Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover merch & print on demand. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Gelato | Lulu | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | None | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
| Covers | Merch & Print on Demand, Digital Products & Storefronts | Self-Publishing, Merch & Print on Demand |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Print on demand with local production
Gelato routes each order to whichever of its partner printers sits nearest the buyer, so a shirt ordered in Berlin is made in Germany rather than shipped from Ohio. Delivery is faster and the carbon story is better. Its catalogue is narrower than Printful's, and the subscription that carries the real discounts is a separate cost.
Only on this side
Print and sell a book with no minimum order
Lulu prints one copy at a time and will drop-ship it under your own branding, so a creator can sell a workbook from their own site without holding stock or handing Amazon the customer. An API connects it to Shopify or a custom checkout. Print costs come out of your margin, and a colour interior turns a cheap book into an expensive one.
Our note
Choose Lulu over Amazon KDP when you want to sell direct and keep the buyer's email address, and KDP when you want to be found by people already shopping for books. Plenty of creators do both with the same file.
Only on this side
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.