Best Print-on-Demand for Artists: 7 Options Compared for Selling Your Art

If you paint, draw, or shoot, and you want to sell prints without buying a stack of inventory, print-on-demand is the obvious answer: a buyer pays, a lab prints that one order and ships it, and you keep the difference between your price and the costs.

Choosing one is the hard part, because "print-on-demand" covers three very different kinds of businesses, and the best one for a T-shirt shop is rarely the best one for a painter selling canvas wraps and metal prints. This guide compares seven options artists ask about most: Printful, Printify, Gelato, Redbubble, Society6, Fine Art America, and Brakebee. It covers what you control, how you get paid, and what each one is best for.

For a short overview of how Brakebee's print-on-demand works, see print-on-demand for artists.

The quick answer

• You already have a Shopify or Etsy store and want quick merch plus prints: Printful or Printify.
• You want a giant marketplace that brings shoppers, and you're fine with less control over price: Redbubble, Society6, or Fine Art America. Read the fee details first, because they differ a lot.
• You sell wall art and want a gallery-grade lab, your own shop, a complete suite of tools to help you sell more and a curated art marketplace in one catalog: Brakebee.

Three kinds of print-on-demand and why the difference matters

1. Fulfillment services: you find your own buyers. Printful, Printify, and Gelato make the product and ship it, but you sell it on your own store or marketplace account. You set the retail price and keep the difference. You also have to bring in all the traffic yourself. These companies operate more like a traditional drop-shipper.

2. Marketplaces: they bring the buyers and you're in a sea of products. Redbubble and Society6 host your designs on their sites, set or cap the price, and pay you a share. The shoppers belong to the marketplace, so you can never remarket to them or build a personal following. Fine Art America is a marketplace too, but you set your own markup.

3. Artist platforms with their own lab. Brakebee pairs its own in-house print lab with a curated art marketplace, a personalized artist website at yourname.brakebee.com, and add-on sales channels, all from one catalog. They offer Social Central as a marketing platform and have a range of integrated tools to help artists build a following and talk to them. On Brakebee you build your own marketing program based around your own art.

Comparison table

Prices and fees are est. as of 10/13/2026, verify on their site. Sources are listed at the bottom of this article.

The seven options, one by one

1. Brakebee

Brakebee is built for artists who sell their own work or want a complete managed package. You upload your work once, set your price, and it sells on the curated Brakebee marketplace and on your own artist website at yourname.brakebee.com. Acceptance to the juried marketplace gives you the Verified Artist badge to prove you're not AI slop, and your shop can be upgraded to your own domain or a custom site. Add-on channels include Etsy, Shopify, TikTok Shop, Wayfair, Walmart, Amazon, eBay, and Faire, with more coming soon. Brakebee's managed lines program places your artwork into our omnichannel marketing system to print, market, sell and ship your products so you can focus on creating and in-person events.

When a collector pays, Brakebee's Phoenix lab prints, packs, and ships the order, usually within hours to a day, and prints are hand-checked before they ship. You get paid after the product ships on your chosen payout schedule.

What you can sell: gloss, satin, and matte aluminum; gloss or matte photo; gallery-wrap canvas and giclée, in dozens of sizes. You can also go beyond wall art with keychains, notecards, printed decor, coasters, calendars, coloring books, and more. All artist prints use archival inks and substrates.

Fees: the account is free, there's no monthly marketplace fee, and a marketplace sale is 15% with card processing included. Channels like Etsy and Shopify are add-on connectors.

Best for: painters, photographers, and illustrators who want gallery-grade prints and their own shop plus a curated marketplace, connections to major retailers and access to in-person events and art festivals. One more advantage: the same master file works for print-on-demand and for a print run for your next show or art festival. → See how Brakebee print-on-demand works

2. Printful

Printful runs its own production and fulfillment. The Free plan is $0/month and includes access to 579 custom products, stores plus 10 Quick Stores, and selling on several ecommerce platforms and marketplaces. Growth costs $24.99/month, becomes free once you reach $12K/year in sales, and gives a discount on product pricing. Printful's own formula is simple: your profit equals the retail price minus Printful's cost, which covers the product, fulfillment, and shipping. The catalog leans toward apparel and merch. Best for: retailers who already run a store and want merch alongside prints.

3. Printify

Printify is a network: you choose from 70+ print providers per product, which means base cost and quality depend on the provider you pick. The Free plan covers 5 stores; Premium starts at $39/month, or from $24.99/month billed yearly, and adds a discount off all products. Printify says it earns a margin on the fulfillment price, with no platform or listing fees. Several integrations are available. Best for: sellers chasing the lowest base cost across a 2,000+ product catalog. Be sure to order samples from the exact provider you plan to use, since quality varies by provider.

4. Gelato

Gelato routes each order to a production partner near the customer. Its pricing page says there are no upfront costs and Gelato doesn't charge commission: you pay for the product and shipping when an order comes in. A paid tier called Gelato+ offers up to 33% off products. Best for: artists selling to buyers in many countries. Like Printful and Printify, you supply the storefront and the traffic.

5. Redbubble

On Redbubble you do set your price: you choose a markup on Redbubble's base price, which defaults to 10% and can be raised or lowered any time. Your earnings are that markup, and the fees you pay depend on your account tier. Standard accounts pay a 50% platform fee on monthly earnings, Premium pays 20%, and Pro pays none. Standard and Premium accounts also pay a 50% excess markup fee on earnings from markup above 20%. Total account fees are capped at $150 per payment period, and they're only taken when you make a sale. Best for: designs that suit stickers, apparel, and gifts, sold to Redbubble's existing shoppers. On a Standard account, fees can take half your earnings, and raising your markup above 20% mostly increases fees. Redbubble owns the customer relationship.

6. Society6

Society6 sets the price for you. Since March 18, 2025, artists can no longer set their own markup; the markup is 5–10% depending on the product. Earnings are paid between the first and third business day of each month, after a pending period of 30–60 days. Best for: artists who want a hands-off listing with little control.

7. Fine Art America

Fine Art America sets a base price for each product, and you add a dollar markup on top. Whatever markup you set is exactly what you earn on the sale. The standard account is free, and Premium is $30/year. Premium adds a white-label website, and a Shopify app lets your Shopify store sell their products with their fulfillment. Products include prints, canvas, framed, metal, and acrylic prints, cards, home decor, and apparel. Best for: sellers who want set marketplace reach and larger markups. Your shop lives inside a very large marketplace, next to many other artists.

How print-on-demand margins actually work

Every option above comes down to the same formula:

> Your profit per sale = your retail price − product cost − any shipping you pay − platform or marketplace fee − payment processing

How it changes by type:

• Fulfillment services such as Printful, Printify, and Gelato: profit = retail price − their product and shipping cost − your store's own fees, such as Etsy or Shopify fees.
• Markup marketplaces such as Redbubble and Fine Art America: profit = your markup − any account fees. On Redbubble, check your tier first.
• Fixed-markup marketplaces such as Society6: profit = their markup % × the sale, and you can't change the markup.
• Brakebee: profit = your price − lab cost − flat commission on a marketplace sale, which includes card processing. You set the price above lab cost, so the margin is yours.

A simple approach is to decide what you want to earn per print first, then work backwards to the retail price, and compare that price with what similar work sells for. For a step-by-step method, see How to Sell Prints Online.

How to choose: 5 questions

Before you list: order a sample

Whichever platform you pick, order one print of your own work first. Check color against your original, sharpness at the largest size you'll offer, the edges and wrap on canvas, and how it's packed. On Brakebee you can try a print of your work first before you list. For more on how the lab works with artists' files, see Prints for artists from Prints by Brakebee.

Order a sample print

When print-on-demand isn't the right fit

Print-on-demand works well for testing designs and selling one at a time. It's a weaker fit for limited editions you sign and number by hand, or when you need 50 prints on a table at a show next weekend, and in those cases a print run makes more sense. Because Brakebee was designed for artists, we track your limited edition runs including mid-run print on demand orders. For metal specifically, see Metal Prints for Artists.

FAQ

What is the best print-on-demand site for artists? It depends on what you sell and whether you have buyers. For wall art with your own shop plus a curated marketplace, Brakebee. For merch on an existing retail front, Printful or Printify. For anonymous marketplace traffic with markup, Fine Art America.

Which print-on-demand sites let me set my own price? Printful, Printify, Gelato, Fine Art America, and Brakebee. Redbubble lets you set your markup, which defaults to 10%, but Standard and Premium accounts pay a 50% fee on earnings from markup above 20%. Society6 sets the markup itself at 5–10%.

How much does Redbubble take? It depends on your tier: Standard pays a 50% platform fee on monthly earnings, Premium 20%, Pro none, plus an excess markup fee above 20% markup for Standard and Premium. Fees are capped at $150 per payment period (est. as of 10/13/2026, verify on their site).

Is print-on-demand worth it for fine artists? Yes, if the lab's quality matches your work and you price above total cost. Order a sample first, and use a lab that offers fine-art finishes like giclée, canvas, and aluminum.

Can I use print-on-demand with Etsy or Shopify? Yes. Printful and Printify connect to both, Fine Art America has a Shopify app, and Brakebee offers Etsy and Shopify as add-on channels.

When do artists get paid? It varies: Society6 pays monthly after a 30–60 day pending period; Redbubble pays monthly after fees; Brakebee pays after the product ships, on your chosen payout schedule. With Printful, Printify, and Gelato, your buyer pays you at checkout and you pay the labs for the product.

How fast does Brakebee ship print-on-demand orders? Usually within hours to a day after a collector pays.

Start selling prints

If you want gallery-grade prints of your work, your own shop, and a curated art marketplace in one place, see how Brakebee print-on-demand works, or create your free account. To see everything artists get, visit /makers. Related: How to Sell Art Online · Best Pro Photo Labs for Artists.

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Sources (prices and fees est. as of 10/13/2026; verify on each site): Source: Printful published pricing, printful.com/pricing, as of 10/13/2026. Source: Printify published pricing, printify.com/pricing, as of 10/13/2026. Source: Gelato published pricing, gelato.com/pricing, as of 10/13/2026. Source: Redbubble Help Center, "How is my payment calculated?", "How does the platform fee get calculated?", "How does the excess markup fee get calculated?", help.redbubble.com, as of 10/13/2026. Source: Society6 Help Center, "Pricing & Earnings", help.society6.com, as of 10/13/2026. Source: Society6 Terms of Service, "Artist Applications" (free to submit an application), society6.com/pages/terms, as of 10/13/2026. Source: Fine Art America published membership plans, fineartamerica.com/membershipplans.html, as of 10/13/2026. Source: Brakebee published fees and features, brakebee.com/print-on-demand, brakebee.com/makers and brakebee.com/managed-lines, as of 10/13/2026.