Every print on demand API takes a finished print file and turns it into an order. Where they differ is what they print and whether you can test the whole flow without paying for one. We connected Polotno's design editor to ten of them, and every row below links to a working demo that sends a design to that API.
Try one below. Design the shirt and press Send to Printful: the editor exports the print file at Printful's size and shows the mockups Printful's API renders from it, with the requests behind them. The same editor talks to every apparel API in the table.
Print on demand APIs compared
| API | What it prints | Testing without a real order |
|---|---|---|
| Printful | Apparel, accessories, wall art | The mockup generator never creates an order |
| Printify | Apparel and home goods from many print providers | Draft products are deleted after |
| Gelato | Posters, cards, apparel, printed close to the buyer | Draft orders are never produced or charged |
| Prodigi | Fine art, framed prints, canvas, photo products | A full sandbox |
| Teemill | Organic apparel | Nothing is ordered until someone buys |
| Fourthwall | Creator merch with a storefront | Hidden products, archived after |
| Spreadconnect | Apparel from Spread Group (Spreadshirt) | Previews never create an order |
| Scalable Press | Wholesale apparel, drop-shipped | The mockup API never creates an order |
| Lulu | Books, paperback and hardcover | A full sandbox |
| Peecho | Books and art prints | A separate test environment |
Print on demand APIs for apparel and merch
Apparel APIs mostly differ in who prints and what you get back. Printful prints in its own facilities and renders detailed mockups. Printify routes each order to one of many print providers, and you pick the provider per product. Teemill turns a design into a product page you can sell from straight away. Fourthwall comes with the storefront and memberships around the merch. Spreadconnect prints from Spread Group's catalogue, and Scalable Press works from a wholesale catalogue and drop-ships.
All six demos run in the same tee customizer. The code for it is on GitHub in polotno-print-on-demand, with a backend that keeps each provider's API key off the browser.
Print on demand APIs for wall art and posters
Gelato prints in the country nearest the buyer, so shipping stays short wherever they are. Its API has no sandbox, and the demo creates draft orders instead, which Gelato never produces or charges. Prodigi covers fine art and framed prints and has a full sandbox, so the demo can place an order and have Prodigi check the file. Artelo prints and frames wall art, and its demo on GitHub turns a design into a real Artelo order.
Book printing APIs
Book APIs check the cover before anything prints, because the spine width depends on the page count and the paper. Lulu has a sandbox for that check, and the free Lulu cover template generator works out the cover size. Peecho prints books and art prints, picking a print lab and pricing each order before it is paid. For KDP covers there is a KDP cover calculator.
Web to print APIs
A web to print API takes print jobs rather than products: books, flyers, business cards and other runs you order from a print shop through its API. Mixam works this way, and so does Peecho. The design step is the same as for print on demand. Your users make the file in your app, and the API takes it from there.
More print APIs
These pages cover how Polotno fits each API, without a live demo yet: Sticker it for stickers and labels, Papello for frames, mugs and stationery, Mixam for books and marketing print, Printfection for corporate swag and Packhelp for packaging.
What a print on demand API doesn't do
Every print API above starts from a finished print file. None of them gives your users a way to make one inside your app at the right size, with bleed and safe areas, in a format the API accepts. That design step is what Polotno adds. The editor runs in your product, sized to the provider's print area, and exports the PNG or PDF that the API expects.
