CustomCat Review

If you’re thinking about starting a print-on-demand (POD) business, or want to change to another supplier for your products, CustomCat may be the answer.

Product

Summary

Ratings

Custom Cat

Try For Free Leave a Review

Low Cost

High Profit Margins

Multiple Integrations

Warehousing is Only Available in US

Long Delivery Times Outside of the US

Reports of Customer Service Issues

Value 4

Features 4

Customer Support4

Integrations 3

Ease of Use 5

4.0

Overall Score

User Rating

2.3

3 reviews

In this CustomCat review, we look at the products, printing technologies, pricing, features, integrations, and more to help you decide whether you want to partner with this provider.

CustomCat Review

CustomCat is a POD company that provides over 300 unique products. To get started, all you have to do is upload designs and choose the products you want to apply them to. Then, connect to your store and start selling to customers. CustomCat prints and ships the products to your customers for you.

What products can you make with CustomCat? Apparel and accessories including:

• T-shirts
• Polo shirts
• Hoodie
• Sweatshirts
• Tank tops
• Athletic apparel
• Button-up shirts
• Pants
• Hats
• Aprons
• Face masks
• Hats and caps
• Pillows
• Blankets
• Towels
• Mugs and other drinkware
• Wall art including canvas
• Bags
• Footwear
• Jewelry

Printing Technologies

CustomCat offers a variety of printing technologies. They will choose the best option for the product you’ve selected. They offer:

• Direct-to-Garment (DTG): This is an inkjet printing method that applies ink directly to the fabric. The image becomes permanently embedded in the fibers. The shirt can withstand laundering without degrading the image.
• Sublimation: This printing method uses special paper and heat to create the final product. When heat is applied to the design, it transfers from the paper to the final product. This can be used on clothing but is often used on drinkware.
• Digital Printing: This applies a design to paper pixel by pixel. DTG printing is a type of digital printing. 
• Embroidery: This approach uses embroidery thread and sews the image into the fabric. For high-quality printing, the embroidery file is digitized.

When you look at each item in the catalog, you’ll see the printing method used. For instance, the dog tags in the jewelry section are printed with dye sublimation. The polos are done with embroidery.

Pricing

CustomCat offers two pricing plans so you can choose the one that works best for you. The Lite Plan is a free plan, so it’s perfect for beginners.

The paid plan, known as the CustomCat plan, costs $30/month. It has reduced pricing on all the products to help you put more money in your pocket. On the Lite plan, a t-shirt costs around $9. On the paid plan, it costs around $7. If you’re a high-volume merchant, this can really help your profit margins. 

You can try the CustomCat plan with a 30-day free trial. If you sell at least 15 units every month, then the subscription plan pays for itself. If you don’t sell at least that much, you won’t break even.

Features

CustomCat is easy to use. There’s a mockup generator and design tool to make things easier for you. Unlike Printful, they do not offer design services. If you’re not a graphic designer, you can hire your own on a freelance platform.

CustomCat offers personalization features, too. This is great if you want to give your customers the option to personalize their products. Not all POD platforms offer this feature, so if this is a cornerstone of your ecommerce business, this may be one of your deciding factors.

Ecommerce Integrations

CustomCat integrates with many popular ecommerce platforms, including Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. If you use another platform, you can use the CustomCat custom API to connect your accounts. Be aware that you may need to hire a developer to help you.

Connecting CustomCat to your Shopify store automates the entire order process. Install the app on your website from the Shopify App Store. Once a customer places an order on your website, it will go to CustomCat for production and fulfillment. If you want the order to go directly into the CustomCat printing queue, you must make immediate payment. You can use your PayPal account or a credit card to cover your payment responsibility. The rest is your profit to keep.

If a developer isn’t in your budget right now, you could also use the CustomCat CSV Upload feature to fulfill your orders. Regardless of where the orders come from, you can bulk upload them into the CustomCat platform for fulfillment.

Marketplace Integrations

Beyond the major ecommerce platforms, CustomCat also integrates with Etsy. If you’re using an Etsy store to market your products, then CustomCat makes it easy to fulfill your orders. If you’re using another service like Amazon or eBay, you’ll need to use the API or CSV Upload option.

Customer Support

CustomCat offers a variety of support options for customers. Phone support is available from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. EST Monday-Friday. There’s an extensive knowledge base to help you with a variety of issues. Customer service is also available via email and the contact form on the official website. Besides the knowledge base, there are a variety of resources, including selling guides, marketing guides, and FAQs.

It’s up to you to provide your own customer support. Your customers do not know CustomCat is involved. They do not handle returns management. If products are returned to CustomCat, they will donate them.

Alternatives

If you’re not convinced CustomCat is the partner you need, look at these other options.

CustomCat vs Printful

CustomCat and Printful are highly similar platforms. One major difference between the two is that CustomCat has a paid plan and Printful doesn’t charge monthly fees. (You can, of course, upgrade to Printful Pro, if desired.)

CustomCat has lower item prices and a faster overall turnaround time on products. CustomCat has a wide range of products, but Printful offers more, with additional variations to choose from. 

Printify

Printify offers over 200 products – much like the ones available from CustomCat. There’s no monthly fee to use it. The products are priced similarly (less expensive than Printful.) There’s a mockup generator to help you see what your products will look like, so you can use the images on your website.

Gooten

Gooten is another POD app like CustomCat. It has a wider range of products. One drawback is that you have to contact the sales team to sign up. You cannot sign up on your own, which is a turnoff for some users. If you want to sell things like woven rugs or glass cutting boards, Gooten has these product options.

Leave Your Review

Have you used CustomCat to power your POD business in the past? Are you using it now? We’d love it if you could provide a review. Our readers rely on our content to provide valuable insights – and one way we do that is through reviews from real users.