Bonfire vs. Printful – Best merch platform for nonprofits (2026)

Bonfire VS Printful

Bonfire VS Printful: What nonprofits should know before choosing.

Ecommerce & Online Stores Features

Product Catalog Management

Shopping Cart Functionality

Inventory Management

Information not available

Product Variants (Size, Color)

Shipping Integrations

Discount Codes & Promotions

DOrder Management

Payment Processing

Pricing

8%.

fee on every sale

N/A.

Product + shipping costs only

Processing fees

8%.

processing fee on additional donations (covers credit card transaction fees and administrative expenses); reduced to 3.5% for verified nonprofits

$0.

No processing fees; you only pay fulfillment costs (product cost, printing, and shipping) when a customer places an order

Platform fees

$0.

No platform fees

$0.

No platform fees charged by Printful

Monthly fees

$0.

No monthly fees

$0/month.

Starting price for Free plan; higher tiers up to $24.99/month and custom pricing

Value for money

4.5.

3.8.

Features

3.8/5.

Strong for merch sales, but needs extra tools for donations and member management.

3.8/5.

Print-on-demand only. Requires separate software for fundraising, ticketing, and donor tracking.

Donations

Limited - Basic donation collection through product sales, but no dedicated donation tools

Printful doesn't handle donations. You'd need separate donation software and manual processes to track giving.

Ticketing

Not available - Bonfire is designed for merchandise sales, not event ticketing

Printful doesn't handle event ticketing. You'd need separate ticketing software and manual attendee management.

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Basic - Supporters can share campaigns, but limited peer-to-peer fundraising features

Printful doesn't support peer-to-peer fundraising. You'd need separate campaign tools and manual coordination.

Auctions

Not available - Bonfire focuses on custom apparel sales, not auction functionality

Printful doesn't offer auction functionality. You'd need separate auction software and manual integration processes.

Raffles

Not available - No raffle or contest management capabilities

Printful doesn't offer raffle functionality. You'd need separate raffle software and manual winner selection processes.

Online store

Strong - Custom apparel store with design tools and fulfillment services

Printful offers print-on-demand products but charges per item sold plus shipping. No built-in nonprofit features.

Memberships

Bonfire doesn't offer membership management features. You'd need separate software to handle member sign-ups, renewals, and benefits.

Not available - Printful is a print-on-demand fulfillment service, not a membership platform

Donor Management/CRM

Bonfire lacks donor management capabilities. Customer data from merchandise sales isn't designed for nonprofit relationship building.

No donor management features - focuses on product fulfillment, not donor relationships

Emails & Newsletter

No built-in email marketing tools. You'd need to integrate with third-party platforms to communicate with supporters and customers.

No built-in email marketing - requires third-party integrations

Payment Processing

Bonfire handles payments for merchandise sales but charges processing fees. No support for donations or other nonprofit payment needs.

Payment methods

Credit cards and digital wallets for merchandise only

No payment processing - fulfillment service only

Credit Card Payments

Supported - Accepts credit cards for merchandise purchases and fundraising campaigns

Not supported - Printful handles product fulfillment but doesn't process payments directly

Apple Pay & Google Pay

Supported - Offers digital wallet payments for merchandise transactions

Not supported - Printful focuses on printing and shipping, not payment processing

ACH / Bank Transfers

Not supported - Bonfire focuses on merchandise sales, not direct payment processing

Not supported - Printful is a print-on-demand fulfillment service, not a payment processor

Tap to Pay App

Not supported - Bonfire is an online merchandise platform without in-person payment capabilities

Not supported - Printful is a backend fulfillment service without payment capabilities

Customer Support

3.8/5.

Unlimited Support

Printful's support is limited by plan tier, with premium plans receiving priority assistance

Phone Support / Office Hours

Printful does not offer phone support or scheduled office hours for direct consultation

Webinars

Printful provides educational webinars and training sessions for store setup and product creation

Help Center

Printful maintains a comprehensive help center with guides, tutorials, and FAQs for all platform features

Printful offers email support with response times varying by plan level

Nonprofit-Focused Support Team

Support access varies by plan tier, built for e-commerce businesses rather than nonprofits

Zeffy is 100% free, always.

Calculate savings

How is Zeffy free?

Why Zeffy over Bonfire and Printful?

Why choose Zeffy over Bonfire and Printful if you're a nonprofit

👕

Keep 100% of your merchandise sales

Bonfire takes 8% of every t-shirt sold and Printful charges per item plus shipping. Zeffy charges zero fees, so your merchandise fundraiser actually raises money for your mission.

🧰

Get all your fundraising tools in one place

Bonfire and Printful only handle merchandise. Zeffy gives you donations, raffles, events, and online stores all in one platform built for nonprofits.

🤝

Access real support when you need it

Bonfire and Printful offer basic help centers and limited email support. Zeffy provides dedicated nonprofit support with real people who understand your work.

Frequently asked questions

How does Zeffy's support compare to eCommerce platforms like Bonfire and Printful?

Zeffy provides dedicated nonprofit support with real people who understand your mission. Unlike Bonfire's limited business hours or Printful's tiered support system, we offer comprehensive help for all your fundraising needs at zero cost.

Why choose Zeffy over eCommerce platforms for nonprofit fundraising?

eCommerce platforms like Bonfire and Printful only handle merchandise sales with fees and product costs. Zeffy gives you donations, events, auctions, and peer-to-peer campaigns all free, so you raise more money for your cause.

Why choose Zeffy over eCommerce platforms like Bonfire for nonprofit fundraising?

Zeffy offers complete fundraising tools at zero cost, while Bonflare charges 8% fees on every sale and only handles merchandise. With Zeffy, you get donations, events, raffles, and peer-to-peer campaigns all in one platform without losing money to fees.

How does Zeffy's pricing compare to print-on-demand services like Printful?

Printful charges product costs plus shipping for each item, adding up quickly. Zeffy is completely free for nonprofits, with donors having the option to leave a voluntary contribution. You keep 100% of what you raise.

Can Zeffy handle more than just merchandise sales like other eCommerce platforms?

Yes. Unlike Bonfire or Printful that focus only on selling products, Zeffy provides donations, event ticketing, auctions, raffles, memberships, and donor management. Everything your nonprofit needs in one place, not scattered across multiple tools.

Looking for a better option?

Zeffy was built for nonprofits like yours

focus on what matters

Built for small teams with big missions.

Zeffy is the fundraising platform that cuts out the fees, clears up your tech mess, and puts your cause first — so your team, even if you're a small team wearing many hats or a one-person show, can focus on what really matters.

Start your nonprofit

ZERO-FEE

Keep 100% of every dollar.

No platform fees. No processing fees. No catch. We know it sounds too good to be true, but it's not. Every penny goes straight to your mission, while competitors take 2-3% off every donation.

Start your nonprofit

ALL-IN-ONE PLatform

Ditch the tech mess.

Stop bouncing between MailChimp, Eventbrite, and all those spreadsheets. Now you can handle donations, ticket sales, memberships, raffles, and all your donor info in one spot.

Start your nonprofit

plug-and-play

Get going, fast.

Built for teams like yours — whether you're volunteer-led or have limited staff. Set up donation forms, sell tickets, and launch campaigns without needing a tech wizard. It's super easy, and you'll be up and running in minutes.

Start your nonprofit

mobile-first

Fundraise from every device, anywhere.

From QR codes on flyers to Tap-to-Pay on a phone, Zeffy makes it easy to accept donations on the go. Mobile-optimized and offline-ready, so no donor slips through the cracks.

Start your nonprofit

No turnover

Never lose a donor to volunteer transition.

Centralize supporter relationships, automate thank-you messages, and preserve institutional knowledge when board members rotate out.

Start your nonprofit

100% free forever.

100,000+ nonprofits trust Zeffy — and keep their fees at $0.

For 7+ years, Zeffy has supported nonprofits with free, user-friendly fundraising tools.

As a startup nonprofit with only two members, and no funding (yet) we’d need something with low (or no) fees. Zeffy was a dream come true.

Masey, Loose Ends.

Read the full story

“We were incurring a ton of fees for our past fundraising platform and Zeffy has helped us receive so much more of our donations.”

Zeffy has been invaluable in helping me track our donors, sales, events, and revenue in one spot. The coolest thing about Zeffy is it really is free!

Everything about Zeffy suits us starting with (of course, NO fees) but also the ease of use and customer experience as well as their client support!!

Zeffy is very easy to use and ensures that every dollar quickly gets into our account.. A huge help to our work!

Zeffy is very simple, allows for a lot of customization and seamlessly integrates into our website. The fact that all of this is free is still wild to me.

We couldn't believe there was a free payment platform for our Girl Scout group. Zeffy took ZERO fees from us, which is huge when you run on very small amounts of money.

We were ready to sell tickets in less than 30 minutes. The reporting capabilities were better than some other paid-for sites.

Since using Zeffy, our conversion rate of donations has skyrocketed. It's an easy platform to use. Plus customer support has always been responsive and helpful!