Best Virtual Mailbox Services And Business Addresses

People who want to start a business in another country are often faced with the challenge of providing a physical address. The same applies to expats, RVers, and digital nomads who don’t always have a fixed location. Virtual mailbox services can offer an excellent alternative to a PO Box or physical address, but are they safe, and which are the best options?

The best virtual mailbox services will depend on your requirements and budget. Some cater specifically to businesses, while others focus on being a mail-forwarding service for RVers, expats, or digital nomads. Thankfully, finding one that caters to your particular needs is easy.

A virtual mailbox or virtual business address can open many doors for anyone who runs an online business or wants to receive mail while traveling. Some offer additional services, too, so you get an alternative to a PO Box and mail forwarding, scanning, and other business services if you need them. Let’s compare the best virtual mailbox and business address services.

What Is A Virtual Mailbox?

Virtual mailboxes allow people and businesses to receive electronic copies of their physical mail through a cloud service. A virtual mailbox service gives users a virtual postal address to give to companies that send them physical mail. The service will scan all mail it receives and provide these electronic copies to the user.

This makes it the ideal solution for people who move around or travel a lot, like expats or traveling workers. It means they will never miss a bill or important piece of mail when they can’t reach their mailbox on time.

How Do Virtual Mailboxes Work?

When you sign up for a virtual mailbox service, you select an address from the list the service provider has available. You can then give that address to anyone sending you postal mail. When mail arrives, the service sorts it according to the users, after which they scan the insides and outsides of every piece of mail, converting them into digital PDF files.

These documents are then uploaded to a cloud service or emailed to you, where you can access them from any PC, laptop, smartphone, or tablet. You can instruct the service provider to deposit checks and destroy documents.

Best Virtual Mailbox Services

Let’s look at the best virtual mailbox services for specific needs.

iPostal1 – Best Virtual Mailbox For Most Users

iPostal1 offers an excellent all-around virtual mailbox service for private or business users, and anyone can sign up with the provider.

It provides over 2,500 virtual mailbox locations in 15 countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Switzerland, making it the best virtual mailbox for expats.

Its entry-level package is custom-made for private users and their families, and the prices match that.

The service is affordable and can cost as little as $10 per month, but this depends on the address you select, as some addresses are Premium and can go as high as $40 per month.

For this price, you get an actual physical street address, the ability to view and manage your mail remotely, and prevent mail theft, all with perfect privacy protection.

If you receive any package deliveries or mail that you would like to have physical copies of, you can arrange for it to be forwarded to any address of your choice, and iPostal1 will take care of it for you. You can also collect it from iPostal1’s pickup point during business hours if you live or work nearby. 

You don’t have to receive from USPS, either; because it’s a physical address, you can accept delivery from almost any courier service.

iPostal1 is a subsidiary of USZoom LLC, one of the companies that pioneered virtual mailboxes in 2007, and in many ways, it set the standard that other providers are still aiming to achieve.  

It also receives excellent ratings and reviews—iPostal1 scores 4.6 stars on Google, 4.3 on TrustPilot, and 4.7 on Sitejabber. As with any service, it’s not without occasional hiccups, so there are a few isolated complaints here and there. But overall, with so many people trusting this company enough to write such excellent reviews, it deserves its spot as one of the best general-use virtual mailboxes. 

➜ Full review of iPostal1

Anytime Mailbox – Best For International Customers

Though iPostal1 does offer services to international customers with various addresses worldwide, global users are Anytime Mailbox’s specialty.

For example, you can choose an address from locations in over 40 countries! This means that expats can easily set up an address at a place close enough for them to collect packages and physical mail if necessary.

Apart from covering most of the US states, Canada, the UK, and most of Europe, Anytime Mailbox has locations in the Caribbean, China, Cyprus, India, Kenya, and South Africa, making it one of the best mailbox for digital nomads. If you’re looking for a location in another country, it will show you the costs in the appropriate currency.

Prices are also highly competitive. The service starts from as little as $6 per month for a basic mail scanning service, then goes up in increments depending on the additional services you require.

The plans are slightly more complex than those of iPostal1, though, since you can receive a limited number of mail items and scans per month, depending on how much you pay.

Still, this makes it a more custom solution that you can tweak to fit your needs perfectly. 

Anytime Mailbox has apps for Android and iOS that make accessing your mail easier and more convenient since you don’t have to log in through a web browser when traveling and don’t have a laptop computer with you.

Another benefit is Anytime Mailbox’s referral program. If you refer any friend to the service, you and the friend will each receive a $10 Amazon gift card. You can do that ten times monthly, so you can get enough Amazon gift cards to pay for your Anytime Mailbox subscription and more!

Overall, Anytime Mailbox offers a polished and well-designed service, more so than many others. 

➜ Full review of Anytime Mailbox

Earth Class Mail

Earth Class Mail is another virtual mailbox service focusing on business mail. This doesn’t mean it’s only for large companies, though. Its entry-level plan caters to solo entrepreneurs and people that work from home, with or without a registered company. 

With its general business focus, it is a bit more expensive than other services. Still, it doesn’t differentiate between Premium and Standard addresses, so that department has no additional costs. 

Subscriptions start at approximately $30 per month, which includes one business address, two recipients, and handling of five pieces of mail per month, which might not seem like a lot. Still, we all know that regular mail has been dwindling for a few years now, and additional users or mail items can be paid for on-demand without the need to upgrade your service. 

Earth Class Mail has over 80 locations available, though they are all in the United States with no international addresses. This doesn’t mean it’s only available to US citizens, though. Anyone can apply for a US address through Earth Class Mail if they complete USPS form 1583 and have it notarized.

Earth Class Mail is an excellent fit for international businesses, especially those operating primarily online and wanting to launch a US presence. You can even use your virtual address to register a company within the United States, though that depends on where you want to locate the business since legislation could differ from place to place.

Another great feature is linking your Earth Class Mail with any cloud service provider of your choice, including Dropbox and Google Drive. It can also sync with various accounting software services to automatically capture check deposits mailed to your virtual address.

➜ Full review of Earth Class Mail

USA2Me

USA2Me is a bit different from other virtual mailbox services. Its offering is mostly the same, with mail scanning, online access, and physical mail or package forwarding. However, one aspect that makes it different is its “free” offering.

USA2Me’s Basic plan has no fixed monthly fees, so you only pay for what you use. It requires a one-time setup fee of approximately $23, but after that, you don’t pay anything if you don’t use the service. If a month goes by without mail, it’s free. You basically get a free US virtual address.

The Basic plan includes online access to your mail, but that’s all. No free junk mail filtering or mail forwarding at all. You have access to those services, though, so if you need something, you pay for it when you need it and never again. It’s also easy to upgrade your service when you find that your needs are increasing.

Unfortunately, USA2Me doesn’t offer various location options. There is only one address, USA2Me’s head office, in Houston, Texas.

However, the service caters well to international users that want a presence in the United States, and one of its offerings is a Shop USA package forwarding service. You can shop online or request a personal shopper from USA2Me, who will then receive your package at the USA address, repackage it, and forward it to another address you choose.

USA2Me isn’t an ideal solution for many businesses, but that’s also not its focus. Suppose you’re an international user who wants to shop in the USA, or you are based in the US but don’t want to use your actual address due to privacy concerns. In that case, USA2Me’s pay-as-you-go system offers a simple, affordable option with low commitments.

➜ Full review of USA2me

Traveling Mailbox – Best For Third-Party Integrations

Traveling Mailbox is a great tool for businesses and professionals. Its pricing is higher than a few others, but it includes many things in the monthly fee that others don’t.

The Basic Plan starts from about $15 per month, which includes 40 incoming envelopes, 35 scans, three recipients, and free mail shredding. Traveling Mailbox also filters junk mail for free, and you get unlimited cloud storage.

However, Traveling Mailbox’s true power lies in its integration capabilities. By default, it integrates with Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Evernote, Box, and Bill.com, though more integrations are in development.

This means you never have to lose any of your scanned mail. Even though Traveling Mailbox gives you unlimited cloud storage, there is a time limit, and your scanned documents could expire. However, having them automatically sync to your personal cloud storage or note platform means you can keep them for as long as you choose.

Traveling Mailbox offers more than 80 virtual address locations throughout the United States. Most users prefer to use the Sanford, NC address since it is the company’s head office location, which means no additional costs are involved. All the other addresses are Premium locations, so there will be an additional fee involved if you choose one of those.

It also has a check deposit service and can sync with specific accounting platforms. There’s a faxing service as well, so you can receive (and even send) faxes directly via your email client. All the mail you receive can be conveniently sorted into folders you create to make organization simple.

Overall, Traveling Mailbox caters very strongly to businesses. Its affordable pricing and fantastic integration options make it an excellent choice for any business, from small home-based businesses to large enterprises.

➜ Full review of Traveling Mailbox

PostScan Mail – Best For Cloud Storage

PostScan Mail is similar to most other virtual mailbox providers in many ways. You can choose an address from 48 different locations within the United States or 17 other countries, so you have a lot of freedom to select the perfect address for you and your purposes.

Its pricing is very competitive, starting from approximately $10 per month, including incoming mail items for one recipient, though opening and scanning costs extra. Junk mail will be filtered free of charge, though.

However, an aspect that makes PostScan unique is its mail archiving service. Like all other services, there are limits on how long PostScan will keep your mail available. Still, while other services delete your mail after it has expired, PostScan Mail will place it in Archive indefinitely, so you can still access it from the cloud storage platform.

The company also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you’re unsatisfied with the service, you will be fully refunded.

➜ Full review of PostScanMail

What Is The Best Virtual Business Address?

What is a virtual address? Virtual business addresses differ from virtual mailboxes primarily because they don’t scan your mail to provide online access to digital copies. Instead, you have an agent who receives your mail on your behalf and forwards it to your actual address.

Let’s compare some of the best virtual business address service providers available.

Northwest Registered Agent – Best For Entrepreneurs

Northwest Registered Agent is an excellent agency to sign up with if you’re an entrepreneur, especially when starting your business. The agency offers many services over and above the virtual addresses and mail forwarding that could be useful to entrepreneurs, like business registration, legal documents, etc.

The company has over 900 employees and is already helping maintain over 3 million businesses, so you know that you are signing up with a well-established agency with an excellent reputation.

One of Northwest’s primary focus points is called “Privacy By Default.” It means that your agent will forward your mail directly to you without selling your data or compromising your privacy in any way, making it a great option for mailboxes for LLCs.

This also means that the agency limits the use of third-party providers as much as possible. Any public documents they handle will only contain the personal details required by law, so you can rest assured that your information is kept safe.

Northwest can even go a step further by providing you with a second phone number, which will automatically forward to your primary number, enabling you to keep your personal telephone number private.

This agency is a great all-around partner when you start your business. Apart from the business registration service, it has various templates for meeting minutes, operating agreements, corporate and nonprofit bylaws, and many more. The service generally partners with entrepreneurs to get their businesses started and keep them running smoothly.

Northwest’s corporate guides are all people with actual business experience and years of experience dealing with the bureaucracy and red tape surrounding business registration and operations. Employing someone with this experience could cost you a fortune, but through Northwest, you can access this and your virtual business address at an affordable price.

➜ Full review of Northwest Registered Agent

Bizee – Best For Small Businesses

Bizee (former Inclife) might be the best virtual address for business since it provides virtual business addresses with the added benefit of mail scanning, effectively creating a hybrid between a virtual business address and a virtual mailbox service.

However, unlike other virtual mailbox providers, Incfile is not open to the public. You cannot go to its offices to collect hard copies of your mail. Any articles the company receives will be scanned, and the originals will be forwarded to you.

Bizee also doesn’t receive packages, so there’s no package forwarding option. It is a purely business-focused service with packages structured to help small businesses. You can choose an address from 49 states, and no international addresses are available, though global companies may apply for a US address through Incfile.

One feature that makes Incfile unique from other virtual mailbox services is that it charges a fixed fee no matter how many mail items you receive. Approximately $30 per month will get you the address, and all mail will be handled at no additional cost.

This is ideal for small businesses to keep their information private, but also if they want to relocate, so they don’t have to go through the effort of changing their address every time. Digital nomads and those who work remotely can also benefit tremendously from the service for the same reasons.

Apart from these services, Incfile also offers other business tools and features such as business registrations, amendments, registered agent services, annual reports, tax consultations, etc. All the services a small business might need but won’t necessarily be able to afford otherwise. 

As a bonus, for those who don’t have the business know-how, Bizee even has an email course called “The DIY’ers Guide to Starting Your Business,” which offers excellent information to help you through the hurdles.

➜ Full review of Bizee

Features To Consider When Choosing A Digital Mailbox

The ideal virtual mailbox service for you will depend on your specific requirements and needs, but there are a few vital aspects to consider.

• The first is the set of services they offer and which are included in the base pricing. Some limit the number of mail items you can receive, while others have additional services you can use.
• The number of locations and addresses is also a crucial factor. Some providers offer international addresses, while others are limited to the United States. Some addresses are also considered Premium, so you might have to shop around to find a provider that offers an address in the area you’re looking for.
• Mobile apps are also very beneficial. Ease of access is vital, and most providers allow you to access their portals on the web quickly, but a mobile app makes it easier to get your mail when you’re on the go, so it’s best to look for a provider that offers a mobile app. Thankfully, most of them do.
• Many users need unique integrations. These integrations can sync your mail with your cloud services to store mail or to make it available in note software. Others can also sync with accounting software in case you receive a check by mail. If you need these functions, look for a provider that offers excellent integration options. 
• Security is another crucial factor to consider. When you use a virtual mailbox, you trust someone else with your private information, and some companies won’t hesitate to sell that data. Ensure that your chosen service provider offers background checks on its agents, has a strict privacy policy, and has good data security practices to protect your information.
• Different service providers also have different policies surrounding how long they keep your mail, both online and offline. Look for one that offers a decent amount of time before deleting the scanned copies or discarding the originals since you don’t always know what you might need in the future.
• Lastly, consider the fees, and examine them closely. Don’t assume the price you see will be all you must pay. Don’t just opt for the cheapest because it will save you money; it probably won’t. Many have a monthly fee for using an address, and all other services cost extra. 

So, examine their packages, compare what they include in that price, and check how much you will have to pay if you exceed the limit.

Who Should Consider A Virtual Mailbox?

Virtual mailboxes can be helpful for anyone who travels or moves around a lot or someone who is very concerned about their privacy. That’s why there are specific virtual mail services for expats and digital nomads. 

However, they can also be beneficial for RVers who travel around the country and don’t have a fixed physical address. When you move to a new location, you don’t have to change any addresses; just let your provider know if you use a mail-forwarding service.

Online businesses can also benefit from such an address since they don’t necessarily want customers to show up at their doors. This will give them a physical business address and mail delivery without having to publicize their own addresses.

Essentially, anyone who wonders how to receive mail while traveling could benefit from a virtual mailbox service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

A virtual business address caters mainly to businesses. Still, a virtual mailbox could help many people since it offers a PO Box alternative for expats, digital nomads, RVers, and anyone else who can’t provide a fixed address. These options offer the convenience of receiving your mail on your computer or mobile device, adding comfort, and most of them are affordable, too.