Printful and Printify are both outstanding choices for any business looking to provide on-demand printing services. This article will cover the similarities, as well as the differences between these two services while recommending each one based on what they offer or lack. First, it’s important to know that these types of businesses deal with digital printing (we’re going to break down exactly what that means).
As a result, you’ll need specific hardware like a printer or embroidery machine in order for it to work – which is why we recommend checking out this article if you want information on other considerations when deciding whether it would be worth switching from doing things traditionally. For those already familiar with print-on-demand suppliers though, this is where we’ll focus our attention.
What is a print on demand supplier?
A Print on Demand supplier can serve as a merchant’s backend fulfillment partner. One of the benefits of using an On-Demand Product Fulfilment Service is that it allows you to connect your eCommerce store to their website. Whenever someone orders from your site, that order is sent to your POD Supplier for printing and starts the ordering fulfillment process. This means that your POD Supplier also takes care of the storage of items.
This makes life easier for merchants because they no longer need to manage any inventory themselves – which will take up precious time if done manually or through third-party apps like Shopify or Google Shopping Express. A lot of POD providers have created specialized Apps for the most popular eCommerce platforms including Shopify and eBay too!
Below is an example of how that might go:
Knowing which supplier is the best can be challenging – but don’t worry! We’ll take a look at two of the most successful POD suppliers anyone can work with: Printful and Printify.
But which one fits your business? Printify or Printful?
Now let’s find that out.
What is Printful?
When it comes to fulfilling orders, nothing beats Printful’s experience and dedication. With Printful, there are no minimum order requirements so you can easily create a few or many items at once. Now, they also have over 280+ high-quality products available for sale on their website – giving people who sell everything from handmade goods to t-shirts an easy way to earn money while staying true to themselves.
Including products like:
- Clothing (like t-shirts, hoodies, socks, and leggings)
- Backpacks
- Sweatshirts
- Tote bags
- Different kinds of accessories
- And even pillows!
As you can tell, they offer many different items which will provide you with a lot of options for your own retail store.
Quick facts about Printful
- Team size: With headquarters in every major country across the globe, they’re one of the largest and most successful companies with a workforce totaling over 1.7 thousand employees.
- The number of online stores that use Printful has been calculated at over 120,000!
- Supported integrations: Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Wix, and more! Plus, it has its own API for Printful.
The pros of Printful
You may have heard about the innumerable benefits of using Printful. Here are just a few reasons why these statements hold water. No Outsourcing With Printful, you know everything they do for your business is in-house. This means no other businesses you need to worry about; and little chance of having an issue due to miscommunication across borders and time zones. Put simply: Printful usually gets it right!
In contrast, one of the downsides of using an outsourcer like Printify is that when coordinating with multiple suppliers overseas – mistakes are made. It won’t take long before somebody falls through the cracks in communication, leading up to less than satisfactory products or services being delivered (or even none at all).
Fantastic print quality
A major advantage Printify has over their competitors is the consistency of quality in their prints. For example, they’ve invested $83.7 million (this isn’t even close to being an exaggeration) towards purchasing printing equipment which means you’re guaranteed high-quality items every time.
For example, here’s their 3-step quality control check before they ship orders:
- Their pre-programmed software inspects graphics for quality before shipping them out, and their AI system evaluates if any changes need to be made before they are printed.
- Fulfillment specialists check quality while orders are being fulfilled.
- They run a final quality check after the blank product is customized.
Sustainability is one of the many factors that has led to their success. Their eco-friendly equipment ensures a clean and ethical process for themselves and your products – so they’ll last for years! They also have other top-notch tools like mockup generators, so you can test out how your design will turn out before investing hours into it.
Plus, they offer product templates which are reusable templates made specifically for a certain type of product; this saves tons of time in designing or testing different templates over again.
Quick turnaround
While Printify is U.S.-based, Printful has three warehouses that are located in the U.S., Mexico and Europe respectively, which allows for quicker shipping times (approximately two days). This gives them an edge over their competition.
With each order, it’s easy to tell where your shipment sits within the supply chain – from printing to delivery – and they make it easy to track the progress of your order through email notifications and a customizable tracker page. In addition,
if you want something right away but don’t want to pay for it outright before seeing what you’re getting or how it looks when delivered, then there are no free samples with Printful but instead, there are 20% discounts on sample orders for purchase to test out the quality of items first hand without having to spend anything more than processing fees
The cons of Printful
Although it may seem like Printful is the perfect company, there are still some downsides to it. Here we will discuss why these problems exist and how we can make sure they don’t bother us too much.
Cluttered user interface
The Printful website has an easily navigable design and provides information about different parts of the company, like its blog posts or in-house projects. You’ll have to get used to this once you enter the dashboard system because there will be lots of things you won’t expect to see at first glance. There are still small issues with how customizable it is; since when you try to move away from viewing their blog posts, they’re on every screen so it’s hard to escape them for now.
Expensive pricing
Printful has a high quality of product but they also come at a higher cost. Some clothing can be tight fitting in order to avoid excessive material costs and may carry heavier fabric depending on the design. This could lead to lower profits making them difficult to become profitable again. But other notable features that might attract buyers would be the art prints. Their frames can handle shattering without breaking as well as being available in the acrylic finish so it resembles artwork from museums or galleries.
Product shortages and discontinuations
Though Printful does carry a wide variety of products, sizes, and colors that can satisfy most needs; there is always the chance that one of your top sellers could stop being printed or supplied. Dog apparel, jade green, and oak brown are just some of the many examples.
Though they don’t happen all too often – it’s best to keep an eye out and consider finding new alternatives when they do happen. Fortunately, Printify carries multiple suppliers which allows you to switch over to another company if necessary.
What is Printify?
Printify is a mediator to different printing suppliers for your print-on-demand dropshipping business. Their diverse production network and partners allow a massive assortment of suppliers to print and fulfill POD orders for their users. Printify holds your orders and sends them to print suppliers of your decision.
Basically, Printify does everything in between you ordering an item from them and getting it printed somewhere else; which means that they don’t need physical property or equipment at all – instead, they source various manufactures from other businesses so you can pick where the product gets printed without sacrificing quality. This allows them to provide customers with custom products while still maintaining ease of use; because no matter what you are looking for, there will always be someone who can make it happen!
Quick facts about Printify
- Team Size: Their offices are located in Latvia and Estonia with a team of over 650 employees spread across the world.
- With well over 37,000 shops using Printify, it’s no surprise they’re able to cater to so many clients.
- With a wide array of supported integrations, this app has you covered for all of your e-commerce needs.
The pros of Printify
Will Printify find the best POD supplier for you? Lets see how it fares.
You can choose your print provider
When it comes to printing, Printify offers more than one supplier so that you aren’t limited. If there is a certain size or color of product you want to sell, then switching print providers on the spot will allow you to try out different options so you can see what best suits your needs.
The prices are a bit lower.
After comparing both services, using the printer of Printify on average costs less than using the printer of Printful. This allows for you to charge a higher profit margin or lower your prices so people find it easier to purchase without breaking their wallets. Finding products that are priced affordably might take some time, but they are usually well worth it – especially when considering how much cheaper they’ll be than if you were printing through another company.
Many printing products to choose from
Printify updates its product catalog each week with at least six new items. With new things being added constantly, there are always options to explore and these choices vary in style or size of garment or accessory so you can find the one just right for you.
This is a huge advantage if you want to be competitive with your store. The pros of Printify (Printify being the second-largest provider), may seem like they make it possible for them to remain at the top spot. But let’s explore what could go wrong!
Print quality can differ at times.
One downside of using Printify is how difficult it can be to determine which supplier will provide us with a high-quality product.
It’s important to try out a product before making an investment; both for your own personal experience and in case you need to return it. You may be thinking, what could go wrong? It’ll just be cheap anyways! However, while the cost will be low upfront, the quality of materials is typically subpar.
With such low pricing, the company has no way of investigating the supplier’s catalog thoroughly because there would be no money left for their investors or employees. To ensure that you are providing high-quality products for your customers – first invest time into researching different providers through reviews from other sources.
Read these reviews carefully so that you can compare what each company offers and then find one where people seem happy with their service over time – this will hopefully avoid any issues later down the road when printing begins.
Sporadic shipping times
Printify strives to make the wait times of its suppliers transparent, but due to their geographical location, delivery rates can fluctuate. One example is that suppliers located in countries like China take a while for an American customer to receive the product.
In this case, Printify allows you to cancel your order at any time before it ships. However, keep in mind that some changes are not allowed after certain stages of fulfillment if it has already shipped out or if production has begun on your product. It also doesn’t have very much customization when picking out custom branding.
One of the main reasons why customers choose a vendor is because they are able to print products exactly how they want them, such as having an image span across the entire sleeve. This is not possible with Printify whereas Printful has no problem making this happen.
Not only can you do this but logos are included with the purchase so if that’s something your customer wants then I highly recommend using this company for printing rather than risking going elsewhere and losing out on potential branding opportunities.
Customer support quality can differ.
Because Printify sources products from so many different suppliers it can be difficult to guarantee uniformity when it comes to their quality. That said, customer service is available to help resolve these issues, although they are usually spread thin. When looking at Printify’s customer service it seems as though there are pros and cons. If something goes wrong with one of your orders then you’ll generally have a good outcome, but once again this varies from order to order.
You never know what type of resolution or response time you’re going to get when you contact them about an issue – which does not bode well for them. One upside is that Printify does offer some form of compensation for faulty goods – but don’t expect fast responses!
The premium pricing tiers of Printful and Printify
When selecting a supplier, pricing is usually one of the first things you consider. You want to make sure it will be worth your time and effort so that it remains financially sustainable- or else this isn’t going to turn out well!
There are two factors to consider when comparing Printful and Printify for pricing:
- The set-up costs
- And the pricing plan that works best for you.
Which pricing plan is ideal for you?
Let’s begin!
Printful Pricing
Printful provides users with a clean and clear user interface from which they can start printing products for free, without any contracts or hidden fees. A fee of $49 per month unlocks many premium features including access to high-quality stock photography as well as the ability to remove backgrounds from images.
Is Printful’s pricing plan right for me?
If you’re just starting off, the Free Plan offered by Printful will suit your needs well. As you grow and become successful with your online store, you can upgrade to the Pro Plan – which is offered at a discounted price during your first month. But don’t forget about Printful’s offer for a 14-day free trial of their Pro Plan!
Printify Pricing
Printify is free yet offers two additional plans:
- The Premium. This will cost you $29 each month or $24.99 whenever charged yearly)
- And the Enterprise plan. The costs depend on your business needs.
It is worth noting that Printify does not offer a free trial for its premium plans, whereas its competitor Printful does.
Is Printify’s pricing plan right for me?
By checking out what each of these Printify plans has to offer, you’ll be able to decide which will work best for your business. If you need some additional help deciding what plan will work best for your company, then let us tell you our thoughts so that you can decide:
Printify free plan
For new businesses, such as yours and mine, the free plan offered by Printify is usually the best option for what we need.
Printify premium plan
If you are looking for a way to save money on your purchases from Printify, the Premium plan may be just what you need. Along with discounted prices and other benefits, this plan offers a 20% discount on anything sold through the website – including shipping charges!
Final thoughts on pricing plans
There are many similarities between these two suppliers. They each have advantages over the other but also disadvantages, depending on what you need them for. The price differences between these two plans differ too; Printify offers a cheaper premium plan, but there is no free trial.
However, Printful’s Pro Plan gives you access to a free trial and some other perks for higher prices in return. Both companies offer discounts for printing products- but if you want the best deal then go with Printify because they’ll give you an additional 20% off all prints from here on out!
So, Printful or Printify?
There is no clear winner. It depends on your needs! It’s promising to see how print-on-demand products are increasing in demand thanks to the growth of suppliers such as Printful and Printify. They each offer strengths that make them great for different types of projects so it will depend on what you’re looking for. With these two services, here’s how they stack up:
Printful is best for you if:
- You want your customers to know they are getting a consistent quality product instead of just thinking you’re after their money.
- You want the fastest shipping time possible from your suppliers.
- You want the most integrations available.
- You’re interested in building a personal brand that sets you apart from others.
Printify is best for you if:
- It’s not wise to be dependent on one supplier for all of your needs.
- You want the highest amount of profit margins.
- You would like access to more products or even just one of its many variations, such as color or size.
- If you are looking to save this article- take a look at our infographic below!
The importance of great quality products can never be understated. In fact, it is the very top-level factor that affects sales as well. From what we’ve discussed in this article so far, it’s no secret that Printful has an advantage over its competitor Printify when it comes to product quality. As the largest company of print-on-demand services, they have been around for years now – ever since 2013 to be exact, while their newest rival was founded only a couple of years ago – in 2015.
With customer satisfaction being at an all-time high due to fast and transparent shipping services combined with outstanding print quality, these factors give them a lot of competitive advantages against their competition; even against such huge names as Amazon or Etsy. Unless you already are loyal to another provider, Printful offers the best options for many drop shippers and so do we!
Printful is the most significant supplier to many and will likely be for you.
Unsure of which Print On Demand company will work best for you? Check out our other comparison articles below!
- SPOD vs. Gooten
- Sellfy vs. CustomCat
To find out which company is best for you, explore the comparison page!
FAQs About Printful vs Printify
Can you sell directly from Printful and Printify?
Printful and Printify do not provide an option for selling direct. You need to integrate with an ecommerce platform such as Shopify, Etsy or WooCommerce to sell anything on these sites.
Is Printify the same as Printful?
Although they are both companies related to printing, Printify and Printful are not one in the same. Printful is a print-on-demand and fulfillment company which takes care of all aspects related to production – from manufacturing and then fulfilling your order through the use of printed materials like t-shirts or cards, before finally hand delivering them straight to you.
Can you sell digital products on Printful and Printify?
You cannot sell digitally-based products through Printful and Printify since they are both print-on-demand service providers and not an ecommerce platform where you can host your online store for selling digital goods.
Conclusion
Suppliers are the most important part of any drop-shipping business and will determine whether you succeed or fail. The good news is they’re easy to change without having to pay contract fees or anything else that’ll hold you down. In fact, we highly recommend Printful as one of your suppliers because it has great prices and high customer reviews, but doesn’t stop there!
If you want to learn more about other options – take a look at Printify or even some smaller supply stores like CustomCat (and if you’re still hesitant, know that these aren’t just some fly-by-night operations – these companies have been around for years).
