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Print · November 2026 Edition

Lob vs Thanks.io

One of fourteen models named Lob first on the direct prompt; zero named Thanks.io. Lob was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Thanks.io by nine and Lob carries 57 labels and Thanks.io 10, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Lob

accepted challenger

Named in three categories this edition.

Thanks.io

accepted challenger

founded 2017. Named in two categories this edition.

First-choice share6%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate14%0%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#5#8A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels5710A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Lob reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Postalytics was named alongside these two in thirteen of the fourteen direct answers. Postalytics vs Lob · Postalytics vs Thanks.io · PostGrid Print & Mail vs Lob

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the print page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
LobFirst choices, of fourteen modelsThanks.io
Direct10
Paraphrase10
Comparative50
Budget-constrained111 against Lob
Scale-constrained00
Negative107 against Lob
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Lob and Thanks.io stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Lob Thanks.io first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Lob on the left and Thanks.io on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Lob and Thanks.io stood in it.

Lob first, Thanks.io not the choice

1 of 14 modelsThanks.io was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Mistral SmallLob, PostGrid Print & Mail alternatives: Postalytics, Postie

Neither was the first choice, one was named

11 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Claude Haiku 4.5Postalytics alternatives: Lob, PFL, PostGrid Print & Mail
Gemini 3.5 FlashSendoso alternatives: Lob, Postal, Reachdesk
Perplexity SonarPostalytics alternatives: Lob, PostGrid Print & Mail, Sendoso
Grok 4.20PFL, Postalytics alternatives: Lob, PostGrid Print & Mail
DeepSeek V4 FlashPostalytics alternatives: Lob, PostGrid Print & Mail, Sendoso
Qwen 3.7 FlashPostGrid Print & Mail alternatives: Lob, Postalytics, Sendoso
Kimi K2Reachdesk alternatives: Lob, PostGrid Print & Mail, Postalytics
GLM 4.7 FlashXPostalytics alternatives: DirectMail.io, Lob, PostGrid Print & Mail
MiniMax M2.5Postalytics alternatives: Lob, PFL, Sendoso
GPT-6 LunaPostalytics alternatives: Lob, Sendoso
Muse Glimmer 30BPostalytics, Sendoso alternatives: Lob, PostGrid Print & Mail

Neither was named

2 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
GPT-5.4 miniSendoso alternatives: PFL Direct Mail Platform, PostGrid Print & Mail, Postalytics
Llama 4 MaverickPostalytics

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Lob leads by four points.
Lob4%#4 of 6
Thanks.io0%#– of 6
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Lob leads by four points.
Lob6%#5 of 11
Thanks.io2%#8 of 11
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
Thanks.io is not named for this buyer.
Lob46%#1 of 10
Thanks.io—not named
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Lob

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.

“Lob - is not recommended for teams that are not technical, need global reach, or are budget-sensitive.” Llama 4 Maverick · negative prompt · hard negative
“It is best avoided if you are not technical, need global reach, or are budget-sensitive.” Mistral Small · negative prompt · hard negative
“Lob — scrutinize total cost and ease of use. G2 reviewers report that costs can become steep at higher volumes, billing can be confusing” GPT-6 Luna · negative prompt · soft negative
“Ranked first by Lister for "teams managing complex direct mail at scale, and uses intelligent routing to speed up delivery and reduce costs."” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · first choice
“Tops many lists for API-driven scale, intelligent routing (faster/cheaper delivery), nationwide print network, and address verification.” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · first choice
“If you have a developer team and need programmatic/transactional mail: Choose Lob or PostGrid for their API maturity and scale.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice

What the models said about Thanks.io

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of three in this category shown.

“Thanks.io — *Best Overall for SMBs & B2B Lead Generation*” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“Serves API teams and DIY senders, and creates hyper-realistic handwriting indistinguishable from personal notes.” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · alternative
“More approachable for smaller, relationship-driven mail programs than a full performance-marketing stack.” GPT-6 Luna · comparative prompt · alternative
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.