Shopify vs Subbly
We give Shopify a 2.8 GPA and Subbly a 1.8, out of 4.0. Shopify grades higher on value for money, 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.
Shopify
Hosted commerce platform for online, in-person and social selling
Subbly
Store and subscription platform for subscription-box businesses
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAShopifyGood | 1.8GPASubblyWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | DIt's a narrower thing, so we grade it against its listed alternatives: Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Squarespace and Wix. The Subbly plan is $51 a month on yearly billing ($69 monthly), the dearest start of that lot, and Subbly adds 1% + 12¢ to each Stripe sale, 1.25% on other gateways. |
| Free plan and trial | 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, which is a cheap start rather than a free one. | DNo free plan. The 14-day trial comes with $50 of agent credits, then rolls straight onto the paid Subbly plan unless you cancel, so you have to remember to stop it if it isn't for you. |
| Features | AThe whole job and then some: 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. | CIt does the subscription job fully: a checkout for boxes and build-a-box, a portal where subscribers skip or pause, bulk shipping labels, churn and MRR reports, and free migration. That's a smaller job than a general store, and the entry plan stops at 500 inventory items. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CNo store rating on record. The AI agent builds pages from a written request and everyday edits are included, but Subbly itself puts a first full store at about $100 to $250 in credits, so the setup costs work or money. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb only, and Stripe is the one named connection. What lifts it is the developer side: APIs, an SDK and an MCP server, so other tools and AI assistants can plug in. No phone or desktop app. |
| Best for | stores selling online, in person and on social | subscription boxes and meal kits |
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: Shopify and Subbly. How we grade
Price against what you get
Shopify starts at $29 a month and scores 3.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Subbly starts at $51 a month and scores 2.3.
Shopify scores higher and starts $22 a month lower. Of the other online store builders on the chart, none scores higher than Shopify for less, and 5 score higher than Subbly 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
- Shopify starts at $29 per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly). Subbly starts at $51 per month, billed yearly ($69 billed monthly).
- Only Shopify lists iOS and Android apps.
- Shopify also covers email campaigns.
- Subbly also covers AI agents.
At a glance
| Shopify | Subbly | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly) | $51 per month, billed yearly ($69 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 3-day free trial, no credit card required | 14-day free trial with $50 of agent credits; it then moves to the Subbly plan unless cancelled |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Shopify | Subbly |
| Price read from | shopify.com | subbly.co |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Shopify
- Brands that sell online and in person from one stock count
- Growing stores that want to add staff and channels without moving platforms
- Sellers who will use Shopify Payments and its shipping discounts
Subbly
- Subscription-box, meal-kit and replenishment businesses
- Founders who want an AI agent to build and edit the store
- Brands moving subscribers from another platform without losing payment tokens
Worth knowing
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.
Subbly
- Subbly takes 1% + 12¢ of each Stripe transaction, or 1.25% on other gateways, on top of the payment provider's own processing fees.
- Larger agent work is paid in credits beyond the included usage; Subbly estimates $10 to $50 for a new page.
- The Subbly plan allows 1 team member and 500 inventory items; Max raises this to 5 members and 750 items.
- There is no free plan; after the 14-day trial the account moves to the paid Subbly plan unless cancelled.
Key features
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.
Subbly
- AI agent that builds the store
- Describe a page, checkout or flow and the agent builds it. Everyday edits are included; Subbly puts a first full store at about $100 to $250 in credits.
- Subscription checkout and offers
- Sell subscriptions, bundles, build-a-box, gift cards and one-off products through a branded checkout with your own plans, steps, gifting and upsells.
- Self-serve customer portal
- Subscribers skip, swap, pause and upgrade on their own, in a portal laid out the way you choose.
- Orders, shipping and stock
- Filter orders, then change ship dates, mark them shipped or create shipping labels in bulk without exporting, and track inventory items.
- Subscription analytics and retention
- Reports on MRR, churn, lifetime value and predicted churn, plus funnels, cart recovery, save offers and automated messages.
- APIs and free migration
- Developers get APIs, an SDK and an MCP server, and Subbly moves stores from other platforms for free, subscribers and payment tokens included.
Plans
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.
Subbly
Subbly$51
per month, billed yearly ($69 billed monthly)
1 team member, 500 inventory items, 100 automations and everyday agent use. Subbly takes 1% + 12¢ per transaction on Stripe, 1.25% on other gateways.
Max$111
per month, billed yearly ($149 billed monthly)
5 team members, 750 inventory items, 200 automations, 15 times the agent usage and the most capable model, with the same transaction fees.
Subbly X$499
per month and up
A dedicated account manager, a shared Slack channel, engineers who build custom features, and unlimited team and inventory; fees from 0.25% by volume.
Ways to pay less
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.
Subbly
- Annual discount
Pay yearly to get 3 months free
Subbly costs $621 a year ($51 a month) against $69 billed monthly, and Max $1,341 a year ($111 a month) against $149.
- Other savings
6 months free when you switch, until 31 December
Stores that move to Subbly from another platform before 31 December get 6 months free, with migration included at no charge.
