Shopify

Shopify is a hosted ecommerce platform that bundles storefront, checkout, payments, inventory, shipping and reporting into one subscription. The same catalogue can be sold online, in person through Shopify POS, and on channels such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Google.

Who it is for

Shopify is for merchants who want a store running quickly with no servers to maintain, for brands selling across web, social and physical retail, and for dropshipping and print-on-demand businesses that lean on app integrations. It scales from a first store to enterprise volume on Plus, which is why it is the default recommendation for anyone who expects to grow.

It is a weak fit for content-heavy sites where the shop is secondary to publishing, and for teams that need deep checkout control without paying for Plus.

What it does well

It is the fastest path from nothing to a working store, and the ecosystem is the largest of any hosted platform: thousands of themes and apps, a mature API with a CLI, and headless options for developers. Shopify Payments with Shop Pay handles accelerated checkout, and Shopify Email, Flow automations and international selling through Markets are built in rather than bolted on.

Where it costs you

The plan price is not the real price, and this is the single most important thing to understand before committing. Basic is $39 per month ($29 billed annually), Grow $105 ($79), Advanced $399 ($299), and Plus starts at approximately $2,300 per month on a three-year term. On top of that:

• Many features merchants expect arrive as paid apps, each with its own monthly subscription. This is what pushes real costs well above the plan price.
• Using a third-party payment gateway instead of Shopify Payments adds a fee of 0.6% to 2% per order, depending on plan.
• Shopify Payments is only available in a limited set of countries, so in some markets that extra fee is unavoidable.
• Checkout customisation is limited below Plus.

How it compares

BigCommerce has no extra gateway fee and a smaller ecosystem. WooCommerce trades the subscription for self-hosting and maintenance. Wix and Squarespace are website builders with commerce attached, better where design leads and the catalogue is small.

Shopify is the right answer for most merchants who want to sell seriously without running infrastructure, and the clearest choice if you sell across online, social and physical channels or expect to scale.

Budget for the ecosystem, not the plan. Apps and, in many countries, the third-party gateway fee are what determine the real monthly cost. If your catalogue is small and design matters more than commerce depth, Squarespace or Wix will cost less and serve you better.