Printful vs Printify — Which Print-on-Demand Company Is Better? Unbiased Review (2020)
It is clear that nowadays everyone dreams of having their own business, remote work and making good enough money to travel the world.
Whilst it might seem like a challenge to adapt to this type of lifestyle — there certainly are ways of achieving it with little to no expense at all.
POD or Print-on-Demand services have made this possible for many go-getters and I will compare two of the most talked-about — Printful vs Printify.
Besides both having Latvian CEO’s there are many more similarities that unite both companies and have stirred public drama more than one time. But if you want to know all the details and see which of the both deserve more credit — keep on reading!
What is Printful? Printful Review
Printful is a print-on-demand drop shipping and warehouse service.
The idea was born back in 2011, when the co-founder of Latvian equivalent to Facebook (Draugiem.lv) Davis Siksnans moved to the USA and started a small scale business by designing and printing inspiring quotes as well as another business selling motivational posters to entrepreneurs.
A quick and easy solution for printing on demand was necessary as his businesses were growing and no available provider fit the mold, so Davis took matters into his own hands by launching Printful in 2012.
Fast forward to nowadays — Printful is working with e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Wix and Squarespace and with the marketplaces like eBay, Amazon and Etsy, fulfilling millions of orders every year.
Printful started by printing low impact items such as posters and clothing pieces, but by now offers a wide array of items such as mugs, phone cases, laptop cases and even jewelry engravement, to name a few.
Printful not only offers a wide range of quality items to choose from and helps with custom designs, but it also doubles as a dropshipping and warehouse company, which means little to no hassle for any merchant with an online shop.
All you need to do is visit the store, connect to your store — choose your item, select your design and order, then place the product mockup on your store — Printful takes care of fulfilling the order and shipping directly to your customer or your store after the item is being ordered.
What is Printify? Printify Review
Printify is a print on demand network, helping merchants create, store and ship their product.
Much like Printful, Printify was started by its owner James recognizing the problem within the printing market — no suitable merchant would help with single product fulfillment at the rate and efficiency necessary, so the idea of Printify was born to solve this problem.
In September 2015 Printify was introduced to Shopify users and became one of the TOP trending apps within the first month.
Nowadays Printify provides a wide array of products for merchants to choose from — starting from T-shirts and clothing items, to even home-ware and eco-friendly products.
Printify works with several different e-commerce stores such as Shopify, Etsy and Wix allowing merchants to connect from their shop directly and use Printify for their orders.
Starting with Printify is easy, much like it is with Printful, so there’s really little to compare when we’re looking at Printful vs Printify:
- Connect to your store and pick the desired item;
- Use a mock-up generator to apply your designs;
- Order a sample and receive your item to test it and choose the right provider;
- Publish the product to your store;
- Create sales!
Are Printful and Printify The Same?
Printful and Printify are two separately owned companies, established 3 years apart, so essentially they are not the same company and have no relation whatsoever.
However, the line of business and offer is almost identical, not to say — the same. The only difference between the two is their HQ location, a slight difference in pricing and products, and a few details that we will get into later on when comparing Printful vs Printify.
Printful and Printify Pros and Cons
There are several things to look at when defining the pros and cons of each company, but essentially it really depends on the merchant and their needs.
- Printful connects to many more marketplaces than Printify, such as Amazon, Storenvy, Wish, Bonanza and Inktale.
- Printful also updates real-time shipping rates and fulfillment processes, whereas Printify doesn’t do that.
- Printful has 24hour live customer support, whereas Printify doesn’t provide that. However — both companies have extensive blog articles and tips on different topics covered, to help their customers.
- When it comes to additional features such as graphic design options and eCommerce photography service — this is where Printful wins and Printify lacks.
Printful vs Printify — Comparison Table
Here’s a comparison table of Printful vs Printify, that shows the key factors of each of them and what is provided — side by side.
Printful vs Printful — Pricing & Fees
Let’s look at Printful vs Printify when it comes to Pricing and Fees, which can be the dealbreaker for some merchants out there.
Printful Pricing & Fees
Printufl doesn’t have any subscription fees — you pay for every purchase that is made off your site. The pricing of Printful also doesn’t include taxes or shipping, so you pay for that based on the orders made.
This can be great though because you don’t make any commitments and don’t have to worry about monthly expenses. However, if you sell successfully in bulk, it can become quite pricey.
But the pricing that you can expect to have varies from around 2Eur for a piece of sticker up to around 40Eur for a hoodie.
Printful claims to have the best quality, hence the higher price tag for some of their items, which come from different brands and suppliers. The rating of Printful items is always good, so you can rely on the quality of their products and reviews from other merchants.
Printify Pricing & Fees
Printify on the other hand has a different business strategy than Prinftul when it comes to pricing. This might be the one major thing that sets both competitors apart and can be the epitome of why someone would prefer Printful over Printify or vice versa.
Printify has 3 different pricing plans:
- Free of charge, includes mockup generator, integration with e-commerce stores, manual order creation, 24/7 merchant support, self serve help center, 5 stores per account, unlimited product design
- Premium — 29$ per month, which includes mockup generator, integration with e-commerce stores, manual order creation, 24/7 merchant support, self-serve help center, customer order import, up to 20% on all products, 10 stores per account, unlimited product design.
- Enterprise — has a custom pricing, where pricing essentially is tailored to your business needs. On top of the 29$ per month plan, with the Enterprise plan you’ll also get early access to new features, custom API integration, dedicated account manager and branded customer support. This plan will be most useful for merchants with 10 000 + orders per day and you can have unlimited stores per account as well as unlimited product designs.
Pricing plans can work great for bigger merchants, or if you’re planning on expanding rapidly and know that you’ll require extra support for your brand.
However, with the Free of Charge plan at Printify, you can also do single orders and not worry about commitments. There’s something for every necessity.
Printify is also slightly cheaper in the items they provide, compared to Printful — their pricing starts with just 5Eur per shirt and goes up from there, so if your main concern is attaining the cheaper alternative — Printify is your option.
Printful vs Printify — Shipping Comparison For Sellers
When it comes to shipping and fulfillment, it won’t set the choice for you, because both companies work with top carrier companies such as DHL, DPD, USPS and FedEx. The only thing here to keep in mind is that Printify has fewer fulfillment centers, therefore it might take longer for them to deliver internationally.
It’s also imperative to note that Printful takes their delivery service quite seriously with having a dedicated real-time tracking system of each order, whereas Printify doesn’t provide this feature.
Printful vs Printify — Integrations & Billing
Whether you want to integrate with Printful or Printify really depends on your business needs and the speed at which you want the first order to ship out.
Whilst Printful doesn’t commit merchants to a pricing plan, it does provide an option to negotiate bulk seller deals when contacting Printful’s sales team. This, however, might take more time and effort to set up, which is not ideal if you want to ship out tomorrow.
Printify on the other hand provides a different pricing plan, where all costs are transparent and you know exactly what you sign up for. The downfall here might be the set pricing, which you could negotiate with Printful tailored to your needs.
Printful vs Printify — Clothing Quality
The clothing quality really is a subjective matter when it comes to POD services, however, if we look at Printful vs Printify, what’s great about Printful is that they have enabled reviews on each of their items — this allows a customer to establish their choice based on legitimate reviews of their products and quality — and make the best decision. Printify doesn’t have this option integrated yet.
Or just see totally another entrepreneurs perspective on clothing quality from a YouTube video.
Printful and Printify Alternatives
There are several POD services out there besides Printful and Printify. Each of these services have a similar business outline. However, it can provide details that might be crucial for some merchants and incline them to choose the specific provider.
The other providers similar to Printful and Printify are Print Aura, Teelaunch and others.
Conclusion: Printify vs Printful — Which Is Better?
In conclusion — there are some obvious factors that make Printful the best choice.
- A 24/7 dedicated customer support team;
- Several additional features, which we discussed above;
- Better quality of items (even though sometimes at a bigger cost);
- Customer reviews for each item on the website;
- Pricing flexibility depending on your budget.
The above points clearly put Printful in the lead, but that doesn’t mean that Printify doesn’t have its own place in the market.
Printify might be an easy choice if you want to avoid any direct sales contact, which makes the process more automated. However, it might not be enough to set the bar higher than their more experienced competitor and fall-back of added features.
