Shopify vs Snipcart (2026): which should you pick?

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

Pick Snipcart if

• Fits if you are a developer adding a shop to a static or custom site
• Works for small stores that want unlimited products and variants on one flat price

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you want a ready-made storefront, since you build the pages yourself
• Pricey if sales pass $1,000 a month, because the cost becomes 2% of sales on top of the gateway's fees
• Watch out: there are no feature tiers, so the price is the only lever
• Watch out: the pricing page bills in USD only

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.

Snipcart

• Above $1,000 a month in sales the cost is 2% of sales, on top of the payment gateway's own fees.
• There are no feature tiers; the pricing page lists one set of features for every live store.
• It is a cart for an existing site, so you build or supply the storefront yourself.
• The pricing page is billed in USD.

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.

Snipcart

Cart in your own page

The cart and checkout run inside your site, with no redirect to another domain to confirm a purchase.

Products and variants

Unlimited physical and digital products, subscriptions, variants and discounts on every account.

APIs and webhooks

A full set of APIs and webhooks connect orders to other tools, and a custom payment gateway is supported.

Shipping and tax

Custom shipping methods, real-time shipping estimates, unlimited tax rates, and TaxCloud and TaxJar integrations.

Store management

A merchant dashboard with inventory management, customizable invoices and emails, abandoned-cart recovery and multi-currency.

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.

Snipcart

• Test mode$0

  Forever-free test development with no credit card; for building and testing the cart before taking real orders.

• Live store$20

  per month for stores under $1,000 in monthly sales

  Above $1,000 a month in sales, the flat fee is replaced by 2% of each transaction. Payment gateway fees are extra.

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.

Snipcart

No public discounts listed.