Shopify vs Etsy for Print‑on‑Demand in 2025: A Comprehensive Comparison

Both platforms are popular among POD sellers, but they work very differently. In this article, we’ll compare Shopify and Etsy in a conversational, easy-to-understand way — perfect for both beginners and experienced sellers. We’ll cover everything from pricing and ease of use to integrations, scalability, and more, all with the latest info for 2025.

By the end, you’ll know the key differences (and similarities) between Shopify and Etsy for POD, see a side-by-side comparison of features, and understand the pros and cons of each. Let’s dive in!

Quick Comparison: Shopify vs Etsy (At a Glance)

To kick things off, here’s a side-by-side overview of how Shopify and Etsy stack up on major points important to print-on-demand sellers:

Table: Key differences between Shopify and Etsy for POD businesses. Each platform has its own strengths – Shopify offers more control and features, while Etsy provides simplicity and a built-in market.

Pricing and Fees

For many POD sellers, cost is a make-or-break factor. Shopify and Etsy have very different pricing models:

• Shopify Costs: Shopify is a subscription-based platform. In 2025, the Basic Shopify plan costs around $39 per month (after a short trial). This gives you a fully functional store. In addition, Shopify charges payment processing fees on each sale (if you use Shopify Payments, that's about 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on the Basic plan). The good news: Shopify does not charge per listing or per transaction fees beyond the payment processor. So you can list unlimited products without extra listing fees, and if you use their payment gateway, you avoid any additional transaction surcharge. (If you choose an external payment gateway like PayPal, Shopify applies a small additional fee, e.g. 2% on Basic.)

• Etsy Costs: Etsy works on a pay-as-you-go model with several small fees. There’s no monthly fee to have an Etsy shop (you can open a shop free). However, Etsy charges $0.20 to list an item and another $0.20 when that item sells (each listing lasts 4 months before it needs renewal). On each sale, Etsy takes a 6.5% transaction fee (on the total order amount, including shipping). Plus, there’s a payment processing fee (~3% + $0.25 in the US) for handling the credit card transaction. All told, for a given sale you might be losing roughly 10% or more in Etsy fees (6.5% + 3% + $0.25, not including the listing fee). And if Etsy’s Offsite Ads helped bring in the order, they charge an extra 12%–15% on that sale as well (Etsy automatically enrolls shops earning over $10k/year in this advertising program). These fees can add up quickly – one analysis noted that altogether Etsy fees can eat 20–25% of a sale in some cases.

So which is cheaper? It depends on your sales volume and preferences:

• For a brand-new seller with low sales, Etsy’s no-monthly-fee model is very budget-friendly. You pay small fees only when you list and when you sell, which keeps upfront costs near zero.
• For a seller who is doing higher volume, those Etsy fees (especially the ~10%+ on every sale) might surpass Shopify’s flat monthly fee. Shopify can become more cost-effective as you scale because you’re not giving a big cut of each sale beyond payment processing. After you cover Shopify’s monthly $39, additional sales only incur ~3% processing, which often ends up lower than Etsy’s cut on a large order value.

Example: If you sold $1000 of products in a month: On Etsy you might lose ~$100+ in various fees. On Shopify (Basic plan), you’d pay $39 + roughly $30 in processing = ~$69. That’s a simplified example, but it shows the tipping point where Shopify’s fixed cost model can save money as you grow.

Note: Shopify does have higher-tier plans (Shopify at $105/month, Advanced at $399/month) which lower the credit card fees slightly, but those are usually only needed for large businesses. Etsy has an optional Etsy Plus at $10/month (for some bonus listing credits and customization options) and Pattern ($15/month) which lets you create a standalone website connected to your Etsy shop. Most POD sellers on Etsy won’t need those initially.

Setup and Ease of Use

When it comes to getting started, Etsy and Shopify offer very different experiences:

• Etsy Setup: Etsy is known for its simplicity. You can create an account and set up a basic Etsy shop in a matter of minutes. The process is straightforward: you register, name your shop, add a few listings, and you’re basically live. No need to worry about hosting or web design. The platform is very beginner-friendly, which is great if you want to start selling ASAP without technical steps. For a POD seller, setting up on Etsy might involve connecting your Etsy shop to a print-on-demand partner (more on that later), but the shop itself requires minimal configuration. In short, Etsy’s setup is simple and quick – perfect if you’re not very techy or just want to test an idea without a big time investment.

• Shopify Setup: With Shopify, you’re building your own website, so setup is a bit more involved (though still newbie-friendly). Shopify will guide you through a series of steps: choosing a store name and domain, picking a theme (design template), organizing your product catalog, setting up payments and shipping, etc. It’s a lengthier but well-guided process. You don’t need coding skills, but you will spend more time on setup compared to Etsy. Think of it like this: on Shopify, you’re creating an entire online store from scratch, whereas on Etsy you’re joining a pre-made marketplace. The upside is that Shopify’s guided setup lets you tailor more things to your needs (for example, adding pages, deciding your layout, etc.). Overall, it might take a few evenings of work to fully polish a Shopify POD store (adding all your designs, tweaking the look), but Shopify provides prompts and help along the way.

In summary, Etsy wins for ease and speed of initial setup – you can be up and running fast. Shopify requires a bit more elbow grease to get started, but it’s still quite user-friendly for the amount of control it gives you. Both platforms are designed to be usable even if you’re not a developer.

Customization and Branding

Customization is where Shopify really shines and Etsy has limitations. This is a crucial point for POD businesses that want to build a brand:

• Shopify Customization: When you use Shopify, you have your own storefront on your own domain, and you can make it look and feel however you want. Shopify offers a wide selection of website themes (templates), including 12 free themes and 160+ paid themes as of late 2023. You can customize layouts, colors, fonts, and more, often via simple drag-and-drop editors. Want a certain page structure, or a unique logo placement, or a specific color scheme to match your brand? Shopify lets you do that. You can even edit the site’s code (HTML/CSS) if you’re more advanced, or hire developers for custom work, but it’s not required. Essentially, Shopify allows extensive branding – when customers visit your Shopify store, it can be made to look like your brand’s website, not a cookie-cutter marketplace. This is ideal for POD sellers building a memorable brand (for example, a niche t-shirt brand with its own vibe).

• Etsy Customization: By contrast, Etsy shops have a standardized look. Every Etsy shop is on the Etsy website and follows Etsy’s overall layout. You do get to personalize elements like your shop’s banner image, your logo/profile picture, and you can write a shop description. These help, but the overall design is Etsy’s design – product pages, search results, and shop sections all have the same Etsy format for every seller. You cannot change the color scheme or fundamentally alter the layout. Etsy deliberately keeps things consistent across the marketplace. This uniformity makes it easier for buyers to browse (they know where everything is), but it limits how much your shop can stand out visually. From a branding perspective, your Etsy shop will always feel somewhat “Etsy-like.” Your business name will be there, but the URL is etsy.com/shop/YourShopName and Etsy’s logo and headers are always present.

What does this mean for POD sellers? If your goal is to create a unique brand identity (with a custom website, branded packaging, etc.), Shopify gives you far more freedom. Etsy is more for a marketplace presence, where branding is secondary to the product itself. Some successful POD sellers use Etsy to get initial sales but later launch a Shopify store to build their brand further – it depends on your strategy. As one POD expert put it, selling on Shopify is like running your own store, while selling on Etsy is like having a stall in a huge marketplace – great exposure, but you’re one of many and the “store” itself isn’t uniquely yours.

Built-In Traffic and Marketing

One of the biggest differences between Shopify and Etsy is how customers find you. This boils down to marketplace traffic vs. self-driven marketing:

• Etsy’s Built-In Audience: Etsy is a well-known online marketplace, and it brings the shoppers to you. By listing your POD products on Etsy, you tap into Etsy’s existing millions of buyers who search the site for interesting items. In fact, Etsy reported over 91 million active buyers in Q3 2023. That’s a huge pool of potential customers browsing for products. Etsy also has its own search engine. You’ll benefit from appearing in Etsy search results, categories, and even on Google searches where Etsy often ranks highly. Additionally, Etsy runs marketing on behalf of sellers in some cases (like the Offsite Ads program that can put your listings on Google or social media ads). For a new POD seller with no audience, Etsy can offer instant visibility you’d otherwise have to work hard to get. You can also use Etsy Ads (pay-per-click ads within Etsy) to boost your listings’ visibility in search results. The key point: on Etsy, traffic comes from the marketplace. Your challenge is to stand out among other sellers, but you don’t have to single-handedly attract people to the site – Etsy’s brand and SEO does a lot of that for you.

• Shopify’s Self-Driven Traffic: Shopify, being your own website, does not have a built-in shopper base. If you make a Shopify store and do nothing, you’ll likely have zero visitors because no one knows about your site yet. You are responsible for driving traffic to your Shopify POD store. This means investing time (or money) into marketing and SEO: promoting on social media, running Facebook/Instagram/TikTok ads, optimizing your site for Google search, building an email list, etc. The advantage is you have full control over marketing – you can create a blog for SEO, you can do email campaigns to past customers, you can tweak your site to improve conversion – but all of that is on you to execute. Shopify does provide marketing tools (and a massive App Store with over 1,500 marketing-related apps) to help find and convert customers. But unlike Etsy, there’s no marketplace funneling buyers to you by default.

In short, Etsy provides a head start with traffic, which is fantastic for testing products and getting early sales. Shopify requires hustle to generate traffic but gives you more powerful tools to retain and remarket to those customers. Many experienced sellers actually use both: Etsy to leverage the marketplace and Shopify to build their own brand site, diversifying traffic streams. “It’s best not to have all your eggs in one basket,” one Reddit POD seller advised – using Etsy’s audience and growing your own site can provide stability if one source changes.

Finally, consider customer ownership: On Etsy, you don’t get as much direct access to customer info for remarketing (you can’t, for example, easily collect emails for a newsletter from your Etsy customers – Etsy limits how you can contact them off-platform). As one seller put it, “the people who buy from you [on Etsy] are not your customers. They are Etsy’s.” With Shopify, you own the customer relationship: you get their email (unless they opt out), you can reach out for promotions, and they come directly to your brand’s site next time. This difference in customer relationship management is key for long-term marketing and brand loyalty.

Integrations with POD Providers

As a print-on-demand business, you’ll likely use services like Printful, Printify, Gelato, etc. to fulfill your products. So how well do Shopify and Etsy integrate with these POD providers?

• Shopify POD Integrations: Shopify is known for its robust app ecosystem, and this includes top-notch integration with POD services. Apps for Printful, Printify, Gelato, Gooten, and many others are available in the Shopify App Store. When you connect, these apps will let you create products in your Shopify store that are linked to the POD provider. Orders that come in can be automatically sent to the POD service for fulfillment, and even tracking can sync back to Shopify. The process can be very streamlined: for example, using the Printful app on Shopify, you can push a new t-shirt design to your store in a few clicks, and when someone orders it, Printful automatically prints and ships it, updating the Shopify order with tracking. Shopify’s platform is designed to work seamlessly with POD and other dropshipping models. This means less manual work for you day-to-day – the tech handles a lot of the heavy lifting.

• Etsy POD Integrations: Etsy does allow POD, but it’s a bit more limited in terms of integration. Printful has an official integration with Etsy (and some others like Printify can work with Etsy through integrations or third-party tools). With Printful+Etsy, for instance, you can connect your Etsy shop to Printful so that orders sync for fulfillment. However, sellers often note that the process is not as smooth as Shopify’s. You might need to manually adjust or double-check certain things. For example, when you add new products, Etsy’s interface for product variants and personalization might need extra attention. Inventory management is simpler on Shopify since it’s your own system, whereas on Etsy you might occasionally update stock or options manually if something doesn’t sync perfectly. Additionally, Etsy’s rules require that if you use a production partner (like Printful), you disclose that in your listings. It’s completely allowed – Etsy has a category for “production partner” – but it emphasizes transparency that you are the designer and the item is made by a partner. Overall, you can successfully run a POD store on Etsy and many do, but expect a bit more hands-on tweaking with your POD provider compared to the plug-and-play nature on Shopify.

In terms of available integrations, Shopify simply has far more choices (because anyone can develop an app for Shopify). Etsy’s integration options are fewer because it’s a closed marketplace system with only select partners. If you plan to use a less common POD supplier, check if they support Etsy. Major ones like Printful and Printify do support Etsy, while Shopify will support almost any provider one way or another (either via official app or using order forwarding by email/API, etc.).

Scalability and Control

Thinking long-term, which platform can grow with you as your POD business expands? And how much control do you have over the experience?

• Scalability with Shopify: Shopify is built to scale from a one-person startup to a large e-commerce operation. You can start on a basic plan and, if you grow, upgrade to higher plans or even Shopify Plus (enterprise). You can add unlimited products, and your site is your own so there’s no specific limit on how many sales you can do. You can also extend functionality endlessly with apps or custom code. Need to add a loyalty program, or a custom product configurator, or integrate with an ERP when you become big? Shopify will have solutions for it. Your independent site can evolve as you see fit. Also, because you control the branding and domain, you can create a unique customer experience that keeps people coming back. Essentially, Shopify gives you the control to optimize and tweak every aspect of your business – from site design to marketing funnels – which is crucial for scaling. An example often cited is how even very large brands (like Gymshark, a fitness apparel brand) started small on Shopify and scaled to thousands of orders a day, all on the same platform. While a POD niche t-shirt shop might not become the next Gymshark, the point is you won’t outgrow Shopify easily. It’s your own website, so you have the freedom to grow it.

• Scalability with Etsy: Etsy is fantastic for small businesses and side-hustles, but it can show its limits as you grow. There’s no way to remove Etsy’s branding or constraints, even if you become a top seller. You also can’t add features to Etsy’s site – you’re essentially renting a booth in their marketplace. Many sellers find that Etsy is ideal up to a point, but if they want to expand their product line beyond what fits Etsy’s handmade/vintage ethos or if they want to create a specialized shopping experience, they need their own site. Etsy also has some limits that can affect scaling: for example, Etsy can shut down shops that violate policies (with or without warning), so there’s a platform risk when you rely solely on Etsy. If you inadvertently run afoul of a rule or get too many bad reviews, you could lose your entire shop (and customer base) overnight because you don’t own the platform. On your own Shopify site, you are the platform (as long as you pay the hosting bill, your site is up). Furthermore, high-volume selling on Etsy might attract more fees (like mandatory offsite ads fee as mentioned) and more competition (successful products often inspire many imitators on marketplaces). In a nutshell, Etsy is less flexible for scaling – it’s designed to keep things simple and consistent for a community of small sellers. It’s excellent for what it is, but if your goal is to build a large standalone e-commerce business, you’ll likely need to establish your own site at some stage.

• Control: Control goes hand-in-hand with scalability. Shopify gives you full control over your store policies, the customer experience, site navigation, data analytics, etc. Etsy controls a lot of that for you – which can be a relief when you’re starting (no need to figure out everything), but can be frustrating later (can’t change the user interface or checkout process, can’t easily upsell customers with an app, etc.). One clear example of control is customer data: with Shopify, you get to see and export your customer list, making it easy to retarget customers with emails or ads. With Etsy, you have limited access to customers (you might get their shipping address and an Etsy username/email for transaction purposes, but Etsy strongly restricts how you can use that info for marketing). So as a brand, you control less of the relationship on Etsy.

Customer Service and Support

From the perspective of you as a seller, what help is available on each platform when you encounter issues or questions?

• Shopify Support: Shopify provides 24/7 support for sellers. This includes live chat and email support (and in some cases phone support, depending on your plan/region). If something goes wrong with your store (say a bug with the checkout, or you need help setting up a feature), you can reach out anytime and usually get a prompt response. Shopify also has a large online help center with guides and an active community forum where you can ask questions. Many third-party Shopify apps also have their own support if you use them. Overall, Shopify’s merchant support is considered quite robust — which makes sense, since you are the customer of Shopify (you pay them monthly). They want to keep you happy.

• Etsy Support: Etsy’s support for sellers exists, but it’s not as immediate. Etsy has a detailed Seller Handbook and help articles, and a community forum where sellers help each other. To contact Etsy support directly, you typically start with email or an online ticket; they have introduced chat support for some issues, but it’s not 24/7 live chat in the same way. Many sellers have noted that Etsy’s support can be slow or hit-or-miss in responsiveness. Part of this is because Etsy has millions of sellers, and they don’t charge a big monthly fee to provide extensive personal support to each (their resources are spread out). If a customer opens a case against your shop (for example, a dispute), Etsy might step in as a mediator — experiences here vary, with some sellers frustrated by dispute resolutions. In general, expect self-service support on Etsy (help articles, community advice) to be your first resort, with direct support being a bit less accessible than on Shopify.

One more aspect of “support” is community vs. independence: Etsy has a seller community where you can learn from peers (since everyone is on the same platform). Shopify merchants are more independent, though there are many external communities and YouTube tutorials etc. to learn from. It’s easier to find Etsy-specific discussions for troubleshooting Etsy issues, whereas Shopify issues might be more about which app or customization you’re using.

Analytics and Business Tools

Data and tools can help you grow your POD business. Here’s how the platforms compare:

• Etsy Analytics: Etsy provides a built-in dashboard called Etsy Stats that shows your key shop metrics: visits, orders, revenue, conversion rate, and where your traffic is coming from (Etsy search, external, social media, etc.). It also has a Search Analytics tool that can help identify which search terms are leading customers to your listings (useful for tweaking your tags and titles). The analytics are fairly basic but user-friendly – good for getting a general pulse of your business. You can’t deeply customize these reports, but you can export your sales data for your own analysis if needed. Etsy also lets you integrate Google Analytics 4 to get more detailed web analytics for your shop if you want. In terms of business tools, Etsy has features like coupon codes, sale events, and a basic inventory management for your listings. They have also introduced some seller tools like a fee calculator and sales tax settings to simplify those aspects. However, you won’t find advanced CRM tools or anything beyond what’s needed to run a small shop. It’s a “light” toolset by design, keeping things uncomplicated.

• Shopify Analytics: Shopify’s analytics capabilities are more robust and scalable – but they depend on your plan. All Shopify stores have a dashboard for sales, online store sessions, top products, etc. On the Basic plan you get decent detail (and you can view things like conversion rates, average order value, etc.). If you upgrade to higher plans, you unlock more advanced reports and even custom report building on Advanced plan. Shopify also has a real-time view where you can see live visitors on your site (kind of fun and motivating when you have a big campaign and watch people browsing). Beyond native analytics, Shopify easily integrates with Google Analytics and a plethora of third-party analytics and tracking apps. You can set up Facebook Pixel, Google Ads conversion tracking, etc., all in your own site’s code, which is something you can’t do on Etsy (since you don’t control the site). For business tools, Shopify really shines with its App Store: you have thousands of apps at your disposal for anything from email marketing, upselling, customer reviews, to accounting integration. While you might not need many at first, as you grow you might pick specific tools (for example, an app to optimize print-on-demand product personalization, or a better reporting dashboard, etc.). Essentially, Shopify can be as simple or as powerful as you need it to be, thanks to these extensions. Etsy, in comparison, allows only about 20 approved integrations (like linking to QuickBooks for accounting or some marketing integrations) – far fewer than Shopify’s open ecosystem.

If you’re an analytics nerd or plan to really fine-tune your business with data, Shopify gives more room to grow in that department. If you prefer a simple overview and not to drown in numbers, Etsy’s built-in stats are straightforward and require no setup.

Pros and Cons of Each Platform

Let’s summarize the advantages and disadvantages of Shopify and Etsy for print-on-demand sellers:

Shopify – Pros:

• Full Branding Control: Your own website, domain, and design – great for building a unique brand identity.
• Scalable Infrastructure: Can support you from 1 sale to 100,000+ sales. Add products and features freely as you grow.
• Rich Integration Options: Thousands of apps (including POD integrations) to extend your store’s functionality.
• Lower Fees per Sale: No Etsy-style transaction fees; just payment processing. Can save money at higher sales volumes.
• Customer Relationship: You get customer emails and can build a mailing list or retarget customers (they become your customers).
• 24/7 Support: Reliable merchant support and tons of documentation/tutorials for troubleshooting.

Shopify – Cons:

• Monthly Cost: You pay a flat fee regardless of sales, which can be daunting for newcomers or low-volume sellers.
• No Built-in Traffic: You have to generate your own site traffic through marketing or ads, which can be challenging (and sometimes costly) for beginners.
• Learning Curve: While easy to use, there are more things to set up (themes, apps, payment gateways) which can feel overwhelming initially compared to Etsy’s simplicity.
• App Expenses: Some advanced features require paid apps, which can add to monthly costs if you opt for them.

Etsy – Pros:

• Immediate Audience: Access to Etsy’s huge marketplace of shoppers actively looking for creative and custom products. Great for quick validation of your POD products.
• No Big Upfront Cost: Free to start a shop; costs are largely incurred when you list or sell an item. Good for testing ideas with minimal risk.
• Ease of Use: Very beginner-friendly setup and interface – you can focus on your designs and listings rather than website building.
• Marketplace Features: Etsy handles a lot of the “website” aspects – they provide a secure checkout, handle EU VAT for you, have a built-in rating/review system, etc., so you don’t have to set those up.
• Community & Search: Benefit from Etsy’s SEO and marketing – your items can be found via Etsy’s search, and Etsy’s brand draws in buyers. Also, a community of sellers to learn from and buyer trust in the platform.

Etsy – Cons:

• Multiple Fees: Various small fees (listing, transaction, processing, etc.) that reduce your profit on each sale. At scale, these fees add up significantly, and the offsite ads fee (12-15%) can hit on larger sales.
• Limited Branding: Your shop is confined to Etsy’s look and rules, making it harder to establish a standalone brand identity.
• Competition & Saturation: You’re side by side with many other sellers, including those offering similar POD products. It can be competitive to rank in search and get noticed (you might need to master Etsy SEO and pay for Etsy Ads to stand out).
• Lack of Customer Data: It’s difficult to build a customer list for remarketing. You can’t easily drive Etsy customers to an external site or email list (Etsy wants to keep buyers on Etsy).
• Platform Control: Etsy can change policies or fees (as seen with the transaction fee increase to 6.5%) and you have to accept those changes. They can also suspend your shop if you violate rules, sometimes without warning. This lack of control can be risky if Etsy is your sole sales channel.

Final Thoughts: Which Should You Choose?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer — both Shopify and Etsy can be excellent for a POD business, but for different reasons.

If you’re just starting out or want to dip your toes into print-on-demand with minimal investment, Etsy is a great launchpad. You can get products in front of people quickly and learn what designs sell. It’s like a built-in test market. Some sellers happily continue on Etsy as their main income, especially if they thrive in the handmade/custom niche and don’t mind the fees for the convenience of the marketplace.

On the other hand, if you’re aiming to build a scalable brand (or you have a bit of marketing know-how), Shopify offers more room to grow. You’ll create a more personalized shopping experience and have greater control over your business’s direction. Shopify is ideal if you plan to expand your product line, run targeted promotions, and cultivate a returning customer base in the long run.

Many savvy POD entrepreneurs actually use both platforms in tandem. For example: start on Etsy to generate some initial cash flow and brand following, then reinvest into a Shopify store for your brand, and run them in parallel. You can even use Etsy to funnel your very satisfied customers toward your Shopify site (for example, include a business card in the package asking them to visit your branded site next time for a discount).

In 2025, the e-commerce landscape is competitive. Etsy and Shopify each have new features and changes every year, but the core difference remains: marketplace vs. your own store. Evaluate your goals, budget, and willingness to handle marketing. If you want ease and existing traffic – Etsy might be your first stop. If you want control and branding – Shopify is worth the effort.

Ultimately, you can succeed with print-on-demand on either platform (or both!). It often comes down to leveraging the strengths of each. Hopefully, this comparison gave you a clear understanding of Shopify vs. Etsy for POD, so you can make the best choice for your business in 2025 and beyond. Good luck, and happy selling!