TL;DR
- Printify — 100+ provider network, ~900+ products, lowest cost (Premium). Best for catalog breadth and price.
- Gelato — 30+ country local-print network. Best for fast, low-cost international fulfillment; strong for wall art/photo.
- Cheapest product: usually Printify. Cheapest international landed cost: often Gelato (local shipping).
- Bigger catalog: Printify. Better global reach: Gelato.
- Run both — Printify for catalog/cost SKUs, Gelato for international.
- Neither offers customer personalization — add Print It My Way (vendor-agnostic).
The core difference: provider network vs local network
Both are networks, but optimized differently. Printify is a marketplace of 100+ print providers competing on price and product variety — so the catalog is huge (~900+) and costs are low, but providers sit in various locations and quality varies. Gelato is a local-fulfillment network across 30+ countries optimized for proximity — so it prints each order near the customer for speed and low shipping, with a more curated catalog. Printify maximizes breadth and price; Gelato maximizes local delivery.
Head-to-head matrix
| Factor | Printify | Gelato |
|---|---|---|
| Model | 100+ provider marketplace | 30+ country local network |
| Catalog size | ~900+ products | Focused (wall art, photo, apparel) |
| Product cost | Lowest (Premium) | Competitive |
| International delivery | Provider-dependent | Local print — faster, cheaper |
| Quality consistency | Varies by provider | Good; varies by site |
| Subscription | $0 / $29 Premium | $0 / paid tiers |
| Best for | Catalog breadth, low cost | Global / international |
| Customer personalization | No | No |
For exact current product and shipping prices and plan tiers, check each vendor's site — POD pricing changes and we won't quote figures we can't verify today.
Cost: product price vs landed cost
On raw product cost, Printify is often the cheapest in POD — its provider marketplace is competitive and Premium discounts further. But total landed cost depends on shipping: for international orders, Gelato's local printing can beat shipping a cheap Printify product across borders. So Printify usually wins on product price (especially domestically or where its providers sit near your customers), while Gelato can win on total cost for international orders thanks to shorter shipping. Compare both product and shipping prices for your markets, not product price alone.
Verdict
- Choose Printify for the widest catalog, lowest product cost, and niche/specialty items — vet providers and sample.
- Choose Gelato for fast, low-cost international fulfillment and wall art/photo products.
- Run both — Printify for catalog/cost SKUs, Gelato for international reach.
- Add Print It My Way either way for customer personalization neither provides.
See also Printful vs Printify, Printful vs Gelato, and all POD vendors compared.
Add personalization to Printify or Gelato
Print It My Way is the customer-facing layer both vendors leave out — vendor-agnostic, so the customer experience is identical whichever fulfills. Free plan covers your first product.
Install Print It My Way — Free See the PIMW + Printify setup →Frequently asked questions
Is Printify or Gelato better?
They optimize for different priorities. Printify is better for catalog breadth and low product cost — a network of 100+ providers offering ~900+ products, often cheapest (especially with Premium), with wide variety. Gelato is better for fast, low-cost international fulfillment via its 30+ country local-print network, and is strong for wall art, posters, and photo products. Choose Printify for the widest selection or cheapest products where geography is covered; choose Gelato when a meaningful share ships internationally. Some stores run both — Printify for catalog depth, Gelato for global reach.
Is Printify or Gelato cheaper?
On raw product cost, Printify is often the cheapest in POD because its provider marketplace is competitive and Premium discounts further. Gelato's prices are competitive but not always lowest. However, total landed cost depends on shipping: for international orders, Gelato's local printing can make the all-in cost lower than shipping a cheap Printify product across borders. Printify usually wins on product price, especially domestically; Gelato can win on total cost for international orders thanks to shorter shipping. Compare both product and shipping prices for your markets.
Which has a bigger catalog, Printify or Gelato?
Printify has the larger catalog — ~900+ products across 100+ providers, covering a wide range of apparel, accessories, home goods, and specialty items. Gelato's catalog is more focused, strong in wall art, posters, photo products, mugs, and apparel, but narrower than Printify's network selection. If catalog breadth and niche products are your priority, Printify wins. If your range fits Gelato's categories and your priority is international fulfillment, the smaller catalog isn't a drawback. Confirm the specific products you want are offered with acceptable quality and shipping in your markets.
Which is better for international print on demand, Printify or Gelato?
Gelato is purpose-built for international fulfillment with its 30+ country local-print network, routing each order to the nearest site to cut delivery time, shipping cost, and customs friction. Printify also fulfills internationally via providers in multiple regions, but coverage depends on which providers you select, and shipping from a provider far from the customer can be slow and costly. For a global customer base, Gelato's local network is generally stronger and more predictable. With Printify you can achieve good coverage by choosing providers near your main markets, but it takes more planning than Gelato's automatic routing.
Can I use Printify and Gelato together on Shopify?
Yes. Both have official Shopify apps and can run on the same store, with products assigned to whichever fits — Printify for cost-sensitive or niche SKUs, Gelato for products that sell internationally where local printing wins on cost and speed. The trade-off is two dashboards and two sample processes; the benefit is optimizing cost, catalog, and geography per product, plus reduced single-point-of-failure risk. Because Print It My Way is vendor-agnostic, one setup works across both, so a multi-vendor approach doesn't complicate customer-facing personalization.
Do Printify and Gelato offer customer personalization?
No — neither offers customer-facing personalization. Printify's mockup generator and Gelato's design studio are merchant-side tools for setting up products and mockups, not for letting customers add their own name, photo, or design on the product page. To offer personalization, install a separate personalizer like Print It My Way; it captures the customer's choices as Shopify line item properties whichever vendor then prints from. The standard stack: a POD vendor (Printify or Gelato) for fulfillment plus a personalizer for the customer-facing layer. Print It My Way is vendor-agnostic, so it works identically with either or both.