CustomCat vs Printful: Which is Better for POD?

Original Source: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/customcat-vs-printful

CustomCat and Printful are two reliable, and popular print on demand companies. While CustomCat is a veteran in the POD industry, with more than 20 years of experience, Printful is one of my favorite platforms, thanks to its consistently excellent product quality, and wide range of integration options.

I put these two POD vendors head-to-head, looking at their key features, product options, integrations, pricing, and customer support services, to help you choose the right solution.

Quick Verdict

CustomCat and Printful have both earned a reputation as trustworthy POD companies.

They both offer excellent printing quality, with options like DTG and embroidery, and can fulfil orders worldwide.

However, Printful is the better option in my opinion if you’re looking for a more extensive product catalog, a wider range of integration options, and luxury goods. CustomCat is better if you want budget-friendly pricing, and slightly faster order fulfillment.

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The Pros and Cons of Both Companies

CustomCat Pros and Cons

Pros 👍
Cons 👎

Pros 👍

Straightforward, beginner-friendly platform
Excellent customer service (with a hotline for sellers)
Budget-friendly pricing for a wide range of products
Slightly faster order fulfillment in some cases
Great customizations, like embroidery and vegan leather patches

Cons 👎

Slightly smaller range of products
Fewer sales channel integrations
Longer shipping times outside of the US

Printful Pros and Cons

Pros 👍
Cons 👎

Pros 👍

Consistently superior product quality
Wider range of sales channel integrations
More comprehensive product catalog
Excellent add-on services like design support
More powerful design tools

Cons 👎

Longer fulfillment and delivery times
Higher base cost for products
Longer wait times for customer support

Which Platform Has The Best Features?

Winner: Printful

While CustomCat offers unique products and excellent marketing tools, Printful’s broader range of customization options, superior design tools, and wider integration capabilities stand out to me. I particularly appreciate Printful’s AI-powered image upscaling and extensive stock graphics library. Their ‘Quick Store’ feature for US merchants, though limited, is a nice touch for beginners. However, it’s worth noting that CustomCat excels in production speed, which could be crucial for some sellers. Ultimately, Printful’s comprehensive feature set makes it my top choice for most users looking for a versatile POD platform.

CustomCat and Printful are similar in a lot of ways. They both offer a wide range of customizable products, and global fulfillment. However, Printful does offer a few extra services, such as support with design, a “quick stores” generator (for US merchants) and global warehousing. I also love its design tools, as well as its commitment to creating high-quality products.

CustomCat has excellent marketing tools, such as the ability to capture customer data and split-test campaigns. It offers fewer product options overall, but more unique choices, like indoor doormats, vegan leather patch hats, and enamel camping mugs. It also has a great reputation for fast turnaround times, but you will have to wait longer for delivery outside of the US.

Product Options and Customization

Printful has a slightly wider range of products to choose from, boasting over 340 customizable items. CustomCat offers slightly over 300 items, but it’s constantly adding new options to the mix, like the vegan leather patch hats mentioned above. Both companies offer similar profitable options like custom apparel, accessories, and home décor.

They also both offer a range of eco-friendly and sustainable products. Where Printful has the biggest edge, in my opinion, is in its customization options. CustomCat offers Digisoft, embroidery, and dye sublimation. Printful offers all of those, as well as DTF, and all-over printing.

I do think the Digisoft option from CustomCat is excellent, combining the benefits of DTF and DTG. However, Printful’s design tools are a little better in my experience. While CustomCat’s design tools are very easy to use, Printful has some unique features, like AI solutions to upscale your images, and a wide range of customizable stock images and graphics to use.

It’s a tough call, but Printful is slightly better for product options and customization in my opinion.

Product Quality and Production Time

Printful definitely takes the lead in terms of product quality. That doesn’t mean you’ll get poor quality from CustomCat (in fact, they have an excellent reputation for excellent printing). However, Printful uses higher quality materials, inks, and machinery. The company is known worldwide for delivering some of the best prints in the POD market, with a 99% customer satisfaction rate.

One thing CustomCat does do slightly better, is promise customers a 100% free replacement for any products they’re unhappy with, due to manufacturing faults. Additionally, because Printful uses more luxurious materials in its products, the base cost of its products are often slightly higher, making it tougher to earn a consistent profit with this platform.

Plus, CustomCat outperforms Printful in production time. Printful needs around 2-5 business days to complete an order, while CustomCat can finish orders in 3 days or less.

Fulfillment and Sales Channels

Both CustomCat and Printful offer global fulfillment, although CustomCat does offer faster shipping times to US customers (though I did notice international fulfillment is a bit more variable). On average, if your customers are in the US, they can receive their orders in 3 days. Alternatively, Printful’s delivery times can range from 5 to 10 days.

If you’re shipping internationally, customers can wait up to 28 days from a delivery from CustomCat, or up to 20 days for Printful. So, I’d recommend considering whether most of your customers are local, or international, before making your choice.

Notably, Printful does offer a wider range of sales channels than CustomCat. There are more than 20 ecommerce partners, marketplaces, and social media channels to choose from with Printful, including all my favorites, like Shopify, Etsy, and Amazon. CustomCat only integrates directly with four partners, Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Etsy.

Both companies offer an API, but Printful also offers the option to create your own custom “Quick Store”, so you can sell online via a custom link and basic storefront.

This storefront is very straightforward, and you can’t customize it much. Plus, it’s only currently available to US sellers with exclusively US-based customers – but it’s a nice option for beginners in the POD market.

Best for Ease of Use and Customer Support: Printful

Printful wins for customer support. While CustomCat offers phone support and is responsive during business hours, Printful’s 24/7 availability is a major advantage. As someone who’s extensively used both platforms, I find Printful’s constant support crucial for global operations. Both have great self-help resources, but Printful’s round-the-clock assistance gives it the edge for sellers needing support at any hour.

I find Printful slightly more user-friendly overall. Its design tools are more intuitive, and the dashboard is cleaner, which I appreciate as a frequent user.

While CustomCat isn’t far behind and offers robust marketing and reporting tools, Printful’s streamlined interface makes it my top pick for ease of use, especially for newcomers to print-on-demand services.

I didn’t have any trouble experimenting with Printful or CustomCat when conducting this review. They’re both extremely easy-to-use platforms, ideal for beginners. Printful’s design tools are a bit more intuitive, and the dashboard is a little cleaner.

However, CustomCat has slightly more robust tools for marketing and tracking reports.

In terms of customer support, both companies have some great self-help resources. I’ve spent hours browsing through their blogs, FAQs, and guides.

Still, CustomCat is more responsive if you need direct assistance, as they offer a direct phone line to certain sellers (in the US and Vietnam), whereas Printful doesn’t. Both companies do offer email and live chat support, however.

I should note though, CustomCat only offers support from 8am to 6:30pm EST, while Printful promises 24/7 support.

Best for Pricing: Printful

I’ve evaluated both platforms closely, and I’m choosing Printful as the winner for pricing. While their base prices are generally higher, I find Printful’s Growth membership offers valuable discounts that can offset this, especially for businesses scaling up. The 20% off sample orders is a standout feature for me, allowing for cost-effective product testing.

For sellers earning over $12k annually, the free access to these discounts is particularly appealing. In my experience, Printful’s pricing structure, though initially seeming more expensive, can provide better long-term value for growing businesses looking to balance quality with cost.

Like many of the POD solutions I’ve tried, both CustomCat and Printful offer a free plan, which give you access to all the features you need to launch your online store. However, you can choose to upgrade to a paid account with both platforms.

CustomCat Pro, for $25 (annually) or $30 per month, gives you 20-40% off all of the company’s standard wholesale prices, making it a great option for large-scale sellers. Printful’s Growth membership, available for free to users earning more than $12k per year, or for $24.99 per month offers access to various discounts, like up to 30% off certain products, 7% off branding, and so on.

There’s also a Business plan, which is only available to companies earning more than $60k per year, but comes with extra discounts. However, Printful’s products are typically more expensive than those on CustomCat. For instance, if you wanted to order a men’s t-shirt from CustomCat, you’d pay between $5.50 and $29.95 depending on the product features.

With CustomCat, the same types of shirts would cost between $6.95 and $29.95, so you might struggle to achieve the same profit margin. One good thing about Printful is that it offers 20% off sample orders – but CustomCat doesn’t.

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CustomCat vs Printful: The Verdict

Ultimately, Printful is my favorite option for companies that want to sell a wide range of highly customizable products worldwide. The company offers superior product quality, fantastic design tools, and access to a wider range of integrations.

However, CustomCat may be a slightly cheaper option (based on core product costs), and it does offer faster turnaround times for US customers. The right option for you will depend on your expectations and business goals, but both platforms are great for POD sellers.

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