Printful vs Gelato: Which One Is Better? (2023)

Printful or Gelato? Whenever an e-commerce seller is looking to take their business to the next level, this is the only question that comes to their mind. It’s true that there are so many popular print-on-demand services that can help you become successful, but these two are just something else.

With their attractive benefits, helpful features, popularity, and decent quality, they never fail to impress their customers. which always keeps them at the top of every other print-on-demand company.

That’s the reason many sellers are confused about which is the best option for them; they can’t choose both as it will cost a lot of money. So they must pick the one that suits them the best and helps their store grow. Therefore, if you are stuck in this situation, you have landed on the right page.

Since, in this article, we are comparing Printful and Gelato, from quality to pricing and support, we will compare everything so that you can easily decide which service is the best option for you.

Not to mention, by the end of this article, you will have a clear idea about both services, so make sure to keep reading till the end.

TRY PRINTFUL

TRY GELATO

What is “Print on Demand”?

Print on demand (POD) is a service or a company that supplies you with white-labeled products so that you can customize them with your own designs and sell them whenever someone orders them.

This simple process helps you avoid storage and inventory problems because you will need a product only when a customer needs it. Not to mention, this service can save a lot of money for you since you don’t need to produce extra items, so nothing will go to waste and you won’t need to spend a lot of money.

How Does Printful Work?

Printful is a well-known POD company that helps many sellers ship their products all over the world. At first, its main centers were available only in Latvia and Russia, but now they have fulfillment centers in Spain and the UK as well, which allows them to ship products worldwide.

Just like every other print-on-demand company, Printful also provides you with white-labeled products so that you can create and sell items however you want. These products will be designed only once they are ordered, and Printful will be responsible for all the shipping, production, packing, and fulfillment.

How does Gelato work?

Unlike Printful, Gelato describes them as a software company that creates and sells software, but they also provide print-on-demand services, which has turned them into a popular print-on-demand company. Today, they have over 5 million customers and ship products to 33 countries with the help of e-commerce sellers. However, even after this much success, Gelato isn’t as popular as Printful.

Their printing process is no different than Printful’s; they print your products once a customer orders them, and then they are shipped to the customer.

Gelato is also responsible for the fulfillment, packaging, shipping, and production of the products.

Pricing & Plans: Gelato vs. Printful

Working with either company is a tough decision; you need to make sure you invest your money in the right place so that your store becomes successful. That’s why pricing and plans are something that should not be ignored. Here’s the proper pricing and plan info for Gelato vs. Printful. 

Printful’s Pricing

Printful is already an outstanding service, and with its free features, it becomes even better. Yes, you read that right! Printful is completely free! There is no need to pay for orders, and no subscription is needed, which makes it a great option for those sellers who are just starting out.

However, this doesn’t end just here; Printful has a Pro plan that costs $49 a month. This Pro plan offers you some amazing features like premium images, background removal, and free digitization.

Pro Plan is a good option for those who are earning a good amount of money from Printful so that they can grow even more.

Lastly, if you use the free version, then consider switching to the premium version once your store starts earning well.

Gelato’s Pricing

Fortunately, signing up is free in Gelato as well. However, once you have created an account, you get a discount for your first 72 hours, which provides you with 50% for each customer. With the free plan, you get access to some of the following features:

• Freedom to sell hundreds of products
• Access to Gelato’s design editor
• Access to local production across 34 countries
• Trade on e-commerce sites like Etsy, Shopify, and Order Desk.
• Freedom to connect at least two stores

Furthermore, just like Printful, they have a premium plan too, which is called Gelato+. It costs $7.99 a month, comes with a 30-day trial, and has some of the following features:

• Product personalization tool
• Premium mockups for clothes
• Picture filters
• Access to millions of Shutterstock images
• Ready-to-use graphic feature

Gelato vs. Printful: Pricing and Plan Results:

This round’s winner is probably Gelato; its premium plan is way cheaper than Printful’s, which means even if you are a beginner, you can still choose it and not regret it.

Not to mention, with tons of amazing features provided by Gelato, you can easily make your store stand out!

Print Quality: Printful vs. Gelato

A good product can only be sold if it has good quality. With that said, it’s time to check which company provides you with the best quality. so that your customers never stop visiting your store!

Printful’s Quality

Did you know that Printful’s product quality is so impressive that their customers and sellers have no complaints about item quality? If you did, then it’s because that’s the truth! Printful has invested a lot in the printing department to make sure its customers always receive high-quality products.

This is the reason purchasing T-shirts, mugs, books, or any other item from Printful is always a worthwhile option.

Gelato’s Quality

In the start, Gelato didn’t print items like T-shirts or any other stuff; they used to print only art, pictures, or any other paper-based item. However, now they have started focusing on other products too, but they still don’t have as good quality as Printful.

If you need artwork or any other paper-based items, then you can try Gelato, but for other products, it’s not recommended.

Printful vs. Gelato: Quality Results:

This point obviously goes to Printful; they have invested millions in printing after all! They will print all your products in high quality, whether they are stickers, books, or pillows.

On the other hand, Gelato is recommended only when you are looking forward to selling books, artwork, or pictures.

Customer Support: Gelato vs. Printful

Customer support always comes in handy whenever you are dealing with bugs, need help, or want to ask a question. However, if a company doesn’t have good customer support, working with them may not be a good idea, so let’s see which service will be available for your help when you are in trouble.

Printful’s Customer Support

When it comes to customer care, Printful has done an excellent job. It doesn’t matter whether you want to chat, call, or send an email; they have provided us with multiple communication options. If this is not enough, then visit their help center for blog posts, tutorial videos, guides, and documentation.

They will surely reply to your messages in a few minutes as well, which easily makes them a trustworthy POD service.

Gelato’s Customer Support

Unfortunately, Gelato’s customer service isn’t as good as Printful’s; if you want to contact them, you get only two options: email or chat with a bot. Their email option says they take at least 8 hours to reply to your queries, and chatting with a bot isn’t really helpful since an AI can never solve your problems properly. 

However, chatting with a bot can connect you to a live person if you are lucky enough; otherwise, it’s not worth it.

They have a help center as well, where you can find blogs on questions that can help you solve common problems like getting started and product designing.

With amazing customer support, Printful wins yet another round. They are available 24/7, which makes them a good choice no matter what kind of trouble you are in.

Gelato could have been a better option, but unfortunately, they take 8 hours to reply to emails, and chatting with a bot isn’t as useful as chatting with a person. which makes it a bad option for those who need answers right away.

Integrations and Apps

Last but not least, integrations are also an important factor when it comes to choosing the right product-on-demand company. The more integrations they offer, the more available an e-commerce website becomes.

Printful’s Integrations

Many people state that Printful has more integrations than any other POD; here’s a list of some integrations Printful can offer you:

• Wix
• WooCommerce
• Ecwid
• Squarespace
• Amazon
• eBay
• Etsy
• Shopify
• Weebly
• Gumroad
• Printful API

Gelato’s Integrations

Unlike Printful, Gelato has focused on quality over quantity, which means that instead of offering a large number of integrations, they offer the best ones. These integrations include:

• Woocomerce
• Wix
• BigCommerce
• Shopify
• Etsy
• Squarespace

Printful vs. Gelato: Integrations Result:

With both services providing the best integrations, this round is a tie. Printful focuses on quantity but still offers many amazing integrations, while Gelato offers only the best integrations. which makes both of them the best choice on this topic.

However, Printful is slightly better since its higher number of integrations makes it more versatile than Gelato.

Printful vs. Gelato: Final Verdict

Both POD companies try their best to offer the best services to their clients and customers; however, with 2 points to Printful and only 1 point to Gelato, Printful becomes the winner of this comparison article.

Printful has way better integration options, customer support, and product quality, which easily makes them the best POD option for e-commerce sellers.

Gelato could have been a better option; however, they lack some experience in this field when compared to Printful, but who knows, maybe they can surpass Printful someday!

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions