Happy Valley

Shopify vs Snipcart

Shopify and Snipcart are both E-commerce tools. Shopify is aimed at small businesses and enterprise, while Snipcart is aimed at developers.

Shopify

The leading hosted e-commerce platform

Snipcart

Developer-first shopping cart

PricingPaid · $39Paid
Starting price$39/moNot published
Free planNoNo
Free trial3 days—
Built forSmall businesses, EnterpriseDevelopers
Platformsweb, ios, androidweb
CountryCA · 2006CA · 2013
Rating——

Choose Shopify if

Merchants of any size who want a managed, scalable store and are in a Shopify Payments country.

  • Most complete hosted commerce stack
  • Reliable checkout with high conversion (Shop Pay)
  • Enormous app and theme ecosystem

Look elsewhere if: Digital-only creators (Gumroad, Payhip) or teams wanting full code control (WooCommerce, Medusa).

Choose Snipcart if

Developers with static sites.

  • Works on static sites
  • Developer-friendly
  • Flexible

Look elsewhere if: Non-technical merchants.

Shopify vs Snipcart pricing

Shopify

  • Basic$39/mo$29/mo billed annually; 2.9% + 30¢ online card rate
  • Grow$105/mo$79/mo billed annually; 2.7% + 30¢, 5 staff accounts
  • Advanced$399/mo$299/mo billed annually; 2.5% + 30¢, 15 staff accounts
  • Plusfrom $2,300/moEnterprise features, B2B, checkout customization

Snipcart

  • Standard2%/per transaction$20/mo instead if monthly sales under $1,000

Shopify · Key features

  • Themes and a drag-and-drop online store editor
  • Shopify Payments, Shop Pay and multi-currency with Markets
  • Inventory, orders, shipping labels and POS
  • App store with 8,000+ apps and Flow automation
  • Checkout extensibility, B2B and headless (Plus)
  • Shopify Magic AI and Sidekick assistant

Cons

  • Transaction fees unless using Shopify Payments (not available everywhere)
  • App costs add up quickly
  • Theme customization needs Liquid knowledge

Snipcart · Key features

  • HTML-attribute products
  • Customizable cart
  • Subscriptions
  • Digital goods
  • Shipping integrations
  • Webhooks

Cons

  • Transaction fees
  • Developer required
  • Limited admin

Shopify vs Snipcart: FAQ

Do Shopify and Snipcart have a free plan?

Shopify has no free plan, a 3-day free trial. Snipcart has no free plan.

Which is better for small businesses, Shopify or Snipcart?

Shopify lists small businesses as a core audience, while Snipcart is aimed more at developers.

Not sure yet?