5 Best Etsy Print-on-Demand Solutions for 2024

Want to sell your designs and reach the world? Your choice could be Etsy – one of the biggest online marketplaces online.

Gone are the times when it used to take many tedious steps to launch a creative business. Nowadays, you can reach big audiences without making any costly investments beforehand.

Etsy and Print-on-Demand Service: Two Crucial Components

Before we move on to our list of the best Etsy print-on-demand services, let’s discuss the two main components you need to run this business.

Etsy

Etsy is the marketplace where you sell and display the fruits of your creativity (aka your custom designs on products). Creating an account and setting up a shop on Etsy is free.

Although you can get started at no cost, running an Etsy business is not entirely free. For instance, expect to pay for listing fees or selling items when using this platform.

Etsy currently has over seven million active sellers and over 90 million active buyers. That’s why selling your custom designs there is a very compelling opportunity.

Print-on-Demand Service

Once you have set up the Etsy marketplace, you need another crucial component to complete the package: the print-on-demand (POD) provider.

The POD platform has two responsibilities:

First, you sync your design with the products that the POD platform offers. You will then push the products to the Etsy storefront, so your customers can purchase them.

Second, once the customer orders a product through the Etsy store, the POD service is responsible for printing/creating the t-shirts, mugs, or other products with your design. They also fulfill the orders.

While most POD platforms are free to set up and use, there are still costs associated with them, and they vary by provider.

So now that you know how Etsy and POD services work together, it’s time to introduce the top Etsy Print-on-Demand services.

01. Printful

Printful is a popular choice when seeking a solid Etsy POD partner. They have delivered over 69 million items since 2013 (not just Etsy-related, mind you!) and have fulfillment centers worldwide. They ship their products locally or globally.

The service offers a wide range of POD products, including clothing, home & living, and accessories. You can also access various printing options, such as DTG (direct to garment), all-over printing, sublimation, or embroidery.

Printful is proud of the quality of its service. According to it, only 0.26% of the orders are returned because of quality issues.

👍 Pros

• Create your products with a mockup generator
• A wide variety of POD products to choose from
• 24/7 support in various languages
• 2-5 days to create the product and fulfill the order
• Easy-to-use user interface

👎 Cons

• There are less expensive POD services out there
• Over 300 customizable products, which is less than some of its competitors

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02. Printify

Another reputable POD company you can hook up with Etsy is Printify. Over four million sellers are using it, with over 110 printing locations.

Printify says they have the largest global print network. They also have a wide product selection, with over 800 products.

While the platform has a free forever plan, you can also opt-in to their premium ones. These plans have advantages, like up to 20% (or more) discount on all products or better order management.

👍 Pros

• 800+ products and top-quality brands
• Large printing network
• 24/7 customer support

👎 Cons

• The printing quality may differ between vendors
• Shows the average production times instead of shipping times

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03. Gelato

Apparel, calendars, photo books, wall art, mugs… That’s just a sample of product categories at your disposal with Gelato. And the great thing is that you can integrate all this into your Etsy store!

According to them, they (also) have the largest printing network, with over 130 print providers in over 30 countries. With this infrastructure, you can find local printing providers while selling your products globally.

You can use Gelato for free. Even with this plan, you can access hundreds of products in their catalog and the global printing network.

You can also upgrade to premium subscriptions, which give you more POD power, like lower shipping costs, access to stock photos, or a dedicated customer success manager.

👍 Pros

• Wide range of products
• Extensive printing network to choose from
• There are no setup costs, nor are there any minimum order requirements
• 24/7 chat support

👎 Cons

• The mockup tool is available on a premium plan (although there is a 30-day free trial)
• DTG (and soon embroidery) are supported, but no screen printing or sublimation exists

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04. Prodigi

Prodigi is a UK-based company with production facilities in the UK, US, and Netherlands.

The service integrates with your Etsy store, and you can sell all kinds of products printed at Prodigi: Art prints, gallery boards, journals, t-shirts, and cushions (to name a few).

Prodigi also relies on a printing network with over 50 POD partners on a global scale. According to them, each printing partner is tested for supreme printing quality.

Prodigi also has a free mockup generator. With this tool, you can create custom product previews for your Etsy online store.

The platform is free to use and doesn’t have any setup costs or monthly subscriptions.

👍 Pros

• A huge number of products for your printing needs
• 24/7 support
• Over 80% of products are ready for dropshipping within 24-48 hours

👎 Cons

• Only DTG printing is supported.

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05. AOP+

According to AOP+, they were born to serve Etsy sellers. With AOP+, you can also access over 120 premium products, including clothing, home & living, phone cases, or wall decor (to name a few).

Even nicer, you can create compelling mockup designs with their design tool and push them to Etsy to boost interest in your products.

AOP+ says it can provide excellent printing quality. In other words, before any product leaves its premises, it goes through thorough quality control. Also, all the production happens in-house.

The platform is free to use.

👍 Pros

• In-house printing (should technically provide better quality)
• 24/7, friendly support
• No order minimums, no need to buy stock

👎 Cons

• There are fewer products to choose from compared to competitors
• The user interface may take a while to get the hang of
• Currently, DTG and sublimation printing are supported for products

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Which Solution is Our Favorite?

You have now seen five POD providers you can use with Etsy. But the critical question is, which one should you use?

While all the services listed above have strengths (and weaknesses, too) and could be potential partners in your business, we picked two providers instead of one: Printful and Printify.

Both platforms have a strong foothold in the POD industry, although they still have differences.

1. Fulfillment

Printful handles everything, including printing, packing, and shipping. They also have a warehousing fulfillment service.

Printify operates with a print provider network that covers the whole world. Printify also handles the entire printing, packing, and shipping process, but they do not offer the warehousing option.

Printify offers more products than Printful.

2. Platform Costs

Both services are free to get started.

With Printful, you pay the costs of manufacturing and shipping.

They also have a monthly subscription service with their Growth or Business plans. With these plans, you can access lower product prices and other perks. However, you must meet some qualifications before you can join them.

With Printify, you pay for the products and shipping. You can always opt into the Printify Premium plan (USD 24.99/month), charged monthly or annually. The benefit of joining is getting 20% off on most Printify products.

3. Shipping Times and Costs

Creating the product and fulfilling the order takes 2-5 business days with Printful.

The shipping time depends on the product: Shipping time for a t-shirt in the United States is 2-5 business days, and a single item will cost $4.69 (additional products cost less).

Please notice that the shipping time is an estimate, not a cast iron guarantee. The shipping also has fixed pricing; you can find more information on Printful’s website.

Printify’s estimated production time is between 2-7 days. However, the shipping costs and delivery time depend on the print network provider.

4. Printing Service & Quality

Both services claim they produce high-quality products.

Printful handles all the printing in-house and has also invested a lot in printing technology. Printify, on the other hand, uses printing network providers to do the printing.

To see the quality of the printed product in real life, you should order samples. The terms, options, and costs of ordering them vary between Printful and Printify, so get acquainted with them first.

5 Best Etsy Print-on-Demand Solutions: The Conclusion

In this post, we discovered five POD solutions that can be potential partners in your Etsy business.

It’s your turn: Which of the services above have you used with Etsy? Or do you have a favorite that is not on this list?

Whatever the case, please share your experiences in the comments below.