Shopify vs. Shopify Plus

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Shopify
Score 8.8 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.
$39
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 with a 3-year commitment
Pricing
ShopifyShopify Plus
Editions & Modules
Basic Shopify
$39
per month
Grow
$105
per month
Advanced
$399
per month
Shopify Plus
2,000
per month
Shopify Plus
2,300
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 DetailsA 25% discount is offered for annual billing.
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
8.5
148 Ratings
9% above category average
Shopify Plus
8.4
45 Ratings
8% above category average
Product catalog & listings8.9148 Ratings8.843 Ratings
Product management8.3146 Ratings8.544 Ratings
Bulk product upload8.4124 Ratings8.040 Ratings
Branding8.5145 Ratings8.242 Ratings
Mobile storefront9.0141 Ratings8.743 Ratings
Product variations8.1138 Ratings7.843 Ratings
Website integration8.8139 Ratings8.239 Ratings
Visual customization8.6145 Ratings8.443 Ratings
CMS7.6117 Ratings8.540 Ratings
Online Shopping Cart
Comparison of Online Shopping Cart features of Product A and Product B
Shopify
8.5
140 Ratings
12% above category average
Shopify Plus
8.7
44 Ratings
14% above category average
Abandoned cart recovery8.2130 Ratings8.442 Ratings
Checkout user experience8.8138 Ratings8.943 Ratings
Online Payment System
Comparison of Online Payment System features of Product A and Product B
Shopify
9.5
142 Ratings
14% above category average
Shopify Plus
8.8
42 Ratings
6% above category average
eCommerce security9.5142 Ratings8.842 Ratings
eCommerce Marketing
Comparison of eCommerce Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Shopify
8.4
145 Ratings
9% above category average
Shopify Plus
8.4
44 Ratings
9% above category average
Promotions & discounts8.7139 Ratings8.543 Ratings
Personalized recommendations8.432 Ratings8.438 Ratings
SEO8.0134 Ratings8.343 Ratings
eCommerce Business Management
Comparison of eCommerce Business Management features of Product A and Product B
Shopify
8.1
146 Ratings
1% above category average
Shopify Plus
8.2
43 Ratings
3% above category average
Multi-site management6.719 Ratings00 Ratings
Order processing9.0143 Ratings8.743 Ratings
Inventory management7.6142 Ratings7.842 Ratings
Shipping8.3134 Ratings8.142 Ratings
Custom functionality8.7135 Ratings8.342 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
(161 ratings)
9.1
(45 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(16 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.5
(15 ratings)
8.8
(12 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(3 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ShopifyShopify Plus
Likelihood to Recommend
Shopify
Shopify allowed us to handle matrix items and combined listings. Both of which we could not do on our previous platform. There was some customization involved but overall, it did what we needed it to. The one downside was that if we want to change anything we would have to reload the entire set of matrix items manually.
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Shopify
Shopify Plus makes order management simple and less error prone. Connecting our ERP allows us to seamlessly manage our product listings, fulfill orders, and sync customer data. Limitations to the number of product variants requires attention from our staff to make sure our products sync without issue. Other than being arbitrary, there's really no need to limit the number of product variants.
Read full review
Pros
Shopify
  • It's base security and integration with trusted security partners (such as NoFraud) is a game-changer when it comes to reliability and a "hands off approach" for our IT department. The up-time is also very good.
  • It offers a wide range of verified plugins that are (for the most part) easy to install and use for any specific scenario you're looking for.
  • It's Analytics area in the admin is actually nice and offers a wide variety of reports that you can run.
Read full review
Shopify
  • Syncs directly with ShipBob WMS.
  • Shopify Scripts and the Script Editors allows us to tailor our checkout screen.
  • Gives us advanced sales reporting, showing trends, performance, year to year, and even projections.
  • Scalable for high volume, handles spikes in traffic without downtime.
Read full review
Cons
Shopify
  • I would love it if Shopify built an in house app which helped us post UGCs and social proof from platforms such as Instagram, Youtube etc. more seamlessly on our website. Right now, we are able to do it through third party apps but the look and feel is just okay.
Read full review
Shopify
  • When linking to our communication service some customers have several emails with orders and only one email generates orders. It would be nice if we could combine all of this information into one account.
  • If a customer has multiple accounts you are also unable to edit the email address as it is already used, another reason merging accounts would be helpful.
  • Some of the processes in Shopify are too easy to complete. I’m certain scenarios a peony of “are you sure you would like to complete(this action)” would be extremely helpful and avoid mistakes that are not reversible.
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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!
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Shopify
No answers on this topic
Usability
Shopify
It is fairly easy to use Shopify regardless of what task you are attempting to perform. Most things are customizable to a degree without requiring coding ability. I have very limited coding experience and have still been able to navigate my way around changing features of the website that require edits to the code with the use of AI and trial-and-error. This previously wasn't possible with the WooCommerce platform.
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Shopify
It is extremely easy for merchants to get to know how Shopify Plus works. Comparitive to other platforms such as Magento and WooCommerce it is extremely lean and easy to operate, meaning clients who migrate over to it find it very intuitive to use. There is also a lot of guides and up to date information online
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Reliability and Availability
Shopify
Shopify support is always available when you need them.
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Shopify
No answers on this topic
Performance
Shopify
Shopify website speed is quite impressive. Even if we integrate couple apps, it does not hamper the site speed.
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Shopify
No answers on this topic
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
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Shopify
Always are quick to answer our questions and help us find a solution
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Online Training
Shopify
Shopify offered us several trainings to setup a Shopify store, how to build a brand, SEO, product photography etc. All this content have been super helpful in our journey.
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Shopify
No answers on this topic
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
Big Commerce and SAP Hybris are two other platforms we've investigated and Shopify is by far easiest to use and customize. While it doesn't do everything out of the box, the apps do fill in many gaps. The cost however, is probably the biggest selling point against these other two options.
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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
Scalability
Shopify
Shopify has basic to high-end plans. The plans grow with the brand`s growth and I love that about Shopify.
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Shopify
No answers on this topic
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.
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Shopify
  • The pricing of Shopify Plus over the regular Shopify Account solution is about 10x if not 20x the cost. But with this cost comes the increased reliability and trust you have in your eCommerce Software solution/website. We still have a great ROI with the Shopify Plus Pricing.
  • With Shopify Plus, we have been able to drill deeper into a more robust eCommerce experience for our customers
  • With Shopify Plus, we have been able to customize our Website further with recommended apps, features, and customizations based on our Dedicated Account Reps expertise.
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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.