Certified mail cost calculator

Certified mail cost has two parts at a post office: postage for the weight of your letter, and the Certified Mail fee on top. A return receipt is a third, optional part. The calculator above adds them for your case from the current USPS price list, Notice 123, effective 4 Oct 2026. We read the list on 13 Nov 2026. Certisent is not affiliated with USPS.

The short answer for the most common case: a 1 oz letter sent Certified Mail costs $6.37, and $9.28 with an electronic return receipt.

What each line is

Line	USPS price	What it is	When you need it
Postage, 1 oz stamped letter	$0.82	First-Class Mail for the letter itself	Always. It rises with weight.
Certified Mail	$5.55	A mailing receipt, and on request electronic verification that the article was delivered or that delivery was attempted	Always, for certified mail
Return receipt, electronic	$2.91	Evidence of delivery by email: who received it and on what date	When you need the signature record, not only the delivery status
Return receipt by mail (PS Form 3811)	$4.65	The same evidence on the green card, mailed back to you	When you want the physical card
Certified Mail Restricted Delivery	$14.35	Certified Mail delivered only to the named person or that person's agent. Paid in place of the Certified Mail fee.	When one named individual has to be the one who signs

The descriptions are from section 503 of the USPS Domestic Mail Manual. The manual states the pricing rule in one line: "Extra Service fees are charged per piece in addition to correct postage."

Two points about return receipts. You pick one kind, not both. And USPS says a return receipt has to be bought at the time of mailing, so decide before you pay.

How weight changes the total

Only the postage line moves with weight. Notice 123 prices a stamped letter in four steps:

Weight not over	Stamped letter	With Certified Mail	With Certified Mail and electronic return receipt
1 oz	$0.82	$6.37	$9.28
2 oz	$1.11	$6.66	$9.57
3 oz	$1.40	$6.95	$9.86
3.5 oz	$1.69	$7.24	$10.15

A letter stops at 3.5 oz. USPS says a letter envelope can be at most 11-1/2 inches long, 6-1/8 inches high and 1/4 inch thick. Pages sent unfolded go in a large envelope, which USPS calls a flat: it starts at $1.69 for 1 oz and goes up to 13 oz. The calculator has every step.

From sheets of paper to ounces

Most people know how many pages they have, not what they weigh. USPS gives one rule of thumb on its page How to Send a Letter or Postcard: "you can send 1 oz (4 sheets of printer paper and a business-sized envelope)" for one stamp.

The calculator turns your sheet count into a weight with that rule, and here is exactly what it assumes:

• about 4 sheets of ordinary printer paper, with the envelope, per ounce,
• rounded up to the next USPS price step,
• so 1 to 4 sheets price as 1 oz, 5 to 8 as 2 oz, 9 to 12 as 3 oz, and 13 or 14 as 3.5 oz.

USPS states the rule for the first ounce only. Carrying it on at the same rate is our estimate, not a USPS table. Heavier paper, a staple, a return envelope or a thick envelope will push a letter over a step. If you have a scale, set the weight yourself in the calculator. At the counter the clerk's scale decides.

For a large envelope USPS gives no sheet rule, and the envelope itself weighs more. The calculator shows a rough starting weight and asks you to set the real one.

What the calculator leaves out

• The nonmachinable surcharge. Notice 123 adds $0.49 to a letter that meets one of the nonmachinable characteristics in DMM 101.1.2. The calculator does not add it.
• Metered and commercial prices. The calculator uses stamped retail prices. A metered 1 oz letter is $0.78.
• Priority Mail. Certified Mail can also be added to Priority Mail, where postage is priced differently. USPS has a price calculator on usps.com for that.
• Adult signature versions. USPS says the two adult signature versions of Certified Mail are not available at retail.
• Your own costs. Paper, the envelope, printing and the trip are not in the USPS total.

Counter or Certisent

The second box in the calculator shows what the same letter costs with Certisent: $14.99 for up to the included pages, with the electronic return receipt in the price. For a typical letter that is more than the counter total for the same service. The difference buys the printing, the envelope, the stamping and the trip.

The options follow the calculator. Certisent sends every letter with the electronic return receipt; it does not offer the mailed green card, Restricted Delivery or untracked mail: every letter goes by Certified Mail, and we email you at every step. If you need a receipt postmarked by a clerk, the counter is the place. Our guide on how to send certified mail walks through it, form by form.

If your letter is still to be written, the letter templates start with the wording and end with the mailing: a credit report dispute, a debt validation request, or a notice to a debt collector to stop contact.

When these prices change

USPS prices change, and the current list took effect on 4 Oct 2026. Every number on this page is read from one dated file, checked against Notice 123, and the calculator shows the effective date and the date of our last check under its total. If Notice 123 and this page ever differ, Notice 123 is right.