Last Updated on September 4, 2025 by Full-Time Job From Home
One legitimate way to make money online is by designing t-shirts. It isn’t for everyone; you’ll need creative ideas and the ability to design the shirt (or pay someone else to do it.)
Below I’ve listed 15 legitimate sites that let you submit t-shirt designs; you’ll either get an upfront cash prize or earn a commission on your orders. Most of the sites listed let you set your markup. From what I’ve seen a $5-$12 base price markup is realistic.
Earning an income designing t-shirts is awesome, but I prefer another way of making a passive income online. Make sure to check out My #1 Recommendation, it’s how I made over $13,000 online last month!
If you don’t think designing t-shirts is your thing, make sure to check out my WAH jobs directory for other ways to make money.
Let’s get started. Here are seven sites that pay you to design t-shirts.
How To Get Paid To Design T-Shirts
The process is simple:
Create Your Design – You can use tools like Canva, Photoshop, or free platforms like Photopea.
- Upload it to a Platform – Choose a marketplace or POD service (we’ll cover these below).
Pick Your Products – T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, and more.
Get Paid – You earn a royalty or profit margin every time your design sells.
You don’t pay for production — the platform only prints your shirt after a customer buys it.
Options To Get Paid To Design T-Shirts
There are two main types of sites on the list below: Print on Demand Marketplaces and Fulfillment Services. Here’s a quick breakdown of both before we get to the list.
Print-on-Demand Marketplaces
These are websites that already have a built-in audience and handle printing, shipping, and customer service for you. You simply upload your designs, add titles and tags, and they list your products in their store.
- Pros: No upfront costs, easy to start, platform brings customers to you.
- Cons: Lower royalties and high competition.
POD Fulfillment Services (Your Own Store)
These services print and ship your products under your brand, but you sell through your own online store (like Shopify, Etsy, or WooCommerce). You control the pricing, branding, and marketing.
- Pros: Higher profit margins, complete brand control, flexible pricing.
- Cons: You must drive your own traffic and handle marketing.
15 Sites That Pay You To Design Clothing
Print-on-Demand Marketplaces:
You upload your designs, and they handle sales, printing, and shipping.
1) Redbubble is a print-on-demand marketplace where artists upload their designs to be sold on products like T-shirts, hoodies, stickers, and more. Once your design is live, Redbubble handles printing, shipping, and customer service, and you earn a royalty on every sale.
2) TeePublic is a print-on-demand marketplace where designers can upload artwork to be printed on T-shirts and other merchandise. The platform handles all production, shipping, and customer service, and you earn a set commission on each sale.
3) Threadless is a print-on-demand platform where artists can sell T-shirt designs through the main marketplace or their own “Artist Shop.” Threadless manages printing, shipping, and customer service, and pays you a royalty or profit margin on each sale.
4) Society6 is a print-on-demand marketplace that focuses on art-driven products, including T-shirts, home décor, and accessories. Artists upload their designs, and Society6 handles printing, shipping, and customer service. You earn a royalty on each apparel sale.
5) Design By Humans is a print-on-demand marketplace popular with artists in gaming, music, and pop culture niches. You upload your T-shirt designs, and they handle printing, shipping, and customer support while you earn a commission on each sale.
6) Merch by Amazon is a print-on-demand program where you upload T-shirt designs to sell directly on Amazon. Amazon handles printing, shipping, customer service, and payment processing, and you earn a royalty for each shirt sold.
7) Tostadora is a European print-on-demand marketplace where designers can sell T-shirts and other apparel featuring their artwork. The platform handles printing, shipping, and customer service, and you earn a commission on each sale.
Fulfillment Services (Your Own Store):
You create your very own store, and you control the brand and pricing.
8) Etsy is a global online marketplace where you can sell custom T-shirts using print-on-demand services like Printful or Printify for production and shipping. You create the designs and product listings, and Etsy provides a built-in audience of buyers looking for unique, handmade, or personalized items.
9) TeeSpring (now called Spring) is a print-on-demand platform where you can create and sell custom T-shirts and other merchandise through your own online storefront. Spring handles printing, shipping, and customer service, while you set prices and keep the profit above the base cost.
10) Spreadshirt is a print-on-demand platform where you can sell T-shirt designs through their online marketplace or your own custom shop. They handle printing, shipping, and customer service, and you earn money through commissions or by setting your own prices in a shop.
11) Printful is a print-on-demand fulfillment service that lets you sell custom T-shirts and other products through your own online store on platforms like Shopify, Etsy, or WooCommerce. You upload designs, set prices, and when a customer orders, Printful handles printing, shipping, and customer service.
12) Printify is a print-on-demand fulfillment network that connects your custom T-shirt designs to multiple e-commerce platforms like Etsy, Shopify, and WooCommerce. You upload your designs, choose from a wide range of print providers, set your prices, and Printify handles printing and shipping when orders come in.
13) Apliiq is a print-on-demand apparel company that specializes in premium customization and private label branding. You can upload your T-shirt designs and choose from options like custom labels, embroidery, sewn-on patches, and unique fabric applications. Apliiq integrates with e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Etsy, and they handle printing, finishing, and shipping.
14) Gooten is a print-on-demand fulfillment platform that lets you sell custom T-shirts and other products through your own online store on platforms like Shopify, Etsy, and WooCommerce. You upload your designs, set your prices, and Gooten’s global network of print providers handles production and shipping.
15) Gelato is a global print-on-demand platform that connects your custom T-shirt designs to local print providers in over 30 countries. You upload your designs, integrate Gelato with your online store (Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, etc.), set your prices, and Gelato handles printing and shipping from the location closest to your customer.
Tips For Selling More Shirts
Promote Your Work – Share on Pinterest, Instagram, or TikTok for free traffic.
Target Niches – A funny dog lover shirt will sell better than a generic “funny shirt.”
Follow Trends – Use Google Trends or Etsy search to spot what’s hot.
Optimize for Keywords – Titles and tags help people find your designs.
Test Different Styles – Typography, illustrations, and photo-based designs can all work.
How Much Can You Earn Designing Shirts?
Earnings vary based on the platform and your effort. On marketplaces like Redbubble, you might earn $1–$6 per shirt. Running your own store through Printful or Printify can mean $10+ profit per shirt — but you’ll need to handle marketing.
Realistic example:
- 10 shirts sold per week at $5 profit each = $200/month
- 50 shirts sold per week = $1,000/month
Like any creative side hustle, success comes from consistent effort and understanding your audience.
Other Ways To Make Money Online
I hope you enjoyed this list of sites that pay you to design t-shirts. Please keep in mind that your products need to sell to make money.
Getting paid to design T-shirts is a fun, creative way to earn extra income — and in some cases, a full-time living. Start small, focus on a niche, and keep testing what works. The beauty is, your designs can keep selling for years without any extra work, making this a great source of passive income.
I love passive income, it’s how I make money with this website and I’d love to show you how you can make money with a website too.
If selling t-shirts isn’t for you check out these other ways that I recommend to make money online:
Know of any other sites that pay you to design t-shirts? Have experience with these sites? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
I think I have something wonderful to offer.
Which sites would you suggest one can deal with where they handle the production, marketing & sells of the T-shirts..
Edmond,
CafePress and Zazzle are both great options. They will handle the production and shipping of the shirts. In regards to marketing, both sites give you guides and tools to help with marketing but the marketing of your products are basically on you especially when starting out.
I recommend checking out the FAQs at CafePress they have a whole section on how you can promote your products and what they recommend to be successful.
Hope this helps,
Brok
Hi! I currently own a screen printing company which i have used to my advantage to create a clothing line. I already have my shirts in a few stores. I’m thinking about placing the screen business on hold for a bit do to some personal issues in my life. I don’t wanna lose the profits on my Tshirts as income. Could i connect these shirts to my already existing website or Etsy. Is there consignment possibilities to local shops that i can also profit from. Could i pick the brand and style of the Tshirt or tank? Could i keep my company tradename as the brand on the shirts?
Thanks for reading Dawn and great question.
On the sites listed above, you would not be able to send them the shirts and have them sell them. It looks like you would just have to design the shirt on their site and then they would print new shirts when they sell.
If you wanted to print the shirts your self, an option would be selling on Amazon. Amazon has a program called Fulfillment by Amazon. Basically, you’d make the listing and print the shirts. You’d then ship all of the shirts to Amazon. When someone orders a shirt they are responsible for the shipping and handling to get it to the customer.
Of course, there is a small fee for this but compared to shipping everything yourself it’s worth it.
Hope this helps if you have any other questions let me know.
Brok
How do you know how much to mark it up
Thanks for reading, Linda. That’s completely up to you. I would check out similar shirts on the website and see what seems to be selling well and price accordingly.
It is all true. I make a great living just designing t-shirts online. Check out one of my stores. http://shrsl.com/?iaye
The article left out one of the biggest ones though, AMAZON.
Thank you for sharing Kara!
Brok
Hi. I’m a little confused about this, so please don’t laugh at me. When you design the t-shirts, do you have to pay for the physical t-shirt and then sell them and get back the profits? Or do they provide the t-shirts, you upload your design, they sell it, and then they give you a share of the profit?
Good question Ben. You’re responsible for creating/uploading the design. When you do, they give you a base price that it costs to create the shirt. On most of the sites, they let you choose the markup and you’ll make the markup for every product sold.
The companies handle producing the physical product and shipping.
On these sites design and marketing your designs are the key to making money.
Hope this helps,
Brok