Craft Commerce vs Shopify (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Craft Commerce if

• Fits if you have a developer building a custom store on Craft CMS
• Works for agencies that run several stores and currencies from one install

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you want a point-and-click store, as it needs a developer
• Pricey if you count the Craft CMS licence, which is bought separately
• Watch out: updates after the first year cost $299 a year per project
• Tight if you grow, as Pro is capped at 5 stores and 5 inventory locations

Pick Shopify if

• Fits if you sell online and at markets or pop-ups and want one stock count for both
• Works for sellers who'll use Shopify Payments and its discounted shipping labels

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you want your own payment provider, as Basic adds 2% to each of those sales
• Not for you if you want a few weeks to try it, since the free trial is 3 days
• Tight if you run a shop counter, as POS Pro is $89 a month per location
• Watch out: syncing more than 50 marketplace orders a month costs 1%, up to $99 a month
• Watch out: the next steps up are Grow at $79 and Advanced at $299, and Plus needs a 1- or 3-year term

Craft Commerce

• Pricing excludes the Craft CMS license, which is bought separately.
• Updates after the first year cost $299 a year per project.
• It is built around templates and code, so it needs a developer rather than a point-and-click setup.
• Pro is capped at five stores and five inventory locations; more needs the sales-led Enterprise plan.

Shopify

• Using a payment provider other than Shopify Payments adds a fee of 2% per sale on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus.
• The free trial lasts 3 days; Basic, Grow and Advanced then cost $1 a month for 3 months before the regular price.
• POS Pro for physical shops costs $89 a month per location, and syncing more than 50 marketplace orders a month costs 1%, up to $99 a month.
• Plus is sold only on a 1- or 3-year term, starting at $2,300 a month on the 3-year term.

Craft Commerce

Products and variants

The license places no limit on how many products or variants you create, and products use Craft's drafts, versioning and live preview.

Multi-store

Commerce 5 manages separate customer-facing stores in one install, each able to use its own base currency for pricing.

Inventory locations

Track stock and make adjustments across stores, warehouses or other locations; Pro allows up to five.

Payment gateways

First-party gateways cover Stripe, PayPal Checkout and Mollie, and further gateways come from the plugin ecosystem or custom code.

Custom fields and checkout

Custom fields shape product and order management, and the checkout flow can be built to your own design.

Plugin extensions

Plugins from Verbb add events and ticketing, wishlists and gift vouchers on top of the core store.

Shopify

Store builder and themes

Build the storefront from a theme (Shopify lists more than 200) or from a written prompt, with hosting, SSL and a custom domain on every plan and no cap on products.

Checkout and Shopify Payments

Shopify's own checkout and payment processing are built in, with fraud analysis, local currencies and local payment methods where Shopify Payments is offered.

Inventory, orders and shipping

Track stock across up to 10 locations (200 on Plus), buy and print discounted shipping labels, with live third-party carrier rates included from Advanced up.

Selling in person and on other channels

Sell at pop-ups from the mobile app or a card reader, and sync products to marketplaces and social channels. A separate $0 Agentic plan lists products in AI chats.

Marketing email and automations

Email campaigns, customer segments, abandoned checkout recovery, discount codes and gift cards come with every plan; SMS campaigns are paid per send.

Sidekick AI assistant and apps

Sidekick answers questions and takes actions in the admin, and the Shopify App Store lists more than 13,000 apps for features the core plans lack.

Craft Commerce

• Pro$1,199

  per project, includes 1 year of updates

  Unlimited products and variants, up to 5 stores and 5 inventory locations, multi-currency and custom checkout. Updates cost $299 a year after year one.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Everything in Pro, plus SAML SSO and a custom number of stores and inventory locations. Sold by request.

Shopify

• Basic$29

  per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly)

  For solo sellers: online and in-person sales, card rates from 2.9% + 30¢ online, and a 2% fee on sales taken through another payment provider.

• Grow$79

  per month, billed yearly ($105 billed monthly)

  Up to 5 staff accounts, card rates from 2.7% + 30¢ online and a 1% fee on sales through other payment providers.

• Advanced$299

  per month, billed yearly ($399 billed monthly)

  Up to 15 staff accounts, live third-party shipping rates, card rates from 2.5% + 30¢ and a 0.6% fee with other payment providers.

• Plus$2,300

  per month and up, billed yearly on a 3-year term

  On a 1- or 3-year term: unlimited staff, a fully customizable checkout, card rates from 2.25% + 30¢ and a 0.2% fee with other providers.

Craft Commerce

No public discounts listed.

Shopify

• Annual discount

  Pay yearly to save about 25%

  Basic costs $29 a month billed yearly against $39 billed monthly, Grow $79 against $105, and Advanced $299 against $399.

• Other savings

  $1 a month for the first 3 months

  After the 3-day free trial, the Basic, Grow and Advanced plans cost $1 a month for the first 3 months, then the regular price.