Bella+Canvas vs Gildan vs Next Level vs Comfort Colors: Best Blank T-Shirts (2026)
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The blank you print on matters more than the print itself. A perfect six-color separation on a scratchy, boxy tee still ends up in the donation bin. A simple one-color logo on a soft, well-cut shirt gets worn until it falls apart — which is exactly what you want when the shirt is carrying your brand.
We print on all of these every week. Here is the honest breakdown of the four blank brands that dominate custom apparel in 2026, who each one is actually for, and how to pick without guessing.
Quick comparison
| Brand / Style | Approx. weight | Fit | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bella+Canvas 3001 | ~4.2 oz, 32-singles ringspun | Modern, slim, retail | Brands, merch, events, anything sold |
| Next Level 3600 | ~4.3 oz, 32-singles ringspun | Slim, slightly longer body | Young adult crowds, boutique retail |
| Gildan 64000 Softstyle | ~4.5 oz, 30-singles ringspun | Semi-fitted, forgiving | Budget jobs that still need to feel decent |
| Gildan 5000 Heavy Cotton | ~5.3 oz, open-end yarn | Boxy, roomy, classic | Giveaways, work crews, high volume |
| Comfort Colors 1717 | ~6.1 oz garment-dyed ringspun | Relaxed, boxy, oversized look | Vintage/coastal aesthetic, premium merch |
Weights and yarn specs are the widely published mill figures and get revised occasionally. If you are speccing a large order to a tolerance, ask us to confirm the current spec sheet before you commit.
Bella+Canvas 3001: the default for anything you sell
If a shirt is going to have a price tag on it, this is where most brands land. The 3001 uses Airlume combed and ringspun cotton, which is a fancy way of saying the short fibers and impurities get combed out before spinning. Fewer stray fibers means a smoother surface, and a smoother surface means your ink sits crisper and your halftones do not look fuzzy.
What we like: the side-seamed construction holds shape through dozens of washes instead of twisting. The color range is enormous, and the heather CVC colors are some of the best-looking blanks on the market. Print quality on this shirt is consistently the cleanest of the four.
What to watch: it runs slim. If your audience is a construction crew or a general-public event, order a size up or expect complaints from anyone used to a Gildan. Also, the very lightweight body means a heavy plastisol print can feel stiff by comparison — this is a shirt that rewards a soft-hand or water-based approach.
Next Level 3600: the slimmest of the group
Next Level built its reputation on fitted, fashion-leaning cuts, and the 3600 is the purest expression of that. Comparable weight to the 3001, similar combed ringspun hand feel, but a longer body and a narrower silhouette.
Choose it when your buyers skew younger, when you are selling into a boutique or a band merch table, or when your customers have specifically told you they want a fitted tee. Avoid it as a general-issue shirt for a mixed-age group — the XL is not going to fit like other brands' XL.
Worth knowing: Next Level's CVC line, including the 6210, is a 60/40 cotton-poly blend that splits the difference between the softness of a triblend and the print reliability of cotton. It is one of our favorite blanks for corporate work where nobody wants to look like they are wearing a uniform.
Gildan Softstyle 64000: the value pick that does not feel cheap
The 64000 exists because Gildan noticed everyone was defecting to Bella+Canvas. It is a ringspun shirt at a price much closer to a basic tee, with a semi-fitted cut that is more forgiving than the 3001 but nowhere near as boxy as the 5000.
This is the shirt we recommend most often when someone has a real budget ceiling but is handing shirts to people they want to impress. Nonprofits, school staff, church groups, trade show giveaways where you want the shirt actually worn afterward.
Trade-off: 30-singles yarn is slightly coarser than 32-singles, so extremely fine detail and small text will not resolve quite as sharply. For most designs, nobody will ever notice.
Gildan 5000: still the volume workhorse
The 5000 is the shirt everyone means when they picture a "plain t-shirt." Heavier, open-end yarn, boxier cut, and priced to move in large quantities. It is not soft and it does not pretend to be.
It is still the right call for:
- Large-volume giveaways where cost per unit rules everything
- Work crews and shop shirts that get destroyed and replaced
- Jobs with heavy ink coverage — the thicker fabric hides a dense print better
- Youth and adult sizes that need to run the full range without surprises
If durability under abuse is the priority, look at purpose-built workwear fabrics instead of stretching a tee past its job.
Comfort Colors 1717: the one people keep
Garment-dyed means the shirt is sewn first and dyed after, which produces the soft, slightly uneven, lived-in color that has been driving the coastal and vintage merch trend for years now. At roughly 6.1 oz it is the heaviest of the group, with a boxy relaxed cut that reads as intentionally oversized.
The 1717 sells. Fundraisers, tourist towns, alumni merch, and boutique brands routinely charge $10–$15 more per unit for it and the shirts still move. If you are printing something you want people to keep for five years, this is the blank.
Two cautions. Garment-dyed goods can vary slightly in shade between dye lots, so reorders may not match perfectly — order your whole run at once when color consistency matters. And because the dye process is harder on the fabric, expect a little more shrinkage than a standard tee.
How to choose in 30 seconds
- Selling it? Bella+Canvas 3001 or Comfort Colors 1717.
- Giving it away in volume? Gildan 5000.
- Giving it away but you want it worn? Gildan 64000.
- Young, fashion-conscious audience? Next Level 3600.
- Corporate, mixed ages, must look sharp? Next Level 6210 CVC or Bella+Canvas heather.
- Heavy ink coverage or rough use? Go heavier — 5000 or 1717.
Two things that matter more than the brand name
1. Order the size range, not the size chart. Every brand's XL is a different XL. Before a big run, get a sample of your chosen blank in a middle size and have someone actually put it on. We keep samples on hand for exactly this reason.
2. Match the decoration to the fabric. A tri-blend and a heavy cotton do not take ink the same way, and neither behaves like a polyester performance shirt. Our breakdown of screen printing vs. embroidery vs. DTF covers which method to pair with which garment, and the fabric guide goes deeper on blends.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bella+Canvas really worth the extra cost over Gildan?
For anything you sell or hand to a customer, yes — the fit and hand feel are noticeably better and people keep the shirt. For a 500-piece giveaway, the math usually favors Gildan.
Which blank shrinks the least?
Preshrunk ringspun styles like the 3001 and 64000 hold size well when washed cold and dried low. Garment-dyed shirts like the 1717 move the most.
Can I mix brands in one order?
Yes, and it is common — fitted styles for staff, roomier styles for the general run. Just be aware that ink color can read slightly differently across fabrics.
Do you ship outside Nevada?
We print and embroider for customers across the country and ship nationwide. Quantity, not geography, drives your pricing.
Get your blanks matched to your job
Tell us what the shirts are for, how many you need, and who is wearing them, and we will spec the blank and decoration method for you rather than making you guess from a catalog. Browse our custom embroidery and print collection, look at screen printed tee packages, or request a free quote.