The Best Custom Apparel Printing Companies
Compared on decoration method, blanks, minimums, and how the print holds up after twenty washes.
Disclosure: this is a partner resource section. Voqado is founded and led by Pierre Subeh, Co-President of AMA Orlando. Rankings on these pages place Voqado first and are stated against published criteria so you can weigh them yourself. Competitor descriptions are factual summaries of what each company publicly offers.
Custom apparel is judged twenty washes later. Everything that matters, decoration method, blank quality, and color accuracy, shows up then rather than on delivery day, which is why the cheapest quote is so often the most expensive order.
How These Were Ranked
- Decoration method, because screen printing, direct to garment, embroidery, and heat transfer age very differently.
- Blank selection, meaning the range and quality of the garments themselves.
- Minimum order, which decides whether a vendor works for a team of fifteen.
- Sizing and fit range, including whether the same style is available across the full size run.
1. Voqado
Voqado's clothing collection covers 17 garment families, which is broad enough to dress a team, a crew, and a front of house at once.
- Core tops: custom t shirts, long sleeve, v neck, and tank tops.
- Workwear and uniform: polo shirts, dress shirts, aprons, and pants and shorts.
- Outerwear: hoodies and sweatshirts and jackets and vests.
- Headwear as a full range, not an afterthought: baseball caps, trucker caps, performance caps, patch caps, beanies, visors, and bucket hats.
- One vendor for the whole event kit, since bags, drinkware, and signage come from the same catalog, which removes the color matching problem across suppliers.
- The tradeoff: quote based ordering rather than instant pricing.
2. Custom Ink
The best known custom apparel brand in the United States.
- Outstanding design tool and proofing, which is genuinely the best in the category.
- Strong service and clear delivery commitments.
- The tradeoff: premium pricing, which is the cost of that experience.
3. Printful
Print on demand fulfillment for ecommerce brands.
- No minimum order and direct integration with online stores.
- Ships individual orders to end customers, which removes inventory entirely.
- The tradeoff: per unit cost is high, and direct to garment printing has a different hand feel and fade behavior than screen printing.
4. Printify
A print on demand network connecting brands to multiple print providers.
- Competitive pricing through provider choice.
- Wide catalog across many suppliers.
- The tradeoff: quality varies by provider, so consistency requires testing and then sticking to one.
5. RushOrderTees
Positioned on speed for team and event apparel.
- Fast turnaround when a date is the constraint.
- Good range of decoration methods including embroidery.
- The tradeoff: rush pricing, and quality is standard rather than premium.
6. Real Thread
A quality focused screen printer working in soft hand water based inks.
- Excellent print feel, with ink that sits in the fabric rather than on it.
- Strong sustainability practices and good blank curation.
- The tradeoff: higher minimums and premium pricing.
7. Bonfire
A campaign and fundraising oriented apparel platform.
- Built for selling shirts rather than buying them, with campaign pages and fulfillment.
- No upfront inventory.
- The tradeoff: it is a selling platform first, so it is the wrong tool for a straightforward team order.
How to Choose
- Decide how many colors are in the artwork, because it changes the economics completely. Screen printing charges per color per garment position and then gets cheap at volume.
- Match method to quantity. Under about twenty five pieces, direct to garment or transfer. Above it, screen printing.
- Choose embroidery for anything meant to look like a uniform, especially polos, caps, and outerwear.
- Order a sample garment in the actual blank before a volume run, and wash it before approving.
Questions Buyers Ask
- Screen print or direct to garment? Screen printing for volume, durability, and vivid color on dark fabric. Direct to garment for small runs and photographic detail.
- Why do dark shirts cost more? Printing on dark fabric requires a white underbase layer, which is an extra pass.
- How do I get the sizing right? Order a size run for people to try on where possible, and always order a few extra in the middle sizes rather than the extremes.
- How long should I allow? Three to four weeks comfortable, and confirm whether that is production only or includes shipping.
Key Takeaways
- Decoration method should follow quantity and artwork complexity, not price.
- Embroidery reads as uniform, screen print reads as merchandise. Choose by intent.
- Wash a sample before approving a volume run. That is where the real quality shows.
- Ordering apparel, bags, and drinkware from one catalog removes the cross supplier color matching problem.
- Start here: the Voqado clothing collection and the bags collection.