ExpandCart vs Shopify (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Shopify: it is first in our ranking of online store builders, and it grades higher too, 2.8 against 2.2.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
ExpandCart grades higher on value for money. Shopify grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
ExpandCart
Hosted online store builder with no transaction fees
Shopify
Hosted commerce platform for online, in-person and social selling
Which one is for you
Pick ExpandCart if
- Fits if you sell in Arabic- and English-speaking markets and want a flat fee
- Works for dropshippers using its supported dropshipping apps
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you list more than 100 products, which is the Standard cap
- Skip it if you want refunds, because the page says none after subscribing
- Not for you if you want free migration unless you take Ultimate or Enterprise, and then only from specific cart scripts
- Watch out: the free domain on Professional and the free mobile app on Enterprise apply to yearly billing only
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
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAExpandCartFair | 2.8GPAShopifyGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStandard is $19 a month, or $199 a year (about $16.60 a month), inside the category's cheaper quarter of $20. Professional is $39, and the plan with unlimited products is $149. | CBasic is $29 a month on yearly billing ($39 monthly), with your own domain and unlimited products. That's right at this category's middle. Shopify takes no extra cut if you use Shopify Payments, but adds 2% to each sale on Basic if you use another payment provider. |
| Free plan and trial | DA 14-day free trial before you subscribe, but whether it needs a card is not stated. No free plan. | DNo free plan, and the trial is just 3 days, though it needs no card. After that it's $1 a month for 3 months, a $3 start rather than a free one. |
| Features | CHosted store, payments, shipping, dropshipping apps, inventory and marketing. Standard is capped at 100 products and 1 user, and Professional at 1,000 products and 3 users. | AIt covers the whole job: themes, checkout, stock across up to 10 locations, discounted labels, email campaigns, selling at pop-ups from your phone, marketplace and social sync, even listing products in AI chats. More than 13,000 apps cover the rest. |
| Ease of use | CYou build the store yourself, with themes, products and payments to set up. No store rating is on record. | A4.7 from about 42,800 App Store ratings, far more than any other store here. A theme or a written prompt gets the storefront going, and Sidekick answers questions and does jobs in the admin. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with listed ties to Facebook, Instagram, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Knawat, AliExpress and PayPal. No desktop or phone apps. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Amazon, eBay, Walmart, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Google and YouTube, plus APIs for custom apps. There's no desktop app, which keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | a hosted online store for Arabic and English markets | stores selling online, in person and on social |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: ExpandCart and Shopify. How we grade
Price against what you get
ExpandCart starts at $19 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Shopify starts at $29 a month and scores 3.7.
Shopify scores higher, and starts $10 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other online store builders on the chart, 2 score higher than ExpandCart for less, and none scores higher than Shopify for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- ExpandCart also covers sMS marketing and dropshipping.
- Shopify also covers shipping labels.
At a glance
| ExpandCart | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $19 per month, billed monthly ($199 per year billed annually) | $29 per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial before subscribing | 3-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | ExpandCart | Shopify |
| Price read from | expandcart.com | shopify.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
ExpandCart
- Standard is capped at 100 products and 1 user; Professional at 1,000 products and 3 users.
- The pricing page states there are no refunds for amounts paid after subscribing, because a 14-day trial comes first.
- A free domain on Professional and a free mobile app on Enterprise apply to yearly billing only.
- Free data migration is offered only to Ultimate and Enterprise subscribers, and only for specific shopping-cart scripts.
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.
Key features
ExpandCart
- Hosted online store
- A store with multi-language and multi-currency selling, VAT and tax management, and a free SSL certificate on every plan.
- Payments and shipping
- Lists more than 100 payment and shipping integrations on all plans, with no transaction fees charged by ExpandCart.
- Social selling
- The Standard plan lists selling on Facebook and Instagram alongside the web store.
- Dropshipping apps
- Knawat dropshipping can be installed free on Standard, and AliExpress dropshipping on Professional.
- Inventory and warehouses
- Inventory management comes on every plan; advanced inventory starts at Professional and warehouse management at Ultimate.
- Marketing and reports
- Discount coupons, SMS notifications, email campaigns and reports; export of reports needs Professional or Ultimate.
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.
Plans
ExpandCart
Standard$19
per month, billed monthly ($199 per year billed annually)
Up to 100 products, 1 user and 1 responsive template, with multi-language, multi-currency, inventory management and 100+ payment and shipping integrations.
Professional$39
per month, billed monthly ($399 per year billed annually)
Up to 1,000 products, 3 users with custom roles, 4 templates, blogs and web pages, live chat support, Google Analytics and a free domain name on yearly billing.
Ultimate$149
per month, billed monthly ($1,499 per year billed annually)
Unlimited products, 10 users, all templates, abandoned cart recovery, warehouse management, a loyalty system and priority support.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Ultimate plus multi-merchant stores, mobile-customized templates and a free mobile app on yearly billing; no price is published.
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.
Ways to pay less
ExpandCart
- Annual discount
Save 15% on yearly plans
The pricing page advertises 15% off when billed yearly; Standard is $199 a year against $228 billed monthly.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, ExpandCart or Shopify?
As of Nov 13, 2026, ExpandCart is cheaper to start with: $19 a month, against $29 a month for Shopify. ExpandCart starts at $19 per month, billed monthly ($199 per year billed annually), and Shopify starts at $29 per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, ExpandCart or Shopify?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither ExpandCart nor Shopify has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do ExpandCart and Shopify run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Shopify lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.