Gearbubble vs Printify: Which POD Platform is Best?

Wondering whether Gearbubble or Printify is the right option for your print on demand venture? I’m here to give you the behind-the-scenes scoop.

If you want the quick answer, Printify is definitely the more versatile option. It integrates with more platforms, offers a broader range of products to choose from, and even has its own handy pop-up store generator.

However – Gearbubble has its own unique benefits worth exploring for certain creators. It’s not just your average POD company.

Gearbubble specializes in high-quality customizable jewelry. It’s backed by Bergio, and is the only POD brand to own its own jewelry manufacturing system.

So, which option should you choose?

This hands-on comparison will give you all the insights you need to make the right decision.

The Quick Verdict, Pros and Cons

TLDR:

Printify is definitely the better option all around for scalability. It gives companies hundreds of unique and popular product options to choose from, supports integrations with numerous sales channels, and has some of the best design tools I’ve ever used.

However, Gearbubble definitely stands out for creators looking to sell custom jewlery. It’s really the only POD brand I’ve found so far that offers high-quality metal jewelry designed and created by experts. Plus, it supports custom branding, and fast shipping.

Printify Pros and Cons

Pros:

Huge selection of over 1,000 customizable products
Various printing methods available
Over 10 integration options for sales channels
Free pop-up store generator
Global fulfillment
Excellent access to a range of manufacturers
AI-powered design tools
Fantastic premium plans

Cons:

Not a lot of jewelry options
Shipping and production times vary
Quality can differ between manufacturers

Gearbubble Pros and Cons

Pros:

Fantastic jewelry, drinkware, home décor, and apparel products
Easy to use, risk-free platform
Exceptional hand-crafted quality
Fast shipping throughout the USA
Custom branding options
Integrations with a handful of channels
Easy order tracking

Cons:

Fewer integrations and sales channels
Basic design tools
Fewer products than Printify

Gearbubble vs Printify: The Core Features

Gearbubble and Printify are both print on demand platform providers that offer access to unique customizable products, design tools, and integrations with various sales channels.

The main difference is that Printify can appeal to creators in virtually any niche or industry, while Gearbubble focuses mainly on custom jewelry (with a few extra product options).

Additionally, while Printify ships products worldwide, Gearbubble is only available in the US market, so it’s not particularly ideal for multinational companies. Here’s a comparison of the main features you get from both companies.

Product Options and Customization

For me, Printify offers the best variety of virtually any POD platform I’ve tried. There are over 1,000 products to choose from, ranging from the basics like t-shirts and phone cases, to unique options like supplements, coffee, and beauty products.

You get tons of ways to customize your items too, such as DTG and DTF printing, all-over print, and embroidery.

Printify also offers an AI art generator that can create custom designs for you. You might need to do a lot of testing with the promping, but in some cases the results can be satisfying.

As mentioned above, Gearbubble makes “custom jewelry” a priority. It definitely excels in this niche, with dozens of high-quality gold, silver, leather, and similar options to choose from.

However, if you want to go beyond jewelry, you’re a bit limited. You will have some basic apparel options to choose from, like tank tops, hoodies and t-shirts.

Plus, Gearbubble offers a few mug and drinkware options, as well as ornaments, candles, posters, and pillowcases – but that’s about it.

There aren’t a lot of printing options either – for instance you can’t choose embroidery for a custom hoodie.

Printify also has an edge over Gearbubble in terms of “product design” options. This platform gives you a fantastic drag and drop design tool with access to hundreds of free graphics, fonts, and resources.

Plus, there’s the handy AI art generation tool for creating custom art. In comparison, Gearbubble’s design tools are very basic.

You can upload images, add basic shapes and text, and move components around on a canvas a little, but that’s all.

Product Quality and Profitability

Printify and Gearbubble both have decent reputations for product quality. If you look Gearbubble up on Trustpilot, for instance, it has a 4.1 out of 5 star rating.

That’s not perfect, but it’s not terrible either. Most people seem to note that the jewelry quality is a lot better than the quality of the apparel, home décor, or drinkware products, however.

Printify has a higher Trustpilot rating of 4.7 out of 5, and most customers think the products created by the company’s manufacturers are consistently excellent.

Obviously, there is some variability, as Printify doesn’t create products itself. It works with a huge selection of manufacturers based around the world, so it’s worth reading the reviews left for print partners when you’re choosing your options.

However, Printify’s strict quality assurance protocols help to guarantee excellent results every time. From a profitability perspective, Gearbubble has the potential to help creators earn higher profits with high-quality items (like gold and silver jewelry).

However, you’ll pay more up-front for those products too, so how much you earn depends on your pricing structure.

Printify’s products are a lot cheaper, and they’re still “premium” enough in design that you can potentially charge a decent amount for them.

Global Fulfillment, Integrations and Sales Tools

Let’s start this section with a look at your fulfillment options. Printify has 110+ printing locations located across 12 countries, and offers global delivery – although pricing varies. Gearbubble focuses mainly on the US for delivery, but companies can use the platform worldwide.

When it come to where you can sell your products online, Printify gives you a lot more options. Gearbubble integrates with Amazon, Ebay, Etsy and Shopify.

Those are your only options for integrations, but you can sell directly on the Gearbubble platform too

Printify integrates with all of those platforms, as well as TikTok Shop, SquareSpace, Wix, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and PrestaShop.

Printify also has its own API for custom integrations, and if you don’t want to use an integration at all, you can create a pop-up shop instead.

The Printify Pop-Up shop tool allows anyone to create a single-page website where they can showcase and sell products directly online.

On top of that, Printify gives you a few extra tools for managing and running your business.

You get an order tracking tool with Gearbubble, but with Printify you can create promotions, access analytics and insights, experiment with unique branding options (like custom packaging) and more.

Notably, you can access some extra tools with Gearbubble (like an Etsy Spyr tool)- but only with the premium plan.

Gearbubble vs Printify: Ease of Use and Customer Support

After experimenting with both Gearbubble and Printify, I can’t fault either option from an “ease of use” perspective.

Both platforms make it easy for companies to create an account, and start selling custom products online.

I think Printify’s dashboard is cleaner and more intuitive, and it’s design tools are definitely better for absolute beginners.

Printify also gives users a lot more help when they’re getting started. There’s an onboarding checklist for beginners, as well as a bunch of webinars, blogs, and self-help guides you can access. Gearbubble has an FAQ page, a blog and a basic help center.

If you need to contact Gearbubble directly, you can reach out via chat from 8am to 5pm PDT, or send an email.

Alternatively, Printify offers 24/7 service, via chat and email, but I have found that some responses can still take a while.

During busy periods, you can wait for up to 24 hours for an answer from Printify, which might be a problem for some.

Gearbubble vs Printify: Plans and Pricing

Finally, let’s take a look at pricing. First, you can create an account and start producing custom products with both Gearbubble and Printify for free.

If you take this route, all you need to pay for is the base cost of the products (which is a little cheaper with Printify).

Plus, you’ll need to account for external fees like marketing and ecommerce platform costs too.

Alternatively, if you want a more “premium” experience, Gearbubble has a single (very expensive) Platinum plan you can explore.

For $197 per month, this gives you access to marketplace integrations, training guides, the Etsy Spyr tool we mentioned above, and priority access to new products.

You’ll also get a personal design team (for up to 10 designs per month) and access to exclusive deals.

Although the pricing is pretty high, it works out as good value for money if you’re looking for extra support, and you need help finding top trending products on Etsy (that’s what the Spyr tool is for).

Printify has a premium plan that costs $29 per month, which gives you access to all the features of the platform (just like the free plan), a 20% discount on all products, and order management tools.

There’s also an enterprise plan with more support and extra discounts.

Ultimately, I think Printify is the more cost-effective choice, but Gearbubble still has its merits for those interested in selling custom jewelry at scale.

Gearbubble vs Printify: The Verdict

So, which platform wins?

For me, it’s Printify – simply because it gives you more freedom to experiment with products, sales channels, and unique sales tools.

Printify is the more scalable and flexible choice, ideal for a wide range of creators looking to make money with custom products.

Gearbubble really only makes sense if you’re specifically interested in selling custom jewelry, and a handful of other popular items – particularly across marketplaces like Ebay, Amazon and Etsy.

It’s definitely a good platform for certain sellers, but it lacks the scope of Printify.

My advice?