We used Linx for 6–7 years. The bill hit $5,000 a month — and stayed there for months while we pulled computers off our own floor just to bring the number down. Every change, every integration, every upgrade was another $3,000 conversation. We paid $3,000 just to print with two TSC label printers at the same time.
We run Midwest Tees, Spangle Me, Dirty Cowgirl, Squishy Faces, and LOZ Outfitters — five Shopify storefronts across a mixed decoration floor doing DTG, DTF, spangle, and embroidery. For 6–7 years we ran Linx. It worked — until it didn't.
Linx charges a base fee plus a separate fee for every computer it runs on. As our floor grew, so did the bill — and it stayed at $5,000 a month for months before we started pulling computers and canceling licenses just to bring the number down. We were removing tools from our own floor to save money on software.
On top of that, any time we needed a change — a new integration, a new feature, anything — it was a $3,000 conversation. We paid $3,000 just to add the ability to print with two TSC label printers simultaneously. Every update, every upgrade, every customization: $3,000. You don't own anything. You rent access and pay again every time the software needs to reflect how your business actually works.
We reverse-engineered how the old software talked to the Brother GTX, decoded the print profile XML files, and built a Rules Engine that actually understands what a spangle vendor tag means. Every feature exists because we needed it on our own floor first.
PlatenFlow powers all five of our storefronts right now. Every order, every decoration method, every scan station runs through it. We use it before we ship it. Now we're making it available to other shops dealing with the same problems.