Melissa Address Verification Alternatives (2026)
Melissa sells US address verification in credits. Here is what its published credit packs cost at three volumes, and what selected alternatives charge at comparable US volumes.
According to Melissa's pricing pages, US address verification is sold in credits: packs of 10,000 credits for $40, 100,000 for $350 and 1,000,000 for $3,200, with a yearly US plan starting at $5,145 for 1 million lookups and an Unlimited plan starting at $16,000. Melissa's own pages show two rates for a US address: its pricing FAQ and its developer page say 3 credits (the developer page lists this for its Personator API), while its US pay-as-you-go card says 10 credits, the rate the developer page lists for its Global Address API. At pack prices, 10,000 US lookups cost roughly $120 to $350 depending on which rate applies (our calculation).
We are sthan.io, one of the vendors compared here. Every underlying price below comes from the vendor's own public pricing page, read on the date shown. Where a figure is calculated from a published plan and overage rate, we label it as our calculation. Prices change, so check the source before you decide.
What Melissa costs at volume
Credit packs listed on Melissa's pricing page, read September 30, 2026: $40 for 10,000 credits, $350 for 100,000, and $3,200 for 1,000,000. Our math at those pack prices:
| US lookups a month | At 3 credits each | At 10 credits each |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | 30,000 credits, about $120 | 100,000 credits, $350 |
| 100,000 | 300,000 credits, about $1,050 | 1,000,000 credits, $3,200 |
| 1,000,000 | 3,000,000 credits, about $9,600 | 10,000,000 credits; the Unlimited plan starts at $16,000 |
- Free credits: up to 1,000 credits a month after a one-time $4.97 verification fee.
- Expiry: unused credits reset to zero after one year with no account activity.
- Yearly and Unlimited plans: a US yearly subscription starting at $5,145 for 1,000,000 lookups, and an Unlimited plan starting at $16,000.
Alternatives at comparable volumes
| Vendor | Free | 10K / month | 100K / month | 1M / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sthan.io | 100 / month | $12 | $65 | $300 |
| PostGrid | 500 free credits | $45 | $475* | $4,975* |
| Google Address Validation Pro | 5,000 free requests / month | $85 pay-as-you-go | $1,615 pay-as-you-go, or $1,200 on the Pro subscription | $12,155 pay-as-you-go, or $8,850 on the Pro subscription |
| Smarty (Professional, billed monthly) | 1,000 lookups in a 42-day free trial | $88 | $485 (smallest monthly plan that covers it: 170K) | No 1M/month plan published; 2M a year is $4,980 |
Figures are not perfectly like for like: some vendors meter each request, others sell monthly capacity, overage or annual commitments. For vendors with fixed-capacity plans, we use the smallest published plan that covers the volume. For usage-based pricing, we calculate the cost at that volume from the vendor's published tiers. * PostGrid: $475 and $4,975 extrapolate the published Growth plan ($225 for 50,000 lookups plus $0.005 per extra lookup) and are calculated monthly costs (our calculation, not prices PostGrid publishes), for directional comparison only. Google pay-as-you-go figures are calculated from its published per-1,000 tiers after the 5,000-request free usage cap. Google's Pro subscription is $1,200 a month for 250,000 combined calls across the included services, with calls beyond that billed at the pay-as-you-go rate for your total monthly usage; the Pro figures are our calculation on that basis and assume nothing else on the account uses the 250,000-call allowance. Google's Starter and Essentials subscriptions do not include Address Validation. Full Google breakdown: Google Address Validation alternatives: cost at volume. More vendors and pricing models: how address verification APIs are priced.
When Melissa may fit better
- You need CASS-certified address matching for USPS automation prices. Melissa labels its US address verification plans "CASS & DPV Certified". sthan.io is not CASS-certified; see do you need CASS certification.
- You need addresses outside the US. Melissa's Global Address API covers international addresses. sthan.io verifies US addresses only.
- Your credits already cover other Melissa checks. One credit balance across several Melissa products can be simpler than several vendors.
Where sthan.io fits. A fixed monthly price for US address verification, with no credits to convert: $12 for 10,000 a month, $300 for 1 million. Compare both on your own addresses first: how to test an address API's accuracy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources
All read September 30, 2026. Where a figure is calculated from a published price, it is labelled as our calculation.
- Melissa pricing (credit packs, plan cards, credit FAQ, monthly top-off): melissa.com/pricing
- Melissa developer credit costs (Personator, Global Address) and credit expiry: melissa.com/pricing/developer
- Melissa lookup credit rules: melissa.com/pricing/lookups
- Melissa CASS statement: melissa.com/address-verification
- USPS CASS requirement for automation prices (DMM 602.9): pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/602.htm
- PostGrid pricing, monthly billing: postgrid.com/pricing-address-verification
- Smarty pricing: smarty.com/pricing/us-address-verification
- Google Maps Platform pricing: developers.google.com/maps/billing-and-pricing/pricing
- Google Maps Platform subscription plans: developers.google.com/maps/billing-and-pricing/subscriptions
- sthan.io pricing (Address Verification USA tab): sthan.io/pricing/united-states
No credits to convert
10,000 US verifications for $12 a month. Start with 100 free requests, no credit card.