Shopify vs. Shopify Plus

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Shopify
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Shopify is a commerce platform designed for both online stores and retail locations. Shopify offers a professional online storefront, a payment solution to accept credit cards, and the Shopify POS application to power retail sales.
$29
per month
Shopify Plus
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Shopify Plus is an eCommerce solution built for enterprise-level companies that enables them to sell online and offline across social channels like Facebook , Pinterest, and marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.
$2,300
per month
Pricing
ShopifyShopify Plus
Editions & Modules
Shopify Lite
$9
per month
Basic Shopify
$29
per month
Shopify
$79
per month
Advanced Shopify
$299
per month
Shopify Plus
2,000
per month
3-year term
$2300
per month
1-year term
$2500
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ShopifyShopify Plus
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ShopifyShopify Plus
Considered Both Products
Shopify
Chose Shopify
We have used Magento for higher end projects. Magento is open source and therefore has better customization capabilities. Shopify on the other had, is more user-friendly, more cost effective and has superior customer service, which some Magento versions don't have at all. …
Shopify Plus
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus integrates so well with other services, and keeps all levels of the online shopping experience in one place. It really saves a developer or manager a lot of headache that can arise with other e-commerce platforms.
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify is a much easier and more intuitive platform to use.

The mobile focus is outstanding from the other competitors and the capability to modify the store without previous code or experience makes them the best e-commerce platform.
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is the best choice for DTC-oriented brands, especially if you are a leaner team and want more hands-on customization vs relying on an agency to manage your website backend.
Chose Shopify Plus
A far more professional approach to e-commerce in general. Servers and the core SSL are taken care of and you're left with a whole host of tools to sell, sell and sell.
Chose Shopify Plus
We found BigCommerce to be almost identical to Shopify in many ways, but Shopify had more apps in their marketplace and we couldn't find another significant difference at the time.
Chose Shopify Plus
Squarespace is a platform meant for creating websites/blogs that also has an eCommerce component layered on top. Conversely, Shopify Plus was build from day one with eCommerce in mind. This is evident throughout the experience, especially with regards to order management, and …
Chose Shopify Plus
We have not looked at others, Shopify is the best, hands down.
Chose Shopify Plus
Us not worrying about hosting our eCommerce store has been great!
Features
ShopifyShopify Plus
Online Storefront
Comparison of Online Storefront features of Product A and Product B
Shopify
8.6
139 Ratings
9% above category average
Shopify Plus
8.1
40 Ratings
3% above category average
Product catalog & listings9.2139 Ratings8.938 Ratings
Product management8.4137 Ratings8.339 Ratings
Bulk product upload8.5118 Ratings7.036 Ratings
Branding8.3137 Ratings8.037 Ratings
Mobile storefront9.0133 Ratings8.538 Ratings
Product variations9.0129 Ratings8.238 Ratings
Website integration8.7130 Ratings8.135 Ratings
Visual customization8.3136 Ratings8.438 Ratings
CMS8.1111 Ratings7.937 Ratings
Online Shopping Cart
Comparison of Online Shopping Cart features of Product A and Product B
Shopify
8.2
132 Ratings
6% above category average
Shopify Plus
8.4
39 Ratings
8% above category average
Abandoned cart recovery8.1123 Ratings7.838 Ratings
Checkout user experience8.3130 Ratings9.038 Ratings
Online Payment System
Comparison of Online Payment System features of Product A and Product B
Shopify
9.2
134 Ratings
10% above category average
Shopify Plus
9.2
37 Ratings
10% above category average
eCommerce security9.2134 Ratings9.237 Ratings
eCommerce Marketing
Comparison of eCommerce Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Shopify
8.5
136 Ratings
9% above category average
Shopify Plus
7.9
39 Ratings
2% above category average
Promotions & discounts9.4131 Ratings8.138 Ratings
Personalized recommendations8.432 Ratings7.933 Ratings
SEO7.9126 Ratings7.838 Ratings
eCommerce Business Management
Comparison of eCommerce Business Management features of Product A and Product B
Shopify
8.3
137 Ratings
3% above category average
Shopify Plus
8.1
38 Ratings
0% above category average
Multi-site management6.719 Ratings00 Ratings
Order processing9.5135 Ratings8.738 Ratings
Inventory management8.2134 Ratings7.137 Ratings
Shipping8.0127 Ratings8.237 Ratings
Custom functionality9.0126 Ratings8.437 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ShopifyShopify Plus
Small Businesses
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Score 10.0 out of 10
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus
Score 9.1 out of 10
IBM Digital Commerce
IBM Digital Commerce
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
IBM Digital Commerce
IBM Digital Commerce
Score 9.0 out of 10
IBM Digital Commerce
IBM Digital Commerce
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ShopifyShopify Plus
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(152 ratings)
9.2
(40 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(15 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(6 ratings)
8.6
(7 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(2 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ShopifyShopify Plus
Likelihood to Recommend
Shopify
Shopify scales well for businesses of all sizes and types, especially when you factor in external app support. It's hard to imagine an a business that sells products or services online not being able to get value out of Shopify's platform.
Read full review
Shopify
Any business that needs to keep track of orders and payments would benefit from Shopify Plus. Customers information, orders, and payments are all saved and available for reference. You are able to refer to past orders to review trends and offer future purchase suggestions. Shopify Plus is also easy to use so it does not take long to train employees how to use this system.
Read full review
Pros
Shopify
  • Managing products and Sales using a very user friendly platform.
  • Apps that make marketing really easy and effective.
  • Directly linking platforms like Instagram and Titkok and managing content that is posted on the sites.
  • Fast customer service.
  • Customer Analytics, allows me to see what type of products should I sell more.
Read full review
Shopify
  • Scales incredibly well. Forget about hardware concerns, load balancing, downtime, etc. and focus on eCommerce. We've seen merchants go from a few thousand dollars per month to having million dollar days, all on Shopify without having to worry about performance or scaling systems.
  • Great new features consistently being added, ahead of the curve on almost everything
  • Solid API to build on and work with, a few annoying quirks here and there for super complex use cases but overall very well documented and works well
  • Most Merchant Success Managers are good and genuinely want to be helpful
  • A fantastic user interface, very logical and easy to use
  • Tons and tons and tons of out of the box integrations. Easily the best integration marketplace of the e-commerce platforms. There's an app for that.
Read full review
Cons
Shopify
  • Basic requests for store management are not out of the box. Shopify puts a lot of stock in their apps and app partners to bring some of the features that I expected to be out of the box. I've used Shopify for multiple clients and ran into roadblocks for each when we were unable to do basic things. Sometimes the apps are free and it's no big deal. Other times you have to pay for another service to do something as basic as set up stock out reports and notifications.
  • Their support/team communication is poor. Again, working on multiple stores with license on all their levels and the support was consistently unresponsive or unhelpful.
  • If you're a partner managing multiple stores, the log-in between the partner dashboard and your individual stores is confusing. I'm often found in a loop searching for the right place to log in because you can't access the stores you are a partner on in the same way as the other Shopify stores. Seems minor, but it's a frustrating thing I encounter often.
Read full review
Shopify
  • The Account Managers/Reps have become more scripted and seem like they are busier and handling more clients than before. It doesn't seem as personal and special anymore like when we first upgraded to Plus.
  • Shopify still has missing features in their software that might not have an app in their app marketplace available that fills this void.
  • The 24/7 support doesn't seem as dedicated as they once were.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Shopify
Nothing we have used in the past or have seen thus far even comes close to offering what we get with Shopify Plus, especially for the price. You cannot even come close to getting what we are getting at the price we pay. We are beyond thrilled and Shopify Plus meets and exceeds all of our needs and expectations. We love it!
Read full review
Shopify
No answers on this topic
Usability
Shopify
I think most people are able to suer Shopify that have used a computer. There are some features that take a bit longer to learn. If you are not a creative person it may be a bit more difficult to learn the website customization, but with a help guide or tutorial it will only take a few tries to understand how to work the interface
Read full review
Shopify
It just works! It is so prolific worldwide that there are a plethora of partners who can support you. Development time is cut in half as many plugins can be used that would require custom development on other platforms. It is stable, fast, and scalable.
Read full review
Support Rating
Shopify
In terms of support I give Shopify a 9 out of 10 because they're always very friendly and thorough, and they personally can't solve my problem for me they always point me in the proper direction with the proper information I need to move forward
Read full review
Shopify
Always are quick to answer our questions and help us find a solution
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Shopify
Just start now and make the switch, the sooner the better. You will love it and it is really a simple process
Read full review
Shopify
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Shopify
The old platform that I used could not help us to meet our requirements. It was not helping us properly, then I got to know about Shopify and started using it. After 1 month [of] usage of Shopify we could understand that this is the best platform [for E-commerce] to make better sales and goodwill. Shopify helped us to get a proper idea of the analytics of the website. Shopify [supports] most of the [applications] and helps us to make better results.
Read full review
Shopify
Shopify had the quickest go-to-market and most robust API among the products we compared. CommerceCloud required a VERY LONG integration phase that we just didn't have time for. BigCommerce fell short on the number of features and API coverage that we needed. Overall Shopify gave us the most bang for the buck.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Shopify
  • It got the store up quickly so the client could start selling. She was previously selling products on Etsy and Facebook and wanted to consolidate everything onto one website, so the main thing Shopify solved was to reduce the store owner's time in managing all her products on multiple sites. Also, we had previously built a website on Wix with all the custom functionality and branding she needed - a truly great, high-end website - but it performed so slowly that it was unusable. So the speed at which Shopify can be set up and then works on the page is appreciable.
  • The website was manageable by the client - she could figure the system out herself after a while so she saved money on costs for hiring developers. She did have to hire developers to customize some of the plug-ins but costs are all relative; it wasn't a high investment compared to building a full e-commerce website. With the complexity and size of her product base and the functionality and branding she wanted to have in a website, and the potential of her business, she would have needed to invest well over $10,000 to get to where she really needs to be. In the end she kept the budget under $5000.00.
  • Costs kept climbing with plug-ins having to be added with everything. My client became more involved in building the website and began to try multiple plugins, and she did not have the skill base to evaluate the plugins functionalities so she chose plugins that did not do everything she needed, and then ended up paying the plugin developers to customize the plugins. So on one hand, it's pretty amazing to be able to bring up an e-commerce website as quickly as a week or so, but on the other hand if you need anything customized or deeper functionality in regards to product searching and filtering on the web page, and management on the backend, it quickly goes beyond the skills of the average person to manage, and above their expected budget as well. In the end my client really did not get anything close to the functionality for the website we had originally envisioned.
  • Shopify was the easiest way we could find to bring the client's products to a global market. We evaluated several other platforms and the functionality simple did not seem to be adequate, so Shopify seemed like the only solution that could do enough of what we needed and still stay within this client's budget. Really the problem in this project was not platform per se but that the budget wasn't large enough. Shopify managed to provide a solution for an ecommerce store with thousands of products on a tiny budget, so in the sense of pure functionality it provided the best value of all the platforms we evaluated. The solution still isn't big enough for this client's business though so, without having insights into this client's post-build sales results, my guess is that because her new website did not make her products easier to sort through, and she likely didn't have much more budget left to invest in SEO and other marketing of the website, her sales probably didn't increase substantially as a result of having built the website. So I think this project all in all did not likely have a high ROI.
Read full review
Shopify
  • Shopify Plus has been a very cost effective solution for us.
  • As our business grows, it's easy to train new hires on how to use Shopify Plus.
  • What we've lost in the missing features of Shopify we've made up for in the other areas.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Shopify Plus Screenshots

Screenshot of The home screen of your Shopify admin, including proactive home cards and reporting and live view insights.Screenshot of Your Shopify Plus store is ready for mobile commerce. Customers can browse and buy from your store with an optimized experience on device.Screenshot of Editing products across sales channels.Screenshot of Easily edit colours, typography, settings, and drag and drop sections for each of your store's templates with the theme editor.