Gelato vs Printful: Choosing The Right Print-On-Demand Provider

Print-on-demand services like Gelato and Printful have transformed the way businesses and entrepreneurs can sell custom products without needing to manage inventory or upfront costs.

These two services provide a range of printing and fulfillment options, but each has unique features that fulfill different needs 😉

Let’s explore the pros, cons, and key differences between Gelato and Printful to help you decide which platform best suits your goals!

Benefits of both print-on-demand providers

Despite their differences, Gelato and Printful share several benefits:

• First of all, there are no upfront costs. Both platforms, like most print-on-demand providers, allow businesses to sell custom products without needing to invest in inventory, and, most important, they only charge when an order is made.

  
  

• Secondly, the two providers offer global shipping, which enables sellers to reach customers around the world.

  
  

• They have user-friendly interfaces since they provide easy-to-use dashboards, allowing sellers to seamlessly design products, manage orders, and track deliveries.

  
  

• They can be both easily integrated into different e-commerce platforms.

  
  

• Finally, both services offer custom branding features such as personalized labels, packaging, and packing slips to enhance brand identity.

Differences between POD providers

Now, let’s see which are the main differences between Gelato and Printful:

Product Catalogs

Printful offers more than 340 products, covering a wide variety of categories. These include apparel such as t-shirts, hoodies, and leggings, as well as accessories such as hats, phone cases, bags, and home decor items like wall art, mugs, and throw pillows.

Additionally, Printful provides specialty products, such as embroidered items and all-over print options, making it highly appealing for businesses seeking variety and advanced customization features.

On the other hand, Gelato’s catalog is more focused and includes around 100+ products. Gelato primarily offers popular categories like apparel, stationery, and wall art. Their product selection is smaller, but it covers the essentials for businesses looking to sell print-on-demand items such as t-shirts, hoodies, posters, greeting cards, and other print-based products.

While Gelato doesn’t offer the same variety of products as Printful, its catalog is still diverse enough to meet the needs of many online sellers, especially those focused on core items like clothing and print products. One of Gelato’s strengths is its high-quality print services for paper-based products, which can be ideal for businesses specializing in art prints, stationery, and other similar items.

Integrations

When comparing integration options, Printful excels with over 24 integrations, including major platforms like Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, Amazon, and eBay, making it suitable for businesses using various e-commerce systems.

Gelato, on the other hand, supports fewer integrations, around 6 major platforms like Shopify and Etsy. While both services integrate with popular e-commerce platforms, Printful's wider range of options gives it a competitive edge for businesses seeking multi-platform support and automation.

Fulfillment

When it comes to shipping and fulfillment, Gelato uses a global network of over 130 production partners in 32 countries, allowing it to offer faster delivery times and lower shipping costs by producing items closer to customers. This localized approach reduces shipping distances and environmental impact.

Printful, on the other hand, relies on fewer centralized fulfillment centers, leading to potentially longer shipping times and higher costs, especially for international orders. 

Printing techniques

Characteristic	Provider
DTG Printing	Gelato - Printful
DTF Printing	Printful
Standard embroidery	Gelato - Printful
Unlimited color embroidery	Printful
Embroidery + DTG	Printful
Sublimation	Printful
All-over print	Printful

Pricing

Both Gelato and Printful offer free-to-use platforms without monthly subscription fees, but their pricing structures differ slightly. 

Gelato provides competitive base prices and lower shipping costs due to its localized production model, which can result in better profit margins, especially for international orders. Among its plans you can choose Gelato Free, Gelato+ ($24/month), Gelato+Gold ($119/month), and Gelato Platinum which includes warehousing and creative services.

Printful, while offering a more extensive product range and advanced tools, typically has a higher base product and shipping costs. Printful also offers optional paid plans such as Printful Free, Printful Growth ($24-99/month), and Printful Enterprise, which is perfect for large stores. 

Customer Support

In terms of customer support, Printful offers 24/7 assistance through live chat, email, and a help center, making it accessible for users across various time zones.

Gelato also provides robust support, including live chat, email, and a comprehensive knowledge base, however, the live chat support starts with a bot. Both companies aim to assist users efficiently, but Printful's round-the-clock service offers more immediate help for time-sensitive issues.

Personalization software

Both print-on-demand providers can be connected to your online shop as well as the personalization tool Customily, to offer endless possibilities to your customers.

Integrating Customily with a print-on-demand service like Printful or Gelato typically involves using an e-commerce platform like Shopify as a bridge. The process starts by installing Customily’s app on the e-commerce store, followed by setting up personalized product designs using Customily’s interface.

Your customers will be able to personalize their products on the website while seeing a live preview of what they are about to purchase. Once they finish, you can export a ready-to-print file for fulfillment or send it directly to your favorite print-on-demand supplier.

Depending on the print-on-demand provider you are using, the whole process can be automated, so you will not need to worry about fulfillment and delivery. This seamless workflow allows businesses to offer customizable products without manual intervention, streamlining the personalization process.

All you need to do is to create and start selling! 💫

Happy customizing! 💜

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ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Customily Product Personalizer is the best solution to sell personalized products, both in the e-commerce and the print-on-demand market. With the widest range of personalization tools, free clipart designs, realistic live previews that increase conversions, and printing files that help you automate your printing business; Customily is the ally you need to boost your profit margins in a high-competitive market.

Visit our website to learn more about us.

Or try it for FREE on Shopify.

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