Who each one suits
Bonfire suits a group with a moment: a school club, a team, a charity run, a nonprofit appeal. You open a campaign, push it hard for a week or two, and the batch pricing rewards you for every extra order. Verified nonprofits also get donation receipts and payouts through Change.
Merch5 suits a brand, a creator or a small business that wants merch on sale all the time, inside its own website or behind a link, with buyers outside the US. Every order is printed after it is paid, so there is no batch window and no deadline to explain to fans.
Both are free to start. If your merch is an event, Bonfire's model is hard to beat. If it is a shelf, Merch5 is the simpler one.
Bonfire vs. Merch5 at a glance
Bonfire figures come from its help center and its own blog at the time of writing (November 2026).
| Bonfire | Merch5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to start | Free, with no platform or service fees | $0. No subscription and no setup fee; selling is free on every plan |
| How margins work | Your price minus the base cost. In batch campaigns the base cost falls as more items sell; print-on-demand campaigns reset it to the maximum each day | 0% platform cut of your margin. Printing and shipping are charged out of each order after your customer has paid |
| Extra fees | 8% processing fee on optional contributions, 3.5% for verified nonprofits | None beyond printing and shipping on each order |
| Base cost | Not published as a price list; the design tool estimates your profit before launch | Shown next to each product in the dashboard when you set your price |
| Timing | Batch campaigns collect orders for 2–21 days, then print. On-demand orders go to print the next business day; domestic delivery takes 7–14 business days | Each order is printed after it is paid. No batch to wait for |
| Store | A free branded store that shows your campaigns; each campaign holds one product group | A storefront at yourstore |
| Embed on your own site | No integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce or Magento; you share the campaign or store URL | Yes. A widget snippet for any website, plus a short link and a printable QR code. Checkout is hosted for you |
| Minimums | No minimum quantity on custom orders at cost | One item |
| Production | Vetted print partners around the US; Bonfire is based in Richmond, Virginia | Printed and embroidered by Customnia in New York. Tracked shipping to 100+ countries |
| Shipping | Campaign orders from $5.99 in the US and $11.99 internationally, EU orders +$5.50; group and custom orders continental US only | Tracked shipping to 100+ countries, charged out of each order |
| Payouts | PayPal, usually requestable 1–3 business days after orders go to print, $5 minimum; check from $100 and ACH from $1,000 for eligible sellers | On request, to PayPal or your bank account, no minimum |
| Fundraising | Verified nonprofits get automated receipts for tax-deductible donations and payouts through Change | No donation features: the money raised is the margin you set |
Bonfire facts from Pricing & Fees, How Payouts Work, the shipping rates page and bonfire.com at the time of writing (November 2026). Rates change, so check before you launch.
Bonfire or Merch5: which one fits
Pick Bonfire if
- You are raising money for a cause and want donations on top of the price
- You are a verified nonprofit that needs tax-deductible receipts
- Your sales come in a burst you can organize, and batch pricing pays you more for it
- Most of your buyers are in the US
Pick Merch5 if
- You want merch on sale all year, not in campaign windows
- You want the store inside your own website as a widget
- You want tees, hoodies, caps, totes and mugs in one store, not one product group per campaign
- Your buyers are spread across countries
- You want payouts on request to PayPal or your bank, with no minimum
Try Merch5 for your next design
Keep your Bonfire campaigns. Use Merch5 for the designs you want on sale all the time.
Add products and prices
Upload the artwork, pick products and set your retail price. The production cost is shown next to each one.
Share it and leave it open
Post the link, print the QR code for your next event, or paste the widget into your site.
Bonfire vs. Merch5 questions
Yes. Bonfire says selling through its campaigns is free, with no platform or service fees. You earn the difference between your price and the base cost. The only fee it lists is a processing fee on optional extra contributions: 8%, or 3.5% for verified nonprofits.
In a batch campaign, orders print together after the batch ends, and Bonfire says margins increase at higher quantities. Its print-on-demand option prints each order the next business day instead, but resets the base cost to the maximum each day, so margins are thinner.
Yes. You set the retail price, and the margin above the production cost is the money raised. Merch5 has no donation receipts, so a registered nonprofit that needs tax-deductible receipts will find Bonfire's nonprofit features a better fit.
On both. Bonfire's print-on-demand campaigns stay open continuously by default, and its free store shows several campaigns in one place. A Merch5 store stays open until you close it, and a drop can also have an end time or a cap on the number of items.
Bonfire's help center says it does not integrate with platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce or Magento and suggests sharing the campaign or store URL. Merch5 gives you a widget snippet for any site as well as a link and a QR code.
Bonfire lists international shipping for campaign orders from $11.99, plus $5.50 for orders to the EU, while group and custom orders ship to the continental US only. Merch5 ships every order with tracking to 100+ countries.
Bonfire lists no minimum quantity for custom orders at cost. On Merch5 the minimum is one item, on every plan.
Bonfire pays through PayPal, typically requestable 1–3 business days after orders go to print, with a $5 minimum; checks and ACH have higher minimums for eligible sellers. On Merch5 you request a payout to PayPal or your bank account whenever you want, with no minimum.
Merch that stays on sale.
No campaign window, no minimum, nothing printed until someone pays.