Print on demand sites are an alternative, more cost-effective way of printing. Contrary to bulk (wholesale) ordering, using POD companies you can drop ship your merchandise with no minimums.
In 2022 these are still companies that print products only in bulk. However, print on demand websites allows you to purchase or sell custom products with no investment. You can print shirts and other clothing, posters, mugs, leggings, and POD sites.
Print on demand in combination with dropshipping has become the number one solution for a wide spectrum of customers. Usually, all sites allow you to set up your own profit margins and earn on retail sales.
This article covers the best sites to get your most popular print products out there.
- For artists and designers: Either your an artist, graphic designer or cartoonist, with print on demand sites you can monetize your art. You can upload your art on products and publish them to the marketplace or an online store.
- For celebrities: Selling merch has become the trend for celebrities a long time ago. However, with top POD sites now each YouTube star can create their own apparel line.
- For fundraising: Cause marketing is suitable for this business model as well. Setting up a t-shirt campaign has never been easier before.
- For Consumers: Last but not least – with print on demand sites you can quickly create an order customized products. It can be a personalized gift to your friends, or a custom swag for yourself – because who doesn’t want something unique in their wardrobe?
- An alternative to Merch by Amazon (MBA): Print on demand websites are is a great way to make your merch without waiting to accepted by Amazon. Furthermore, better pricing and product catalogs are available.
- For one-off custom shirt orders: Sites like Printful even allow you to purchase t-shirts not dropshipping them.
So let’s compare top print on demand sites below.
1. Printful
Printful is the one print on demand company that easily integrates with more than 25 e-commerce platforms as of 2020. You can easily sell your art on Shopify, Etsy, Amazon, eBay, WIX, 3Dcart and many more. Printful has been in business since 2013 and is one of the top players in the POD industry.
You can add your design to more than 360 different products. Besides print on demand service, Printful also offers Warehousing and Fulfillment service alternative to FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon).
As of late 2020, Printful has introduced Printful pro plan for $59 / per month. Pro subscription provides you with additional features like: carrier calculated shipping rates, background removal tool, premium cliparts, free digitization and more.
Features
- In-house fulfillment. Although Printful has introduced some of the outsourced partner facilities, they still do most of the processes in-house. With in-house fulfillment, you can have more branding options, control of the quality and consistent printing results for all of your custom dropshipped shirts
- Fulfillment centers in the US, Europe, Mexico., Canada, Japan, and Australia Printful ships products worldwide, however, customers from the US, Europe, Canada, and Australia will receive their packages quicker and with zero worries about import fees
- User-friendly interface. Printful has a great design and very easy to use interface. With Printful you’ll be getting extra services like design, video services, product personalization feature and other
- Tech & Quality. Printful alternatives don’t support features like multi-currency, language, personalization tool and more. Neither do other websites like Printful have such high-quality standards for products
2 Printify
Printifiy is a runner up. A print on demand marketplace that connects you with large print networks, such as T-shirts and Sons, Artgun and others. This allows you to get the best pricing for custom printed and dropshipped products.
Selling art online may encounter problems like sourcing and fulfillment, shipping, product designing. Luckily, Printify takes care of all of these issues with all-in-one integrations with the most popular e-commerce platforms. We have a full Printify review, however, below are some Printify features.
Recently Printify has added additional designing options, like adding text layers, or Shutterstock images to your print on demand designs.
Features
- Streamlined Fulfillment. Printify will handle your order fulfillment and you can focus on growing your brand meanwhile. Create products, publish products to your store, and when a sale happens, Printify will do the rest
- Production Network and best prices. Printify allows you to freely choose between the printing partners to work with. Choose based on – pricing, product lineup, or fulfillment location. Meaning, this gives you the best prices in the market
- Integrations with e-commerce platforms. Printify is integrated with multiple platforms such as Shopify, Etsy, WIX, and Woocommerce. You can choose one or multiple platforms that best matches your business and personal needs and start selling POD products
- Cheaper prices. Printify offers the most competitive pricing along POD players. With Pro subscription you can get discounts up to 30% off.
3. Society6
Society6 allows you to sell a set of different products, from mobile phone cases to t-shirts, to pillow cases, and more. Artists across the world can design and sell their art. The niche area for Society6 is artistic prints.
Features
- Easy to set up and use. Best suited for artists and graphic designers
- Marketplace visibility & campaigns. After publishing, your art is visible to millions of Society6 visitors. Society6 also runs different marketing campaigns that can boost your sales
- Copyrights. As a seller, you still retain all the rights to the design
4. Zazzle
Another marketplace to list your products on. Zazzle has the same pricing structure as other print on demand websites.
You can create more than 1300 different product variations. Zazzle gets around 30M visitor hits each month as of 2019.
With Zazzle, you can print t-shirts, buttons, tote bags, mugs, stickers, business cards, kid clothing and other print on demand products.
Features
- A wide selection of products. Probably one of the largest product lineups out there
- High traffic. Zazzle has a lot of organic visitors. This can help you to build your brand with less investment in paid marketing
- Onboarding tips & artsy interface. Zazzle provides you with tutorials and tips to improve your brand and product
5. Redbubble
Like Printful, Redbubble puts your art on t-shirts, hoodies, notebooks and posters — and a wide selection of other products. Redbubble print on demand site gives artists the freedom to set the markup for each product you sell. Other e-commerce art sites sometimes restrict this ability in order to keeps prices competitive.
Features
- Worldwide fulfillment centers. Redbubble has fulfillment centers worldwide – US, Europe, Canada, Australia. This will mean that most of your customers won’t need to worry about customs fees
- A wide selection of niche products. Redbubble has different products that you won’t find among other print on demand sites, like duvet covers
- Monthly payments. You get paid 7th-10th each month the royalties
- Customer-centric policies. Redbubble has a world-class customer support
6. Teelaunch
Teelaunch is another print on demand site that easily integrates with Shopify. It is a great alternative for Printful vs Printify. Their product prices for specific products are unbeatable. For example mugs. Print on demand pricing structure allows you to start your store with no investment.
Features
- Mugs fulfillment. Probably the best solution quality+price if you’re interested in selling custom mugs
- One-click install integration with Shopify. Easy to setup print on demand site and merchandise
- Product builder. Teelaunch is free to sign up and easy to use. With product builder, you can set up your dropship products quickly
7. Teespring
Alternatively Printful or Printful, Teespring is an online marketplace. Meaning that you don’t need to set up and integrate your store elsewhere – like Shopify. You can create and sell products directly on Teespring and collect the profit from each sale.
Features
- Marketplace visibility. Selling on a marketplace is a great way to start your brand. Marketplaces have a large visitor base and your products can be better noticed
- No monthly fees. To sell art you won’t need to pay monthly fees, as you would if, for example, you would choose to host your store on Shopify or Etsy
- Great profit margins. Teespring has good pricing and you can get extra profits on your products
- Popular brand products. Teespring product lineup includes bestsellers like Gildan, Bella Canvas and more
8. Scalable Press
Next – Scalable Press is one of the oldest players in the print on demand field. With the in-house fulfillment and the experience in the business, they’re able to provide you with the best pricing for t-shirts, embroidery and
Features
- Easy to set up. Instant Shopify e-commerce integration is available.
- Best bulk pricing. T-shirt, posters, and embroidery has the best prices among other Shopify POD apps
- Screen printing available. Scalable Press offer even better pricing if you’re ordering in bulk
- 10+ years experience. In printing company industry
9. Gooten
Gooten is another print on demand marketplace that connects you with large print networks. Similar to Printify. Because of this, their product lineup is way more diverse than Scalable Press’ or Printful’s. From t-shirts to coffee coasters, magnets, calendars and much more. Your imagination is the limit.
Gooten has recently rebranded and started positioning themselves more as an enterprise, all in one solution. With Gooten you can get personalized pricing, marketing tips, and more. Also, their website and UI got a revamp that will now even better fit store owners in their daily journey.
Features
- A wide selection of products. Products ship from different suppliers across the globe – the US, Europe, Canada and more
- Fixed shipping prices. Fixed pricing on your print on demand orders. This will ensure that no unexpected fees will appear on your bill.
- Extra print placements. You can print front and back, on sleeves of the shirts
- Modern UI and onboarding. Gooten recently got retouch on its interface and provides you with sleek experience
10. Printaura
Printaura is also one of the oldest players in the print on demand market. In comparison, they are a little bit pricier than others. Also with a less intuitive user interface, Printaura offers some features no other site does.
While Printaura’s interface seems a bit stagnant and haven’t received any design touch for long, it is still funtcional and gives you all the basic tools.
Features
- Branding. You can add custom inside labels, hang tags, customize packing slips or even send your own packaging materials to Printaura
- Embroidery on demand. Printaura offers embroidery on demand contrary to many print on demand sites
- Integrations with e-commerce platforms. You can integrate Shopify, WooCommerce, Storenvy, Opencart, and other platforms with Printaura
- Experience in market. Printaura has been around for almost a decade. Compared to other POD providers, this gives them a significant advantage in printing quality and market.
Other POD companies that didn’t make the top 10 list
This POD alternative specializes in photography prints on shirts, mugs, pillows and other prints. Kyte is suitable for both small and enterprise companies. Kyte is also known for its SDK which allows you to easily integrate this solution to mobile apps.
Inkthreadables are UK based print on demand company. This is most suitable for UK businesses since it provides you with quick shipping and duty-free packages.
Additionally, Inkthreadable has great pricing and product lineup with EU popular personalized product brands.
SPOD is a relatively new print on demand company. However, it is powered by well know and one of the industry printing leaders Spreadshirt.
SPOD integrates with Shopify and gives you one of the best pricing and turnaround times – 48 hours fulfillment on most products.
3 comments
I would add kyte.ly to the list, they have a ton of products, cool integrations and they can ship worldwide. For designs and ready made templates to start with your POD store I would recommend designious.com, tons free with commercial license included.
Any POD marketplaces which offer paper plates in low quantities? (minus Zazzle’s at over $1 per plate)
I don’t think paper plates are popular in POD industry afaik