Best Address Validation Services, Software, & Tools Compared
Address Validation Services and Address Verification Software are used to verify that addresses are accurate, shippable, and correctly formatted to match the standard address format of the local postal authority.
Address validation software can be offered in many forms depending on your needs and available technology. Typical address validation services and software forms include:
- Copy & Paste Address Validation Web Forms - Copy and paste one or many mailing addresses into an online form for validation.
- Cloud Address Validation APIs - Integrate address validation into your systems to automatically validate address data whenever needed.
- Command Line Interface Address Validation - Permits bulk address validation via CSV upload using command line prompts.
- Address Autocomplete API with Validation- Integrates autocomplete functionality into eCommerce, user registration, or internal registration forms to predict and suggest validated, standardized addresses to end users to reduce entry time, errors, and friction.
This article will cover the top software and services offered in the address validation space; each offers unique features and benefits that might make them perfect for you. If you want to try one of Smarty's address validation tools, try them out here or skip down to our evaluation below.
| Single Address Validation | Bulk Address Validation | Address Validation APIs | Address Autocomplete API |
|---|---|---|---|
Let's start comparing the top 5 address validation software. In this article, we'll cover:
- Smarty™ Address Validation Services & Software
- Melissa Clean Suite
- Lob Address Verification Addon
- PostGrid Address Verification
- WinPure Address Validation Software
- Comparison Summary
- Bonus Ratings
It's true, you have several options when it comes to address verification services, solutions, and software providers.
In many ways, that's a good thing. You have data coming into your systems that aren't accurate addresses for one reason or another—whether that be ‘fat-fingering' or intentional fraud—and you need to make sure they're standardized and accurate.
We visited the software review site G2.com and examined their ratings and measurements to qualify the top 5 address verification solutions available. We won't rank them for you, but we WILL give an in-depth look at the pros and cons of each address validation service.
Let's get into it. May God have mercy on us all.
Smarty Address Validation Services & Software
‘Cause somebody's gotta go first, it might as well be us.
If you're looking for an extremely fast and accurate address validation tool, then you may be like many other people who have chosen Smarty. G2.com rates Smarty as the #1 easiest-to-use address verification tool of all 5 top contenders.
Smarty's APIs for USPS, non-postal and international addresses are screaming fast and capable of handling billions of addresses per second.
Pricing
Smarty publishes the most about their pricing options on both G2.com and their website. With a free trial that offers 1,000 free lookups, it's one of the most accessible for developers looking to test a working model of the software.
Features
Smarty focuses on cloud-based bulk address validation (database/mailing lists cleanup), address autocomplete (as a real-time postal address validation solution), and rooftop-accurate geocoding (put a pin on that roof). Each of these includes up to 42 additional address data points and metadata. These tools are most robust in the US and powerful internationally, covering 240 countries and territories.
Smarty's APIs deliver 100% uptime and incredible speed. Also worth noting is that the address validation doesn't just provide a "valid / not valid" result but will correct your data or tell you what is wrong. The rooftop-accurate geocoding is high quality as well. When we tested a shipping address in Cedar City, UT, it delivered a pin on the rooftop.
Ratings
What do the users think of Smarty? There are 194 reviews on G2 for Smarty (at the time of writing, the most ratings across the board).
- Overall: 4.6 stars
- Ease of use: 9.3
- Quality of support 9.1
- Ease of setup 9.1
Melissa Clean Suite
Melissa has been in the address data game for a long time, 35 years at the time of writing. They offer loads of accurate address solutions for both US and international including email address validation, and phone validation. Their experience can be very useful if you're looking for a vendor who's been there and done that.
Pricing
Comparable and competitive pricing is offered, and a free account is also available. You can activate 1,000 free "credits" when you sign up for an account, but depending on what you're testing or validating the cost may be more than one credit. For example, to check a US or Canadian address is one credit, but to check an international address is 10 credits.
Features
As mentioned above, Melissa offers a slew of products and services including SSN-name verification, property information, business check, phone checks, and more. Of course, for these purposes, we're measuring their Melissa Data Address Check solution.
Since they offer so many solutions, they offer additional information for each address that you check including name at address, birth month-year, phone number, and others.
When we tested this with an address in Cedar City, UT, it delivered an incorrect name, incorrect birth month-year, and an incorrect phone number. It also claims "Geocoded to Rooftop Level," but the pin is clearly in the parcel center rather than a building rooftop.
Ratings
Having been around for a very long time, Melissa has many fans, with a total of103 reviews at the time of writing.
- Overall: 4.4 stars
- Ease of use: 8.5
- Quality of support: 8.8
- Ease of setup: 8.7
Lob Address Verification Add-on
Focused on direct mail automation, Lob's address verification platform brings quite a bit to the table if you're interested in mailing. They're a solid solution with variable pricing depending on US or international shipping. Their address validation operates as an add-on with their direct mail API.
Pricing
Pricing at Lob is less direct or transparent than other address validation platforms. They post pricing for "Business" and "Growth" plans that include their mailing costs, but we couldn't find the price of address validation alone on G2 or Lob.com. It's also interesting to note that on G2.com, it lists a free developer option, but their website doesn't outline what you get with that account.
Features
Lob offers mailing services as well as an address validation API. However, as far as we've been able to test, they only deliver a "valid / not valid" result, or more accurately a "deliverable/undeliverable'' result. They also offer an autocomplete that could ensure that your data is clean going in so that you don't have to rely on the deliverable/undeliverable data.
When we tested this with an address in Cedar City, UT, it delivered a valid address but for "Lob Confidence Score" it delivered "Insufficient Data." Lob does say that they offer reverse geocodes but not rooftop geocodes. Probably for the best since their pin missed the rooftop of the buildings.
Ratings
Many of Lob's reviews revolve around their mailing services, so a direct comparison is a little tough. However, they still have a high score and many reviews, with 180 total reviews, though only104 are for address validation.
- Overall: 4.4 stars
- Ease of use: 9.1
- Quality of support: 8.9
- Ease of setup: 9.0
Intermission Note
G2.com uses a graph to plot solutions that measure user satisfaction and market presence. The above three address validation services are ranked in the highest quadrant, meaning they have high customer satisfaction and a solid market presence.
As you can see by the "overall" scores above, Smarty holds the highest position for user satisfaction, and Lob has the largest market presence, though it may be difficult to accurately measure that since their reviews are for both their address validation and their mailing services.
The following two solutions we'll pull from the higher user satisfaction but smaller market presence quadrant. We're doing this because if you're reading this, you're likely wanting to be satisfied with your address validation more than using a product many people find frustrating.
PostGrid Address Verification
Focused on CASS address validation services, PostGrid is a younger software company and less-known option that has picked up a few fans reasonably quickly.
Pricing
PostGrid hasn't posted any pricing for their physical address validation software on G2.com.
Features
The tools PostGrid offers center around their APIs for US and international postal addresses. They claim to cover 245+ countries which is quite a feat as there are only 195 countries on planet Earth.
Ratings
There are only19 reviews for PostGrid, making their data a bit uneven with such a small sample size.
- Overall: 5 stars
- Ease of use: 9.8
- Quality of support: 9.9
- Ease of setup: 9.0
WinPure Address Validation Software
WinPure is a Windows-only postal address verification software that is locally installed.
Pricing
WinPure hasn't posted pricing for their address validation services on G2.
Features
As on-premise address verification software WinPure is quick to confirm mailing addresses. Their biggest strength is data cleaning, whether that's a spreadsheet in Excel, a list in your CRM, or your address database.
Ratings
There are only 70 total ratings, and only2 of those ratings are for address validation.
Overview: 4.5 stars
Ease of use: 8.8
Quality of support: 9.4
Ease of setup: 8.8
Condensed Comparative Data
Here, we'll outline the rankings based on the data above so that you can see exactly how each solution scores on the feature or point most important to you.
|
Category |
Smarty |
Lob |
PostGrid |
Melissa |
WinPure |
|
Total Number of Address Verification Service Reviews |
191 |
104 |
19 |
101 |
2 |
|
Highest User Satisfaction Rank |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
|
Highest Market Presence Rank (Company Size) |
3 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
|
Ease of Use Rank |
1 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
|
Quality of Support Rank |
2 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
|
Ease of Setup Rank |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
|
Overall Average Rank |
🥇 1.3 |
🥈 2.16 |
🥉 2.3 |
DNF 2.6 |
DNF 4.3 |
|
Bonus: Google Ratings |
4.9 Stars of 107 Reviews |
3.5 Stars of 6 Reviews |
No Rating from 0 Reviews |
4.1 Stars of 9 Reviews |
No Rating from 0 Reviews |
So, checkout G2 and do some further digging, try one of our live API demos, or set up a free trial now.