EDDM vs direct mail: every door on a route or a list you choose

EDDM vs direct mail: the difference

Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) sends a printed piece to every address on the carrier routes you pick, with no names, while addressed direct mail goes to a list you choose. EDDM Retail, the version run at the Post Office, starts at 200 pieces. A mail service such as Thanks.io starts at one piece, and it does not offer EDDM.

How USPS EDDM works

EDDM Retail needs no bulk permit and takes 200 to 5,000 pieces per ZIP Code a day, as read on October 24, 2026. Its pieces are USPS Marketing Mail, so EDDM vs Marketing Mail is a question of how the mail is entered: at a Post Office, to routes, with no list. USPS gives these steps:

1. Create the mailing online with a USPS.com account and choose routes in the EDDM Online Tool. You can select several routes.
2. Address each piece to "Postal Customer", print the EDDM Retail indicia (the printed postage mark) above and to the right of the address block, and check the size with the Mailpiece Size Checker.
3. Pay online by card, or at the Post Office by cash, card or check.
4. Bundle the pieces in stacks of 50 to 100 and attach a facing slip to each bundle.
5. Take the mailing to the Post Office for your selected ZIP Code.

The USPS Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) 143 sets the limits. A piece is a flat of at most 3.3 ounces that is longer than 10-1/2 inches or higher than 6-1/8 inches, so a 6 by 11 inch card qualifies and a 4 by 6 or 6 by 9 inch card does not. It cannot carry personal information or handwritten or typewritten matter, and no forwarding or return service is offered.

How addressed direct mail works

Thanks.io mails each piece individually to the addresses you choose, by First Class or Standard Mail. The list comes from a CSV or Excel upload, a CRM or store trigger, or a radius search around an address at $0.05 an address. Each piece can carry the recipient's name, and Thanks.io runs a change-of-address check on every send.

What each costs per piece

EDDM Retail postage is $0.26 a piece for flats up to 3.3 ounces (USPS Notice 123, effective October 4, 2026).

Thanks.io's $1.18 is a First Class piece per its help center. The $0.26 is postage alone, and a 4x6 card is not an EDDM flat, so the figures do not compare.

Which to pick for your business

Pick EDDM to blanket whole routes with an offer that needs no name. USPS describes EDDM Retail as suited to small businesses, restaurants, realtors and local political campaigns. Pick addressed direct mail for customers on a list, for follow-ups triggered by an event and for fewer than 200 pieces. Thanks.io lists the EDDM trade-offs as no recipient name and whole carrier routes only.

Thanks.io mails each piece to the addresses you upload, from a single 4x6 postcard at $1.18 on Pay as you go, with postage in the rate. That plan has no monthly fee and no minimum. The best direct mail service guide compares it with print shops and other services.

A real estate agent farming one neighborhood can also mail a radius around an address, as best postcard mailing service for realtors explains. For the class behind both options, read USPS Marketing Mail vs First Class. This page reports USPS rules and is not legal advice.