The best Gelato alternative for sellers who ship mostly inside the US and list in bulk on Etsy, Shopify, WooCommerce or TikTok Shop is MyDesigns, because it combines AI design, bulk mockups and bulk publishing with 240 Express fulfillment, 2 to 3 day production and a Gildan 5000 base price of $6.75. Gelato is the better pick when most of your buyers live outside the US. Everything below was checked Nov 2, 2026.
Full disclosure: Curtis Blackmore, who owns Merch Titans, also founded MyDesigns. That is why the ranking leans on pages you can open yourself, and why MyDesigns' limits get their own section.
What Is Gelato, and Why Look for an Alternative?
Gelato is a print-on-demand network. Its own pages say it routes each order to the nearest print partner, with 250+ print providers in 32 countries, and that you pay only for the product and shipping you order, with no commission and no upfront fees.
Sellers usually start looking for an alternative for one of three reasons:
- Their buyers are mostly in the US, so a worldwide local network adds little.
- They want design, mockups and listing tools in the same dashboard as fulfillment.
- They want a specific blank and a published base price to plan margins before they list.
Each reason points to a different answer, so decide which one is yours before you read the verdict.
How We Compared MyDesigns and Gelato
We read gelato.com/pricing, /print-on-demand, /integrations, /tools-and-apps, /products/t-shirt and /print-on-demand/etsy on Nov 2, 2026. Gelato blocks direct automated fetches, so we read those pages through a text mirror. We also read mydesigns.io/pricing, the 240 Express docs and the plan docs. We did not place test orders with either company.
We scored five things: production time and reach, published base prices, built-in design and mockup tools, listing and publishing automation, and plan cost. Any Gelato number we could not see on its own site is left out and marked.
MyDesigns vs Gelato at a Glance
MyDesigns vs Gelato (checked Nov 2, 2026)
MyDesigns
TOP PICKBest for: US-focused sellers who list many designs on Etsy, Shopify, WooCommerce and TikTok Shop
Pros
- ✓240 Express: 2 to 3 day production, Gildan 5000 at $6.75 and Gildan 64000 at $7.95 on the Free plan (Oct 26 catalog)
- ✓Bulk publish: 4 / 24 / 48 / 120 products per batch on Free / Starter / Pro / Pro Plus
- ✓Dream AI, Vision AI titles and tags, bulk mockups including your own PSD and video
- ✓Reroute existing listings to 240 Express in a couple of clicks
Cons
- ✗Free plan has no AI credits and 4 actions a day on most tools
- ✗One contracted production partner, not a worldwide network of local printers
- ✗A narrower catalog than Gelato's: apparel plus home and living
Verdict: Best overall for US-focused sellers who want design, listing and fulfillment in one place.
Gelato
Best for: Sellers whose buyers are mostly outside the US
Pros
- ✓250+ print providers in 32 countries, with orders sent to the partner nearest your customer
- ✓No commission and no upfront fees; you pay for product and shipping
- ✓Free design editor, Magic Mockups, Instant Collections and Velocity Switch listed on its tools page
- ✓Gelato+ lists up to 33% off products
Cons
- ✗Product prices were not visible on its public pricing page, so margins cannot be checked in advance
- ✗Local-production speed claims are Gelato's own figures, not independently tested
Verdict: Best for international-first sellers who want local production close to each buyer.
Price and Plan Table
| Option | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MyDesigns | Free; Starter $19.99/mo billed yearly ($24.99 monthly); Pro $39.99/mo yearly ($49.99); Pro Plus $79.99/mo yearly ($99.99) | Gildan 5000 $6.75 (Free) / $6.21 (Pro Plus); Gildan 64000 $7.95 / $7.31; catalog discount 2% / 5% / 10% on Starter / Pro / Pro Plus; 7-day money-back on paid plans |
| Gelato | Free to use; Gelato+ subscription | No commission and no upfront fees; Gelato+ lists up to 33% off products; a holiday offer gave free standard shipping on 3+ item orders until Nov 30 for sign-ups by Oct 31; per-product prices not shown on the pages we read |
| Prices checked: Nov 2, 2026 (MyDesigns 240 Express catalog prices Oct 26, 2026). Source: mydesigns.io/pricing, MyDesigns 240 Express catalog, gelato.com/pricing, gelato.com/tools-and-apps. | ||
On the one thing we can compare directly, plan cost, Gelato is free to start and MyDesigns has a free tier plus paid plans from $19.99 a month billed yearly. The paid plans buy you bigger batches and more tools, not a lower per-order fee. The 2%, 5% and 10% catalog discounts do lower the base price.
1. MyDesigns: Best Overall for US-Focused Etsy and Multichannel Sellers
MyDesigns is the better choice when the work you lose time on is design, mockups and listings, not finding a printer near your buyer. It is a seller platform, not a marketplace and not a factory. Per MyDesigns, it has 200K+ registered users and 50M+ products created.
Two checkable facts back the ranking:
- Fulfillment you can price. 240 Express is MyDesigns' contracted print partner, with 2 to 3 day production and a base price of $6.75 for a Gildan 5000 and $7.95 for a Gildan 64000 on the Free plan (Pro Plus: $6.21 and $7.31), from the Oct 26 catalog check. Prices are shown on each product in the catalog, so you can price a listing before you publish it.
- Bulk work in one dashboard. Dream AI generates designs, Vision AI writes titles, tags and descriptions, mockups render in bulk (including your own PSD and video mockups), and bulk publish sends 24, 48 or 120 products per batch on Starter, Pro and Pro Plus to Etsy, Shopify, WooCommerce and TikTok Shop.
Already selling elsewhere? The 240 Express docs say you can reroute listings you already sell to 240 Express in a couple of clicks, and Import and Sync imports Etsy, Shopify and TikTok Shop listings. Read the 240 Express fulfillment docs for the product list: seven blanks including Gildan 64000, Bella+Canvas 3001, Gildan 5000, Next Level 3600 and Comfort Colors 1717.
MyDesigns Limits
- The Free plan is small. It has no monthly AI credits, 4 products per batch and about 4 actions a day on Vision AI, mockups and background removal.
- Some features need a paid plan. Printify integration and the MyDesigns Store need Starter or higher; Scout AI is Pro and above.
- It is one production partner. We did not find a country list or international shipping rates for 240 Express on the docs we read, so if most of your buyers are overseas, test shipping first.
- The catalog is narrower than Gelato's. It covers apparel plus home and living, while Gelato's Etsy page cites 48 product categories.
2. Gelato: Best for International-First Sellers
Gelato's whole model is local production. Its site says 250+ print providers across 32 countries, 90% of orders produced locally and 90% arriving within 5 days of ordering. Those are Gelato's own figures, and we did not verify them with test orders.
That fits a seller whose buyers are in the UK, the EU or Australia. A shirt printed near the buyer can skip long cross-border shipping and customs, which our EU customs and international shipping guide explains in detail.
Gelato also offers more than fulfillment. Its tools page lists a free design editor, Magic Mockups, Instant Collections, Personalization Studio and Velocity Switch for migrating from other platforms. It connects to Etsy, Shopify, WooCommerce, TikTok Shop (US and UK sellers), Amazon (US sellers), Wix, Squarespace and BigCommerce, and offers an API.
Choose Gelato if most of your orders ship outside the US, you want production close to each buyer, or you need a product category MyDesigns does not carry. We did not test its tools against MyDesigns' tools, so treat the feature comparison as a list of what each site says, not a benchmark.
Where the Two Differ Most
| Question | MyDesigns | Gelato |
|---|---|---|
| Where is it printed? | 240 Express, 2 to 3 day production | 250+ providers in 32 countries, nearest to the buyer |
| Can you see a base price before listing? | Yes, in the catalog (Gildan 5000 $6.75 on Free, Oct 26) | Not on the public pages we read |
| Bulk publishing | 4 / 24 / 48 / 120 products per batch by plan | Instant Collections listed; no batch size on the pages we read |
| Custom PSD and video mockups | Yes, on paid plans | Magic Mockups listed; custom PSD not mentioned |
| Plan cost | Free, then from $19.99/mo billed yearly | Free to use, Gelato+ optional |
| Fees beyond the base price | The MyDesigns Store charges 6% / 4.5% / 3% per sale plus 3% + $0.25 processing, only if you use the Store | No commission, per its pricing page |
Worked Example: Margin on a US Order
Say you sell a Gildan 5000 tee at $24.99. That price is illustrative, not a benchmark. Before shipping, platform fees, ads and tax:
| Provider | Base price | Left per shirt | 200 shirts a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| MyDesigns, Free plan | $6.75 | $18.24 | $3,648 |
| MyDesigns, Pro Plus | $6.21 | $18.78 | $3,756 |
| Gelato | Your number | $24.99 minus your number | Your math |
Pro Plus saves $0.54 per shirt, or $108 on 200 shirts. Against the $79.99 a month plan price (billed yearly), the discount alone covers the plan only above about 148 shirts a month. Fill in the Gelato row with the dashboard price for the blank you would really use.
The 5-Step Price Test (Do This Before You Switch)
- Pick one real design and one tee style that you sell today.
- Add the same design to a product in both dashboards. The blanks may differ, so note the exact blank and brand each shows.
- Record the base price, shipping to a US address and shipping to your second-biggest country.
- Record the production time and delivery estimate each one shows at checkout.
- Subtract the landed cost from your selling price and compare the margin, not the base price alone.
Do not move your whole catalog on one number. Move your five best sellers first, as our guide to switching providers without losing listings recommends.
Which Should You Choose? (Decision Checklist)
| If this is you | Pick |
|---|---|
| Most buyers are in the US and you list many designs a week | MyDesigns |
| You want design, mockups, listing copy and fulfillment in one app | MyDesigns |
| You want to see a base price before you publish | MyDesigns |
| Most buyers are in Europe, the UK or Australia | Gelato |
| You need production near each buyer and no plan fee to start | Gelato |
| You sell both ways | Use both, with one provider per product |
For wider comparisons, see our best print on demand companies ranking, the three-way Printful vs Printify vs Gelato comparison, Gelato vs Printful, Printify vs Gelato and our Gelato review. Compare shirt prices across more providers in the t-shirt base price comparison, and read the MyDesigns review for the full picture. If you are shipping this holiday season, check peak-season POD fees first.
The Bottom Line
For US-focused sellers who list in bulk, MyDesigns is the best Gelato alternative: you see the base price up front, production takes 2 to 3 days and the design, mockup and listing tools sit in the same dashboard as fulfillment. MyDesigns plans start free; paid plans run from $19.99 a month billed yearly. Compare MyDesigns pricing with your own volume.
Who might choose Gelato instead: sellers whose customers are mostly outside the US, and anyone who needs production in a specific country.
Merch Titans Automation
Design, Mock Up and List in Bulk
MyDesigns sends orders to 240 Express with 2 to 3 day production. Start on the Free plan, no card needed.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Gelato alternative?
The best Gelato alternative for US-focused sellers who list in bulk is MyDesigns, because it pairs AI design, bulk mockups and bulk publishing with 240 Express fulfillment, 2 to 3 day production and a $6.75 Gildan 5000 on the Free plan (Oct 26 catalog). Gelato stays the better pick for international-first sellers. Checked Nov 2, 2026.
Is MyDesigns better than Gelato for Etsy sellers?
MyDesigns is better than Gelato for Etsy sellers who list many designs, because it bulk publishes 24, 48 or 120 products per batch on paid plans and rewrites listing copy with Vision AI. Gelato suits Etsy sellers whose buyers are mostly overseas, with local production in 32 countries per its own site. Checked Nov 2, 2026.
Is Gelato cheaper than Printful?
Gelato's public pages show no commission and no upfront fees, but they do not show product prices, so we cannot say it is cheaper than Printful. Check the exact blank, the shipping to your buyer and any Gelato+ discount in the dashboard before comparing. Our Printful versus Gelato post covers what we could verify. Checked Nov 2, 2026.
How many countries does Gelato print in?
Gelato says it has 250+ print providers across 32 countries and that 90% of orders are produced locally. Those are Gelato's own figures from gelato.com, read on Nov 2, 2026, and we did not verify them with test orders. Check the partner nearest your biggest buyer market before you commit volume.
Does Gelato charge a commission or monthly fee?
Gelato says it charges no commission, no upfront fees and no minimum orders, and you pay only for the products and shipping you order. It also offers an optional Gelato+ subscription that lists up to 33% off products. Source: gelato.com/pricing, read Nov 2, 2026.
Can I switch from Gelato to MyDesigns without losing listings?
You can move listings from Gelato to MyDesigns gradually, but we could not verify how orders carry over, so move five best sellers first. MyDesigns says you can reroute listings you already sell to 240 Express in a couple of clicks and import Etsy, Shopify and TikTok Shop listings with Import and Sync.
What is the best POD provider for US sellers?
MyDesigns is the best print on demand platform for US-focused sellers who want design, mockups, bulk publishing and fulfillment in one dashboard, with 240 Express production in 2 to 3 days. Sellers who ship mostly outside the US should compare Gelato's local production. Checked Nov 2, 2026.