Both brands would likely suggest a mid level machine, the SendPro C from Pitney Bowes or the iX-3 from Quadient. Both are quick enough for 60 items, and both can take a weighing platform for parcels. On paper they're near enough a draw.

So the decision comes down to the quote sheet. Line up the monthly fee, ink price per cartridge, any software charge, the term and the renewal clause. Multiply the monthly items by the contract length so you can see the full cost in pounds, not just the headline monthly figure. Nine times out of ten, one quote is clearly better once you do that.

Which suits which business?

Choose Pitney Bowes if:

You post a fair number of parcels as well as letters and want one system for both.
You want a well known brand with a long UK track record.
A semi automatic machine like the SendPro C, with a 5kg scale as standard, fits your volume.

Choose Quadient if:

You want a clear upgrade path from a very small machine to a large one.
You need to split postage costs across lots of departments or clients.
You're replacing an older Neopost machine and your team already knows how they work.

Consider FP or Frama too. It's easy to forget there are other approved manufacturers. FP's PostBase range is popular with small offices, and having a third quote helps your negotiation. See our FP franking machines guide and Frama page.

Verdict

There's no knockout winner. Both make solid Mailmark machines, and the postage you pay is identical. The deciding factors are almost always the contract terms and the quality of the dealer.

Our advice: decide your daily volume and whether you need parcel weighing, then get quotes from both brands for the same spec and the same term. Ask for the total cost over the contract, read the renewal clause, and go with the one that's clearer and cheaper overall. If they come out level, pick the dealer who answered your questions most straight.

For brand detail, read our Pitney Bowes review and our Quadient guide. If you want to rent rather than lease, the rental guide explains the trade offs.

FAQs

Is postage cheaper on one brand than the other?

No. Royal Mail sets franking prices, and they're the same whatever machine you use.

Which brand is more reliable?

Both have a good reputation. Reliability in practice comes down to the age of the machine and how well it's serviced.

Can I switch from Pitney Bowes to Quadient, or the other way round?

Yes. Just make sure your current contract has ended or that the new supplier has agreed in writing to cover any remaining payments.

Do I need a Royal Mail account for either?

Your supplier handles the Royal Mail side, including registering the machine and your postage account.

Looking for a deal?

The quickest way to get a fair price is to make both brands compete. Tell us how much you post and we'll put you in touch with approved suppliers so you can compare like for like. Compare franking machine prices.

Pitney Bowes vs Quadient: Which Franking Machine Is Best In 2026?