SFDIFY
Gelato print on demand is a fulfillment platform that routes each order to one of "250+ print providers across 32 countries," and Gelato says "90% of all orders are produced locally" [1]. You can sign up for free, and Gelato states it "does not charge commission" [2]. The paid Gelato+ plan costs $29.99/month billed monthly or $19.99/month billed annually, with product discounts of "Up to 33%" [3]. It suits sellers with customers in many countries; sellers who want the widest catalog or in-house production should also look at Printify and Printful.
More comparisons on our YouTube channel: @sfdify_ai
How we chose
This review covers Gelato first, because that is what most people searching for it want to understand, and then four providers a print-on-demand (POD) seller would realistically weigh against it: Printify, Printful, Gooten and Prodigi. We compared what each vendor publishes on its own homepage and pricing pages: catalog size, production model, plan prices, discounts and integrations. Every fact below comes from those pages, checked on 2026-11-09. We did not place test orders, so we make no claims about print quality or delivery times beyond what the vendors state. Printify links on this page are affiliate links; that does not change the order or the assessment.
Gelato print on demand vs Printify, Printful, Gooten and Prodigi
| Product | Best for | Starting price | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gelato | Sellers with buyers in many countries | Free; Gelato+ $29.99/month or $19.99/month annually [3] | 250+ print partners in 32 countries [1] |
| Printify | Sellers who want the largest catalog and provider choice | Free; Premium from $39/month or $24.99/month yearly [4] | 2,000+ products, 70+ Print Providers [4] |
| Printful | Sellers who want in-house production and branding extras | Free; Growth $24.99/month [5] | 602 custom products, in-house production [5] |
| Gooten | Established brands with volume and custom workflows | Sales-led; no plan pricing on the pages we checked [6] | 30+ manufacturers in 70+ locations [6] |
| Prodigi | Art, wall decor and print-led stores | Free; Pro £35/month annually [7] | Fine Art Trade Guild approved printer [8] |
Gelato — local production on a global partner network
Gelato sums up its model as "Sell globally, produce locally": products "are produced close to your customers, wherever they are" [1]. That is the main thing to understand before choosing it.
Gelato does not run one big factory. When a customer orders from your store, "Gelato sends the order to the production partner nearest to your customer" [2]. Gelato reports "250+ print partners in 32 countries" [1]. It also states that "90% of orders arrive within 5 days of ordering" [1]. For a seller with customers spread across the US, Europe and other regions, that model means one storefront can ship locally in many markets without separate suppliers.
Verified features: Gelato lists integrations with TikTok Shop, Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace and BigCommerce, plus an API [1]. Product categories include apparel, calendars, drinkware, wall art, cards and accessories [2].
Pricing: The Free plan is "$0/forever." Gelato+ is "$29.99/month" billed monthly or "$19.99/month" billed annually, and Platinum is "Custom pricing" [3]. Gelato+ gives product discounts of "Up to 33%" while the Free plan has "No discounts" [3]. On every plan, you "pay for the product and shipping cost" per order, with "No minimum orders" [2]. Larger sellers can ask for "Personalized pricing," "Price matching" and "Free samples" [2].
Strengths: The local production network is the clearest advantage for international sellers [1]. There are "No setup fees" and "No inventory" [1], and the annual Gelato+ price is the lowest paid tier in this group on a per-month basis [3, 4, 5, 7].
Limitations: The Free plan caps you at 2 connected ecommerce stores and 2 account users; Gelato+ makes both unlimited [3]. Because production runs through partner facilities rather than Gelato's own plants, consistency depends on how well Gelato manages that network, so ordering samples before launch is sensible. Gelato's pricing pages explain fees and plans but not per-product base costs, so you need to check the catalog yourself.
Best fit: Sellers with a meaningful share of orders outside their home country, and anyone who sells wall art, cards and calendars alongside apparel.
Printify — biggest catalog, many print providers
Printify describes itself as "the largest print-on-demand marketplace" with "2,000+ products, 70+ Print Providers, and no upfront costs" [4]. Instead of routing orders automatically to the nearest partner, Printify lets you "pick from 70+ Print Providers per product to get the best base cost" [4].
Verified features: Printify connects to Etsy, Shopify, TikTok Shop, Amazon, eBay, PrestaShop, BigCommerce, Wix, WooCommerce and Squarespace, plus its own API [9]. It offers a free design tool and product creator [9]. Under "Merchant Protection," an order with a manufacturing error qualifies for "a free reprint or refund within 30 days" [4].
Pricing: The Free plan is "$0/month" with "5 stores per account" [4]. Premium is "From $39/month," or "from $24.99/month billed yearly," and adds "Up to 33% discount on new products," "Up to 20% discount on all products" and "10 stores per account" [4]. Enterprise is custom [4].
Strengths: The catalog is the largest of the five on paper, and per-product provider choice gives you control over base cost [4]. The free plan allows more connected stores than Gelato's free plan [3, 4].
Limitations: Premium costs more per month than Gelato+ or Printful Growth when billed monthly [3, 4, 5]. Choosing among many providers also means you, not Printify, decide which facility makes each product, which adds work and can make quality vary between listings. Premium plans "are non-refundable," so cancel before the renewal date [4].
Best fit: US-focused sellers who want maximum product range and are willing to compare providers to optimize margins. For a deeper head-to-head, see our Printful vs Printify comparison.
Printful — in-house production and branding options
Printful lets you "Add your designs to hundreds of beautiful products, which we ship to your customers around the world" [10]. Its pricing page stresses "In-house production with automatic, quality-checked fulfillment for every order" [5].
Verified features: The free plan includes "Access to 602 custom products," a free Design Maker and Mockup Generator, and selling on "20+ ecommerce platforms and marketplaces" [5]. Printful says "86% of orders are fulfilled in the same region as the customer" [5]. Every order includes "a 3-step quality check," and Printful covers "a free reprint or refund" for manufacturing errors [5].
Pricing: Printful is "free to use" with "no monthly fees to create products or connect your store" [5]. The Growth plan "costs $24.99/month and becomes free once you reach $12K/year in sales," with "Up to 33% off product pricing" and a 14-day trial [5]. Extras cost more: embroidery digitization is "$2.95-$6.50 per design (one-time)" [5].
Strengths: In-house production is the main difference from Gelato and Printify, and the Growth plan becoming free at $12K/year in sales is unusual in this group [5].
Limitations: The catalog of 602 products is much smaller than Printify's 2,000+ [4, 5]. Add-ons such as extra placements, custom labels and embroidery digitization are billed on top [5], which matters if you plan a branded apparel line.
Best fit: Apparel and embroidery brands that want one production standard and branded extras.
Gooten — managed network for established brands
Gooten offers "525+ Premium Print-on-Demand Products" and says it now carries "200+ exclusive products not typically found with other providers" [11].
Verified features: Gooten describes a "global, distributed network of 30+ manufacturers in 70+ locations" and a JSON API [6]. It has a free Shopify app and lists app connections for "Shopify, WooCommerce, Etsy, TikTok, others" [11].
Pricing: The pages we checked do not list subscription plans. Gooten instead says it uses its volume "to leverage best-in-industry pricing for products and shipping" and points buyers to a solution consultant [6].
Strengths: Exclusive products and a managed, enterprise-style network with "unified invoicing" [11, 6].
Limitations: Gooten's messaging is aimed at "established brands" [6], and costs are not published as plans, so small sellers get less upfront clarity than with Gelato, Printify or Printful.
Best fit: Brands with steady volume that want an account team and custom integrations.
Prodigi — print and wall-art specialist
Prodigi partners "with more than 50 print on demand suppliers in over 10 countries" and runs in-house facilities "located in the UK, EU and the USA" [8]. It is a "Fine Art Trade Guild approved printer" [8].
Verified features: Prodigi integrates through a Shopify app, a print API and an online order form, and its packaging is "fully white-label" [8].
Pricing: "Prodigi is free to use" with "no monthly subscriptions" required [8]. The optional Pro plan is "£35/month" paid annually or "£40/month if monthly," with "15% off products (10% off apparel)" [7].
Strengths: A strong print and wall-art focus and white-label packaging [8].
Limitations: Its partner network is smaller than Gelato's on paper (50+ suppliers in over 10 countries versus 250+ in 32) [1, 8], Pro discounts are lower than the 33% ceilings at Gelato, Printify and Printful [3, 4, 5, 7], and Pro is priced in pounds.
Best fit: Artists, photographers and galleries selling prints, canvases and stationery.
How to choose a print on demand provider
If you are comparing sites like Printify or working through lists of the best print on demand companies, these questions narrow the field quickly.
- Where are your customers? If many orders ship outside the US, Gelato's local production model is the main reason to pick it [1]. Prodigi is the alternative for art-heavy stores.
- How wide does the catalog need to be? Printify's 2,000+ products lead this group [4].
- Do you want one production standard? Printful's in-house model fits [5]; Gelato and Printify depend on partners.
- What will you pay per month? Compare the subscription against expected discounts. Gelato+ annual ($19.99/month) [3], Printify Premium yearly ($24.99/month) [4] and Printful Growth ($24.99/month) [5] all promise up to 33% off, so the real difference is base product cost on the items you sell.
- Order samples. Every provider here lets you start free, so the cheapest test is to list the same product on two platforms and compare.
If you run POD as part of a larger operation, the orders, customers and margins usually end up spread across several tools. That is where a custom CRM or a small internal app built on the provider's API (SaaS development) can pay off.
FAQ
Is Gelato print on demand free to use?
Yes. Gelato's Free plan is "$0/forever," and you pay only for the product and shipping when an order comes in [3, 2]. Gelato says there are "no additional fees or commission" [2]. Gelato+ ($29.99/month, or $19.99/month billed annually) adds discounts of up to 33% [3].
Gelato vs Printful: which is cheaper per month?
On subscriptions, Printful Growth is $24.99/month and becomes free once you reach $12K/year in sales [5]. Gelato+ is $29.99/month billed monthly but $19.99/month billed annually [3]. Both free plans charge no monthly fee [3, 5].
Printify vs Gelato: what is the main difference?
Printify lets you choose among 70+ Print Providers per product from a 2,000+ product catalog [4]. Gelato routes each order to the production partner nearest your customer across 32 countries [2, 1].
What are good Printful alternatives?
Printify offers a larger catalog [4], Gelato offers local production in 32 countries [1], Gooten targets established brands with a 30+ manufacturer network [6], and Prodigi focuses on prints and wall art [8].
Our recommendation
Choose Gelato if a large share of your buyers are outside your home market and you want one platform to produce locally for them; take the annual Gelato+ plan once your order volume makes the discounts worth more than $19.99 a month [3]. Choose Printify if catalog breadth matters most, Printful if you want in-house production and branding, Prodigi for art prints, and Gooten if you are already a high-volume brand.
Sources
- Global Print On Demand Platform | Gelato — checked 2026-11-09
- Pricing | Gelato — checked 2026-11-09
- Subscription plans | Gelato — checked 2026-11-09
- Pricing – Printify — checked 2026-11-09
- Printful pricing – Start free, scale when you’re ready | Printful — checked 2026-11-09
- Reduce Business Costs Optimize Product and Shipping Costs with Gooten — checked 2026-11-09
- Prodigi Pro — checked 2026-11-09
- Global Print On Demand Platform & Print API | Prodigi — checked 2026-11-09
- Printify: Build your eCommerce business in minutes. — checked 2026-11-09
- Printful: Custom Print On Demand & Dropshipping — checked 2026-11-09
- Design & Sell 525+ Premium Print-on-Demand Products | Gooten — checked 2026-11-09
