What’s the best platform for print on demand?

The world of print on demand (POD) has seen tremendous growth in recent years, providing entrepreneurs and creatives with an excellent opportunity to transform their ideas into tangible products. However, with the plethora of POD providers available, selecting the right one can be daunting. Two of the most prominent names in the industry are Printful and Printify. Both offer a variety of features and services to help you realize your vision, but which print on demand partner is the ideal choice for you?

This comprehensive post will outline the key differences between these platforms to help you make an informed decision.

Printful overview

Printful is a one-stop shop for all your print-on-demand (POD) needs, offering over 300 customizable products. They manage everything from printing and fulfillment to warehousing and shipping, ensuring a seamless experience. Printful’s user-friendly platform integrates smoothly with popular e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Shopify, and Etsy.

Additionally, Printful provides a wide range of branding and customization options, allowing you to create truly unique products.

Printify overview

Printify takes a different approach to print-on-demand. Instead of handling in-house production, they connect you with a vast network of independent print providers. This network gives you access to a wider range of products, over 950 in total, and can potentially lower costs.

Printify manages the printing and shipping process, ensuring you never have to handle a product yourself. This allows you to focus on creating and marketing your products without worrying about the logistics.

Printify vs. Printful: 2024 comparison of the two print providers

Now that we have a general understanding of Printful and Printify, let’s delve into a more detailed comparison of their key features.

Platform fees

• Printify: When it comes to cost efficiency, Printify offers three pricing plans that cater to both beginner and advanced entrepreneurs: the Free plan, the Premium plan ($29/month), and the Enterprise plan (custom pricing). The Free plan is perfect for those just starting out, while the Premium plan provides added benefits such as up to 20% off on all products, making it an ideal choice for growing businesses.
• Printful: With Printful, you’re not saddled with monthly or start-up fees. Its pricing model is based simply on the cost of producing a product—you only pay for what you sell. For those looking to scale, the Printful Growth Plan is available at just $24.99/month. This plan offers up to 20% off DTG products, up to 30% off other categories, and a 7% discount on product branding.

Our Verdict: This is a close call! While both platforms offer a base free plan, Printful outshines with the option of scaling with no monthly subscription fees, making it a more affordable choice, especially for businesses just entering the print-on-demand sphere.

Fulfillment locations

• Printify: Printify offers a broad network of fulfillment locations, with print providers across North America, Canada, the UK, Europe, Asia, and Australia. This global reach enables quicker and more affordable shipping, giving businesses a significant advantage in serving a worldwide audience.
• Printful: Printful also provides a strong global presence with fulfillment centers in North America, Canada, Europe, and the UK. Their strategically located facilities allow for shipping from the nearest production center, which helps ensure fast delivery and lower shipping costs.

Our Verdict: Printify’s extensive network offers more potential for localization across different regions, while Printful’s in-house facilities often result in faster overall shipping.

Shipping costs and times

• Printify: Printify offers a range of shipping options, including economy, standard, priority, and express, providing flexibility based on your needs. While costs can vary by product and destination, Printify generally maintains affordable pricing. Their extensive global network contributes to quicker fulfillment times, ensuring timely delivery for customers.
• Printful: Printful provides clear shipping pricing and partners with major logistics companies such as USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, Canada Post, Australia Post, and Royal Mail. Their in-house fulfillment centers typically result in faster shipping times compared to Printify’s global network.

Our Verdict: Printful has the edge in this area. Their transparent shipping structure simplifies cost calculation and helps set clearer expectations for customers.

Payment processing

• Printify: Printify integrates with PayPal and major credit/debit card providers, giving you the flexibility to accept various payment methods from your customers.
• Printful: Printful supports a range of payment options, including Stripe, PayPal, credit cards, debit cards, buy now, pay later programs like Klarna, and even cryptocurrency.

Our Verdict: It’s a tie! Both Printify and Printful offer comprehensive payment processing capabilities, allowing you to choose a familiar and trusted solution.

Product catalog

• Printify: Printify offers an extensive catalog with over 950 products, including apparel, accessories, homeware, and phone cases. This wide variety allows you to cater to diverse customer preferences and expand your product range.
• Printful: Printful provides a curated selection of over 300 products, concentrating on high-demand apparel and accessories. Their focus is on maintaining high quality and consistency across their product line.

Our Verdict: Printify wins for its sheer variety. However, Printful might be the better choice if you prioritize a focused selection with guaranteed product quality.

Print quality

• Printify: Print quality can vary depending on the chosen print provider within their network. While some providers deliver excellent results, there may be inconsistencies across different products or orders. Printify does offer quality guidelines, but the final execution may still differ.
• Printful: Printful upholds strict quality control standards across its in-house production facilities. This ensures consistent, high-quality printing across all products and orders, with vibrant colors, sharp details, and a professional finish.

Our Verdict: Printful wins hands-down for consistent, high-quality printing!

Integrations

• Printify: Printify connects seamlessly with a wide range of popular e-commerce platforms and marketplaces, including Shopify, Etsy, Walmart, eBay, WooCommerce, and even TikTok (currently limited to the US). They also offer an open API for developers to create custom integrations with other platforms.
• Printful: Printful offers a similarly impressive list of integrations with major e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Etsy, Wix, BigCommerce, eBay, and WooCommerce. They have a slight edge by also integrating with Amazon, which can be valuable for reaching a broader audience. Printful also provides a well-documented API for developers.

Our Verdict: This is a close call. While both platforms offer robust integration options, Printful’s additional Amazon integration might be a deciding factor for some businesses.

Custom branding options

• Printify: Printify offers limited branding options, including neck labels and packaging inserts. While you can upload custom designs for these elements, there are few options for branding the actual product itself.
• Printful: Printful excels in custom branding, providing a range of options to create a unique brand experience. You can add personalized packing slips, create a branded tracking page for customers, and use custom logo tape to seal products. Additionally, you can include custom labels, branded inserts, and personalized packing slip messages.

Our verdict: Printful is the clear winner for businesses seeking a fully branded customer experience. Their extensive branding options help elevate your brand image and build customer loyalty.

Design tools

• Printify: Printify offers basic design tools that let you upload your artwork, place it on product mockups, and adjust its size and position. While these tools are useful for visualizing designs on products, they lack advanced features for editing or manipulating the artwork itself.
• Printful: Printful provides a more sophisticated design toolset with features for both beginners and experienced designers. You can upload artwork, use mockups for product placement, and design from scratch using clipart and illustrations. Printful also supports creating patterns for all-over prints and applying vibrant colors, giving you more precise control and the ability to refine your designs before printing.

Our verdict: Printful wins for its more comprehensive design toolset. Their features allow for detailed editing and refinement of your artwork directly within the platform, ensuring a polished final product.

Customer support

• Printify: Printify offers customer support through email, live chat, and a knowledge base with articles and FAQs. While response times may vary, they are committed to helping users with order-related issues, product inquiries, and general platform usage.
• Printful: Printful provides support via email, live chat with helpful agents, and a comprehensive Help Center filled with tutorials, troubleshooting guides, and answers to frequently asked questions. Their support team focuses on quick resolutions for order issues, product concerns, and platform navigation challenges.

Our verdict: A tie! Both Printify and Printful offer multiple support channels and resources to assist users effectively.

Suitability for beginners

• Printify: For those new to print on demand, Printify is an excellent choice. Its user-friendly interface, practical design tools, and supportive online resources make it easy to get started with selling customized products.
• Printful: Printful is also beginner-friendly, offering a straightforward design process, a wide range of products, and helpful tutorials. The platform’s Design Maker allows you to create designs from scratch, adding an extra layer of ease for newcomers setting up their stores.

Our verdict: Both Printful and Printify are user-friendly, but Printify’s straightforward design process might be more suitable for absolute beginners.

Choosing the right partner for print on demand business

When deciding between Printify and Printful, consider your business goals and priorities. Here’s a quick guide to help you choose:

Printify is best for:

• Exploring a wide variety of products: With over 950 options, including unique items like phone cases and homeware, Printify offers extensive product choices.
• Starting on a budget: Utilize the free plan to create unlimited product designs and store setups (note the limitations).
• Greater control over fulfillment: Select from a network of print providers, potentially reducing costs for specific products.

Printful is best for:

• Consistent, high-quality printing: Benefit from Printful’s in-house production facilities and stringent quality control to ensure brand consistency.
• Creating a fully branded customer experience: Enhance your brand with options like custom packaging inserts, labels, and branded packing tape.
• Transparent pricing and faster shipping: Take advantage of clear pricing structures and potentially quicker shipping times due to in-house fulfillment.
• Advanced design needs: Utilize Printful’s robust design tools, including layer editing and transparent backgrounds, for intricate artwork.

Ultimately, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. The best POD partner for you will align with your specific business goals, budget, and target audience.