DHL
Germany
EU
DHL is the logistics brand of DHL Group, headquartered in Bonn. The group says it is the world's leading logistics company, active in more than 220 countries and territories with about 584,000...
European Parcel Services
DPD
France
EU
DPD is a parcel delivery brand of Geopost, the parcel holding of the French Groupe La Poste. Geopost operates one of Europe's largest parcel networks in nearly 50 countries, with DPD companies...
Evri
United Kingdom
Non-European Parent Company
Evri is a British parcel delivery company, formerly known as Hermes UK, and describes itself as the UK's biggest dedicated parcel delivery business. In the 52 weeks to February 2025 it delivered...
GLS
Netherlands
EU
GLS Group is an international parcel network headquartered in Amsterdam under the legal name General Logistics Systems B.V. According to the company, it reaches around 45 countries through its own subsidiaries and...
Hermes Germany
Germany
EU
Hermes Germany is a parcel carrier with its head office in Hamburg. The company is one of the leading logistics service providers in Germany and part of the Hermes Group of the...
InPost
Poland
EU
Non-European Parent Company
InPost is a Polish parcel company and the first in Poland to build a network of self-service parcel lockers, called Paczkomat, which are open around the clock. The operating company InPost sp....
PostNL
Netherlands
EU
PostNL is the Dutch postal and parcel company, operating as Koninklijke PostNL B.V. with its head office in The Hague. It has delivered mail in the Netherlands for more than 225 years...
Royal Mail
United Kingdom
Royal Mail is the British postal service, a brand with more than 500 years of history that began as a service for the King and his court. It delivers letters and parcels...
Did we miss one? Feel free to submit a suggestion!
Submit SuggestionEuropean parcel services collect and deliver parcels for online shops, businesses and private senders. Most customers meet them as the carrier chosen by a webshop, but many also offer lockers, parcel shops and drop-off points for sending and returns. The eight carriers below cover the largest European networks and differ in reach, ownership and focus.
European parcel services compared
| Carrier | Country | Ownership | Main region |
|---|---|---|---|
| DHL | Germany | Listed group, DHL Group | Worldwide, Germany for parcels |
| DPD | France | Geopost, Groupe La Poste | Nearly 50 countries |
| GLS | Netherlands | IDS, EP Group (Czech Republic) | Around 45 countries |
| Hermes Germany | Germany | Otto Group | Germany |
| InPost | Poland | Advent and FedEx (USA), marked | Nine countries, parcel lockers |
| PostNL | Netherlands | Listed company | Netherlands, Belgium |
| Evri | United Kingdom | Apollo funds (USA), marked | United Kingdom |
| Royal Mail | United Kingdom | IDS, EP Group (Czech Republic) | United Kingdom |
Who delivers where
DHL is the best-known carrier in Germany and has the broadest worldwide reach. DPD and GLS are large international parcel networks, and Hermes Germany is a major German carrier. PostNL covers the Benelux, Royal Mail and Evri the United Kingdom, and InPost has built a locker network in Poland and several western European countries. Which carrier arrives depends mostly on the shop and not on the customer.
Ownership notes
Two carriers carry a notice for a non-European parent: Evri is majority-owned by Apollo funds, and InPost was taken over in 2026 by a consortium led by Advent and the US logistics group FedEx. Royal Mail and GLS belong to the same group, International Distribution Services, which the Czech EP Group bought in 2025.
What Europe does not have
The American integrators UPS and FedEx have no European counterpart of the same global reach except DHL. Prices, delivery times and the density of pick-up points differ by country and carrier and are not compared here.