UPS vs. FedEx: Which Carrier Is Cheaper for Your Business?

Is UPS or FedEx cheaper? At published 2026 rates, neither by much: a sample week of 1,000 mixed packages priced at list came to $46,075.94 at UPS and $45,847.56 at FedEx, a gap of 0.5%. Across all 1,050 Ground weight and zone cells, no UPS rate is more than 3% above or below the FedEx rate, and a 1 lb package to zone 2 is $11.99 at both. For a business, the carrier that is cheaper is the one whose agreement prices your package profile lower once minimum charges, surcharges and the discounts on the volume you keep are counted. To check a single package at published rates, use our UPS vs FedEx vs USPS shipping cost calculator.

That makes UPS against FedEx a different question from UPS against USPS or OnTrac. Those carriers price on different structures, so the rate card alone often points one way. UPS and FedEx build a price the same way: a rate by service, weight and zone, a residential charge, a delivery area surcharge by ZIP code, handling charges by size and weight, dimensional weight at the same divisor, and a weekly fuel surcharge on the total. The published numbers in each of those lines are close. The negotiated numbers are where they separate.

UPS Ground vs FedEx Ground

UPS sells one ground service, UPS Ground, to commercial and residential addresses alike and adds a residential charge where the address is residential. FedEx sells two: FedEx Ground for business addresses and FedEx Home Delivery for residences. The two FedEx services share one list rate table, and Home Delivery adds the residential charge, so at published rates the comparison is the same rate table either way. The service difference is in delivery days. Both deliver residential ground packages on Saturdays at no additional charge: UPS lists no additional fee for Saturday residential delivery of UPS Ground and Ground Saver packages, available in select areas of the contiguous 48 states, and FedEx says Home Delivery reaches 98% of the U.S. population on Saturdays, typically by 8 p.m. Sunday is where they differ. FedEx Home Delivery reaches nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population on Sundays at no additional charge, while UPS says it makes no pickups or deliveries on Sunday. Saturday delivery of UPS Ground to business addresses costs the shipper $4.00 a package, unless the receiving business has a UPS Saturday Scheduled Pickup and has opted in to Saturday delivery, in which case there is no fee.

	UPS Ground	FedEx Ground / Home Delivery
Commercial and residential	One service, residential charge added	FedEx Ground to businesses, FedEx Home Delivery to residences
Published transit, contiguous U.S.	1 to 5 business days	1 to 5 business days
Residential weekend delivery	Saturday in select areas, no additional fee; no Sunday delivery	Home Delivery on Saturday to 98% of the U.S. population and Sunday to nearly two-thirds, no additional charge
Maximum weight	150 lb	150 lb
Dimensional weight divisor	139, every package, on Daily Rates (UPS Retail Rates use 166)	139, every package, on list rates
Residential charge, 2026	$6.50	$6.45
Delivery area surcharge, residential, 2026	$6.55 standard, $8.85 extended, $16.50 remote	$6.60 standard, $8.80 extended, $16.75 remote
Delivery area surcharge, commercial, 2026	$4.50 standard, $5.70 extended	$4.45 standard, $5.55 extended
Fuel, week of November 2, 2026	30.25%	29.25%

Sources: 2026 UPS Rate and Service Guide, daily rates, and Revised Rates for Value-Added Services effective December 22, 2025; FedEx Service Guide 2026 and 2026 changes to FedEx surcharges and fees, effective January 5, 2026; UPS and FedEx weekly fuel surcharge pages.

Is UPS Ground cheaper than FedEx Ground?

For light packages at list rates, usually not, and for heavy ones, usually yes, but the gap in either direction is small. FedEx Ground's list rate is lower in 57 of the 70 cells from 1 to 10 lb, and UPS Ground's daily rate is lower in 520 of the 560 cells from 71 to 150 lb. These are the 2026 published rates for a sample of cells:

Weight and zone	UPS Ground	FedEx Ground	Lower
1 lb, zone 2	$11.99	$11.99	Equal
1 lb, zone 5	$14.10	$14.00	FedEx, by $0.10
2 lb, zone 5	$15.79	$15.66	FedEx, by $0.13
5 lb, zone 8	$21.72	$21.69	FedEx, by $0.03
10 lb, zone 4	$18.75	$18.56	FedEx, by $0.19
20 lb, zone 5	$26.97	$27.47	UPS, by $0.50
30 lb, zone 6	$44.95	$45.40	UPS, by $0.45
50 lb, zone 8	$90.26	$89.83	FedEx, by $0.43
70 lb, zone 8	$103.11	$103.85	UPS, by $0.74

Across the whole table the pattern holds by weight band:

Weight band	Cells where UPS is lower	Cells where FedEx is lower	Average UPS rate against FedEx
1 to 10 lb	11	57	0.43% higher
11 to 30 lb	113	26	0.61% lower
31 to 70 lb	164	114	0.16% lower
71 to 150 lb	520	39	1.68% lower

All 1,050 cells, 1 to 150 lb, zones 2 to 8: UPS Ground daily rates, 2026 edition updated May 10, 2026, against FedEx Standard List Rates effective January 5, 2026. The remaining cells are equal. Averages give every cell equal weight and measure the UPS rate against the FedEx rate. The largest gap is at 126 and 127 lb to zone 8: $155.50 at UPS against $160.27 at FedEx, 2.98% below the FedEx rate (3.07% if measured against the UPS rate).

What changes with the 2027 rates

Both carriers raise these rates within weeks: UPS by an average 5.9% on December 21, 2026 and FedEx by an average 5.9% on January 4, 2027. The averages match, but the increases do not fall the same way by weight, and the 2027 tables separate the carriers at the heavy end of the table. We ran the same cell-by-cell comparison on both 2027 tables:

Weight band, 2027	Cells where UPS is lower	Cells where FedEx is lower	Average UPS rate against FedEx
1 to 10 lb	25	38	0.14% higher
11 to 30 lb	112	27	0.68% lower
31 to 70 lb	139	139	0.10% lower
71 to 150 lb	550	10	2.39% lower

All 1,050 cells, 1 to 150 lb, zones 2 to 8: 2027 UPS Ground daily rates effective December 21, 2026, against FedEx Standard List Rates effective January 4, 2027. The remaining cells are equal. Measured against the FedEx rate, 187 cells differ by more than 3%, all of them heavy; the largest gap is 4.41%, at 150 lb to zone 8: $189.72 at UPS against $198.48 at FedEx.

Light packages move closer together: a 1 lb package to zone 2 is $12.70 at both, and FedEx's advantage from 1 to 10 lb narrows to a near tie. Above 70 lb, UPS's lead widens from 1.68% to 2.39% on average. Surcharges rise further than the base rates at both carriers. The 2027 residential charge is $7.10 at UPS and $6.90 at FedEx, the standard residential delivery area surcharge $7.15 and $7.00, and additional handling for size in zones 5 and 6 is $42.00 and $41.25. Repriced on the 2027 tables and surcharges, the sample week below comes to $49,060.62 at UPS and $48,739.53 at FedEx: up 6.5% and 6.3% on 2026, with a gap of 0.7%. Our UPS 2027 rate increase and FedEx 2027 rate changes analyses cover each carrier's increase in detail.

UPS vs FedEx by shipping profile

Because the two rate cards are so close, the profile of what you ship matters more than the carrier's name. These are the lines that move the most money in each profile, with the published difference between the carriers.

Profile	What drives the cost	Published difference
Lightweight residential, the typical ecommerce parcel	The residential charge, delivery area surcharges, fuel on both, and, under an agreement, the minimum charge	FedEx list rates are lower on most light cells; the residential and delivery area charges are within $0.05 of each other
Commercial ground, business to business	Transportation rate by weight and zone; no residential charge	Within cents at most weights
Bulky and light	Dimensional weight at 139, additional handling for size, and the 40 lb minimum billable weight that comes with a size-triggered additional handling charge	Same divisor, same size thresholds and same 40 lb minimum in 2026; additional handling amounts within $0.50. UPS raises its minimum to 50 lb with its December 21, 2026 rates
Heavy, over 50 lb	Additional handling for weight, which an actual weight over 50 lb triggers, and per-pound rates at the top of the table	UPS list rates lower in most cells above 70 lb; weight handling charges $0.50 higher at UPS in zones 2 to 4 and equal beyond
Large packages to business addresses	The large package or oversize charge	UPS commercial large package charge $219.50 in zone 2 against $255.00 for FedEx oversize; residential nearly equal at $254.50 and $255.00
Rural and remote destinations	Which ZIP codes carry a delivery area surcharge, and at what tier	Amounts within $0.25; the ZIP lists differ, and FedEx moves 2,533 ZIP codes to its Remote tier on January 4, 2027
Express-heavy	Air rates by service, air fuel, and the guarantee	Air fuel 34.25% at UPS and 33.25% at FedEx in the week of November 2, 2026; matched service families from next day to three day

The large package row is one of the few published differences worth real money: a business shipping large boxes to commercial addresses pays $35.50 less per package in zone 2 at UPS list amounts, and the gap holds across zones. The delivery area row is the other one to check line by line, because the amount per package is almost the same and the ZIP lists are not. Check your own destinations in the delivery area surcharge lookup, and see the 2027 FedEx ZIP code changes for the move to Remote.

One week of shipments priced at both carriers

To show how the lines add up, we priced a sample week of 1,000 packages at both carriers' published 2026 rates. The shipments are illustrative, not a customer's, and the fuel is the week of November 2, 2026, applied to the transportation charge and to the residential, delivery area and handling charges.

Profile	Packages	Shipment	UPS per package	FedEx per package
Light residential	500	2 lb billed, zone 5, residential; 75 in a standard and 25 in an extended delivery area	$30.89	$30.43
Commercial ground	300	14 lb billed, zone 4, commercial	$25.78	$25.81
Bulky residential	50	30 x 20 x 18 in, 14 lb actual, 78 lb dimensional, zone 6, with additional handling for size	$163.58	$164.92
Heavy commercial	150	45 lb, zone 7, commercial	$98.13	$97.64
Week	1,000		$46,075.94	$45,847.56

Illustrative shipments at 2026 published rates, before any agreement. Both carriers use the same zone for each profile. Fuel at the week of November 2, 2026 percentages, 30.25% (UPS) and 29.25% (FedEx). Seasonal demand surcharges, which both carriers apply in that period, are excluded. Totals are summed before rounding. Annualized over 52 weeks, about $2.40 million at UPS and $2.38 million at FedEx. On the 2027 rates and surcharges, with fuel held at the same percentages, the week is $49,060.62 at UPS and $48,739.53 at FedEx, and each profile still favors the same carrier. An actual proposal comparison prices the same origin and destination ZIP codes under each carrier's own zone chart and surcharge rules.

Three things stand out. FedEx is lower on the light residential and heavy profiles and UPS on the commercial and bulky ones, so the same week favors a different carrier depending on which profile dominates. The fees are a large share of the light parcel: at UPS the residential and delivery area charges are about a third of the light residential package's charge before fuel. And on the bulky package, additional handling and the fuel on it come to about $50 of a $164 charge, more than the entire difference between the carriers on any profile.

The weekly gap between the two carriers is $228, or 0.5%. Any agreement either carrier offers moves the totals by far more than that, which is why the published comparison only tells you where to look.

What changes when you price both proposals

A UPS proposal and a FedEx proposal are not two discount percentages. Each is a set of terms that act on different lines of the table above, and they are rarely written the same way. Comparing them like for like means pricing the same shipment history under each one, line by line, and reading the result by profile.

Contract element	UPS	FedEx	Which lines it moves
Transportation incentive	Set by service, and often by weight and zone	A base discount set by service, and often by weight and zone	Every package, unevenly across the rate card
Volume-linked discount	A portfolio tier incentive, set by a band of weekly revenue measured on a rolling basis	An earned discount, set by a band of revenue measured over the agreement's period, on top of the base discount	Every eligible package, and it can change without the contract changing
Minimum charge	A floor on the net transportation charge, which an agreement can adjust	A floor on the net transportation charge, which an agreement can adjust	Light packages, where the floor can replace the discount entirely
Surcharge terms	Residential, delivery area, handling, large package and other accessorials can carry their own terms	The same, as surcharge modifications by service	The fee lines in each profile
Fuel	Published weekly; an agreement can include fuel terms	Published weekly; an agreement can include fuel terms	Almost every package and most surcharges
Dimensional weight	139 published; an agreement can include divisor terms	139 published; an agreement can include divisor terms	Bulky packages

Read against the sample week, the table shows why headline discounts mislead. A deeper transportation incentive does little for the light residential profile if the minimum charge sets the price of those packages anyway, which our minimum net charge guide explains with examples. A proposal with better surcharge terms can win on the light residential and bulky profiles while losing on commercial ground. And a volume-linked discount is only worth what the volume behind it will actually be. The figure to compare is the total cost per package and per year for each proposal on your own history, which our effective discount guide explains.

Two hypothetical cases on the sample week show how quickly one term outweighs the published gap of $228 a week:

• A minimum charge. Two proposals price the 500 light residential packages identically, except that one sets the net transportation floor $0.50 higher. If the floor governs those packages, that is $250 a week before fuel, about $13,000 a year, which is more than the entire published difference between the carriers on all 1,000 packages.
• A lost tier. Moving the 300 commercial ground packages to the other carrier lowers the volume-linked discount on the 700 packages that stay, by an amount worth $0.40 a package. That is $280 a week, about $14,600 a year, set against whatever the move saves on the 300.

Hypothetical amounts, chosen to show scale. Whether a minimum charge governs a package, and what a tier change is worth, depend on the terms of each agreement.

This is the comparison we run in ebb Logic™ for a UPS contract negotiation or a FedEx contract negotiation: twelve months of shipments priced under the current agreement, under the competing proposal and under a split between the two, with the cost per package and the annual spend broken out by profile.

Switching or splitting volume between UPS and FedEx

Should you switch from UPS to FedEx, or use both? Many businesses with meaningful volume use both, because the profiles above favor different carriers. The risk in either move is that both agreements price the whole relationship, not each package on its own.

• The volume that stays is repriced. UPS sets its tier by weekly revenue on a rolling basis, and FedEx sets its earned discount by a revenue band. Moving packages out of one carrier lowers the revenue that carrier measures, which can lower the discount on everything you keep there.
• The volume that moves is priced at the tier it will reach. A proposal priced on volume you have not yet moved assumes a tier. If the moved volume lands lower, the proposal costs more than it showed.
• The change is gradual. Because both carriers measure over a rolling period, a tier change follows a volume change by weeks, so a model has to follow the period after the move, not only the first week.
• Agreements can require volume on named services. A move that looks sound on cost can conflict with the agreement's terms, so the agreement has to be read with the model.

The calculation that settles it is the same for a switch and a split:

Net annual savings = savings on the shipments that move − added cost on the shipments that stay − added operating cost.

The middle line is the one a package-by-package comparison leaves out, and it can be large enough to turn a projected saving into a loss. Our UPS vs USPS comparison works the same calculation with illustrative figures, and our guide to why shipping gets cheaper with volume explains how the tiers behave.

If you are comparing two offers now, start with a free contract review. A copy of your current carrier agreement is all it needs to begin, and a recent invoice helps if you have one.

Frequently asked questions

Is UPS or FedEx cheaper?

At published 2026 rates, a sample week of 1,000 mixed packages differs by 0.5%, and in every ground weight and zone cell the UPS rate is within 3% of the FedEx rate. FedEx is usually lower from 1 to 10 lb and UPS usually lower above 70 lb, by cents to a few dollars. On the 2027 rates the light end is closer to a tie and UPS's lead above 70 lb widens to 2.39% on average. For a business with an agreement, the cheaper carrier is the one whose terms price your package profile lower after minimum charges, surcharges and volume tiers are counted.

Which is cheaper, UPS Ground or FedEx Home Delivery?

FedEx Home Delivery uses the same list rate table as FedEx Ground, with a $6.45 residential charge, against UPS Ground with a $6.50 residential charge. For light residential parcels at list rates FedEx is usually a few cents to a few tenths of a dollar lower. Under agreements, the residential and delivery area terms often decide it.

Is UPS or FedEx better for ecommerce?

Neither by default. Ecommerce volume is usually light and residential, where the residential charge, delivery area surcharges, fuel and the minimum charge make up much of the cost. Compare the two on those lines for your own parcels. Delivery days can also matter: both carriers deliver residential ground packages on Saturdays at no additional charge, and FedEx Home Delivery also delivers on Sundays to nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population, where UPS makes no Sunday deliveries.

Is UPS or FedEx better for heavy packages?

At 2026 list rates, UPS Ground is lower in 520 of the 560 cells from 71 to 150 lb, by 1.68% on average, and on the 2027 rates in 550 of them, by 2.39%. An actual weight over 50 lb triggers the weight-based additional handling charge at both carriers. UPS's weight handling charge is $0.50 higher than FedEx's in zones 2 to 4 in 2026 and the same beyond.

Is UPS or FedEx better for small business shipping?

For a small business without an agreement, compare the rates each carrier offers to your account against your typical package, using the shipping cost calculator for published rates. Both carriers offer account-level pricing to businesses, and negotiated agreements to shippers with steady volume.

Do UPS and FedEx use the same dimensional weight?

Yes, on the published rates compared here. Both divide length times width times height by 139 on every ground package and bill the greater of actual and dimensional weight. UPS Retail Rates, the counter prices for shippers without an account, use 166. An agreement with either carrier can include different terms. Our dimensional weight guide covers the rounding rules.

Which carrier has higher residential surcharges?

UPS, by $0.05: $6.50 against $6.45 for 2026 ground residential delivery, widening to $0.20 in 2027 at $7.10 and $6.90. The residential delivery area surcharge is $6.55 at UPS and $6.60 at FedEx in the standard tier. Our residential delivery surcharge guide covers when each applies and a worked invoice example.

Is UPS or FedEx better for overnight shipping?

Both offer matching families of next day, two day and three day services, with an early morning option. Compare the service you actually need on your lanes, and include air fuel, which was 34.25% at UPS and 33.25% at FedEx in the week of November 2, 2026.

Will splitting volume between UPS and FedEx affect my discounts?

It can. UPS ties its tier incentive to weekly revenue on a rolling basis and FedEx ties its earned discount to a revenue band, so moving volume away from either carrier can lower the discount on what stays. Price the volume that stays at the tier it would fall to before deciding.

How do I compare a UPS proposal with a FedEx proposal?

Price the same shipment history under each proposal, including the incentives by cell, the minimum charge, every surcharge term, fuel and the tier each proposal would actually reach on the volume it would get. Compare total cost per package and per year by profile, not the headline discounts. Our free contract review starts from a copy of your current agreement.

Sources

• UPS, 2026 UPS Rate and Service Guide, daily rates, effective December 22, 2025, for UPS Ground rates, transit, the residential charge, and Additional Handling and Large Package Surcharge amounts.
• UPS, Saturday Pickup & Delivery, for Saturday service and the absence of Sunday service, and the 2026 UPS Rate and Service Guide, Daily Rates, updated September 7, 2026, Value-Added Services: Weekend Services, for the $4.00 Saturday commercial Ground delivery fee and no-fee Saturday residential delivery.
• UPS, Revised Rates for Value-Added Services and Other Charges, effective December 22, 2025, for delivery area amounts, and the delivery area surcharge ZIP code list.
• FedEx, FedEx Standard List Rates 2026, effective January 5, 2026, for FedEx Ground and Home Delivery rates.
• FedEx, FedEx Service Guide 2026, for the residential charge, transit, Additional Handling Surcharge and Oversize Charge; Saturday and Sunday delivery, for Home Delivery weekend coverage; and 2026 changes to FedEx surcharges and fees for delivery area amounts.
• UPS, 2027 UPS Daily Rates, preview, effective December 21, 2026, for 2027 UPS Ground rates, and Revised Rates for Value-Added Services and Other Charges, effective December 21, 2026, for 2027 surcharges.
• FedEx, FedEx Standard List Rates 2027, 2027 changes to FedEx surcharges and fees and rate changes, for the January 4, 2027 rates, surcharges and delivery area changes.
• UPS, fuel surcharges, and FedEx, historical fuel surcharge, for the week of November 2, 2026.