f you are searching for stickers and labels online, you will probably run into the same question I did: VistaPrint vs CustomStickers.com for stickers and labels. At first glance, they both print stickers and both have decent looking websites. But once you start looking at quality, cutting, waterproofing, and price, the gap between them gets pretty obvious.
In this article I will walk through how each company handles materials, die cutting, durability, and pricing, and then share which one I would actually trust for real business use.
I will keep it simple and honest. No fluff. Just how these stickers actually behave in the real world.
VistaPrint is a general print shop. They sell business cards, marketing postcards, signage, and yes, stickers and labels. Stickers are one product line among many. The focus is broad, not specialized.
CustomStickers.com is focused on one lane: custom stickers and labels. The whole brand is built around vinyl stickers, roll labels, and related products. Their blog is full of deep sticker content, like QR code sticker sizing and water bottle labels, which tells you where their energy goes.
That difference matters. When stickers are just another SKU, you tend to get cheaper materials and basic options. When stickers are the main thing, you get thicker vinyl, better laminate, and more attention to cut quality.
VistaPrint offers paper labels and various plastic options. On their sticker and sheet label pages they describe:
In practice, the standard sticker products feel light and a bit flimsy. The paper options are clearly not meant for moisture. They describe those as fine as long as the sticker does not come into contact with liquid.
You can pay more to move into “waterproof label” products, but the default experience for many customers is thin stock that does not feel like premium vinyl. That is where the reputation comes from: VistaPrint stickers feeling low quality for the price.
CustomStickers.com leans hard into vinyl. Their free sticker promo and many product pages explain that:
In other words, the base product is closer to what a dedicated sticker nerd expects: a vinyl sticker with body, not a thin paper label. If you want stickers for laptops, water bottles, helmets, or bumpers, this difference is huge.
If material quality is your main decision point, CustomStickers.com is already pulling ahead.
This is where people get tripped up, because “custom shape” can mean different things.
VistaPrint offers:
That sounds nice on paper, but in my opinion it does not behave like true specialist die cutting. The material is thin, and the cut accuracy and edge detail are not what you get from a sticker focused shop. Many users report minor issues with borders, alignment, or overall look.
So while VistaPrint technically offers cut to shape options, the overall impression is closer to “basic digital cutting on generic material” than to premium die cut stickers.
CustomStickers.com literally leads with die cut. Their popular offers are framed around “100x die cut stickers” and “free custom die cut stickers.”
What you get:
In short, CustomStickers.com behaves the way people imagine when they hear “die cut stickers.” VistaPrint mostly feels like a general print shop that happens to offer cut shapes.
If you care about that crisp contour and want your art to feel intentional, CustomStickers.com is the safer bet.
This is the big practical test. Does the sticker survive water, sunlight, and daily handling.
Reading through VistaPrint’s product pages, you will see a pattern:
So yes, VistaPrint can sell you water resistant labels if you pick the right product and material. But many customers land on the cheaper paper options and then find out the hard way that those are not waterproof.
That is why you hear complaints like “VistaPrint stickers are not waterproof” even though some of their labels technically can be. The default experience is not built around heavy outdoor use.
CustomStickers.com keeps it simple:
You do not have to dig for the “special waterproof version.” The whole system is set up around weather safe stickers by default. If you are putting stickers on water bottles, cars, ski gear, or anything that lives outside a bit, this matters.
Here is a related deep dive from their blog if you are planning labels for bottles or cans:
How to Create Custom Water Bottle Labels (the simple way)
Both companies sell labels in addition to individual stickers, but the focus is different.
VistaPrint’s label offerings are aimed at:
If you just need a cheap paper label to stick on a box that will be tossed quickly, that can be enough. But again, once you need moisture resistance, the options get more specific and the price starts to climb.
CustomStickers.com offers:
Their blog has quite a bit of content aimed at small business owners using stickers and labels as a serious part of their brand, like How to use custom stickers for your small business.
If labels are going on real products, not just shipping cartons, the added durability and finish quality are worth it.
You mentioned it directly, so let us say it plainly: VistaPrint’s pricing is not great once you factor in the quality you are getting.
VistaPrint can look cheap at low quantities and with promo codes, but there are tradeoffs:
So while the sticker price on screen might be low, the value is not. If the sticker feels generic, peels early, or cannot handle moisture, that is not good value for a serious brand.
CustomStickers.com prices are aimed at thicker vinyl with laminate as the baseline. For example, offers like “100x die cut stickers for 29.99” target decent quantity and quality together.
You are paying for:
If you compare “price per real vinyl sticker” rather than just “price per thing called a sticker,” CustomStickers.com usually comes out ahead on value.
Here is the simple breakdown for VistaPrint vs CustomStickers.com for stickers and labels:
If you are planning long term sticker use or serious product labeling, I would choose CustomStickers.com and not look back.
