As of November 2026, the six print on demand companies I could verify on their own pages split into two groups. Printify, Printful and Gelato each publish a $0 Free plan plus paid tiers, Prodigi and Spreadshirt say their services are free to use, and Gooten shows no prices on the pages I could load. Shipping starts around $3.99 to $5 per shirt on the published rate cards, and none of them changes the core fact that a $20 to $30 printed product leaves thin margins. Below I compare each company by entry cost, shipping, network and fit, then run the per-sale math and show where high-ticket stores fit. I teach ecommerce at Ecommerce Paradise, so I read every print provider by what you keep after product, shipping, fees and ads.
Disclosure: some links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices and terms change, so confirm everything on each provider’s own page before you commit.
Best Print on Demand Companies at a Glance (November 2026)
Every figure in this table comes from the company’s own pages that I loaded in November 2026. Where a page did not show a number, I write “not shown.” The “best for” column is my opinion, not a test result.
| Company | Entry plan | Paid upgrade | Network claim | Best for (opinion) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Printify | Free, $0, 5 stores | Premium from $39 a month, or from $24.99 billed yearly | 2000+ products, 141 facilities, 209 countries and territories | Widest catalog and price shopping |
| Printful | Free, $0 | Growth $24.99 a month, free at $12K a year in sales | Not shown in numbers on the pages I loaded | Branding, samples and one clear fee table |
| Gelato | Free, $0, 2 stores | Gelato+ $29.99 a month, or $19.99 a month billed annually; Platinum custom pricing | Local production in 32 countries | Selling to Europe and other regions locally |
| Gooten | Not shown; Shopify app described as free | Contact Sales | 500+ products, locations not listed | Sellers who want API and sales support |
| Prodigi | “100% free to use,” no monthly subscription | Prodigi Pro, price not shown | 50+ suppliers in 10+ countries, own sites in UK, EU and USA | Wall art and print products |
| Spreadshirt (Spreadshop) | Free shop, no monthly cost stated | None shown | 350+ products, orders handled from the USA | Designers who want a hosted shop |
How I Compared These Companies
I used only each company’s own pages: pricing, shipping, homepage and help center pages. I did not place test orders, so I do not describe print quality, packaging or customer service from experience. Quality is the biggest unknown in this category, and the only fair way to judge it is to order a sample from two or three providers and compare them side by side.
Where a page did not give a number, I say so. The pages I loaded rarely showed base prices for specific products, which is why I compare plans, shipping and networks here and show per-sale math with Printify’s own example figures. If you want a head-to-head on two of them, my Printful vs Printify comparison goes deeper than this roundup.
Printify
Printify is a marketplace of print providers. You pick a product, choose a provider and set your price, and Printify routes the order. Its homepage says the platform is free to use with no credit card required, and shows 2000+ products, 141 facilities and 209 countries and territories. Those are company claims, and I did not test them.
Cost. The Free plan is $0 a month with 5 stores and unlimited designs. Premium is from $39 a month, or from $24.99 a month billed yearly, with up to 20% off all products and up to 33% off new products, as of November 2026. Enterprise is custom. I break down what each plan is worth, and what a coupon can and cannot do, in my Printify coupon code guide.
Shipping. Printify’s help center lists Economy from $3.99 (4 to 8 business days in the US), Standard from $4.75 (2 to 5 business days in the US for most providers) and Express at $7.99 for the first item plus $2.40 for each extra. Express covers only two shirt models with front prints. Because you choose among providers, the price and quality vary by provider.
Fit. It suits a seller who wants breadth and is willing to compare providers product by product. The trade-off is that you carry the quality control, so I recommend ordering samples before listing anything. You can start an account on the Printify sign-up page. My Printify review covers the dashboard.
Printful
Printful is a print on demand and fulfillment company. Its pricing page shows a Free plan at $0 a month and a Growth plan at $24.99 a month with a 14-day free trial, and Growth is free once you reach $12K a year in sales. Growth lists up to 33% off product pricing, 9% off branding and 25% off samples. The Free plan gets 20% off samples, limited to 1 sample order a month with up to 3 items per order.
Shipping. Printful’s US shipping page shows a Standard rate of $4.95 for the first shirt and $2.20 for each extra, and $8.79 plus $2.50 for hoodies. Orders are fulfilled in 2 to 5 business days, then Standard takes 3 to 4 business days and Express takes 1 to 3. A $0.40 surcharge applies to all US-destination orders from October 15, 2026 to January 17, 2027.
Fit. It suits a seller who values a single fee table and strong branding add-ons over the lowest product cost. My Printful pricing guide works through the plans, base prices and per-order math. The official Printful pricing page has the live terms. I could not confirm exact product starting prices on the catalog page I loaded, so check the product page for your item.
Gelato
Gelato describes itself as a production network that prints close to the customer. Its pricing page says you sign up free, pay only for what you sell, and face no commission or minimum orders. The subscription plans page shows local production in 32 countries.
Cost. On the plans page with the US locale and USD selected, I saw Free at $0 forever with 2 stores and 2 users, Gelato+ at $29.99 a month or $19.99 a month billed annually (about $239.88 a year) with unlimited stores and users, and a Platinum tier with custom pricing. Gelato+ lists product discounts of up to 33%, and its FAQ says discounts may vary per market. A separate automated read of the same page showed different figures, $24 a month or $239 a year plus a Gold tier with discounts of up to 10%, so Gelato seems to show different plan layouts to different visitors. Read the page on the day you sign up, because the numbers above are what the US/USD view showed me on November 10, 2026.
Shipping. Gelato’s shipping page has a calculator where you pick an item and a destination. When I loaded it, it defaulted to Indonesia and showed an Economy example of 9 to 11 days, and I could not find US rates on the page, so I quote none. The page says times and costs are estimates, and you see the final figures at checkout.
Fit. It suits a seller whose customers are spread across regions where local printing cuts the shipping distance. My Gelato review covers the network and who it fits. The Gelato plans page shows the current numbers.
Gooten
Gooten’s homepage describes a catalog of 500+ custom products and integrations with Shopify, Etsy, TikTok Shop, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and a custom API. It claims 99% order accuracy and an under 3 day SLA. I could not load its pricing page, and the homepage shows no plan prices, calling out only a free Shopify app and a Contact Sales link.
That makes Gooten the hardest to price from public pages. It has a Sample button that leads to a custom order form, but the page does not state sample terms. If you are weighing it, ask for the base price of your exact product, the shipping rate to your top customer state and the sample cost, then compare with the free options above. See the Gooten homepage for what it currently shows.
Prodigi
Prodigi’s homepage says its service is “100% free to use,” with no set-up fees, no monthly subscriptions and no hidden costs. It says it works with more than 50 suppliers in over 10 countries and runs in-house print facilities in the UK, EU and USA. It lists Etsy, Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, Wix and BigCommerce, plus a Print API, a manual order form and CSV upload.
Prodigi’s product counts are inconsistent on the page, with figures from 200+ up to 500,000+ customizable products, so I do not repeat one. It offers a sample pack of popular products but shows no price, and it lists a Prodigi Pro tier without a price. I would look at it first if wall art and print products are your focus. Its homepage shows the current claims.
Spreadshirt and Spreadshop
Spreadshirt’s seller product is Spreadshop, a hosted shop with over 350 print on demand products. The start-selling page says the shop is always free of charge, and your profit is the price you charge minus the base product price. It shows no commission percentage, base prices or payout terms, and signup runs through Spreadshirt’s partner page.
The page says orders are handled from the USA and delivered worldwide. Spreadshirt lists standard, premium and express delivery but no rates on the pages I loaded. It fits a designer who wants a ready-made storefront more than a Shopify merchant who wants control of the checkout. See Spreadshirt’s start-selling page for the signup steps.
Shipping Compared
Shipping decides whether a low-priced product can make money, so here is what each company published. These are starting figures, not quotes.
| Company | Published shipping figures | Delivery speed claim |
|---|---|---|
| Printify | Economy from $3.99, Standard from $4.75, Express $7.99 plus $2.40 each extra | US: 4 to 8 days Economy, 2 to 5 days Standard, 2 to 3 days Express |
| Printful | Shirt $4.95 plus $2.20 each extra; hoodie $8.79 plus $2.50 each extra | 2 to 5 business days to fulfill, then 3 to 4 Standard or 1 to 3 Express |
| Gelato | No US rates shown; the calculator’s one example was to Indonesia | 9 to 11 days Economy to Indonesia (estimate, per calculator) |
| Gooten | Not shown | Claims under 3 day SLA for order handling |
| Prodigi | Not shown | Over 80% of custom products ready within 24 to 48 hours |
| Spreadshirt | Not shown | Standard, premium and express options listed |
What a Print on Demand Sale Really Earns
Printify’s homepage includes a profit calculator whose example is a $20 T-shirt with a $9.64 fulfillment cost, one sale a day, and $321.16 a month in earnings. Its footnote says that figure leaves out shipping, taxes and store expenses. I used that example as a starting point and added the costs it omits. These are my labeled assumptions, not quotes from any provider.
Example 1: Profit Per Sale After Payment Fees
A $20.00 shirt with a $9.64 fulfillment cost leaves $10.36. The Shopify Basic online card rate is 2.9% plus 30 cents, so the fee on $20 is $0.58 + $0.30 = $0.88. That leaves $10.36 – $0.88 = $9.48 per sale, before ads and tax.
Example 2: One Sale a Day for a Month
Thirty-one sales at $9.48 is $293.88. Shopify Basic is $29 a month on yearly billing, or $39 on monthly billing, as of November 2026. Subtract the yearly rate and you keep $293.88 – $29.00 = $264.88 before ads, taxes and returns. Printify’s own figure of $321.16 is higher because it ignores the plan and the payment fee.
Example 3: What One Ad Click Does
Assume it costs $15 in advertising to win one sale. Then each sale nets $9.48 – $15.00 = -$5.52, a loss. At that ad cost the shirt needs a price of about $25.68 just to break even: $9.64 + $0.30 + $15.00 = $24.94, divided by (1 – 0.029) gives $25.68, because every extra dollar of price also loses 2.9% to the processor. Adjust the $15 to your own numbers, since this is an illustration.
Example 4: The High-Ticket Contrast
Assume a $1,500 item with a 25% gross margin, which is $375. The 2.9% plus 30 cent fee is $43.50 + $0.30 = $43.80, leaving $331.20. Even with $150 of advertising per sale you keep $181.20. The margin percentage is lower here (25%, against about 52% on the shirt before fees and ads), but the dollars per sale are about 35 times larger ($331.20 against $9.48), which is why ad costs stop being fatal. The 25% margin is an assumption, and real margins depend on the supplier and the niche.
Which Company Fits Which Seller (My Opinion)
- You want the biggest catalog and will compare providers: Printify, with the caveat that quality varies by provider.
- You want branding add-ons and a published fee table: Printful.
- Most customers are in Europe or another region far from the US: look at Gelato’s local production, and check the US rates before you commit.
- You sell wall art or print products: read Prodigi’s pages first.
- You want a hosted shop and no platform of your own: Spreadshop.
- You need API work and a sales contact: ask Gooten for a quote, and compare it with the free options.
If none of them fits, my Printful alternatives post compares more providers by cost. The Printify alternatives post does the same from the other side.
The Platform Matters Too
Your print provider is only half the stack, because the storefront carries its own fees. Shopify’s pricing page lists Basic at $39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly, Grow at $105 or $79, and Advanced at $399 or $299, as of November 2026. Its headline trial offer reads “Try 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months.”
You can start from the Shopify free trial. Live prices are on the Shopify pricing page.
My best ecommerce platform for print on demand ranking compares Shopify with other storefronts.
The High-Ticket Reality Check
I do not tell readers that print on demand cannot work. It works as a brand merch line, an add-on to an audience you already have, or a way to test a design. What it rarely does is replace a salary, because the examples above show a $20 product leaving single-digit dollars per sale.
The seller who wants a real business usually moves to products with bigger tickets. Start with my guide to what high-ticket dropshipping is.
Then read how dropshipping compares with print on demand on margin and effort. After that, the high-ticket niches list shows where the larger margins sit.
Sourcing is the other half. My walkthrough on how to find suppliers for high-ticket products explains how to approach authorized suppliers.
Once sales start, set up the entity properly with my guide to business formation for high-ticket dropshipping.
Questions to Ask Before You Pick a Provider
- What is the base price of my exact product, shipped to my best-selling state?
- Does the plan fee pay for itself at my real monthly order volume?
- Have I ordered a sample from two providers and compared the print, the fabric and the packaging?
- Where are most of my customers, and does the provider print near them?
- What is left per sale after product, shipping, payment fees, platform fees and ads?
- Do I have a plan for products with higher tickets if this margin is too thin?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best print on demand company?
There is no single best one, because the right choice depends on your products and customers. As of November 2026, Printify has the largest catalog claim I could verify (2000+ products), Printful has a clear fee table, and Gelato prints locally in 32 countries. Order samples from two before you commit.
Which print on demand companies are free to use?
Printify, Printful and Gelato all have a Free plan at $0 a month, and Prodigi says its service is 100% free to use. Spreadshirt describes its Spreadshop as always free. In every case you still pay for products, shipping and any paid plan you choose.
Is print on demand profitable?
It can be, but margins are thin. Using Printify’s own example of a $20 shirt with a $9.64 fulfillment cost, I get $9.48 per sale after a 2.9% plus 30 cent card fee, and a $15 ad cost per sale would turn that into a loss. It works best when you already have an audience.
Printify or Printful, which is cheaper?
It depends on the product and provider, and neither page shows one price for every item. Printify’s Premium is from $39 a month ($24.99 on yearly billing) and Printful’s Growth is $24.99 a month, free at $12K a year in sales. Build the same product in both and compare the total after shipping.
What should I sell if print on demand margins are too low?
Many sellers move to higher-ticket products, where one sale carries hundreds of dollars of margin. My guides on high-ticket niches and suppliers explain how that model works, and my done-for-you service builds the store for you.
Final Verdict on the Best Print on Demand Companies
As of November 2026, no company on this list is a clear winner on every count. Printify and Printful are the easiest to evaluate from public pages, Gelato is the one to check if your customers are far from US production, Prodigi is worth a look for wall art, and Gooten and Spreadshirt need a direct quote or deeper reading before you can price them. All of them leave thin margins on a $20 to $30 product.
My advice: pick two providers, order the same sample from each, build the same product and compare the profit after shipping, payment fees and ad cost. If the profit per sale is still a few dollars, treat print on demand as a side line and look at the high-ticket model for your main business. Prices and terms change, so confirm everything on each provider’s own page.
Related Articles
If you found this useful, these guides go deeper on related topics:
- Printful vs Printify (2026): Costs, Quality, Shipping and Which One Fits
- Printify Review 2026: The Largest Print-on-Demand Catalog for Ecommerce Entrepreneurs
- Printful Pricing 2026: Plans, Product Costs and Shipping
- Gelato Review 2026: Pricing, Print Network and Who It Fits
- Printify Coupon Code 2026: Discounts, Premium Plan Savings and Free Samples
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and world traveler from Seattle, Washington, and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
He maintains homes in Seattle and Bali, spends most of the year overseas, and usually returns to Seattle for about a month each summer.
