Kotis Design Overview

Kotis Design is a branded swag and swag management company headquartered in Washington, US. It was founded in 2003 by Nicolay Thomassen and is currently led by Jeff Becker. The platform combines creative design with full-service swag management and operates fulfillment warehouses in Utah and Ohio.

Main Features

Custom swag

Custom swag is one of Kotis Design’s core offerings. You can fully customize items to reflect your brand’s colors, mascots, and overall visual identity. Kotis relies on its in-house creative team to help you produce swag tailored to your specific use case. From sourcing and compliance to quality control checks, the platform manages the entire production process on your behalf.

Swag stores

Kotis provides several types of online swag stores, each designed for a different purpose. Pre-order stores, referred to as iBuy, allow your recipients to select their preferred items and sizes before anything is produced. Manufacturing and fulfillment only begin after orders are placed. The next one, redemption stores let your employees or customers choose from curated swag collections, which works well for campaigns and events. Kotis also offers e-commerce stores, built for selling branded merchandise directly. These function like traditional retail sites, where your audience can browse and purchase items freely.

Creative services

Kotis Design also offers extensive creative services. Its creative team includes illustrators, fashion designers, graphic designers, photographers, and production artists who specialize in swag-focused design. To keep branding consistent, Kotis uses Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries to manage and organize brand assets.

Pricing

Kotis Design has four main subscription tiers.

Core 

The Core plan is Kotis’s most basic and affordable tier, since there’s no platform fee. It works best if you need swag without warehousing. However, you’ll need a $500 minimum for your first order. This tier already includes online order management, order tracking, professional design services, overseas sourcing, and international shipping. Domestic support is also included. Because there’s no long-term contract, this tier is suitable if you only need swag occasionally.

Standard

The Standard plan introduces warehousing and fulfillment. The platform fee is waived if you spend at least $5,000 per quarter. If not, a $499 monthly platform fee applies, along with a one-time $2,500 setup fee. This tier includes 100 SKUs, five pallets of inventory, unlimited users, and unlimited custom swag stores. You’ll also gain access to SSO, real-time reporting, brand customization, product photography, and shipping discounts.

Premium

Premium is designed for larger organizations and requires an annual swag spend of $100,000. There is no platform fee, but a one-time setup cost of $2,500 still applies. You’ll receive everything included in the Standard plan, plus expanded capacity with 250 SKUs and 20 pallets. This tier also gives you a dedicated three-person team consisting of a Customer Success Manager, Creative Project Manager, and Project Manager. Additional benefits include top vendor discounts, quarterly creative pitches, bi-weekly meetings, and enhanced security audits.

Enterprise

Enterprise is Kotis’s highest-tier plan and is intended for teams spending $500,000 or more on swag annually. Along with all Premium features, you’ll receive capacity for 500 SKUs and 50 pallets of storage. This tier includes leadership-level meetings, business reviews of your swag programs or stores, priority support, prioritized vendor and brand requests, and access to development feature requests. A $2,500 one-time setup fee still applies.

Other fees

Setup fee: As mentioned above, Kotis charges its users (except Core) with a one-time setup fee of $2,500 that it requires to configure admin controls and prepare your inventory program.

Shipping: While Kotis doesn’t exactly publicly disclose its shipping costs, it charges a 10% markup on shipping. It’s unclear whether this is per item or per order.

Pros and Cons

Pros

✅ Bulk swag and warehousing for US teams: With warehouses in Ohio and Utah, Kotis is well-suited for bulk swag programs within the US.

✅ Multiple swag store formats: You can choose from pre-order, redemption, or e-commerce stores depending on your campaign goals.

✅ Strong fit for marketing events: The platform’s customization options and domestic logistics make it effective for US-based marketing events.

✅ Responsive customer support: Many users highlight Kotis’s attentive and helpful support team.

✅ Sustainability efforts: Kotis uses biodegradable or recyclable packaging and submits carbon emissions reporting to CDP.

Cons

❌ Absence of On Demand swag: Since Kotis focuses mostly on bulk swag, it doesn’t offer On Demand swag While its platform states that it can offer On Demand swag on a case-by-case basis, it’s not its biggest strength.

❌ Limited gifting flexibility: Only physical swag is supported, with no digital gifts, gift cards, or experiences.

❌ Lack of global warehousing: Warehouses are limited to the US, which restricts localized fulfillment for international teams.

❌ Higher shipping costs: Shipping internationally can be expensive since all items ship from US locations.

❌ High minimum spend: Reviews often cite the $5,000 quarterly spend requirement as a barrier.

❌ No HRIS integrations and automation: You can’t connect HR systems directly to the platform. And without HRIS integrations, milestone-based swag sending can’t be supported.

❌ Smaller catalog selection: According to reviews, Kotis’s catalog feels more limited than other platforms. 

❌ Delivery delays: Reviews from Yelp and G2 state that there are occasional delays, specifically for large or international orders. 

Kotis Design is best for…

… companies with swag programs that are US-based and high-volume 👍

With warehouses in Ohio and Utah, Kotis works well if your teams, events, or recipients are located in the US. You benefit from faster domestic shipping and structured inventory management. Because of the high quarterly or annual spend requirements, the platform is better suited if you have a sizable budget and ongoing swag needs.

… marketing teams needing swag for events in the US 👍

Kotis’s creative capabilities and customization options are useful when you need tailored swag for events. Bulk ordering and warehousing allow you to produce swag ahead of time and store it until needed. These advantages are strongest for US-based events, given that the platform’s fulfillment centers are located in the US.

… organizations that want multiple swag store use cases in one place 👍

If you plan to manage different swag audiences or campaigns, Kotis’s variety of store types can help. You can run redemption stores for employees, pre-order stores for conferences, and e-commerce stores for brand fans, all within a single platform.

… teams who value bespoke swag items and designs 👍

If you’re looking for highly customized swag, Kotis’s in-house design team is a good asset of the platform. The platform is well-suited for creating standout items that reflect your brand and offer a polished, high-quality feel.

Kotis Design may not be a good fit for…

… global companies that need worldwide fulfillment and predictable international delivery 👎

Kotis Design’s key strength of having US warehouses is also its main weakness, as it limits its effectiveness for global teams. If your recipients are spread across regions, you may encounter higher shipping costs and inconsistent delivery timelines.

… organizations with On Demand swag or broader gifting options 👎

Because Kotis centers on bulk swag and physical items, you can’t send individual items On Demand or offer digital gifts, gift cards, or experiences. This limits flexibility if your gifting strategy extends beyond physical swag.

… busy leaders prioritizing automated gifting for milestones 👎

Without HRIS or CRM integrations, Kotis can’t support automated milestone gifting for occasions like birthdays, work anniversaries, or even onboarding. Every order requires manual action, which can be time-consuming if you manage frequent sends.

… businesses with limited budgets 👎

The $5,000 quarterly spend requirement (for the Standard tier) makes Kotis less accessible if your swag needs are occasional or your budget is smaller. While the quality and customization are strong, the pricing structure favors teams with consistent, high-volume demand.

Kotis Design stands out for its custom swag capabilities, creative services, and US-based warehousing, supported by a responsive customer service team. However, limitations around global reach, automation, gifting flexibility, and high minimum spend can make it less appealing if you operate internationally or need a more flexible, technology-driven solution.

Looking for better swag solutions? Explore the best Kotis Design alternatives

If Kotis’s creative strengths appeal to you but its limitations don’t, there are other platforms worth exploring. Many alternatives combine strong design support with global logistics, broader gifting options, and automated workflows. To see how these compare, check out our list of top Kotis Design alternatives.

Kotis Design vs PerkUp, the #1 platform for global, automated, and cost-effective swag

While Kotis Design offers custom swag, branded stores, and event-focused support, PerkUp goes further. In addition to bulk swag, PerkUp supports On Demand swag, digital gifts, and gift cards, giving you more flexibility in how and when you send swag.

PerkUp also operates a global warehousing network across the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Europe, India, China, and Australia. This allows you to plan and ship swag for both domestic and international events more efficiently. Automated milestone gifting, combined with cost-effective pricing, makes PerkUp a stronger option if you want to scale swag programs without manual effort.

To see the full comparison, explore our Kotis Design vs PerkUp and learn why teams like Solo.io and Mapbox choose PerkUp for their global swag programs.