Shipping Cost Calculator India
Estimate what a parcel costs to deliver — base freight by weight and zone, fuel surcharge, COD fee and GST — before you set shipping prices or a free-shipping threshold.
Directional, based on published XpressBees/Delhivery B2C rate-card midpoints (Apr 2026) for moderate D2C volumes. Your contract rate varies by volume, lane and negotiation — at 5,000+ shipments/month you can pay 10–25% less.
What the numbers are built on
Indian couriers bill per weight slab (first 500g plus per-kg increments), by zone, and charge the higher of actual and volumetric weight (L×W×H ÷ 5000). A fuel surcharge of roughly 10–25% of base freight and 18% GST land on top; COD adds a flat-or-percent fee. For a 1kg inter-state COD order of ₹800, that assembly lands near ₹150 — about 19% of order value, which is why shipping and COD are usually the first thing to fix before advertising.
What carriers charge (2026, moderate volume)
| Zone | Up to 500g | 1 kg | 2 kg | 5 kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Within city | ₹30–45 | ₹40–65 | ₹55–90 | ₹100–150 |
| Within state | ₹35–60 | ₹50–80 | ₹70–115 | ₹120–185 |
| Metro–metro | ₹55–80 | ₹70–105 | ₹95–145 | ₹170–240 |
| National (inter-state) | ₹65–95 | ₹85–130 | ₹115–170 | ₹200–290 |
| Remote (J&K / NE) | ₹95–130 | ₹120–160 | ₹160–220 | ₹260–380 |
Prepaid surface B2C, before fuel surcharge (~10–25%), COD fee and 18% GST. Carriers compared: XpressBees (cheapest on weight-zone combos), Delhivery (strong Tier-2/3 reach + API), BlueDart (premium SLAs, ~20–30% pricier). Aggregators like Shiprocket bundle volume discounts but cap optimisation freedom.
Common questions
How much does it cost to ship 1kg in India?
Prepaid surface: roughly ₹40–65 within the same city, ₹70–105 metro-to-metro, ₹85–130 inter-state, ₹120–160 to remote zones (2026 XpressBees/Delhivery bands). Add fuel surcharge and 18% GST. COD adds ₹25–45 or 1.25–2% of order value, so the landed cost of a 1kg COD parcel is typically ₹130–190.
What is volumetric weight?
L × W × H (cm) ÷ 5000, compared against actual weight — couriers bill the higher. A 2kg garment in a 40×30×25cm box bills as 6kg. Packaging below the 500g slab is the single biggest shipping-cost lever most D2C brands never take.
Why is COD more expensive than prepaid?
Carriers charge a handling fee (₹25–45 flat or 1.25–2% of order value, whichever is higher) because they collect and remit cash, and they carry the risk. Add RTO — returns run 15–30% on COD in many categories and cost you freight both ways — and COD orders can easily be 25–40% pricier end-to-end than prepaid.
How should I set a free shipping threshold?
Set it above your current AOV — usually 20–40% higher — and only where the added margin funds the absorbed shipping. Model: threshold price × contribution margin ≥ current AOV × contribution margin + shipping cost. A threshold that simply matches your AOV just converts existing orders into free shipping.
Stop Guessing Delivery Costs
Get a freight + COD cost analysis for your real weight mix and pin codes — then set shipping prices and thresholds that protect margin.