Meta: In this comparison guide, I put Printful and Contrado head-to-head to see how they compare in terms of features, pricing, value, and product quality.

Print on demand has become one of the most exciting and appealing new business models for the evolving creator economy. It seems like everyone is now on the hunt for the perfect print on demand vendor, to help them create and sell unique, and custom products, without the risk.

In the last couple of years, I’ve reviewed dozens of print on demand platforms, and both Printful, and Contrado have impressed me in their own ways. Printful is an incredibly versatile platform, offering integrations with a wide range of sales channels, powerful AI-driven design tools, and hundreds of products to choose from.

Contrado may be a smaller company, but I’ve also been blown away by its rapid fulfillment and production times, exceptional product quality, and range of unique customizable products. So, how do you choose between the two options? I put them head to head, to help you make the right decision.

Printful vs Contrado: How the Platforms Work

Contrado and Printful have a lot of similarities. They both produce products in-house, so you don’t have to worry about inconsistencies with order quality or delivery times. They also both give companies the option to purchase products with no minimum order quantity, or in bulk.

However, there’s a slight difference between how both solutions work.

How Printful Works

One of the reasons I love Printful as a print-on-demand provider, is that its platform is so easy to use. All you need to do is sign up for a free account, and you’ll gain access to a comprehensive dashboard where you can customize products from Printful’s massive library, track data, automate order fulfillment, and even leverage educational resources.

Printful allows companies to design highly unique products with their custom design tools, which also feature access to a range of free resources, like clipart and graphics. Plus, you can create lifelike mockups for your product pages (something you can’t do with Contrado).

Once you’ve created your products, you can automatically upload them to virtually any sales channel or sales platform, thanks to Printful’s huge collection of integrations. This makes it easy to automate everything from publishing new product pages, to managing orders.

Once you’ve chosen your integration, and set everything up, orders placed on your online storefront will be automatically transferred to Printful.

They then handle the process of creating and shipping orders for you. Printful gives you full control over everything, and even allows you to track each order, so you can keep customers up to date on delivery times.

How Contrado Works

Contrado is a little different. There are a few ways you can use the platform as a print-on-demand vendor. The first is to simply create products and order them manually from the Contrado website. You don’t need an account to do this.

All you need to do is visit Contrado’s product library, choose from one of its 400+ products, and add your designs using Contrado’s intuitive design tools.

You can choose your delivery speed (for certain orders), and decide how many products you want to order on the checkout page. Notably, Contrado does offer access to discounts on bulk orders, and wholesale purchases.

Alternatively, if you want a more “automated” experience, you can integrate the Contrado dropshipping app with your Shopify store. This is the only way to access a complete “dashboard” for Contrado, where you can track the products you’ve created, monitor the status of an order, and track shipping journeys.

The Shopify integration does make running your print on demand store a little simpler, but it’s the only integration that Contrado offers, which in my opinion, gives Printful a serious edge. On the plus side, with Contrado, you still get access to great design tools and free graphics.

Additionally, the company offers fantastic production and delivery times, particularly if you’re located in the UK (which is where the Contrado headquarters is).

Plus, Contrado has a “marketplace” where artists can showcase their products alongside a range of other independent creators.

The Pros and Cons of Printful and Contrado

Personally, I’m a big fan of both Contrado and Printful. They’re both excellent platforms in their own right. However, there are downsides with any print on demand solution. After experimenting with both platforms, here are the pros and cons that stood out for me.

Printful Pros and Cons

Contrado Pros and Cons

Printful vs Contrado: Core Features

Since both Printful and Contrado are print on demand solutions, they have a lot of features in common. Both solutions have their own design tools, which are very easy to use, and offer access to a range of fonts, color options, patterns, and free designs.

However, it’s worth noting that Printful’s mockup generator is more powerful than Contrado’s, allowing you to create “lifestyle” shots of your products that are great for product pages.

Contrado and Printful also both offer bulk and wholesale purchasing options, as well as access to handy educational resources, and branding options (like custom labels). They even both offer express and standard shipping options, which is fantastic if you want to impress your customers.

However, there are some unique features on both platforms that stand out.

Printful Unique Features

• Advanced design tools, with AI guidelines and realistic mockups.
• AI-driven tools for quality assurance.
• Integrations with dozens of sales channels.
• Promo maker for advertising.
• Merchshare service for collaborative product creation
• Embroidery as a production method
• Membership packages with extra benefits
• Specialist services like warehousing

Contrado Unique Features

• Specialist fabric printing services
• Access to unique labels, tags, and samples
• Express 1-2 day delivery in the UK
• Artist marketplace where you can showcase products without a store
• Advertising for sellers on Contrado’s marketplace
• Discounts for students and wholesale buyers
• Highly sustainable production processes
• Support for limited edition designs with a certificate of authenticity

Printful vs Contrado: Pricing

One of the major differences I noticed between Printful and Contrado is that both companies take a very different approach to pricing. Although you can get started with both organizations for free, the cost of the products on Contrado is higher, and Printful is the only company to offer access to “memberships” with additional benefits.

Printful Pricing and Fees

Printful is completely free to use, with no monthly subscription fees. The company also gives you a direct insight into how much a product will cost as you’re customizing it within the mockup generator, which is a nice touch.

Some of Printful’s products can be expensive, particularly if you want to add branding elements, like inside labels ($2.49 each).

However, the overall cost of the products and shipping fees are actually quite a bit lower than what you’ll get from Contrado. Additionally, Printful also offers companies the opportunity to take advantage of “membership” accounts.

Both membership options are free for companies making a certain amount of revenue per year. You can sign up for “Growth” if you make $12k a year, and “Business” if you make over $60k. There’s also the option to buy a Growth membership for $24.99 per month.

• Growth: Up to 20% off DTG products, 7% branding discounts, unlimited stores per account, 30% off other products, and product transfer support.
• Business: Up to 22% off DTG products, 9% branding discounts, 33% off other products, larger front prints for some products, free embroidery digitization and priority support.

You can also access other services from Printful for a fee, such as product photography and warehousing services, all offered on a per-quote basis.

Contrado Pricing and Fees

Like Printful, Contrado is free to use, regardless of whether you’re using the Shopify integration, ordering products directly, or leveraging their marketplace. You only pay for the price of your products, and shipping if you’re not going to charge your customers for delivery.

However, Contrado’s products are a lot more expensive than the ones you can get on Printful. A basic unisex shirt, for instance, will cost you $32.95, without delivery.

The shipping prices can vary too, ranging from £2.49 for standard delivery in the UK, to $9.99 for standard delivery to the US. Notably, though, Contrado does offer some discounts to certain customers. For instance, you can get a 40% discount as a wholesale vendor, and a 20% discount as a student. Still, I think Contrado is a lot more expensive than Printful overall.

Printful vs Contrado: Integrations

One of the reasons I recommend Printful as a print on demand solution is that it integrates with so many different sales channels and platforms. There are connections for social media channels like TikTok Shop, marketplaces like Etsy, Walmart, and Amazon, and a host of ecommerce platforms, from Wix, to Shopify and Squarespace.

Contrado only gives you one integration option, with its Shopify dropshipping app. Other than that, the only way you can sell through Contrado is to order products and ship them to customers yourself, or list your items on the Contrado marketplace.

The good news is that the marketplace eliminates the cost and complexity of managing and building your own store, but it does mean you’ll be competing with a lot of other independent artists for sales.

Printful vs Contrado: Product Designs and Quality

Print quality and product options are two areas where both Contrado and Printful excel. Printful gives you hundreds of different products to choose from, as well as a range of printing options, such as embroidery, DTG, and all-over print.

It implements comprehensive quality assurance methods, and even uses AI tools to make sure designs look fantastic on every product.

In fact, Printful has an incredible 99% satisfaction rate, ranking it above most of the other print on demand providers I’ve reviewed. You can even order discounted samples, to make sure that your products live up to your expectations.

Contrado also has an excellent range of products to choose from, such as custom fabrics, men and women’s clothing, children’s clothing, accessories, and more. You can even create custom cookware, and kids accessories like teddy bears.

Although I couldn’t find a way to order any discounted samples from Contrado, the overall reviews I’ve read about the company’s products are excellent. Customers say that every product comes with crisp, beautifully printed designs, and luxurious materials.

Overall, if you’re looking for exceptional quality, it’s hard to go wrong with either Contrado or Printful – but Printful makes it easier to test your products for yourself.

Printful vs Contrado: Customer Support

Finally, let’s look at customer support. Personally, I think Printful’s customer support is fantastic. It offers access to a huge selection of resources if you’re looking for a quick solution to common problems. The Printful website is packed full of guides, videos, blogs, FAQs, and more.

If you want support from an expert, you can reach out to the team via contact form or email. However, priority support is reserved for people on Printful’s “Business” membership plan.

Contrado also has a decent “help center”, but it doesn’t offer nearly as much guidance as Printful’s self-help resources. You can really only find basic information about optimizing your designs and selling through Shopify.

Additionally, although live chat, email, and phone support is available, the hours are restrictive for people outside of the UK. In general, you’ll only be able to get in touch between 6pm and 2:30am EST if you live in the United States. If you’re in the UK, however, you should be able to access support throughout normal business hours.

Printful vs Contrado: The Final Verdict

Both Printful and Contrado are excellent options for print on demand vendors. They both offer access to a variety of customizable products, deliver excellent quality, and even have decent design tools. However, Printful is my favorite platform overall.

Though Contrado has some unique features, like a pre-existing marketplace which stops you from having to launch your own ecommerce store, Printful has stronger design tools, customer service options, and integrates with a wider range of platforms.

I’d recommend Printful for anyone in search of a scalable and reliable print on demand solution. However, if you’re looking for an easy way to sell high-quality custom items, Contrado could be a good pick, particularly if you’re located in the UK.