There are a lot of providers of great quality print on demand shirts online. Unfortunately, not all of them deliver the same level of quality. So what are the best print on demand shirt companies today in terms of quality, price and shipping turnaround time? I decided to find out.
What are the best print on demand shirt companies today? Your options include Printful, Printify, and Customcat. Printful is the best in terms of print quality, while Printify offers the cheapest price and the fastest shipping compared against Printful and CustomCat only.
Choosing a print on demand shirt company can be tricky because there are a few details to consider, including the shipping destination and the kind of membership you have in the platform. It’s important to know the specific features and offers of each company to see if their product range, pricing model and quality standards are the right fit for you.
The Best Quality Print on Demand Shirts Companies In Terms of Quality of Print
Print on demand is a business model where you carry no inventory and wait until a customer purchases an item. It is then printed and fulfilled by a third party company to your customer’s doorstep.
Printful is regarded as the best as far as print on demand providers for t-shirts. They have been one of the oldest companies in the POD game.
All of their printing is done in house at one of their facilities.
Image by The RAir Tribe
As you can see from the video shown above. The Printful print is more vibrant, and therefore the color accuracy goes to Printful over Printify.
I mean everyone wants their colors to pop and grab attention, right?
Printify, on the other hand, outsources its printing to other companies. This causes an inconsistent print quality depending on which print provider you are sourcing your products from.
Using both of these print providers myself. I would recommend Printify because of the price is drastically less than Printful.
But I would only do so if the design was simple. If it is just text with a few solid colors, there should not be a problem.
As stated by Threadless, “the hardest hues to hit are the bright reds, cyans, and greens.” ( https://blog.threadless.com/dtg-faq/)
If your design does not include these colors you should be fine.
For any photo image, gradient, and overall colorful designs I would recommend Printful.
Printful also allows you to customize the products that you can easily dropship. You can even order printed shirts from them and then use those shirts under your brand.
It can add to your confidence that Printful is a globally recognized brand that can support an international team.
It may cost more but the most important thing is producing a quality product for your end customer. Because if they are happy with their purchase you have a better chance of getting a return customer.
You are increasing the lifetime value of that customer. Getting a new customer is harder than retaining an old one.
The Best Quality Print on Demand Shirts Companies In Terms of Cost
In terms of the cheapest price, I already mentioned that Printify is cheaper than Printful (I would use it for simple basic colored designs). However, with over $16.8 million invested in printing tech, using Kornit series printers and inks for DTG apparel, Printful has a better edge in providing high-grade colors.
The high-quality colors of Printful are perhaps the result of getting the orders to go through a 3-step quality check before shipping them out.
These steps are automated software checking, quality checking by fulfillment specialists, and then the third step is a final quality check after printing and curing.
These quality checks result in giving you the best print quality in the industry. The colors you get are visibly more vivid and will always match the original print file as closely as possible.
Therefore, I still consider Printful the best since it’s free to sign-up without monthly fees and you only pay when an order is submitted.
An added bonus would be that Printful always sources its products from ethical brands and suppliers that always comply with labor and environmental safety measures.
Considering that the prices they offer are low, it’s impressive that they still offer ethically sourced products.
These lowered prices are uniform across the globe. Even if customers order anywhere in the world, Printful will fulfill the same low prices and dropship the shirts right to your door.
Printify will cost you $29/month if you’re going for a Premium account. Which offers discounts on most products.
CustomCat has a monthly app cost of $30 and will cost you $4.99 for the first item + $1.50 per each additional product you order if it’s domestic.
There’s a charge of $7.50 for the first item + $5.95 per each additional product if shipped to the rest of the world.
For Zazzle, you will have to shell out $9.95/year for Unlimited Standard Shipping for all qualified orders.
Fastest Shipping Print on Demand Shirts Today
In terms of fastest shipping, I would still recommend Printful since 97.66% of their orders are shipped within 5 business days both local and international
(source: https://www.printful.com/shipping). More than half of their orders are shipped within 3 business days or less.
The usual shipping time for Printify would be 2-7 days from the order submission date. Some of the most known Printify print providers today include ArtsAdd, CG Pro Prints, DTG2Go and Fifth Sun.
The strong partnerships that Printify has built with the most reliable carriers can bring you the best offers. Some of its most well-known carrier partners include United States Postal Service, DPD, FedEx, DHL, OSM Worldwide and UPS.
Custom Cat can ship the orders within 2-3 days after purchase, but their international orders can reach to as long as 15 days, and their delivery locations are not as many as Printful.
Zazzle can ship within 2-3 business days, but only for their Premium shipping, and 4-7 business days for Standard. Available shipping options will vary depending on the product type, quantity ordered, and shipping address.
Factors To Consider In Looking for The Best Print-On-Demand Shirt Company
The first thing I’d suggest in picking the best print-on-demand shirt company is you go for a company’s long-term reputation.
Choose the best one that has been in the industry the longest, can show proof it can deliver high-volume demands and has the highest product range. In our comparison, Printful fits all the criteria.
You should also go to the company that offers the best pricing model relative to your needs and shipping location.
Some POD (Print On Demand) companies charge a monthly fee, and that can really lower down your profit margin when you’re just starting out. And some companies have lower shipping fees for select locations.
Take note also of the level of quality of their prints. A more expensive print company might offer a higher-level quality of prints, which can help you attract new customers and retain old ones.
It’s important for you to look at online reviews, too. You can usually browse through many review sites to see the general consensus among the customers about the company you choose.
Don’t rely too much on what’s shown on the company’s website. And take note of the number of reviews.
A 4.5 out of 5-star average from a series of 5000+ reviews can be far more superior than a streak of 5 stars from just 20 reviews.
Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter polls or Quora, find out the general average and the number of reviews made, especially because the reviews can be gamed. In terms of handling returns, you should go for a company that has the least mistakes in delivering an item or lowest record in getting items returned.
Some of the reasons you should consider include an error in production or a shipping service issue. Check the customer reviews for how the company fares in this area.
You must also look for the POD company’s rate of response. The best companies have 24/7 customer service. Some can only assist you via email.
If you find a 24/7 customer support, then that’s your best bet since there are so many factors that may cause a problem to your delivery. You want the issues fixed immediately, and the highest response rate customer service is your answer.
Quality of customer support matters, too. Some companies could just be responding to you via chatbots. They can’t really answer your issue. They offer template solutions but not an answer specific to your particular problem. Go for a support team that offers personal answers.
A POD service that offers 24/7 customer support can help manage any occurring store errors the fastest time possible.
Transparency is another big factor. You want your print partner to be open in its communication. You don’t want them to have hidden fees at the end of the order or to get charged with a fee you didn’t expect.
Transparency includes being open to policy changes and company fees. Some companies can be very vague with the complete charges they make for each order. You want a company that informs you upfront with the fees ahead of time, not secretly in an email where you might not notice it.
It’s even better when you get coordinated email, social media and website notifications about policy and price changes since you might not be active in one area.
Another factor to consider is years of experience. Yes, a company has been in the industry for the longest time.
Is it able to offer t-shirt printing services, yes, but is it the type of printing you are looking for? Their expertise might not be related to the kind of prints you want.
If you want a long-term relationship with a POD company, you are most likely to succeed if you stick with a POD company with years of industry experience.
This strong partnership can maintain long-term growth and will help you adapt more to market challenges.
You should also look for a POD that can offer the best guide in designs. For instance, if your design is a low-res JPG or PNG, a good POD company can help you provide a mock-up that can render your design.
Ones that integrate with as many e-commerce platforms as possible is a big help. Go for a POD company that has strong relationships with today’s biggest carriers and printing facilities.
A Price Comparison of Cost of Print On Demand Shirt Companies
In a price comparison made online, you will see some of the areas that the different platforms vary in terms of cost savings. The sample t-shirt used in this comparison is a 1 x Bella & Canvas 3001 T-Shirt – Size L – Black, which is shipped to a US Mainland Address. No expedited shipping is made and no extras. Here’s the breakdown of the cost:
| Printful | Printify | CustomCat | |
| Monthly Cost for App | $0.00 | $29.00 | $30.00 |
| Free sign-up | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Shipping Cost | $3.05 | $4.00 | $4.99 |
| Total Shipped Product Price (Shirt + Shipping) | $16.00 | $11.77 | $13.99 |
| Stated Turnaround | 2-7 days | 3 days | 2-4 days |
| Actual Turnaround | 4 days | 2 days | 4 days |
| Fulfillment Locations | USA, Europe, Mexico | USA, Europe, China | USA |
| Monthly Fees | None | Premium plan | CustomCat Plan |
| Paid Plan | None | $29 / month | $30 / month |
| Currency | USD, EUR | USD | USD |
| Production | DTG, Embroidery, Sublimation, Cut and Sew, In-house | DTG, Embroidery, Sublimation, Cut and Sew, Outsourced | DTG, Embroidery, Sublimation, In-house |
| Customer Support | Live Chat, Email, Phone | Live Chat, Email | Email, Phone |
| Product Branding | Inside Labels, Outside Labels, Sleeve Printing | Inside labels, Outside labels, Sleeve printing | None |
| Packaging Branding | White-label packaging, brand logo, pack-ins, a custom packing slip | White-label packaging | White-label packaging |
| Design Generator/Tools | Product mockup generator, embroidery mockup generator, text tool, clipart tool, product personalization tool | Product mockup generator, embroidery mockup generator | Product mockup generator, embroidery mockup generator |
| Integrations | Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, BigCommerce, Ecwid, Weebly, Prestashop, Gumroad, Magento, Big Cartel | Shopify, WooCommerce, eBay | Shopify, WooCommerce |
| Custom API | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Online Marketplaces | Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Storenvy, Wish | Etsy | None |
| Most Affordable Tee | $7.95 | $7.78 (free plan) | $9.00 (free plan) |
| Product Count | 160+ | 200+ | 100+ |
| Sample Order Discount | Yes | Yes | No |
| Shipping | Flat Shipping Rates, Live shipping rates, Custom return address | Flat shipping rates, Live shipping rates, Custom return address | Flat shipping rates |
| Warehousing | Warehousing services, 24th fulfillment | None | None |
| Other Services | Design services, product photography, video services, store setup services, branding | Branding | None |
Some notes on the comparison above:
From this comparison, it appears that the best app to use is Printful because there’s no monthly cost, but you should consider other factors. There may be additional costs in Printful in terms of the shirt’s product price.
The total shipped product price from Printful may cost a bit higher than Printify and Custom Cat, and we are using the same shirt type or brand.
Always take the comparison above with a grain of salt. The price here is based only on a single order purchase.
You’d have to place a few more extra orders before taking the indicated time they mention as reflective of what you can reasonably expect from the platform.
You may observe above that Printify and Customcat have shipping prices that are fixed, while Printful can allow for dynamic pricing.
Dynamic prices could result in giving you a way cheaper price unless the delivery location you have is not within Printful’s scope.
We should also add that the consensus gathered from mixed reviews will conclude that Printful is better than most competitors in terms of all criteria. Its strength lies in the fact that it can cover most situations where other PODs can’t.
Premium Tee vs Standard Tee: Best High-Quality T-Shirts for Printing
If you want the best quality prints, it makes sense to pick the highest quality t-shirt line or brand. Depending on your budget, you have many options.
What makes a premium tee different from a standard fee will depend on the shirt’s ability to keep color, its fabric’s ability to not shrink or itch, and on whether its soft fabric will pill.
The 5 premium t-shirts to choose from today are Anvil Lightweight 980 Fashion Tee, American Apparel 2001, Next Level 3600 Premium Fitted Sueded, Alternative Short Sleeve T-Shirt, and the Bella Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey T-Shirt.
The Anvil’s Lightweight Fashion 980 Short Sleeve T-Shirt is 100% pre-shrunk. It comes with an easy tear-away label, which helps if you want to attach a different custom size tag on the shirt without tiny cotton pieces left behind.
Unlike other shirts, the Anvil 980 will make it easy to customize for large-scale orders and to make them easy to rebrand for your own clothing line.
American Apparel, on the other hand, is a popular t-shirt brand most well-known in Los Angeles and across the world.
It’s a brand made known for its progressive American-made business model. It also supports pro-liberal rights orientation and is known for its attention-grabbing marketing.
The Fine Jersey Crew Neck 2001 is the most popular American Apparel today.
The great thing about the Fine Jersey Crew Neck 2001W is that it’s 100% cotton and carries a wide variety of 50/50 blends and poly cotton.
You can bet that this is one of the best you could get since some of its famous clients include Van Halen, the band Vampire Weekend and Death Cab for Cutie. It’s also this shirt’s durability and softness that makes it very popular.
The third shirt is the premium Next Level Fitted Sueded, which is a Fabric laundered 60/40 mix of combed cotton and poly sueded jersey. This means it’s soft to touch and has almost a fine velvet feel but still ruggedly sporty.
Since this is a premium shirt, it’s pricier than the Anvil 980 and Bella Canvas 3001 tee. The shirt still feels soft and its color still bright after washing, so the price might be worth it.
The shirt tends to shrink after washing, though, but not too drastic. You need not worry about having to replace it with a larger size since it’s just a small shrink.
Plus, the Next Level Apparel carries a wide selection of solid colors to choose from.
The fourth shirt you can choose is the Alternative 1070 Short Sleeve T-Shirt, which a reviewer called the Mercedes S500 of premium shirts, which unfortunately comes with a price.
The look, feel and quality is the highest level in its category, perfect for providing high-quality apparel, so it’s all worth every cent.
The Alternative is the best, no pun intended, alternative if you want something weightier but softer shirt compared to American Apparel or Next Level shirts. It has a large selection of shirts, too.
Lastly, the fifth premium shirt in your options is the Bella Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey T-shirt. A trusted resource suggests that the Bella Canvas shirt has found the perfect balance between providing high-quality shirts at the right price, comfort, and fit.
The Bella Canvas Unisex short sleeve jersey is also 100% combined ringspun cotton and comes in 57 different colors.
FAQs Before Ordering From POD Shirt Companies
To help you get better deals, you have to check some important details regarding the POD shirt company you choose. A company might be the best, but that won’t make a difference if their offers are not applicable to you. Here are the important questions you have in mind before ordering.
Do they ship to your intended location?
Yes, the best POD company might deliver global shipping. But if you live in a not-so-known city in a country, the POD company might not be able to reach you. Always check their customer support for a clarified statement on their global shipping terms.
Is it possible to sell on your preferred marketplace?
Your business is still starting. You want a POD company that can help you find the right market for your shirts. Find out how large the traffic is their platform because the more traffic means the more likely you can sell a shirt there.
Is it possible to sell on your own site?
So, you have already built your own website that you want to be integrated into the POD marketplace. Find out if there is an integration that the POD platform can offer you in order to give you a seamless sales process that makes sense to you. It’s much better if they can also offer Shopify/WooCommerce integration.
What is the other range of products?
Yes, you’re just running a t-shirt business today. But you might be scaling up later on and printing on mugs, tote bags, phone cases, and other items. What you want is a lot of options, and that’s why it makes sense to always go for a brand that offers the widest range of products.
Common Problems You Face From POD Services
Design Ideas – it’s always hard to generate the best ideas for your t-shirt. Churning out the most creative ideas requires a lot of time. You may have a good business model, but when you don’t have outstanding t-shirt designs, you’ll have a problem.
If you’re a big seller, you may have a lot of good ideas in the beginning, but as you scale up, your operations can wither away. It’s important to learn some of the good design recipes that work best for POD shirts.
You can beat the mental block in creating fantastic designs by knowing your market. Find your niche.
You don’t have to always offer the best design out there. You just have to be smart about it. For instance, if you love hiking, design your merchandise around hikers. Go for specific jokes or insider lingo that can hit the hearts of your market.
Differentiating – You have a good design, but the problem is that your competition has better ones. You may have the perfect shirt you can print on, but if your designs don’t stand out, you’ll get stuck.
Always find ways to make your designs stand out against the crowd.
It’s an age-old issue in commerce: how to outcompete the rest. This is no different in the world of print-on-demand selling. In fact, it can even be more pressing because your competition is the entire world.
It’s so easy to set-up a print on demand or eCommerce store now. Almost anyone who has an internet connection can do so.
So your challenge is: how do you get a bigger share from the market? The answer: make your designs stand-out and your products outstanding.
Of course, it’s not just about putting your products on your shelves – it’s also about the shelves. Make sure your website is intuitive and easy to access.
The design of the Add To Cart button should be so easy to find, so your site visitors are more likely to purchase quickly.
Keeping with deadlines – you may have all the creative juices going, but it’s no use when you can’t deliver fast. POD is always fast-paced.
Your customers need new great designs every minute. Every minute, there’s a better one created by the competition. How can you keep up?
Deadlines are a challenge because this can create gridlock in meeting the demands of the customers without compromising quality. It’s during these tight deadlines that mistakes and delays can usually happen.
A good solution for problems like this is outsourcing or finding a creative partner.
Customer Service Consistency – If you’re just starting, you have to talk to your potential customers yourself. That’s a big challenge when you receive a lot of inquiries. You can’t always be online 24 hours to field customer questions and complaints. The use of chatbots would be the next best solution for you, which is efficient and inexpensive.
Knowing What Works – Another concern in your POD shirt business is knowing what kind of design or strategy would work on your part. Sure, your designs might look awesome to you, but the customers can strongly disagree.
The pricing system you picked may make sense to you, but it might not make sense when you scale up. Learn the basic ways to make a business succeed, but in the end, only trial and error can give you the best lesson.
