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.
| Lulu | Printful | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | None |
| Runs on | Web | Not stated |
| Covers | Self-Publishing, Merch & Print on Demand | Merch & Print on Demand, Digital Products & Storefronts |
| 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 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
Print on demand merch with no inventory to buy
Printful prints and ships when an order comes in, so nothing sits in your hallway. Quality is dependable and the catalogue is wide. Margins are thin unless you price above what feels comfortable.
Our note
The margin is the thing to check before designing anything. Work out the per-item cost and what you would honestly pay for the shirt yourself, because print on demand is where a lot of creators discover their audience will not pay $35 for a tee.
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.