The complete breakdown of ecommerce platforms
for drop shipping
for drop shipping
Ecommerce platform comparison chart
| Live shipping rates | Price | Personal server required | Products pushed to store | Order import | Shipping status update | Displays "out of stock" notice | Marketplace | Ease of installation | |
| Shopify | Yes | % of revenue + subscription, starts at $29/month. | No | Yes | Immediately | Automatically | Yes | No | Fast |
| Etsy | No | 5% transaction fee + $0.20 fee to publish products | No | Yes | Every 15min | Automatically | No | Yes | Fast |
| WooCommerce | Yes | Hosting expenses | Yes* | Yes | Immediately** | Automatically | Yes | No | Normal |
| Squarespace | No | Starting at $40/month (annual subscription)*** | No | No | Every 15 min | Automatically | No | No | Normal |
| Storenvy | No | Free, but you'll be charged commission fees on marketplace sales. | No | Yes | Immediately | Automatically | Yes | Yes | Fast |
| BigCommerce | No | Subscription, starts at $29.95 | No | Yes | Immediately | Automatically | Yes | No | Fast |
| Gumroad | No | 8.5% + $0.30 per transaction or $10/month subscription | No | No | Immediately | Manual | No | No | Fast |
| Big Cartel | No | Free - $29.99 monthly | No | No | Immediately | Automatically | No | No | Fast |
| Ecwid | Yes | Subscription, starts at $15.99/month | No | Yes | Every 15 min | Automatically | Yes**** | No | Fast |
| Amazon | No | Subscription + referral fees - starts at $39.99 | No | Yes | Hourly | Automatically***** | No | Yes | Complex |
| Weebly | No | Subscription + transaction fees, starting at $8/month | No | Yes | Immediately | Automatically | Yes | No | Fast |
| eBay | No | 10% transaction fee + $0.35 fee to publish products | No | Yes | Every 2 hrs | Automatically | No | Yes | Complex |
| PrestaShop | No | Hosting Expenses | Yes | No | Every 15 min | Automatically | No | No | Normal |
* Set up hosting through SiteGround for a package deal with WooCommerce and the Printful plugin pre-installed, plus other features
** Using the latest version of WooCommerce
*** Printful integration is only available for the “Advanced” online store plan
**** Available for Ecwid Business and Unlimited plan users
***** Amazon will transfer your profit to your bank account once a day after your orders have shipped out
If these ecommerce platforms don't meet your needs, you may use our API and have your developers hook it up to whatever system you have.
What you have to know about each platform
Shopify
Etsy
WooCommerce
Squarespace
BigCommerce
Storenvy
Big Cartel
Ecwid
Gumroad
Amazon
Weebly
PrestaShop
eBay
Integration with Inktale
Become part of an online marketplace without the hassle of maintaining your own store
Inktale is an online marketplace that allows artists to sell their designs on print products as easily as possible — it takes just a few clicks to become a seller.
There are no upfront or subscription fees, and Inktale handles the printing, shipping, and customer support for you. Inktale has partnered up with Printful to print and ship all orders.
The ShipStation integration
Integrate with platforms like Walmart, Magento, Yahoo and more.
ShipStation functions as a 3rd party app that lets us connect with platforms that otherwise can’t be integrated with Printful.
You connect your store to Shipstation, then connect Shipstation to your Printful account. Shipstation is a platform that collects all of your orders and can keep track of them until they’re shipped. They integrate with many other platforms to make online sales easier.
Alternative platforms
You can still use Printful even if you don't want to use the above platforms that have ready-made integrations. You have options:
Manual orders
You can manually enter orders to be fulfilled, allowing you to continue using platforms like Walmart.
API integrations
If you have a developer on hand, you can have them hook up your store with Printful via API. Here's all the info you'll need.
