Picking a t-shirt printer sounds simple until you start comparing options and realize the prices, minimums, and quality all vary more than you’d expect. That’s before you even factor in merchandise design, which is usually what determines whether people actually wear the shirt instead of a printer alone. We’ve ordered from the five companies below directly. There isn’t one “best” t-shirt printer. There’s a best printer for your specific goal. Here’s how the top five break down.
A quick note before you dive in. This article was written in late July 2026, and details like pricing, services, turnaround times, minimum order quantities, and company policies can change without much notice. Treat the numbers and specifics here as a starting point, and confirm current information directly with each company before you place an order. If you’d rather not track all of that yourself, Creative Repute can coordinate the entire process for you, from initial design through final production.
Quick answer
If you’re starting from zero and just need affordable, decent shirts fast, start with Printful. If quality is your top priority and budget flexes, go with Custom Ink. If you want something genuinely unique, JakPrints is the strongest option. If you’re running a fundraiser or group sale, Bonfire removes the upfront risk. If speed is the deciding factor, RushOrderTees delivers the fastest.
| Company | Best use case | Minimum order size | Printing methods | Customization options | Turnaround time | Pricing for one | Print quality | Specialty services | Design support | Pickup/shipping options |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Printful | Getting started, testing a design | No minimum | DTG, embroidery, all-over print | Full design tool, dropship-ready | Roughly 2–7 business days production | ~$9 and up per shirt | Basic; thinner fabric | Embroidery, all-over print, dropshipping integration | Free design tool and mockup generator, self-serve | Ships directly to you or dropships to multiple addresses |
| Custom Ink | Premium quality, repeat orders | No minimum on select products (a 6-item minimum applies to international orders) | Screen printing, embroidery, digital printing | Design Lab with layout, color, and placement control | About 2 weeks standard; 1 week with rush (+15%) | ~$40 before shipping, based on direct order experience; confirm current pricing directly | Soft, durable, premium feel | Embroidery, jerseys, laser engraving, debossing | Online Design Lab plus staff support from reps | Ships to one location; group distribution can be arranged |
| JakPrints | Distinctive, memorable designs | ~12 pieces on most products; 24 per style for screen printing | Screen printing, embroidery, digital printing | All-over print extending to sleeves and collar | 5–7 business days standard; as fast as 3 days on quick-turn items | ~$30 for basic screen print, based on an older order; confirm current pricing directly | High quality, especially on all-over prints | All-over printing extending to sleeves and collar; specific print process not publicly detailed | Templates, file setup guides, sales rep collaboration | Ships as a single order |
| Bonfire | Fundraisers, group sales | No minimum (single item or campaign) | Screen printing, DTG | Design tool with clipart, fonts, and custom artwork upload | 2–21 day campaign batches, or next-business-day with Print on Demand | Set by the seller; based on Bonfire's base cost plus your markup | Generally well reviewed for comfort and durability | Fundraising features, campaign promotion, supporter tracking | Design tool plus an optional custom design service | Ships directly to each individual buyer under campaigns |
| RushOrderTees | Fast turnaround, deadline-driven orders | No minimum on printed designs; 6-piece minimum for embroidery | Screen printing, HD digital printing (DTG), embroidery | Design Studio with AI logo generator and layout tools | 9–12 business days standard; as fast as 2 business days with rush | $10–$50 depending on style, quantity, and ink colors | Marketed as durable and designed not to crack or peel | AI design wizard, wide product range including hoodies and promo items | Design Studio with in-house art team reviewing every order | Free standard shipping to one address; rush options available |
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- Not publicly listed
Printful: Best for getting started
Printful
is a print-on-demand service, so there’s no inventory to manage and no upfront order minimum. A Gildan 64000 Softstyle T-Shirt runs from around $9 per shirt for a basic print, climbing depending on print method, placement, and quantity. The fabric is thinner and the print quality is more basic than the premium options below, but it’s an affordable way to build brand awareness, take promotional photos, and get your team looking professional quickly.
This is where we tell most clients to start. Low cost and no minimum order mean you can test a design or outfit a small team without a big commitment up front.
Custom Ink: Best for premium quality
We own shirts from Custom Ink and have been impressed with the quality. The fabric is soft, durable, and feels premium. A Bella + Canvas Jersey T-Shirt runs around $40 per shirt before shipping for small orders, with cost per shirt dropping as quantity increases. Unless premium quality is a top priority, this isn’t where we’d recommend starting.
Custom Ink makes sense once you know you’re keeping the design, ordering again, or handing shirts to people who will notice the fabric.
JakPrints: Best for something unique
JakPrints specializes in options like all-over printing that
extends onto the sleeves and collar, which most competitors don’t offer. Outside of the all-over prints, basic screen printing has historically run around $30 per shirt, though we haven’t ordered from them in several years and recommend confirming current pricing before you commit. We still get compliments on an all-over shirt produced through JakPrints featuring original artwork. If the goal is something memorable and distinctive rather than a standard tee, this is the strongest option on this list.
Bonfire: Best for fundraisers and group sales
Bonfire works differently from the other four. Instead of ordering shirts up front, you design a shirt, set your own selling price, and launch a time-limited campaign. Bonfire prints and ships only after the campaign ends, and you keep the difference between your selling price and Bonfire’s base cost as profit. There’s no inventory risk and no money out of pocket to launch.
This is the right call for a nonprofit fundraiser, a one-off team or event shirt, or any situation where you don’t want to guess at quantities and sizes in advance.
RushOrderTees: Best for speed
RushOrderTees built its business around fast turnaround, with rush delivery available in as little as two business days when standard nine to twelve day shipping won’t cut it. Pricing depends on style, quantity, and ink colors, with typical custom shirts landing somewhere between $10 and $50 each, depending on those factors. No minimum order is required for printed designs, though embroidery requires six pieces.
This is the option when the event date isn’t moving and the shirts absolutely need to arrive on time.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the cheapest way to get a custom t-shirt printed?
Print on demand services like Printful are typically the cheapest way to get a single shirt or a small batch printed, since there’s no setup fee, no screen charge, and no minimum order. If you’re ordering in bulk instead, screen printing at a company like RushOrderTees usually beats print on demand per shirt once you’re past 25 to 50 units, since the cost of setting up a screen gets spread across more shirts.
What’s the difference between DTG and screen printing?
DTG, short for direct to garment, prints your design onto the shirt the way an inkjet printer prints onto paper. It handles photos, gradients, and multi-color designs without extra cost, and it’s the standard method for print on demand and single-shirt orders. Screen printing pushes ink through a stencil for each color in your design, which makes it cheaper at high volume but more expensive to set up for small orders or designs with a lot of colors. If you’re ordering one shirt with a detailed, photo-style design, DTG is almost always the right call. If you’re ordering 100 shirts with a simple one or two color logo, screen printing will usually cost less per shirt.
Do I need a minimum order quantity?
It depends on the company and the print method. Printful, Bonfire, and RushOrderTees all allow single-shirt orders on printed designs. Embroidery is the exception across most vendors, since it typically requires a minimum of six pieces to make the setup worthwhile. Custom Ink and JakPrints both offer no-minimum ordering on many products as well, though some decoration methods and premium blanks carry their own minimums, so it’s worth checking the specific product page before you commit to a design.
How long does custom t-shirt printing take?
Standard turnaround across most of these companies runs somewhere between five and twelve business days from order to delivery, print on demand services included. If you’re on a deadline, RushOrderTees offers delivery in as little as two business days for an added fee, and most of the other vendors on this list offer some form of rush option at checkout. Build in a buffer if you can. Design approval, proofing, and shipping delays all eat into that window.
How much do custom t-shirts typically cost?
Cost varies more than most people expect, generally landing somewhere between $9 and $50 per shirt depending on the blank garment, print
method, design complexity, and order size. A basic single-color print on a budget blank in bulk can come in under $10 per shirt. A premium fabric with a multi-color design printed as a single unit can run $40 or more. Quantity is the biggest lever. The same design on the same shirt can cost two to three times more per unit at a quantity of one than it does at a quantity of 50. Cost is only one piece of the decision. Creative Repute helps clients work through the rest, including quantities, print method, vendor comparison, and production timelines, so the final price reflects an intentional plan.
Which company is best for a small business to print their logo on a T-shirts?
For a first run of branded shirts for staff, events, or photos, Printful is the easiest entry point because of the low cost and no minimum. Once the logo is finalized and you’re ordering the same design repeatedly, Custom Ink becomes worth the higher cost, since the fabric holds up better over repeated wear and washing than budget blanks do.
Can I order just a single custom shirt?
Yes, through most of the companies on this list. Printful, Bonfire, RushOrderTees, and Custom Ink all support single-shirt orders on standard printed designs. JakPrints is the outlier here. Their pricing and process are built more around small batch and bulk orders, so a single shirt will cost more proportionally than it would elsewhere.
Is embroidery more expensive than printing?
Generally, yes, for small designs and low quantities. Embroidery involves physically stitching a design, which takes longer to set up and produce than printing, and most companies require a minimum order of six pieces or more to make it worthwhile. For a small logo on a polo or a chest placement, though, embroidery often looks more premium and durable than a print, which can justify the added cost for client-facing apparel.
What’s the difference between print on demand and bulk ordering?
Print on demand means each shirt is printed only after someone orders it, which is how Printful and Bonfire operate. There’s no inventory to hold, no upfront spend, and no risk of leftover stock, but the per-shirt cost is higher since you’re not benefiting from volume pricing. Bulk ordering means you commit to a set quantity up front, printed and shipped together, which is how Custom Ink, JakPrints, and RushOrderTees typically work at scale. You take on more upfront cost and inventory risk, but the price per shirt drops significantly as quantity increases. The right choice comes down to whether you know your exact quantities in advance or you’re still figuring out demand.
What should I look for in a t-shirt printing company besides price?
Price is the easiest thing to compare, but it’s rarely the deciding factor once you’ve
actually ordered from a few vendors. Fabric quality matters more than most people expect. A cheap print on a good blank looks better than an expensive print on a thin one. Turnaround time and communication matter just as much, especially for event deadlines where a delayed order isn’t fixable after the fact. Reorder consistency is worth checking too. Some companies will print your exact design and colors the same way every time, and others show noticeable variation between batches. If you’re building an ongoing relationship with a vendor rather than placing a one-off order, ask about all three before committing.
Do I need a designer, or can I use my own artwork?
Every company on this list lets you upload your own artwork, whether that’s a logo file, a photo, or hand-drawn art, and most include a free online design tool for adding text or adjusting placement without a designer. That said, print quality depends heavily on the file you start with. A low-resolution image pulled from a website or social media post will print blurry no matter how good the vendor is. If you’re starting from scratch and don’t have a designer, Bonfire and Printful both offer template libraries and basic design tools built for people without design experience, while JakPrints and Custom Ink are better suited to working from a finished, print-ready file. If you’d rather not manage that piece yourself, Creative Repute can design the artwork, prepare the print-ready files each vendor needs, and coordinate directly with the print shop to make sure the project comes out right from start to finish. Most of the example photos throughout this post were produced by our team.
Bottom line
None of these five companies is objectively “the best.” Each one is built around a different priority, and the right choice depends on what you’re actually optimizing for on this order. If you’re not sure yet, start cheap and low commitment with Printful, see how the design performs, and upgrade to Custom Ink or JakPrints once you know it’s worth the investment. If you’re fundraising, skip the upfront cost entirely and run a Bonfire campaign instead. If the calendar is the constraint, RushOrderTees is built for exactly that problem.
The mistake we see most often is picking a vendor based on price alone and being surprised by the fabric, the turnaround, or the reorder process later. A little bit of planning up front, matched to what actually matters for this specific order, saves the reprint.
Before you commit to a printer, work through these questions:
- How many shirts do I need?
- What’s my budget?
- What’s my deadline?
- What level of quality am I looking for?
- Do I need DTG, screen printing, embroidery, or all-over printing?
- Are there any specialty finishes or unique requirements?
- What type of garment am I printing on?
- What color should the shirt be?
- What’s the purpose of the shirts (retail, uniforms, fundraiser, event, giveaway, etc.)?
- Do I already have print-ready artwork?
- Do I need help selecting garments?
- Will everything ship to one location or multiple locations?
Answering these upfront narrows the field fast and prevents most of the surprises that come up mid-order. If you’d rather not work through this list alone, Creative Repute can help evaluate these variables, recommend the right print partner for your project, prepare print-ready artwork, and manage the production process from start to finish.
Need help with the whole process, from design through production?
We’ve ordered from all five of these companies for our own clients, and the process rarely goes smoothly by accident. It takes the right design, the right vendor, and a realistic timeline, all working together. Creative Repute can handle any part of that or all of it, from the first sketch to the shirts arriving at your door. Reach out and let’s talk about what you’re planning.