When it comes to building an ecommerce business that sells physical products without holding inventory, two names you’ll frequently come across are Shopify and Gelato.
But while they’re often mentioned in the same sentence, these platforms don’t actually compete with each other.
Instead, they serve entirely different roles. Shopify is your storefront: the site customers browse, buy from, and return to.
Gelato is the behind-the-scenes fulfillment engine that produces and ships your print-on-demand products.
Most sellers don’t choose between Shopify and Gelato. They use both.
In this in-depth comparison, I’ll break down how each platform works, how much they cost, what features they offer, and who they’re best suited for.
If you’re running or planning to start a print-on-demand business, this guide will help you understand where each one fits into your business stack.
Quick Summary: Shopify vs Gelato
Shopify – The ecommerce platform you build your store on. Offers full control over your site, checkout, and sales channels.
Gelato – A print-on-demand network that handles production and delivery. Integrates with Shopify and other platforms.
| Feature | Shopify | Gelato |
|---|---|---|
| Storefront builder | Yes | No |
| Checkout and payments | Yes | No |
| Print-on-demand fulfillment | No (requires third-party apps) | Yes |
| Global production | No | Yes (32 countries) |
| Monthly fees | Yes (starts at $39/month) | Optional (free plan available) |
| Per-order costs | No | Yes (product and shipping) |
| Subscription discounts | No | Yes (Gelato+ and Gelato+ Gold plans) |
| App integrations | Extensive (8,000+ apps) | Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, others |
What Kinds of Businesses Use Shopify or Gelato?
Because these tools serve very different purposes, choosing one over the other usually means you’re misunderstanding their roles. Here’s a better way to think about it.
Shopify is best for:
- Sellers who want to create their own branded storefront
- Businesses that need an optimized checkout system and sales backend
- Companies selling any kind of physical or digital product
- Entrepreneurs who want access to a wide app ecosystem for marketing, automation, and sales
Shopify is ideal if you’re serious about building a long-term ecommerce brand with full control over your customer experience. Whether you’re launching your first product or scaling up to multiple sales channels, Shopify gives you the infrastructure to grow without switching platforms later.
Gelato is best for:
- Print-on-demand sellers who need reliable global fulfillment
- Artists, designers, and creators who want to sell custom products without holding stock
- Shopify, Etsy, or WooCommerce store owners looking to add print-on-demand products
- Businesses scaling internationally who want faster delivery through local production
Gelato is a great fit if you want to streamline fulfillment without getting involved in warehousing or shipping logistics. Its local production network makes it especially useful for reaching customers in different countries while keeping delivery times and costs low.
Pricing: Comparing Monthly and Per-Order Costs
Shopify Pricing: Your Storefront Hub
Shopify’s pricing depends on which tier you choose, and whether you pay monthly or annually. Here’s a quick breakdown of the main plans in USD:
| Plan | Monthly Price | Annual Price (Per Month) | What You Get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39 | $29 | Online store with unlimited products, 2 staff accounts, basic reports, abandoned cart recovery, access to Shopify POS Lite, and up to 77 percent shipping discounts |
| Grow (formerly Shopify) | $105 | $79 | All Basic features plus 5 staff accounts, professional reports, lower transaction fees, standard automation tools, and support for selling in multiple languages and currencies |
| Advanced | $399 | $299 | All Grow features plus 15 staff accounts, advanced reporting and analytics, third-party calculated shipping rates, and the lowest Shopify transaction fees |
| Shopify Plus | From $2,300 | Custom quote | Enterprise-level features, including advanced automation with Shopify Flow, custom checkout, unlimited staff accounts, priority support, B2B selling tools, and access to Shopify’s Launch Engineer team |
These plans all include the full Shopify suite: a hosted website, secure checkout, multichannel selling, analytics, and customer tools.
As you move up in tiers, transaction fees drop (especially if you use Shopify Payments), and you gain access to advanced reporting and automation features.
One thing to keep in mind is that apps cost extra. It’s not unusual for a growing store to pay another $100 to $300 per month on apps for email marketing, subscriptions, shipping, and upsells.
These extra costs can creep up quickly as you scale and start adding more advanced features to your store. It’s worth factoring them into your monthly budget early on, especially if you’re relying on third-party apps to manage key parts of your sales funnel.
Gelato Pricing: Pay Per Order, Optional Subscriptions
Gelato takes a very different approach to pricing. There’s no mandatory monthly fee. Instead, you pay for each order you receive: this includes the product cost and the shipping to your customer.
The platform itself is free to use, but subscription plans can improve your margins and unlock additional features.
| Plan | Monthly Price | Annual Price (Per Month) | What You Get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Access to Gelato’s full product catalog, Shopify and Etsy integrations, basic order management, mockup tools, and customer support via email and chat. You pay per order for product and shipping. |
| Gelato+ | $23.99 | $19.99 | All Free plan features plus product and shipping discounts, branded packing slips, premium mockups, image filters, bulk editing tools, and advanced order management. Helps increase margins and workflow efficiency. |
| Gelato+ Gold | $129 | $107.08 | All Gelato+ features plus even deeper product and shipping discounts, early access to new features, priority production, API access, and priority customer support. Best suited for stores doing high-volume international sales. |
What do these subscriptions give you?
- Product and shipping discounts (higher with Gold)
- Access to branded labels and packaging
- Priority support
- Bulk product editing and workflow automation
- Advanced mockup tools and order rules
These plans are not required, but if you’re doing serious volume, the cost savings can add up quickly.
For growing stores, even a small discount on each order can translate into hundreds or thousands of dollars saved over time. Beyond the financial benefit, the workflow tools and branded experience included in the paid tiers can help streamline operations and improve customer satisfaction.
Key Features: Shopify vs Gelato
Let’s take a deeper look at the core features offered by each platform.
Shopify: Build, Sell, and Scale
Shopify is a full-featured ecommerce platform that lets you build your own website, manage sales and inventory, and connect with customers across dozens of channels. It’s known for its reliability and flexibility, and it has a very mature ecosystem of third-party apps.
Key features include:
- Drag-and-drop site builder and themes
- Integrated checkout and payment processing
- Real-time shipping rates and order tracking
- Native blogging tools and content management
- Multichannel selling (Amazon, eBay, TikTok, Instagram)
- Shopify POS for in-person retail
- 8,000+ apps for everything from email to subscriptions
Shopify is what you use to build the front-end of your business. Everything the customer sees and interacts with is controlled here — product pages, shopping cart, account creation, promotions, and more.
Gelato: Print-on-Demand Fulfillment Made Simple
Gelato handles everything after the customer clicks “buy.” It takes your product designs and automatically routes them to the nearest production partner based on your customer’s location. This results in faster delivery times and often lower shipping costs.
Standout features include:
- Print-on-demand catalog of apparel, art prints, mugs, and stationery
- Global production in 32 countries
- Order routing to reduce cross-border shipping
- Mockup and product creation tools
- Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, and Wix integrations
- Transparent shipping estimates and tracking
- Branded packaging options (with subscription)
What really sets Gelato apart is its logistics network. You don’t have to store or ship anything. Gelato handles the production, packaging, and delivery — and they’re expanding into more countries each year.
Pros and Cons of Each Platform
To help you weigh your options more easily, here’s a breakdown of the strengths and limitations of Shopify and Gelato.
Shopify Pros
- Full-featured ecommerce platform with everything in one place
- Reliable and scalable, suitable for solo sellers and large brands
- Huge ecosystem of apps and integrations
- Excellent multichannel selling tools
- Trusted checkout experience that’s proven to convert
Shopify Cons
- Monthly fees and additional app costs can add up
- Transaction fees apply if not using Shopify Payments
- Some features (like subscriptions) require third-party apps
- Design customization may require coding for full control
Gelato Pros
- No upfront costs to get started
- Global fulfillment with local production reduces delivery time
- Easy to use with Shopify and other platforms
- Subscription plans improve profitability at scale
- No inventory or warehousing needed
Gelato Cons
- Not a storefront — you’ll need to connect it to a platform like Shopify
- Shipping and product costs vary based on location and item
- Branding options are limited unless on a paid plan
- Product catalog is smaller than some competitors like Printful
Who Should Use Shopify, Gelato, or Both?
If you’re launching a store and want to own your brand, build a customer list, and scale long-term, then Shopify should be your starting point.
It gives you full control of the buying experience and integrates cleanly with almost every major ecommerce tool on the market.
Once your store is ready and you want to offer physical products without holding inventory, Gelato is the obvious choice for print-on-demand fulfillment.
You can connect your Shopify store, add products directly from Gelato’s catalog, and start taking orders right away.
If you’re selling exclusively on Etsy or through a marketplace, you might use Gelato without Shopify. But you’ll give up a lot of control, and you won’t own the customer relationship.
In most cases, the best approach is simple. Use both.
Shopify becomes your command center. Gelato becomes your production line.
Final Verdict
Shopify and Gelato don’t compete: they complement each other. Together, they create one of the most accessible, scalable setups for selling custom products online without touching inventory.
Shopify gives you the storefront, checkout, and growth tools. Gelato gives you the global reach, production, and logistics to deliver on demand.
If you’re just starting out, test both. Shopify offers a three-day free trial, and Gelato has a fully functional free plan.
Try uploading your designs, setting up your products, and running a few test orders. This will give you firsthand experience of the workflow and the customer experience.
For creators, side hustlers, and serious ecommerce brands alike, the Shopify plus Gelato combo is one of the most efficient, low-risk ways to build a modern print-on-demand business.
