Printify vs Print Aura: Battle of the POD Solutions

Printify vs Print Aura: Which platform offers the best solution for print on demand companies? Both considered reputable tools in the print on demand space, Printify and Print Aura help business leaders, creators, and would-be retailers alike to create and sell a host of customized products.

Both of these tools integrate with a variety of ecommerce platforms and online marketplaces, ensuring designers can add their customizations to products quickly and seamlessly, as well as automating a variety of fulfillment processes.

Choosing the right option for your print on demand company will involve assessing your product requirements carefully, and evaluating the unique features and tools each platform has to offer.

Here's everything you need to know to make the right decision if you’re trying to choose between Printify and Print Aura for your growing business.

What is Printify?

Printify is a comprehensive print-on-demand platform, first launched in 2015. The solution provides business leaders with access to a range of white-labelled products, created by manufacturers in locations across the globe.

With Printify, you can easily create custom products, using a built-in mockup generator, and upload a variety of items to your ecommerce site or marketplace storefront, using a host of native integrations.

Printify handles a variety of crucial tasks on the behalf of sellers, from producing items with a selection of printing techniques, to packaging orders and shipping them to customers. The solution offers a range of products to choose from, as well as excellent tools for branding and marketing.

What is Print Aura?

Print Aura is a similar solution to Printify, designed specifically to help merchants to create custom accessories, apparel, and products with easy-to-use tools. Designed in 2012 by Matt Brickley, the platform supports merchants in designing and selling custom merchandise. There are various product categories to choose from, from apparel to phone cases, hats, bags, and accessories.

Additionally, Print Aura integrates with a variety of ecommerce website builder platforms, allowing companies to sell their items under their own branded domain. Print Aura imposes no minimum order quantities, offers excellent design tools, and promises fast turnarounds of 3-5 business days.

Printify vs Print Aura: Ease of Use

Printify and Print Aura are very similar in their functionality. Both platforms were created for the print-on-demand landscape, allowing companies to add custom designs to products, which are then manufactured by third parties and shipped directly to customers. Both tools also offer access to a range of white-label products, although the selection of options on Printify is quite a bit larger.

With both Printify and Print Aura, all merchants need to do to start selling their unique items is sign up for an account (which you can do for free), then choose the products you want to customize.

Item options are categorized by style and type for simplicity, and many come with a host of variations in size, material, or color. Once you’ve chosen your ideal items, you’ll simply use the mockup generator tool to add your own design, placing it exactly in the right position on the product.

Next, you take your product templates and add them to your website, integrating Printify and Print Aura directly with the ecommerce site builder or marketplace of your choice. Both platforms integrate with a variety of well-known platforms such as Etsy, WooCommerce, and Shopify.

Whenever a customer places an order on your website, their information is instantly passed over to the manufacturers you choose to work with on each platform. These third-party companies then produce orders according to your specs, and ship them to your customers using partnerships with logistics companies. Both tools will also allow you to customize your packaging, with return labels, packing slips, and neck labels for garments.

In each case, the process of creating and selling products is extremely straightforward. However, it’s worth noting the mockup generator and design tools on Printify are a little more advanced and intuitive than the ones you’ll get from Print Aura.

On the plus side, both companies have no minimum order requirements, and will even allow you to order samples of your created products so you can check the print quality before you list anything on your site. This ensures you’re more likely to deliver consistent high-quality products to customers.

Printify vs Print Aura: Product Designs and Quality

One of the most important steps in choosing the right print on demand company for your growing business is examining the product quality offered by each print on demand site. The higher the quality of your custom t-shirts, hoodies, stickers, and other products, the more likely it is you’ll convert potential customers into long-term supporters of your brand.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to determine the type of products you’ll receive from your print provider in advance. Customer reviews for both Print Aura and Printify are variable. While many companies say the printing quality is excellent, there’s always a chance you’ll receive a bad batch.

Notably, Printify works with a variety of partners, rather than producing products in-house, which could mean the quality of your items varies depending on which manufacturer you choose. Alternatively, Print Aura invests in the latest direct to garment printing technology for their own company, which could mean designs and delivery times for your ecommerce business are more consistent. Whenever you’re creating new products, it’s worth doing your due diligence.

After you add your branding options to your items, consider ordering product samples from each print-on-demand business so you can check the material and print quality yourself.

Another point to keep in mind is that while Print Aura can produce designs in a range of different styles, and can process designs from a range of file formats, from PNG, to PSD, and PDF, the company does print in CMYK color mode. This is a positive thing from a printing perspective, but it could mean color shifting occurs if you choose PNG files, due to their RGB profile.

Alternatively, Printify can print in RGB, which means you’re more likely to get an exact replica of your designs and images on your products.

Printify vs Print Aura: Packaging and Branding

Alongside ensuring the quality of your items is excellent, it’s also worth thinking about how you’ll be packaging and shipping those products to customers. Investing in the right branding strategy is crucial to making your business stand out in the growing print on demand space.

Printify takes a simple and sustainable approach to packaging orders. Items are generally packaged according to their type, with envelopes, tubes, polyethylene bags and cardboard boxes to choose from. Fragile items are also protected with foam inserts when necessary.

You can brand products in a variety of ways, adding neck labels with certain garments, and adjusting the appearance of your shipping labels, to include specific logos and images. However, while Printify offers more products in total than Print Aura, the latter company does provide some excellent options for branding your packaging and items.

Print Aura offers a variety of branding opportunities, including customizable return labels, packing slips, and other options. The print-on-demand business also gives you the freedom to customize your garments and accessories, with removable neck labels and hang tags, depending on the pricing option you choose. Print Aura also takes extra steps to ensure your items are protected in the right types of packaging, depending on their type.

Printify vs Print Aura: Pricing Plans

Like many Print on Demand platforms, both Printify and Print Aura make it easy to get started with minimal initial investment. These user-friendly platforms are both available to access for free, so you can start using the design tools and integrations without paying anything. However, you will still need to pay the upfront costs associated with producing and shipping your items.

The exact price you’ll pay for each tote, shirt, or unique product you produce will vary depending on numerous factors, including the materials, your custom branding options, and your shipping requirements. If you opt for priority shipping options to reduce shipping times, you may need to increase the overall price of your items to maintain your profit margins.

While both of these tools offer a free plan, Printify is the only platform of the pair to offer premium plans, if you want to access more features and functionality:

The free plan on Printify still includes access to the Mockup generator, as well as integrations with your Etsy, Ebay, or Shopify store, among others. However, if you upgrade to the premium plans, you can access bigger discounts on products, and features like Printify Connect for order management.

With Printify there are two premium plans available, with a 14% discount offered to those who choose to pay annually for their subscription, instead of on a month-by-month basis. The options are:

• Premium: $24.99 per month for all the features of the free plan, plus an up to 20% discount on all products, support for up to 10 stores, and order management with Printify Connect.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing for merchants with over 10,000 orders per day, with unlimited store support, unlimited product designs, and all of the features of Premium.

You can browse through both platforms for free to check available shipping rates, and prices for each item. Printify’s eco-friendly products and premium items tend to incur a higher cost overall.

Printify vs Print Aura: Integrations

Unlike other print on demand platforms, like Redbubble, which allow you to upload your items directly to an existing marketplace, Printify and Print Aura are designed to work alongside your existing marketplace storefront or ecommerce website. As such, it’s worth checking out the available integrations from both platforms before you make your choice.

Printify integrates with a range of different solutions, including Shutterstock for access to designs, and Squarespace, WooCommerce, Wix, Prestashop, BigCommerce and Shopify for ecommerce. You can also integrate Printify with marketplaces like Ebay, Etsy, and Walmart, although there isn’t an option available for Amazon as of yet. Additionally, Printify has custom APIs available, which developers can use to create custom automated workflows.

Print Aura works with many of the same platforms as Printify, including Shopify, WooCommerce, and Etsy. It also offers unique integrations with StoreEnvy and OpenCart. However, there are fewer connection options overall. On the plus side, you can still access the Print Aura RESTful API, which allows developers to create different applications, plugins, and automations from scratch.

Printify vs Print Aura: Fulfillment and Shipping

Once again, Printify and Print Aura have a lot in common when it comes to fulfillment options. Both tools will handle the fulfillment process on your behalf, packaging, and shipping goods according to your preferences, so you can focus on the other aspects of running your store.

Printify benefits from a global print provider and fulfillment network, with 110 facilities located across the US, Australia, Europe, Canada, the UK, and China. All of the print providers working with Printify offer standard shipping options, but some will also provide priority shipping. While the shipping costs for priority delivery can be higher, they do ensure items get to customers faster.

Standard shipping from US-based providers with Printify usually takes between 2-3 days for domestic customers, or 3-5 days for international customers. However, the location of your customer and the print provider you choose will influence your shipping times. Some international deliveries take up to 7 days, and complex garments can sometimes take longer to produce.

Printify notes that most orders will be shipped within 7 days of an order submission, and you can track shipments within the app, and provide customers with updates on their deliveries when necessary.

Print Aura also supports global shipping, with shipping prices starting at around $5.50 for standard domestic deliveries. Usually, orders within the United States take around 3-5 days to reach customers after they’re dispatched. However, international deliveries can take up to 12 days, and overseas deliveries can take a lot longer. Unlike Printify, which offers shipping tracking for the majority of orders, tracking is only available within the US for Print Aura.

Printify vs Print Aura: Customer Support

Whether you’re working with a dropshipping company or POD supplier for your online store, it’s always worth making sure you’re going to get an excellent level of consistent support. The best print on demand companies will always offer assistance with everything from managing refunds and returns, to creating your designs.

Printify offers a variety of customer support options, with 24/7 merchant support included on all plans. Most of your options for support revolve around self-service solutions, such as a help center where you can find FAQs and articles on topics such as order fulfillment and the product catalog. You can also reach out to the company on social media, or use the Printify blog to help you.

The support team is available mostly through email, which means answers to your questions can take a little while to arrive. So, keep this in mind if you’re using Printify. You may also struggle to interact with some of Printify’s vendors more than others.

Print Aura offers a range of customer support options too, including email, phone, and contact forms for communication. However, the customer support team will only be available to access on working days, between Monday and Friday, which can be a problem for some entrepreneurs.

For beginners just getting started with their POD companies, Print Aura has a “Getting Started” page, with step-by-step guidelines for leveraging the platform for your online business. There are also FAQ pages available to walk you through any common issues you might have. Unfortunately, the resources available to business owners are a little limited compared to what you get from Printify.

Printify vs Print Aura: Pros and Cons

If you’re looking for a quick and effective way to expand your ecommerce store with print on demand products, both Printify and Print Aura have a lot to offer. Both tools have excellent printing resources, a fantastic global presence with fulfillment centers around the world, and a host of tools to get you started. You can even automate most of your business processes with integrations.

However, each platform also has unique pros and cons to consider:

Printify Pros & Cons

Print Aura Pros & Cons

Printify vs Print Aura: The Verdict

On the surface, Print Aura and Printify have a lot in common. Both of these tools make it quick and simple to set up your print on demand business, with useful integrations, access to a wide variety of products, and customizable shipping tools.

However, Print Aura may be the better choice for companies specifically looking to create their own custom garments for a low price. The company specializes more in garments than anything else. Plus, because they produce products in-house, there’s less variability in product quality.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a wider range of print on demand products for your Ecommerce store, Printify offers more options for wall art, accessories, and unique items. The platform also integrates with a wider range of tools, and comes with premium packages which allow you to save money as your business scales.

Other Options for POD Companies

It’s worth noting that Printify and Print Aura are just two of the impressive platforms you can consider if you’re starting your own POD store. If neither of these products work well for you, it’s worth considering some of the following:

• Printful: Printful offers one of the best print on demand experiences around, with a powerful range of tools, a huge number of product options, custom pack-ins, and unique packaging solutions. Printful can also offer warehousing services, creative support with graphic design and photo shoots, and even a logo maker where you can create your own trademark. The brand offers efficient global order fulfillment, round-the-clock support, and automatic order fulfillment tools to make running your business easier.
• Sellfy: More of a holistic overall solution for entrpreneurs than Printify or Print Aura, Sellfy is an ecommerce platform and POD solution in one. It comes with access to marketing tools, analytics, a website builder, and a host of great solutions to help you stand out online. However, you will need to pay a monthly fee to access the service. If you already have a website, Sellfy might be an overly expensive option for print on demand. However, it’s great for selling digital products alongside physical merchandise.
• Teespring: TeeSpring is a fantastic print-on-demand tool, similar to Print Aura with its focus on the garment landscape. There are numerous products to choose from, and a fantastic back-end environment where you can manage all of your orders. TeeSpring offers a range of printing options, excellent customer support and guidance, and various tools to help you promote your designs. However, there’s slightly less space for customizing your products on TeeSpring, and you do need to sell a minimum number of products before you can make a profit, which can make this platform a little riskier for beginners.

Browse through our blog to find more comparisons and reviews of print on demand services to help you make the right choice for your business.