Is Printify Good? Here's the Real Answer

Short answer: Yes, Printify is good—but with some important caveats. It's one of the best print-on-demand platforms available, especially if you're price-conscious and want variety. But quality consistency can be a gamble, and you'll need to do your homework when selecting print providers.

Printify has a 4.7 out of 5 rating on TrustPilot from over 6,800 customers. Most users end up with great products most of the time. But "most of the time" is the key phrase here.

Let me break down exactly where Printify shines, where it falls flat, and help you decide if it's right for your business.

What Printify Actually Is

Printify works differently than most print-on-demand services. Instead of printing products in-house, Printify is essentially a middleman connecting you to 80+ print providers across 100+ locations on 4 continents. You pick which printer handles your products based on price, location, quality ratings, and shipping speed.

This model has huge advantages—and some frustrating downsides.

The company was founded in 2015 and has been used by over 10 million merchants, selling over half a billion dollars worth of products. In November 2024, Printify merged with competitor Printful. Both platforms continue operating as separate brands under a joint holding company, which could mean better products and fulfillment solutions for merchants going forward.

What Printify Does Well

Massive Product Selection

Printify offers over 1,000 products—significantly more than most competitors. We're talking everything from the usual t-shirts and hoodies to niche items like supplements, scented candles, tumblers, pet beds, and car accessories. If you want to test different product niches without holding inventory, this variety is a major advantage.

Competitive Pricing

This is Printify's strongest selling point. Because you're choosing from multiple print providers, you can often find lower prices than platforms like Printful. The tradeoff is you need to spend time comparing providers—but for cost-conscious sellers, the savings are real.

Free Plan That Actually Works

Unlike many "freemium" tools that cripple their free tier, Printify's free plan is legitimately usable. You get unlimited product designs, access to 800+ products, and can connect up to 5 online stores. You only pay for products when they sell. For someone just testing the waters, this removes most of the financial risk from starting a POD business.

Easy to Use

The platform is genuinely user-friendly. The drag-and-drop design editor is responsive, mockup previews update in real-time, and Printify guides new users through a straightforward onboarding checklist. Even non-designers can create products quickly.

Solid Integrations

Printify connects to all the major platforms: Shopify, Etsy, TikTok Shop, Walmart, WooCommerce, Squarespace, Wix, BigCommerce, eBay, and Amazon. If you don't have a store yet, Printify's Pop-Up Shop feature gives you a basic, free single-page storefront to test your products.

Decent Customer Support

Printify offers 24/7 live chat support for everyone. Testing shows connection times around 5 minutes, which is reasonable. Email and social media support typically gets responses within an hour or two. Not amazing, but better than many competitors.

Where Printify Falls Short

Quality Inconsistency (The Big One)

This is Printify's Achilles heel. Because printing is outsourced to 80+ suppliers, quality varies wildly between providers—and sometimes even between orders from the same provider. Browse any Printify forum and you'll see this pattern: some printers are excellent, others are terrible, and you might get different results on the same product.

Printify has tried to address this with "Printify Choice"—a curated selection of providers who meet higher standards for production speed, quality, and reliability. But it doesn't cover all products, and filtering by Printify Choice doesn't always mean you're getting the best price. You still need to do homework.

My recommendation: Always order samples before selling a product. Yes, it costs money upfront. But one bad review from a customer who received a low-quality item can tank your store's reputation.

Shipping Can Be Slow

Production typically takes 2-7 business days, then add shipping time on top. During peak seasons (especially holidays), delays are common. Customer reviews frequently mention shipping taking longer than expected.

Printify has added automatic order routing to help—if your first print provider is slow or out of stock, orders can automatically route to another provider. But because Printify doesn't control production and shipping directly, delays still happen.

If you're selling on Printify, set realistic delivery expectations with your customers.

Choosing Providers Is Time-Consuming

The flexibility of choosing from 80+ print providers is also a burden. You need to compare prices, shipping times, quality ratings, and location for each product. Printify shows provider reviews and ratings, but one provider might do great work on mugs while delivering terrible t-shirts—and the rating doesn't always reflect product-specific quality.

For some sellers, this homework feels overwhelming. If you want a simpler "just make my stuff" experience, Printful (despite higher prices) might be less headache.

Limited Branding Options

Custom branding is available but limited. The number of "brandable" products could be expanded, and there's no option for branded outer packaging. If white-label branding is crucial to your business, you may find Printify's options lacking compared to competitors.

Printify Pricing Breakdown

Printify offers three pricing tiers. Here's what you actually pay:

Free Plan - $0/month

This is genuinely free—no catch. You pay the base product cost plus shipping when orders come in.

Premium Plan - $29/month ($24.99/month if paid annually)

The 20% discount pays for itself quickly. If you're selling 10-20 products per month, the savings on product costs more than covers the subscription fee. For example, a t-shirt that costs $9.61 on the free plan might cost $7.68 with Premium—saving $1.93 per sale.

Enterprise Plan - Custom Pricing

Enterprise is for high-volume sellers processing thousands of orders monthly. You'll need to contact Printify for custom pricing.

For a detailed cost breakdown, check out our Printify pricing guide.

Printify vs. Printful: Quick Comparison

Since Printify and Printful merged (while maintaining separate platforms), here's how they stack up:

For a deeper comparison, read our Printify vs. Printful breakdown.

Who Should Use Printify?

Printify is good for you if:

Printify might NOT be right if:

The Bottom Line

Printify is legitimately one of the best print-on-demand platforms available—especially for sellers who prioritize low costs and product variety. The free plan removes barriers to entry, the pricing is competitive, and the platform is easy to use.

But it's not a set-it-and-forget-it solution. Quality varies between print providers, and you'll need to invest time choosing the right ones and ordering samples. If you're willing to do that homework, Printify can be extremely profitable.

If you want the simplest possible POD experience and don't mind paying more for consistency, consider Printful instead. But if you're scrappy, cost-conscious, and willing to put in the work—Printify is excellent.

Try Printify for free and see if it works for you. The free plan means you lose nothing by testing it out.

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