Print On Demand WITHOUT Shopify: 8 Alternatives
Last Updated on July 25, 2023 by John Cirelly
So you like the idea of print on demand, but don’t want to use Shopify? I don’t blame you. In this article I’ll explain all the ways you can do print on demand without Shopify.
Before we go any further, I explain all the different ways you can start a print on demand business in my Complete POD Guide. Check it out, it’s free.
Quick Overview
I’d like to start out by saying I am not psychic. So I am not 100% sure why you want to start print on demand without Shopify.
If you’re looking for a way to get into print on demand that doesn’t require you to pay money for a storefront, check out Weebly, or skip below to the Using Marketplaces Instead section.
If you want to still want run your own personal storefront, check out the alternatives below.
Shopify Alternatives For Print On Demand
Below is a list of alternative storefronts and hosting options that aren’t Shopify. I’ll do a light review of each, and explain why each one is good for print on demand.
Keep in mind, when using these platforms you’ll need to make sure that they integrate with your print on demand fulfillment partner. I love Printful, so I made sure each store below supports at least one Printful integration.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a great way to do print on demand without Shopify, especially if you’re already comfortable working in WordPress. WooCommerce is actually a free open source plugin that turns your WordPress website into a storefront.
Open source means anyone can code a plugin for the platform, today there are a little over 3000 plugins for WooCommerce.
With so much flexibility the sky is truly the limit for those who are tech savvy. The price of WooCommerce is free, but you’ll need to pay for your own WordPress hosting to host your website.
This is what I personally use to run my print on demand sites.
Pros and cons of using WooCommerce
Pros:
- Integrates with all major print on demand fulfillment companies.
- Is completely free.
- Strong open source community.
- 3000+ plugins.
- No restrictions (You have access to all the store’s code)
- Great for generating organic SEO traffic.
Cons:
- Has a steep learning curve for those new to WordPress.
- Requires you to own a domain and hosting provider (you should own your domain anyway)
- No dedicated support.
- You’re in charge of website maintenance and troubleshooting
Weebly
Weebly is my favorite non-technical way to do print on demand without Shopify. It’s super beginner friendly, and has a free tier that allows for unlimited items in your shop. In my opinion this is the best place to get started for people who aren’t as tech savvy but still want to have control over their own print on demand storefront.
Weebly makes it’s money by acting as a payment processor on their non-business tiers. Which means instead of a monthly payment, you’ll use Weebly to accept credit card payments and they get a cut of the sale for processing the purchase.
The print on demand integration is simple, just requiring you to connect both of your accounts together through a integration app.
Pros and cons of using Weebly
Pros:
- Free tier allows you to pay nothing to start your storefront.
- Allows for 3rd party embedded code (great for traffic and conversion tracking).
- Supports tons of add-ons through a simple App Center for one click downloads.
- 40+ simple responsive themes that look great on mobile.
- Allows for detailed SEO optimization, making it a great WordPress alternative as well.
- Chat, email, and forum support. Phone support for the paid tiers.
Cons:
- If you’re a web designer you will be limited in how much you can customize the theme.
- Has a blog feature for SEO, but isn’t quite as flexible as WordPress. Lacking some formatting features.
- Free tier is limited in their payment processor. Only business tiers can switch to PayPal.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a hosted storefront that is on par in terms of pricing and features with Shopify. Plans start at $29.99 per month, but unlike Weebly there are no transaction fees.
The platform has tons of built in features like real time shipping quotes, multi-currency support and SEO optimized blog support. BigCommerce strikes a balance between being easy to use, while also leaving to technical flexibility for those who like to dabble in code and customizations.
The paid tiers allow for stored credit cards for rebilling, persistent carts, and abandoned cart saver which “remembers” what shoppers put in their cart if they revisit the site.
BigCommerce is also definitely more flexible in terms of payment processing. While Shopify charges 2% for third party payment processors, BigCommerce offers integrations with 65 different payment gateways with no penalty.
Pros and cons of using BigCommerce
Pros:
- Pricing is competitive and nearly identical to Shopify.
- In-depth features for long term brand building, SEO, and blog posts.
- 24/7 live support.
- More flexible payment options. 65+ payment gateway choices.
- Consumer financing options available.
- 12 free storefront templates.
Cons:
- With more robust features, expect a steeper learning curve than with Weebly, but not as much as WooCommerce.
- Lacks the amount of international app support available compared to Shopify.
- Page builder could use more features for those more technically inclined.
- Cannot make site-level changes to the backend code.
- Free themes aren’t that great, many end up paying for a theme.
Squarespace
Squarespace has been a popular choice for getting into print on demand without Shopify due to its flexibility, price, and mass marketing efforts. While I’d personally rather build a website from scratch through WordPress, if I had to use a page builder I’d pick Squarespace.
Starting at $12 per month it’s an affordable way to start a print on demand store, and is an especially great choice if you plan on running a blog with a shop as one of your pages. Squarespace as a great selection of ready-to-go Extensions as well as solid amount of starting themes that quite frankly don’t suck.
The platform integrates directly with Printful as well as a small amount of other fulfillment services such as ShipBob and Printique. While the $12 tier has some great features, you’ll find yourself needing the $18 business tier if you want inventory management, auto shipping calculations, sales analytics.
Pros and cons of using Squarespace
Pros:
- Very easy to use.
- Affordable pricing, even more small stores.
- 100+ excellent templates and store designs.
- One of the best options to support blogs and stores on one platform.
- Mobile site editor for iOS and Android.
Cons:
- Not great for super large websites. Consider WordPress if you’re thinking about spinning up a 100+ page site.
- The editor is easy, but has its drawbacks making some tasks a bit longer to complete than necessary.
- Menu navigation needs a rework. Not great for larger complex site structures.
Storenvy
Storenvy (pronounced store envy) is a combination storefront and marketplace that strikes a unique balance between having your product promoted in their market, while still controlling your own little bubble of products.
You can start a store front and list 1000 items for free. If you make a sale from traffic you send to your store, you don’t pay any commission to Storenvy.
If someone finds your product on the Storenvy marketplace you will pay a 15% commission fee. You can adjust your pricing to be higher when on the marketplace to avoid cutting into your margins.
The $14.99 plan allows you to list 2000 products, remarket to abandoned carts, and link a custom domain. The $29.99 per month supports up to 5000 products and has more automated and custom discount features.
With that said Storenvy is a better choice for crafts and other handmade goods, but isn’t the best fit for a print on demand alternative to Shopify.
Pros and cons of using Storenvy
Pros:
- Can list 1000 items for free.
- Promo events market your items for as little as $0.50 per listing.
- Pricing is competitive.
Cons:
- Limits how many items you can list.
- Design relies on HTML knowledge. Very limited premade templates.
- You have to pay for additional exposure on their marketplace. Up to 25% commission in some instances.
Using Marketplaces Instead of Shopify
While having your own dedicated storefront has tons of benefits, you might want to consider posting your designs to different print on demand marketplaces. With marketplaces, there is no need for fulfillment integrations because it’s all done on that site.
Here’s a few quick difference between storefronts and marketplaces:
- Storefronts are better for running paid ads to.
- Storefronts usually cost money to list, where marketplaces do not.
- Storefronts require you to generate your own traffic.
- Customers naturally find you on marketplaces, and some markets promote designs that do well.
- Marketplaces do not require you to setup payment processing, inventory management, or own a domain name.
- You are limited to what you can customize on a third party marketplace.
- You sell directly next to your competitors on a marketplace.
- Storefronts give the most amount of control over traffic, and allow for email collection and other remarketing opportunities.
If you’d like to learn more about the differences between the two methods of selling with print on demand, check out my print on demand guide.
With all that said, let’s dive into three best marketplaces you can use for print on demand without having a Shopify store.
Merch By Amazon
Merch By Amazon or MBA for short, it one of the worlds largest print on demand market places. Simply upload your design and it will be on the worlds largest ecommerce marketplace.
You do have to register and get approved, which can take a bit of time but in all honestly its totally worth it. MBA works in a tiered system, where you “level up” every time you sell an item.
Tier 10 is where you start, meaning you’re limited to 10 designs you can upload. Once you get a sale or two, your limit increases. This is a playful gamification to help keep you motivated, but also stop people from spamming crappy designs.
Redbubble
Redbubble is another great print on demand print on demand site that receives millions of visits per year. You can create multiple mini storefronts quickly which allows you to make niche specific stores and brands without limiting your total creative scope.
Unlike MBA you won’t need to fill out an application, simply sign up and connect your payout information to get started.
The platform also offers stickers, mugs, pillows, and dozens of other products you can place your design on. With a little consistency and keyword research you can have a nice little stream of revenue coming in every month from Redbubble.
Teespring
Teespring is the final marketplace on this list, which is one of my favorite of the three. Teespring offers a fast and easy way to start publishing designs so you can started getting paid.
After a simple sign up process you’ll be on your way. Teespring has a walkthrough type of tutorial when you first sign up. It’s honestly so easy I’m not going to cover it here. Teespring promotes your designs across their marketplace, but they go above and beyond to promote designs that are doing well.
Since its in their best interest to make you a sale, Teespring will actually send out emails, abandoned cart reminders, and even paid display ads with your designs in an attempt to generate more sales, which I think is pretty awesome.
Do I have to choose one marketplace?
Nope. The cool thing is you can actually “stack” these marketplaces and sell on all of them. Your designs are not exclusive to just one market. While I outlined the best three, there are a half dozen smaller sites that you could also publish on.
Even better, once you get the ball rolling you can use a tool like PODConnect to automate the entire process. This allows you to publish all of your designs to a dozen or so marketplaces in just a few clicks.
Conclusion
Starting print on demand without Shopify isn’t impossible. Some might argue these alternatives are even better.
If you’re a nerd who isn’t afraid of DNS servers or HTML, a hosted WordPress store with WooCommerce is a great fit.
If you’re just an average joe who doesn’t want to do a bunch of tech stuff, but still wants an awesome storefront for their brand, you can’t go wrong with Weebly.
And lastly, if you want to use other marketplaces to post your designs, Merch By Amazon, Teespring, and Redbubble are three of the best places to get started.
Questions? Comments? Wicked guitar solos? Feel free to share them with me.
