Zazzle vs Printify: Which is Better for Print on Demand?

Zazzle vs Printify: Which should you choose?

Overall, after experimenting with both platforms myself, I think Printify is the better choice. It allows you to build a more memorable brand, scale your business through omnichannel selling, and experiment with more advanced design tools.

However, Zazzle has some great selling points too, such as the ability to customize a wide range of unique products, and start selling online without having to create and run your own website.

Here’s everything you need to know to make the right choice for your company.

Quick Verdict

If you’re looking for a quick answer, Printify is the better choice for customizing products, with its powerful AI design tools. It also gives you more opportunities to boost your profit margins by integrating with a various sales channels, from marketplaces to ecommerce platforms.

Zazzle may be the better option if you want to start selling a wide range of custom products online without having to create and manage an online store. Since you sell through an existing marketplace, there’s a lot less back-end work to do, and you have instant access to a wide community of buyers.

Zazzle vs Printify: Pros and Cons

Printify Pros and Cons

Pros 👍

Hundreds of unique, customizable products, and lots of print options.
Excellent AI-powered design tools, and a fantastic mock-up generator.
Easy integrations with a broad selection of sales channels.
Convenient pop-up store creator for beginners in ecommerce.
Great range of global manufacturers.

Cons 👎

Product quality, pricing and shipping times based on your manufacturer.
Slightly slow customer service at times.

Zazzle Pros and Cons

Pros 👍

Quick setup with no startup costs, and instant access to an online marketplace
Immediate access to hundreds of thousands of global customers.
Lots of unique products, including skateboards and games.
Complete control over your own royalty rates.
Straightforward design tools.

Cons 👎

Lots of competition on the marketplace
No integrations with external sales channels
Limited design tools

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Zazzle vs Printify: The Core Features

Zazzle and Printify may both be print on demand solutions, but they’re very different in how they empower creators. Printify gives you access to a range of global manufacturers, and allows you to integrate the platform with your existing sales channels.

Zazzle, on the other hand, is a print on demand marketplace, where people can upload designs to grab the attention of a wide global audience.

Product Options and Customization

Both Printify and Zazzle excel at offering creators a broad selection of products to choose from. Printify offers everything from customizable clothes to coffee and beauty products. Zazzle allows companies to customize everything from party supplies to home accessories.

While I think the range provided by both companies is excellent, Printify definitely gives you a better design experience overall. You can customize products with various printing methods, and experiment with an AI art generator to create images. Plus, there are tons of free assets, like fonts and graphics, you can browse through too.

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AI Art Generator from Printify

Zazzle is a bit more restrictive about how you can customize your items. It mostly offers direct to garment (DTG) printing, and allows you to upload your own designs. If you want more freedom to really make your items stand out, Printify is the better pick.

Product Quality and Profitability

Most of the print on demand platforms I’ve used in the past offer relatively variable product quality. They usually implement quality control measures, but the quality of your print can vary based on numerous factors, including the type of file you upload.

The good news is that Zazzle and Printify both have a great reputation for providing reasonably consistent quality. However, with Printify, your results will vary depending on the manufacturer you choose (although you can read reviews on the platform to help you make the right choice).

With Zazzle, you’re more likely to end up with poor product quality if you upload a low-resolution image. On the plus side, both companies use excellent printing technology, and apply quality assurance standards rigorously.

From a profitability perspective, however, I think you can potentially earn more with Printify. Printify allows you to sell on more channels, and you’re not competing for attention on a marketplace, like you are with Zazzle.

Fulfillment and Sales Channels

As mentioned above, one of the biggest differences between Zazzle and Printify, is how you sell your items. Zazzle only gives you the option to upload designs to an existing marketplace. This is ideal if you don’t want the hassle of building and managing your own store. It also means you instantly get access to a huge audience of potential buyers.

However, you’ll be competing for sales with a lot more established companies, which can make it harder to scale. Printify allows you to create your own pop-up store for simple social media selling (for free).

Alternatively, you can connect Printify to everything from TikTok Shop, to Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, and Etsy. This gives you plenty of space to scale.

One thing I do love about both companies is that they offer global fulfillment, with both standard and expedited shipping options.

With Printify, however, you do have more freedom to sort through suppliers based on shipping costs and delivery times. Zazzle simply allows customers to choose whether they want standard or express delivery when they make a purchase.

Ease of Use and Customer Support

So, how easy are these solutions to use? With both Zazzle and Printify I had no issues getting everything set up in a matter of minutes. You can create an account for free, and start designing in seconds, with intuitive tooltips to guide you.

Printify might be slightly more complex to use for beginners, because there are more design tools to experiment with. Plus, if you’re selling products through your own store, you’ll need to create and manage your website, which might take slightly more work.

The biggest challenge I had with Zazzle was figuring out how I should set royalty rates to remain competitive, and make a profit.

For customer support, both companies provide businesses with a wide range of self-help resources, such as guides, tutorials, videos, blogs, and FAQs. Zazzle primarily offers direct support through email, although I did find a phone number for the team online.

Printify offers 24/7 live chat or email, or you can purchase extra design services and assistance from the team for an extra fee.

Zazzle vs Printify: Plans and Pricing

Another major difference between Zazzle and Printify is their pricing. Although Printify’s pricing for items and shipping is more variable, as it will depend on the manufacturer you choose, prices are usually quite low.

Zazzle, however, has absolutely no premium plans to choose from, and you don’t pay directly for products. You simply create a free account, and decide how much you want to sell your products for. However, Zazzle will take a 15% commission from every sale.

Printify does offer some premium plan options. Although you get all the features you need to build your brand on the free plan, upgrading to the $24.99 Premium plan will allow you to create more stores, and access a 20% discount on most products. The Enterprise plan, with custom pricing, gives you unlimited stores, and even more discounts.

Generally, I’d only recommend upgrading to a premium plan with Printify if you’re selling a lot of items. As your sales volume increases, these plans offer great value, allowing you to minimize your operating costs and increase your profit margins.

Notably, there are also extra services you can purchase from Printify, such as transfer services, and web development support.

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Printify vs Zazzle: Final Verdict

Overall, whether Printify or Zazzle is right for you depends on your specific needs. If you want to scale your business with omnichannel selling and great design tools, Printify is the best choice. It’s more flexible, powerful, and can deliver better product quality.

Alternatively, if you just want a quick way to start selling online without having to build and manage your own store, Zazzle might be the better option. It eliminates the need to create and run your own ecommerce site, but does expose you to a lot more competition from other sellers.