Shopify is the world's leading e-commerce platform, powering over 1.7 million merchants in 175 countries with tools to sell products online, in-person, and across social media channels. From a simple storefront to a fully customized enterprise store, Shopify handles payments, inventory, shipping, marketing, and analytics — enabling businesses of any size to launch and scale an online store. With Shopify Plus for enterprise and Shopify Payments eliminating third-party payment fees, it has become the default choice for modern e-commerce.
E-commerceVerified listing
Shopify
Shopify is an all-in-one e-commerce platform for building and running an online store, handling payments, inventory, shipping, and marketing from a single dashboard.
Best for: Consumer brands launching a direct-to-consumer online store · Retailers who sell both online and in-person and want unified inventory · Drop-shipping businesses that need supplier integrations · Small to mid-sized businesses who want a managed platform over a self-hosted one · Merchants already using Shopify POS who want consistent online-offline reporting
- Free trial
- $5/month
4.4/5 ratingEditorial score 91/100Last reviewed Sep 22, 2026shopify.com
The editorial note
What to know about Shopify
Is it right for you?
Who Shopify suits
Choose it if
- Consumer brands launching a direct-to-consumer online store
- Retailers who sell both online and in-person and want unified inventory
- Drop-shipping businesses that need supplier integrations
- Small to mid-sized businesses who want a managed platform over a self-hosted one
- Merchants already using Shopify POS who want consistent online-offline reporting
Look elsewhere if
- Businesses needing complex B2B pricing, heavy content publishing, or maximum SEO control — WooCommerce on WordPress offers more flexibility for content-heavy brands, while Magento suits complex B2B e-commerce needs
What you get
Key features
- Online store builder
- 5,000+ app marketplace
- Shopify Payments
- POS for in-person retail
- Shopify Markets for international selling
- Inventory management
- Shopify Analytics
- Shopify Plus for enterprise
Works with
Integrations8
What it costs
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $5/monthBilled month | Sell via links and social media, no online store |
| Basic | $39/monthBilled month | Full online store, 2% transaction fee with external gateways |
| Shopify | $105/monthBilled month | 5 staff accounts, 1% transaction fee, professional reports |
| Advanced | $399/monthBilled month | 15 staff accounts, 0.5% transaction fee, advanced reporting |
| Plus | $2,300/monthBilled month | Enterprise features, custom checkout, multi-store management |
Prices are recorded from the vendor's public pricing page and can change. Check before you buy.
The trade-off
Pros and cons
Pros
- Easiest to launch e-commerce platform — fully functional store can be live within hours without technical skills
- 5,000+ app ecosystem covers every e-commerce use case from subscriptions to loyalty to reviews
- Shopify Payments eliminates third-party payment processor setup and reduces transaction fees
- Scalable from a solo maker to enterprise brands like Allbirds and Gymshark on Shopify Plus
- Shopify Markets enables selling internationally with multi-currency, multi-language storefronts
Cons
- Transaction fees (0.5-2%) apply if using a third-party payment processor instead of Shopify Payments
- Total cost with apps can be high — many essential features require paid apps adding $50-200/month
- Shopify's templating language (Liquid) requires developer knowledge for deep customization
- Shopify's SEO capabilities are limited compared to WordPress — structured data and URL control is restricted
Quick read
At a glance
- Category
- E-commerce
- Pricing model
- Subscription
- Entry plan
- $5/month
- Free plan
- Not listed
- Free trial
- Available
- Platforms
- Web, iOS, Android
- Website
- shopify.com
- Last reviewed
- Sep 22, 2026
Not the right fit?
Alternatives to Shopify
WooCommerce
Free open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress that turns any site into a full-featured online store, with a large marketplace of free and paid extensions.
Why instead: Free and self-hosted, so there is no monthly platform fee and you own the stack.
4.4/5 ratingScore 83/100
- Free plan
Head to head
Shopify compared
The verdict
Our take on Shopify
Shopify is the most complete hosted e-commerce platform for direct-to-consumer brands. Its biggest trade-off is cost: transaction fees add up quickly on the Basic plan if you process significant volume. The Shopify plan at $105/month pays for itself once you are doing enough volume that the lower transaction rate and better shipping discounts offset the plan cost. For anyone launching a consumer product business, Shopify is the default recommendation.
Editorial review
From the journal
Editorial review of Shopify
Shopify is the most complete hosted e-commerce platform for direct-to-consumer brands. Its biggest trade-off is cost: transaction fees add up quickly on the Basic plan if you process significant volume. The Shopify plan at $105/month pays for itself once you are doing enough volume that the lower transaction rate and better shipping discounts offset the plan cost. For anyone launching a consumer product business, Shopify is the default recommendation.
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