Shopify vs Swell (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 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Shopify grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, 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
Swell
Headless-ready store platform for subscriptions and B2B
Which one is for you
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 Swell if
- Fits if you sell subscriptions or wholesale and have a developer
- Works for brands that want a headless store on a flat monthly plan
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: each plan has a trailing 12-month sales ceiling, then 2% on Starter, 1.5% Basic, 1% Standard and 0.4% Unlimited
- Pricey if you grow, as Unlimited is $2,250 a month
- Watch out: API requests, function calls and storage are capped, and extras cost $5 per 100K requests or per extra GB
- Watch out: roles and permissions and developer support are on the Unlimited plan only
- Skip it if you need to know the trial length first, as it is not stated
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAShopifyGood | 2.2GPASwellFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CStarter is $29 a month billed yearly, level with the middle of the category. Basic is $79 and Standard $299. |
| 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, a $3 start rather than a free one. | DEvery self-serve plan has a free trial, but the page does not say how long it lasts or whether a card is needed. |
| Features | 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. | BSubscriptions, wholesale pricing, themes or headless, several gateways, localization and apps. The listing shows no gap in core store work. |
| 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. Headless setups and functions mean building and configuring. |
| 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, with an API, apps and functions, and Stripe, Authorize.Net, PayPal, Amazon Pay and Affirm. |
| Best for | stores selling online, in person and on social | headless or themed stores with built-in subscriptions |
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 Swell. 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. Swell starts at $29 a month and scores 2.7.
Shopify scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other online store builders on the chart, none scores higher than Shopify for less, and 2 score higher than Swell 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 also covers email campaigns and shipping labels.
- Swell also covers digital downloads.
At a glance
| Shopify | Swell | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly) | $29 per month, billed yearly |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 3-day free trial, no credit card required | Free trial on every self-serve plan; the pricing page does not state its length. |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Shopify | Swell |
| Price read from | shopify.com | swell.is |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
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.
Swell
- Each plan has a trailing 12-month sales ceiling; above it a percentage fee applies: 2% on Starter, 1.5% Basic, 1% Standard, 0.4% Unlimited.
- API requests, function calls and storage are capped per plan; extra usage is billed at $5 per 100K requests or calls and $5 per extra GB.
- Role-based permissions and developer support appear only on the Unlimited plan, and the trial length is not stated.
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.
Swell
- Built-in subscriptions
- Sell physical or virtual products as subscriptions with flexible order schedules and separate invoicing from fulfillment, on every plan.
- Wholesale and B2B pricing
- Serve retail and wholesale buyers from one store, with customer groups, bulk price rules and account management.
- Themes or headless
- Use a visual store builder and themes, upload Shopify themes, or run a headless storefront on the frontend and backend APIs.
- Multi-gateway payments
- Connect several gateways at once, including Stripe, Authorize.Net and PayPal, with split payments, saved cards and BNPL options.
- Localization
- Set prices in explicit currencies, add locales for multiple languages, and apply region-specific payment methods.
- Swell Apps and functions
- Extend the store with custom full-stack apps, app functions and a developer console for API calls and logs.
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.
Swell
Starter$29
per month, billed yearly
Up to 2 admin users, $50K annual sales ceiling, basic reports, 100K API requests a month and 1GB of storage.
Basic$79
per month, billed yearly
Up to 5 admin users, $250K annual sales ceiling, basic reports, 500K API requests a month and 3GB of storage.
Standard$299
per month, billed yearly
Up to 15 admin users, $1M sales ceiling, advanced reports, priority support, international price lists and 2M API requests.
Unlimited$2250
per month, billed yearly
Unlimited admin users, $5M sales ceiling, role-based permissions, developer support and 5M monthly function calls.
CustomCustom
For merchants above $10M in annual sales: negotiated pricing and priority technical support. Sold through sales.
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.
Swell
- Annual discount
Save 25% by paying yearly
The pricing page toggles between monthly and yearly billing and labels yearly billing as a 25% saving.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Shopify or Swell?
As of Nov 12, 2026, they start at the same price. Shopify starts at $29 per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly), and Swell starts at $29 per month, billed yearly.
Which has a free plan, Shopify or Swell?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Shopify nor Swell has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Shopify and Swell run on?
As of Nov 12, 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.