CustomCat vs Printify: which is the better print on demand partner?

If you’re looking for a quick answer, I’d say Printify is better overall – for a few reasons.

While I’ve reviewed countless print on demand platforms and tools in the past, Printify consistently stands out for its wide range of sales channels, huge product selection, and incredible design tools.

CustomCat is fine for beginners, with relatively budget-friendly pricing for custom products – and the company does offer relatively quick turnaround times. However, most of the clients I’ve worked with who used this partner to begin with quickly moved to an alternative as their business began to scale.

Need more information? Here’s my authentic, side-by-side comparison guide.

Quick Verdict: Pros and Cons

Ultimately, Printify is better than CustomCat in almost every way. It offers more products, more integration options (as well as a Quick store builder), stronger design tools, and some pretty impressive premium plans.

CustomCat really only has a slight edge from a pricing perspective, as some of the base product costs are a little lower from this platform.

It also offers a unique “Digisoft” printing method, which may be appealing to some merchants.

CustomCat Pros

• Affordable pricing, particularly for bulk orders
• Straightforward and beginner-friendly tools
• Good customer service (with a dedicated hotline for sellers).
• Slightly faster order fulfillment at times)
• Unique customization options, like vegan leather patches

CustomCat Cons

• Smaller product range
• Basic design tools
• Limited integration options. Longer delivery times for non-US customers

Printify Pros

• Massive selection of versatile products, with unique options
• Lots of printing and customization options
• Plenty of integrations with marketplaces and ecommerce platforms
• Free pop-up store creator
• Intelligent design tools
• Excellent global fulfillment

Printify Cons

• Variable product quality and delivery times
• Slightly higher pricing for some products

CustomCat vs Printify: The Core Features

I know you’re probably eager to dive straight into building your print on demand business, so I’ll get straight to the point. Printify and CustomCat have some similarities.

They both offer access to a range of customizable products, support worldwide fulfillment, and enable integrations with numerous sales channels (though Printify has more options).

Still, there are some major differences in the features and benefits of these two platforms.

Product Selection, Customization and Quality

First, as mentioned above, Printify has a much bigger product catalog.

While CustomCat gives you more than 500 items to choose from – primarily home, lifestyle, and apparel goods – Printify offers more than 1,000 products.

With Printify, you can also access unique products you won’t find anywhere else – like branded coffee and beauty items.

Printify also offers a wider range of customization options, such as embroidery, and all-over print.

However, CustomCat does have some interesting print options. For instance, you can create products with vegan leather patches, and design framed canvases as an artist.

I’m also a big fan of CustomCat’s “DigiSoft” printing option – this basically combines the benefits of DTG and DTF printing, giving you more durable, high-quality apparel goods.

From a quality perspective, CustomCat’s unique printing technology gives it an edge for companies creating unique apparel items (hoodies and bags), and art items.

Since Printify doesn’t produce products in-house, print quality does vary depending on the manufacturer you choose – although all of the company’s partners are subject to strict quality assurance checks.

Printify, on the other hand, makes it easier to create unique custom products, with specialized design tools.

For instance, you can use an “AI image generator” to create entirely unique images for your products with basic text-based prompts.

Sales Channels and Fulfillment Services

If you’re looking for plenty of freedom to sell your products across various channels, Printify is once again the better option.

Printify has a dedicated API you can use to create your own automated workflows. It also integrates seamlessly with:

• Marketplaces: Ebay, Etsy, and Amazon
• Social media channels: TikTok
• Ecommerce platforms: Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Prestashop, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce

Beyond that, Printify allows users to start selling products instantly with custom “pop-up” shops.

Although these simple one-page stores don’t have a lot of features to offer, they’re great for beginners who don’t want to deal with the hassle of managing a full storefront or ecommerce website.

CustomCat also has a dedicated API, but fewer one-click integrations. It works with WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce, and Etsy.

From a fulfillment perspective, both companies offer worldwide delivery, but Printify has more dedicated print partners in regions all over the world.

This means that Printify usually delivers products a little faster than CustomCat (2-5 business days, rather than 2-6).

Plus, it’s worth noting you get more control over actually choosing your own printing partner with Printify – whereas with CustomCat you don’t have any real “options” for expanding your network.

Pricing, Plans and Profit Margins

I mentioned above that CustomCat’s products can be a little cheaper than the ones you’ll find on Printify – however, the “savings” are pretty small.

For instance, on Printify you can create a T-shirt for as little as $5.67, while a similar product from CustomCat will cost $5.50.

Both companies allow users to create an account for free, and both offer premium and enterprise plans.

Printify’s “Premium” plan for $29 per month gives you a 20% discount on all products, support for unlimited product designs, 10 stores per account, and order management tools via Printify Connect.

The custom priced enterprise plan offers support for unlimited stores, and additional discounts on all products.

CustomCat’s premium plan “Pro” is slightly more expensive at $30 per month, but it gives you 20-40% off standard wholesale prices – although I couldn’t find any other bonus features.

There’s also an enterprise plan available for high-volume sellers, with additional discounts.

It’s worth noting that Printify does offer extra services for additional fees too, such as branding options like neck labels and packaging inserts – which you don’t get from CustomCat.

Ultimately, both companies offer relatively affordable pricing.

Ease of Use and Customer Support

Usually, I’d say that most print on demand companies rank pretty much the same when it comes to “ease of use”.

All of the top POD vendors I’ve worked with have made it incredibly easy for me to create an account and start creating and selling custom products.

However, in this case, I think Printify is the more intuitive platform. Its design tools are easier to use, and more intuitive, and the interface is a lot cleaner than the one you get from CustomCat.

In fact, CustomCat’s dashboard feels pretty outdated in my opinion.

Both companies do make it equally easy to connect their platform to your existing sales channels and monitor orders, however.

They also both offer access to self-help resources, videos, and guides – but I think Printify’s educational tools are a lot more in-depth.

CustomCat is slightly more responsive from a customer service perspective if you’re based in the US or Vietnam, as it has a “hotline” for sellers, as well as live chat and email support.

Printify doesn’t offer phone support, but it does promise 24/7 chat and email service – whereas CustomCat’s support hours are only from 8am to 6:30pm EST.

CustomCat vs Printify: The Verdict

So, which is the better option? It should be pretty obvious at this point that I would generally recommend Printify over CustomCat.

Although CustomCat does have slightly cheaper “base product costs”, and some unique printing options, it just can’t compete with Printify in terms of overall features, product options, and scalability.

If you’re looking for a print on demand provider that’s going to help you develop a strong brand and constantly grow your product collection, Printify is the easy choice.