Shopify
| Top features | Professional eCommerce tools |
| Templates | 9 free themes, many premium first and third-party options |
| Best for | Making big online stores |
| Free plan | No, 14-day free trial |
If you’re serious about growing your online store, Shopify is your best bet. A favorite of thousands of major businesses, this builder has some serious eCommerce tools in its arsenal.
I particularly loved its excellent app store, full of thousands of options that can take your online store to the next level.
Also, despite this definitely being a professional tool for professional users, setting up and using Shopify is seriously simple.
You start by simply telling Shopify who you are, what you wish to do, and how much experience you have.
From there on, our experiences might differ: that's because Shopify offers a tailored setup guide, which uses your answers to offer you the most suitable help. I saw one thing on my Shopify review – you might see something else entirely.
Pay attention to the left of the guide, and you'll see that everything about your online store can be managed there. Orders, products, customer analysis, marketing, and so on. This is also where you'll get to design your page!
Shopify doesn't want anyone to be able to edit absolutely everything – while there are code editing features, beginner users will have to use a simple section system, letting you quickly choose and rearrange various online shop-related parts.
You can edit some of the basics, but for serious design changes, you'll need to get a different template.
As far as they go, Shopify only gives 9 free themes, so if you only use them, and don't meddle with code, your Shopify website is going to look a lot similar to much of the competition. Plus, they look fairly simple.
If you want to make the next Amazon, well, you'll need to pay for your theme – in fact, Shopify sells one that looks exactly like Amazon's site. It can be yours for a single payment of $180.
Or, you can use one of the coolest Shopify features out there, and purchase a third-party theme from an independent seller. These themes are not made by Shopify, and there are literally thousands of options, covering various themes and topics. What's even better, they cost significantly less. You can pick up a third-party theme for under $50.
The massive community makes not only themes but apps as well. There are loads of options available, covering shipping, marketing, sales, and many more topics. Honestly, if you can think of a website feature, there's probably a Shopify app for it.
And as far as Shopify's in-house features go, they're also great. Adding products is simple and effective, you can easily make coupon codes, discounts, and see how your visitors behave and how you can increase your sales. Everything is there to make your business better and bigger. If you're looking to make a serious online store, Shopify is the best website builder for you.
Shopify pricing
Shopify offers a free 14-day trial. Once it ends, you'll need to choose from one of the 3 available plans:
- Basic Shopify ($29.00/month) – core selling features and 2.9%+30c payment fee.
- Shopify ($79.00/month) – more user reports, international pricing, and 2.6%+30c payment fee.
- Advanced Shopify ($299.00/month) – automatic shipping rate calculator, International variant pricing, and the lowest 2.4%+30c payment fee.
Each of these plans includes all website design features, as well as the main marketing tools. The main difference between the three is in eCommerce.
Don't get confused by the "payment fee" – this isn't like the "transaction fee" from the cheaper plans of other website builders. This is mandatory for all online transactions. Shopify offers reducing fees, depending on the plan that you choose. In simple terms, the bigger the plan, the smaller the payments.
Other differences between the plans concern shipping options and discounts, international pricing, staff accounts, and virtual warehouses to assign products to.
So, when deciding between the $29.00 Basic Shopify, $79.00 Shopify, and $299.00 Advanced Shopify plans, it's the size of your business you'll need to be worried about.
Which Shopify plan is the best for you? Prepare your calculator! The three plans have transaction fees set at 2.9%+30c, 2.6%+30c, and 2.4%+30c respectively. If you sell little, the Basic Shopify plan will be enough. For bigger companies, I suggest upgrading – while Shopify looks expensive, you might save a lot of money in the long run.
- Top-notch eCommerce features
- Excellent app store
- Suited for businesses of all sizes
- High price of entry
- Customization requires coding skills
- Only 9 free templates, other options paid
