There are lots of reasons why Shopify is at the top of the e-commerce game. One of the main reasons is that they pay close attention to the competition.
If you’re looking for a platform to host your e-commerce store, it’s wise to shop around. That way, you can find the best platform for the needs of your business. Of course, we think Shopify is your best bet for hosting an e-commerce store. Yet, that doesn’t mean that they’re the only game in town.
There are many competitors out there that offer nearly the same services as Shopify does.
If you’re wondering how Shopify compares to its competition, you’re in the right place. Stay tuned for a complete breakdown of Shopify’s competitors. Along the way, we’ll directly compare each platform to the services offered by Shopify.
Shopify Vs. Bluehost
In our first head-to-head comparison, we’ll look at one of Shopify’s top competitors. Bluehost is a web hosting company with a massive following. Tons of users trust Bluehost to run their e-commerce stores. Bluehost can integrate with platforms like WordPress so users can design their storefronts.
How does it stack up compared to Shopify? Let’s find out. First, here are some of the core features of using Bluehost for your e-commerce store:
- Web hosting and content delivery
- Website templates
- Blogging
- Payment gateways
- SSL certificates
- Apps and plugins for stores
- Detailed reporting
- 24/7 customer support
That’s an impressive array of features, yet they pale in comparison to what Shopify can offer. Shopify can offer all the services you see above plus many more.
Here’s a highlight of all the features that Shopify has but Bluehost doesn’t:
- Integrated POS
- Multilingual selling
- Accelerated checkouts
- Integrated e-commerce tools
- Built-in SEO
- PCI-DSS compliance
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Uptime guarantee
- Mobile app for retailers
Here’s a deeper look at Shopify’s essential features that Bluehost doesn’t have:
- Effortless online store creation. Bluehost is simply a web hosting company. To create an online store with it, you’ll need to use another tool such as WordPress. There’s no need for that with Shopify. It offers a complete out-of-the-box solution when you sign up. You’ll instantly gain access to an intuitive drag-and-drop store builder. That way, you can create a fully functioning online store in no time.
- Sell in multiple languages. Once again, you’ll have to jump through a lot of hoops to sell in various languages on Bluehost. You’ll need WordPress as well as specialized plugins and tools. With Shopify, you can start selling in multiple languages right off the bat. You can even create distinct URLs for your translated content.
- Built-in SEO. If you want your business to stay competitive in today’s landscape, you need to use SEO. Luckily, Shopify comes with built-in SEO tools that you can leverage. That way, you can gain more attention for your store by ranking higher on search engine results.
- First-party POS capabilities. Do you want the ability to sell your products in-person and through mobile checkout? Then you’ll love Shopify’s first-party POS system. Shopify POS is effortless to use and will enable you to process payments from anywhere. Bluehost has no such capability without heavy use of other programs and expensive apps.
Shopify Vs. Etsy
Another huge competitor of Shopify is Etsy. If you didn’t know, Etsy is an online marketplace for handmade/vintage items. Lots of artisans and jewelry makers love to sell through work through Etsy. Everyday items sold include jewelry, bags, clothing, furniture, toys, art, and more.
So how does Etsy stack up to Shopify? Let’s check out Etsy’s stats first:
- Unlimited products
- 3-4% transaction fees
- Subdomain included
- Mobile app for merchants
- Built for artisans and creators
As you can see, Etsy only has a few core features going for it. There are many features Shopify has that Etsy does not. First and foremost, you get the chance to build a brand through Shopify. Your Etsy store is simply your Etsy store. You don’t get the opportunity to develop your brand through things like:
- Branded invoices
- Custom store design
- Branded logos, images, and videos
- Much more
Other features Shopify has that Etsy doesn’t include:
- No listing fees
- HTML and CSS editing
- Available app store
- First-party POS system
- Custom domain names
- Dropshipping capabilities
- Detailed reporting
- 24/7 support
- So much more
Here’s a deeper look at some of the features Shopify has that Etsy can’t touch:
- No listing fees. One significant stressor artisans face when selling through Etsy are the listing fees. For every product that you want to sell, you have to pay $0.25 to list it. That’s not a one-time fee, either. If the product fails to sell, you’ll have to pay the fee again every four months. Compare that to Shopify, where you don’t have to pay anything to list a product. Instead, you can list an unlimited number of products through your paid monthly plan.
- Own your business and brand. Shopify grants you the freedom to own your online store. Therefore, you gain an asset through the ownership of your website. You can even sell your Shopify store through the Exchange Marketplace. Under Etsy, you do not own your store and cannot transfer it to another person. Your store is a part of Etsy, and your products are the only thing that’s yours.
- Total control over your design. With Shopify, you can design your storefront any way that you’d like. You can choose from thousands of themes, and you can do custom HTML and CSS editing. That’s something that you can’t do on Etsy. You have to adhere to Etsy’s strict layout and design features. The only things you can change are your product pictures and copy.
- Scalable. Shopify stores are easy to scale. That means you can start small and grow into an enterprise. On Etsy, you aren’t able to build an original brand. Instead, all you can promote are your products. Shopify allows you to promote your products as well as your brand and business. Etsy is primarily for independent artists and jewelers. With Shopify, you can run a small, medium, or large e-commerce business.
Shopify Vs. Wix
Wix is a top-rated cloud-based website developer. Its users can create HTML5 websites, including e-commerce stores. It’s a fierce competitor to WordPress and is constantly gaining traction. It features an intuitive drag-and-drop editor to create websites.
Lots of users choose Wix to host their e-commerce stores, but why? Well, here’s a look at some of Wix’s essential features:
- An app store
- International payment methods
- CMS and blogging capabilities
- Drag-and-drop store builder
- Mobile app
- Business loans
- Custom online stores
- Reliable hosting
- Custom domain names
- Fraud analysis
Wix is an impressive website-building service with lots of dedicated users. It features a large app store similar to Shopify. Its drag-and-drop store builder is also intuitive and easy to use. Let’s see how Shopify compares to its competition with Wix. Here are features Shopify has but Wix does not:
- Free slogan maker
- Terms and conditions generator
- Gift card capabilities
- All themes are mobile responsive
- Unlimited products
- Unlimited storage
- Available in 21 languages instead of 9
As you can see, there are some attractive features Shopify has that Wix doesn’t. Here’s a deeper look:
- Sell anywhere and everywhere. A big perk of using Shopify is its network. So far, Shopify has partnered with some of the biggest platforms in the world. These include Walmart, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and more. That way, you can sell your products anywhere on the web. Wix only has Instagram and Facebook.
- A much larger app store. The Shopify App Store goes unmatched in the size of its library. It boasts over 6,000 merchant apps that you can download. Each app has a particular function or capability that they add to your store. While Wix does have an app store, there are only a little more than 250 apps there. That pales in comparison to the apps you can find on Shopify that will enhance your business.
- Mobile-responsive themes. Every theme that you can download from Shopify is 100% responsive on mobile devices. There are over 70 themes that you can select for your store. You can also easily customize any theme that you download. That way, you wind up with an online store that’s 100% unique to you. Wix’s themes are fewer in number and harder to customize. Not only that, but their themes don’t always work well on mobile devices. That’s a huge issue, as many customers in today’s age shop exclusively from their phones.
- Unlimited website pages. If you create an online store with Wix, you’ll have a limit of 100 pages. With Shopify, you have an unlimited number of pages that you can make. That way, you can always add more content to your online store as you grow and scale your business. The hard limit of 100 pages can seriously get into the way of your business growth.
- Available in more countries. Shopify Payments means you can sell to 17 different countries with ease. You can accept all primary payment methods from around the world. Wix Payments, on the other hand, is only available in 14. That can hurt your business if you can’t market to your target audience in a particular country.
Shopify Vs. WordPress
Finally, we’ll compare Shopify to the open-source mammoth, WordPress. It’s a free content management system that’s one of the most popular tools in the world for creating websites. A majority of the web pages that you see online get built with WordPress. Also, e-commerce stores created with Bluehost are often made with WordPress as well. It’s a huge platform that has millions of users.
But how does it stack up to Shopify? Here are some of WordPress’s unique features:
- Built-in CMS
- Visual editor
- Easy website builder
These are the only features that make WordPress stand out as a platform for e-commerce. As you can see, there aren’t very many unique features that make WordPress an appealing alternative. WooCommerce is the tool that WordPress uses for e-commerce websites.
Primarily, users flock to WordPress to blog and advertise their freelance services. If you want to design an e-commerce website, you’ll need the WooCommerce plugin.
Compare that to Shopify, which is built for e-commerce from the ground up. Here are some core features Shopify has that you won’t find on WordPress:
- Made for e-commerce. You see, WordPress is a content management system at its heart. Shopify is a dedicated e-commerce store builder. Shopify is the go-to platform for business owners. WordPress takes more effort to use for e-commerce.
- Effortless customization. Do you not know how to code? That’s no problem for Shopify. You’ll still be able to customize your store to your heart’s content. You can customize the typography, colors, and layout with ease. If you do know how to code, then you’ll have even more fun. Shopify allows you to edit lines of HTML and CSS code directly. Customizing your e-commerce store on WordPress is far more complex. You’ll need to have a lot of technical knowledge to do it correctly.
- Embedded security features. You won’t have to worry about security with Shopify, as they take it very seriously. Each Shopify store comes with a free SSL certificate. Shopify is also Level 1 PCI DSS compliant. WordPress requires the use of plugins to make it secure for e-commerce. With Shopify, you can always rely on the platform for safe and secure payment processing.
- Embedded hosting. The final reason why Shopify is better than WordPress is the hosting. As previously stated, WordPress is typical to use with Bluehost. With Shopify, you don’t need a third-party solution for website hosting. Shopify includes hosting for you, which leads to a much quicker and easier setup.
How Does Shopify Compare to Its Competition? ( quick video )
Try Shopify for free.
If you are interested in Shopify and want to try it out, Shopify is offering a 14-day free trial here. The free trial is great because you get to see how Shopify works before committing to one of their monthly programs. If you decide to start the free trial, you can pick up right where you left off when you switch to the monthly plan. If you’re looking to grow or start your online business, this is an excellent opportunity to try Shopify.
Final Thoughts
So that’s how Shopify compares to its competition. As you can see, there isn’t a single competitor out there that can match the excellent features of Shopify. The platform makes it effortless to create a customizable online store with secure payment processing. There’s also a vast app store that you can use to add capabilities like dropshipping. While there are many options out there for e-commerce platforms, none come close to competing with Shopify. With its basic plan at only $29 per month, it’s also by far the most affordable choice. To see our in-depth look at how Shopify works visit this link here.
If you want to see a list of our top recommended Shopify apps visit this link here.
