Is Printful or SamCart better?

Neither clearly leads. Printful starts at Free and SamCart at $79/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Printful or SamCart?

Printful has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Printful and $79/month for SamCart.

Does Printful or SamCart run on more platforms?

Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

Can I use Printful for free?

Yes. Printful has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SamCart starts at $79/month.

What is Printful best used for?

Printful is most often used for print on demand fulfilment for apparel and merchandise, attaching a fulfilment backend to an existing online store. Of those, print on demand fulfilment for apparel and merchandise and attaching a fulfilment backend to an existing online store are not what SamCart is typically brought in for.

What can Printful do that SamCart cannot?

Printful covers Print on demand, Custom products, Dropshipping, Automated fulfillment.

E-Commerce · head to head

Printful vs SamCart

Printful

E-Commerce

Print on demand dropshipping service

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

SamCart

E-Commerce

The number one checkout platform

From: $79/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Printful has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Printful the Growth plan is $24.99 a month and only becomes free once a store reaches $12,000 a year in sales; SamCart no feature differentiation between CORE and PRO tiers, pricing tier based on expected transaction volume only
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Printful and SamCart actually diverge.

Attributes where Printful and SamCart differ
Attribute	Printful	SamCart
Starting price	Free	$79/month
Pricing model	freemium	subscription
Free tier	Yes	No
Founded	2013	Unknown

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Printful

Print on demand
Custom products
Dropshipping
Automated fulfillment
Quality control
Inventory sync
Bulk orders
Designer tool

Only in SamCart

Nothing recorded that Printful does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Printful

Print on demand fulfilment for apparel and merchandisenot SamCart
Attaching a fulfilment backend to an existing online storenot SamCart

SamCart

Increasing average order value through automated order bumps and upsellsnot Printful
Recovering failed subscription payments with retry logic and dunning managementnot Printful
Generating sales pages, emails, and ads with AI from product descriptionsnot Printful
Sending cart abandonment recovery emails without customer re-entrynot Printful
Migrating existing customer bases from competing platforms without data lossnot Printful

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Printful

The Growth plan is $24.99 a month and only becomes free once a store reaches $12,000 a year in sales
Product discounts of up to 33% are tied to that paid plan, so the lowest unit costs are unavailable to small sellers
The free plan allows one sample order a month, capped at 3 items
Shipping and taxes are calculated separately from the quoted product price

SamCart

No feature differentiation between CORE and PRO tiers, pricing tier based on expected transaction volume only
Transaction fees of 2.9% plus $0.30 apply to all plans

Pricing, plan by plan

Printful

Free

Free PlanFree
- Access to 548 custom products
- Unlimited stores
- 10 Quick Stores
Growth Plan$24.99/month
- All Free features
- Up to 33% off product pricing
- 9% off branding
Growth Plan (Alternative)Free
- Free at $12K/year in sales
Enterprise Plan$null/month
- All Growth features
- Dedicated Success Manager
- Custom solutions

SamCart

$79/month

CORE$79/month
- All features included
PRO$199/month
- All features included

Which should you pick?

Choose Printful if

You need print on demand.
You want to start without paying.
You also want custom products.

Printful review

Choose SamCart if

Nothing in the data separates SamCart from Printful on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

SamCart review

Questions people ask

Is Printful or SamCart better?: Neither clearly leads. Printful starts at Free and SamCart at $79/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Printful or SamCart?: Printful has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Printful and $79/month for SamCart.
Does Printful or SamCart run on more platforms?: Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Printful for free?: Yes. Printful has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SamCart starts at $79/month.
What is Printful best used for?: Printful is most often used for print on demand fulfilment for apparel and merchandise, attaching a fulfilment backend to an existing online store. Of those, print on demand fulfilment for apparel and merchandise and attaching a fulfilment backend to an existing online store are not what SamCart is typically brought in for.
What can Printful do that SamCart cannot?: Printful covers Print on demand, Custom products, Dropshipping, Automated fulfillment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Printful: Does Printful have a free plan?

Yes, Printful offers a free plan with access to 548 custom products, unlimited stores, 10 Quick Stores, free design tools, and 24/7 support. Subscribers get 20% off sample orders.

Source

SamCart: How much does SamCart cost?

SamCart offers two subscription tiers: CORE at $79/month and PRO at $199/month. Both plans include all features with no restrictions between tiers.

Source

Printful: How much does Printful's Growth plan cost?

Printful's Growth plan costs $24.99 per month, or is free if you reach $12,000 in annual sales. It includes up to 33% off product pricing, 9% off branding, and 25% off sample orders.

Source

SamCart: What are SamCart's transaction fees?

SamCart charges a transaction fee of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction on all payments processed through the platform.

Source

Printful: Does Printful charge for shipping and taxes?

Yes, product pricing includes the blank item, one design placement, and fulfillment. Shipping varies by product type, order size, and destination. Taxes are based on customer location. Additional charges apply for extra print placements ($0.99-$2.49 per label), embroidery digitization ($2.95-$6.50), and premium images ($1 per use).

Source

SamCart: Does SamCart offer a free trial?

Yes, SamCart offers a 7-day free trial available for both the CORE and PRO plans, allowing customers to test the platform before committing to a subscription.

Source

SamCart: Does SamCart offer migration services from other platforms?

Yes, SamCart offers done-for-you migration services for customers switching from Kajabi, ThriveCart, ClickFunnels, Shopify, and Teachable. Specific pricing for migration services is not listed on the main page.

Source

Printful vs SamCart

Printful

SamCart

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Printful

Only in SamCart

What people use each for

Printful

SamCart

Where each one falls short

Printful

SamCart

Pricing, plan by plan

Printful

SamCart

Which should you pick?

Choose Printful if

Choose SamCart if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Printful

More on SamCart

Keep looking

Other head to heads