Printful vs Teespring Comparison 2023: Which POD Service is Better?

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Do you want to skip the read and get right to my pick? Between Printful vs Teespring, we find that Printful is the better print on demand service. 

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Introduction to our Printful vs Teespring Comparison

Which is better – Printful vs Teespring?

Print on demand services are all the rage these days. These platforms (essentially dropshipping platforms) enable users to create merchandise without having to keep items in stock. As a result, they are more cost-effective and efficient than more conventional merchandise printing companies.

In theory, these are the perfect choice for small and medium scale businesses, or even individual creatives. They are particularly useful to those making their first foray into the scene. They would need to build a viable customers/fan base. However, in reality, these work for businesses of any size. They can even work for more experienced creatives who are looking for a more affordable way to produce, market, and distribute their merch.

But, not all print on demand platforms are made equal. Some are particularly slanted for use by those in the creative community. How exactly do these stack up when compared to a more conventional print on demand service? That’s what we intend to find out today as we compare Teespring vs Printful, two of the leading POD services currently online.

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Overview: Which Print on Demand platform is better? Printful vs Teespring?

Printful:

Printful is an on-demand printing and fulfilment service that prides itself on brand building for its customers. This service allows them to produce collateral products to help them spread the word about their company/products. As a result, they enable them to build their businesses.

Like much of the competition, it offers a full print on demand experience with various products ranging from apparel and accessories to homeware and stationery.

This is also a platform that one can easily link with an existing online store account on over twenty ecommerce hosting platforms, such as WooCommerce, Etsy, Shopify, and even Amazon.

Teespring:

Teespring is actually this platform’s old name; it recently rebranded as just plain ol’ Spring – or, more formally, Spring for Creators.

Spring prides itself on a threefold promise to platform users: it is a place online where they can create, share, and earn.

Much like its primary competitor Redbubble, Spring is a combination dropshipping and on-demand printing platform and an online marketplace where creators can show off their wares without needing to create a separate account with a third-party platform like Shopify or Squarespace.

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Quick Comparison Table for Printful vs Teespring

	Printful (My Choice!)	Teespring
Ease of Use	User-friendly interface, straightforward design tools	Simplistic and intuitive design interface
Product Range	Wide array of products across different categories	A good selection of apparel and home decor items
Print Quality	High-quality, detailed prints	Good print quality with vibrant colors
Shipping	Worldwide shipping with varying costs	Offers both domestic and international shipping
Pricing and Artist Commission	You set your retail price, Printful charges for product and fulfillment	No upfront costs, you set the selling price above the base cost
My View	Best for businesses that want more control over branding and pricing	Best for artists and creators who want a simple, straightforward platform to sell merchandise
	Try Printful For Free	Try Teespring For Free

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Ease of Use:

Printful:

A few minutes is all it really takes to create a Printful account and start working on your own designs and products.

Much like its primary competitor Printify, Printful offers a four-step process through which its customers can create items for sale with absolute ease.

• Product Selection
• Customise Your Items
• Order Your Samples
• Publish and Produce

We’ve stated earlier that Printful works with some of the biggest names in the ecommerce scene. In other words, it helps to set up a link between this platform and your store account.

However, what makes Printful different from the competition is that you can do so much more than upload files to the platform. You can actually create your own custom designs through Printful’s design maker feature.

Teespring:

A creative marketplace bundled with its own set of intuitive design tools? We’re sold!

It’s essentially as easy as creating a product, building a market for it, fulfilling your clients’ orders (which Teespring / Spring takes care of for you), and finally, collecting the profits.

Winner – DRAW! This is a toss-up. Both platforms offer ease of use, but we have to give extra points to Teespring as it’s a stand-alone marketplace that does not require you to sync a store account on another platform.

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Features:

In this Printful vs Teespring comparison, what are the features of each platform?

Printful

Printful’s key features include the following:

Product Range

Printful offers a comprehensive product catalog that spans across clothing, accessories, and home & living items. From T-shirts, hoodies, and leggings to posters, mugs, and pillow covers, there's a wide array of options for businesses to choose from. You can even sell custom-branded hats, tote bags, and phone cases.

Print Quality

Printful prides itself on the quality of its prints. They use different printing techniques depending on the product and design, such as direct-to-garment (DTG), sublimation, and embroidery. Customers generally report vibrant, detailed, and durable prints, even after multiple washes.

Shipping

Printful offers worldwide shipping, with fulfillment centers located across the globe. This means faster delivery times for your customers and lower shipping costs. The time it takes to create and ship a product can vary depending on the type of product and where it's being shipped. Fulfillment usually takes 2-7 business days, while shipping times can range from 1-8 business days within the US, and 5-20 business days internationally.

Design Maker

A boon for those in the creatives industry, this particular design maker allows users to do so much more than just create custom designs that are unique to them as either artists, companies, or brand holders. This feature actually enables users to create their own product templates for their specific use. In doing so, Printful gives them a leg up against the competition as they can do a specific range of products that are truly unique. The design maker also has a couple of extra features:

• Background removal for non-PNG-format files; and
• A way to digitise design files for use in embroidery;

Custom Mockup Maker

One of the primary differences of Printful against the competition is that mockups can actually be downloaded for reference or even printed to serve as a reference in case the user wants to have another non-Printful affiliated company execute and produce their designs;

Image Library

Printful’s image library is one of the most extensive we have seen of just about any creative platform or print on demand service, with over 16,500 stock images, as well as more than 480 that are specific to the platform;

SEO Capability

This is a feature tied up with online marketplace Etsy. The keyword scout actually helps customers find Printful-using shops on the marketplace, enabling users to build up a customer following faster;

Promo Maker Marketing

Another aspect that Printful takes seriously, so it gives its users a way by which to draw customers in; and

Teespring:

Teespring / Spring for Creatives’ key features are as follows:

Product Range:

Teespring also boasts a diverse product range, focusing mainly on apparel and home decor. This includes various types of clothing like T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, and leggings, as well as products like posters, canvas prints, mugs, stickers, and pillows. Teespring is particularly popular for creators looking to sell merchandise to their audience.

Print Quality:

Teespring uses Direct-to-Garment (DTG) and sublimation printing techniques, offering good print quality with bright and vibrant colors. The print longevity depends on the care with which the product is treated. Following washing instructions will ensure that prints remain vibrant for a long time.

Shipping:

Teespring offers both domestic (US) and international shipping. Domestic shipping usually takes around 2-7 days after fulfillment, while international shipping can take anywhere between 10-16 days after fulfillment. Shipping costs can vary based on the product and shipping destination. Teespring also often runs free shipping promotions on select products.

Comprehensive Creative and Marketing Platform

Same-day printing and two-day shipping options for a shopping experience similar to that of larger platforms like Amazon. The platform also handles payments for clients, as well as customer service and inquiry;

Network Boosting

Thanks to its integration with at least seven online marketplaces, Spring users are given multiple sales channels to reach out to their customers. It's the perfect way to build a market, especially if you're just starting out in the business;

Basic and Boosted Retargeting

It's a unique online technique where those who viewed users' designs but don't make a purchase will be shown targeted ads that will remind them of the product. This, in turn, eventually results in a purchase;

Email Marketing

You can actually create and send promotional emails right out of the Spring dashboard to those who have bought from your online store previously. With the Messaging feature, users can send emails to all their customers or create focused marketing groups based on past purchases and popular product categories;

Specialty Items

While Spring offers the usual run of apparel and novelties, custom printing is also offered for these, allowing users to print on sleeves or all over. Likewise, the platform also offers specialized novelties like customizable plushies, bags, and badges.

Winner – Printful! in this Printful vs Teespring content for features. Printful has a more extensive set of features capable of accommodating a wider catalogue of products.

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Support and Resources:

Printful:

Aside from an extensive and frequently updated knowledge base, Printful also gives users the opportunity to hire an expert to help them out with their work. It currently has ten fulfilment centres in the United States, Central America, and Europe, as well as partner affiliates in Australia, Brazil, and Japan.

At the moment, it does not offer Live Chat support and it may take some time to get help as your only recourse is the online contact form on the website or through the messaging facilities on social media.

Teespring:

The nice thing about Teespring / Spring is that it has both creator and premium resources that users can pore over to improve their respective creative and online retail experiences.

The platform’s blog is also a regularly updated fount of knowledge about the latest trends in the field, advising users as to what would be popular within a season.

But user support is where this otherwise excellent platform falls flat. At the moment, all it has is an online contact form that serves as a catchall for all inquiries and service concerns.

Winner – Printful! in this Teespring vs Printful support and resources aspect of our comparison.

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Printful vs Teespring Pricing:

How does Printful vs Teespring stack up in terms of pricing?

Printful:

At its most basic, Printful can be used for free – but keep in mind that this means functionality will be quite limited.

Printful Pro, the full access subscription plan, will set you back by around $49.00 a month. The platform also charges an additional sales tax for its clients in the United States.

Fees charged for the Enterprise version of Printful are dependent on three factors:

• The nature of the business or the industry it’s in;
• Its geographical location; and
• The size of the business or the volume of its trade.

Free trial, refund policy, and money-back guarantee:

Printful offers a free to use plan with limited functionality, according to their service terms.

Teespring:

With Spring, users have autonomy when it comes to setting their selling price as the plarform fee is included in the base cost of the product. Look at it this way: a standard T-shirt on the platform has a base price of around $10.00. If you choose to sell the shirt for $24.00, you get the full profit of $14 as Spring collects the base fee.

The platform is above board when it comes to their product prices, and the list is updated based on current market conditions.

Free trial, refund policy, and money-back guarantee:

Teespring's policy also allows users to create accounts for free.

Winner – DRAW! This is a toss-up in this Printful vs Teespring pricing showdown.

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Comparison Winner: Printful or Teespring?

We’ll be honest at this point: both of these platforms have their respective merits, so either of them would be a great choice for those looking for a reliable print on demand service. Nevertheless, we have to find for Printful as Comparison Winner in this match.

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Conclusion to our Printful vs Teespring Comparison:

Now to wrap up our Teespring vs Printful comparison;

What is Printful best for?

Ideal for all product-based businesses with a wide catalogue that wants to operate without the hassle of maintaining inventory. Printful would work best for those with external store accounts.

What is Teespring best for?

Suitable for POD businesses that have a smaller range of products. Teespring is a good choice for young creatives as it combines a creation platform, a print on demand service, and creative marketplace in a single hub.

Printful vs Teespring Alternatives:

Leading alternatives to Teespring vs Printful include;

Teespring vs Printful Final Word:

When it comes to comparing Printful and Teespring, two highly thought-of and widely used print on demand platforms, we leave it up to you. You need to choose which of these you are most comfortable working with and which of them works best with your overall budget.

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That's all for now:

If you've read all the way through this Printful vs Teespring comparison article, we are thankful. We hope you can now answer the question for what is the best print on demand service for you! We have many articles, guides, and comparison reviews of eCommerce solutions, web hosting providers, website builders, and more! Feel free to check them out;

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