Shopify vs Volusion
We give Shopify a 2.8 GPA and Volusion a 2.0, out of 4.0. Shopify grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. Volusion grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money.
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
Volusion
Hosted ecommerce platform for small and mid-sized online stores
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAShopifyGood | 2.0GPAVolusionFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CPersonal is $35 a month for up to $50K of sales a year, with your own domain and 100 products, and no yearly rate on record. That's a bit above this category's middle. Volusion adds 2% to each sale unless you use Volusion Payments. |
| 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. | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial with no card needed. Worth using properly, because Volusion gives no refunds once you're paying. |
| 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. | CGood on stock: warehouses, reorder levels and automatic purchase orders, plus subscriptions, gift cards and local currencies. But nothing on record sells beyond the web store, no POS or marketplaces, and Personal lacks CRM, reviews and abandoned-cart reports. |
| 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. Themes and the Site Designer get a store going, with an HTML and CSS editor if you code, but it's still a store to build and stock to set up. |
| 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. | CWeb only, and the named connections are mostly ways to pay: Stripe, PayPal and Amazon Pay, plus Avalara for tax, Facebook and Twitter. API access starts on Business at $299 a month. |
| Best for | stores selling online, in person and on social | stock across warehouses, with purchase orders |
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 Volusion. 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. Volusion starts at $35 a month and scores 2.0.
Shopify scores higher and starts $6 a month lower. Of the other online store builders on the chart, none scores higher than Shopify for less, and 5 score higher than Volusion 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). Volusion starts at $35 per month (Personal).
- Only Shopify lists iOS and Android apps.
- Shopify also covers email campaigns and shipping labels.
- Volusion also covers reports.
At a glance
| Shopify | Volusion | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly) | $35 per month (Personal) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 3-day free trial, no credit card required | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Shopify | Volusion, LLC |
| Price read from | shopify.com | volusion.com |
| 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
Volusion
- Small and mid-sized stores that want hosting, checkout and stock in one plan
- Sellers who manage stock across warehouses and reorder with purchase orders
- Stores willing to use Volusion Payments to avoid extra fees
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.
Volusion
- With a gateway other than Volusion Payments, a fee applies to each sale: 2% on Personal, 1.25% on Professional and 0.8% on Business.
- Each plan caps yearly sales over a trailing 12 months, and a store that passes its cap is moved up to the next plan automatically.
- Personal allows only 100 products and lacks CRM, reviews and abandoned-cart reports; API access starts on Business.
- Volusion says all sales are final and it gives no refunds; a cancellation takes effect at the end of the current term.
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.
Volusion
- Themes and site design
- Free and premium responsive themes, a Site Designer with content blocks, and an HTML and CSS editor for those who code.
- Inventory, warehouses and purchase orders
- Track stock and reorder levels, assign products to warehouse locations, and create purchase orders automatically when items sell.
- Checkout and payments
- Premium Checkout takes cards, PayPal, Amazon Pay, electronic checks and more. Volusion Payments, powered by Stripe, carries no transaction fee from Volusion.
- Subscriptions, gift cards and currencies
- Charge for products on a recurring schedule, sell and accept gift cards, and show prices in a shopper's own currency.
- SEO, marketing and reports
- Manage metadata, sitemaps and robots.txt, create coupons, send abandoned-cart reminders, track ROI from ads and affiliates, and run reports.
- Hosting on Google Cloud
- Stores are hosted on Google Cloud Platform with a 99.9% uptime guarantee, free SSL certificates, unlimited bandwidth and a custom domain.
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.
Volusion
Personal$35
per month for up to $50K sales a year
Up to 100 products, 1 staff account, and live chat and email support. A 2% fee per sale applies with a gateway other than Volusion Payments.
Professional$79
per month for up to $100K sales a year
Up to 5,000 products and 5 staff accounts, adding CRM, reviews, phone orders, import and export and abandoned-cart reports. 1.25% fee with other gateways.
Business$299
per month for up to $400K sales a year, billed annually ($399 monthly)
Unlimited products, 15 staff accounts, phone support, API access, batch order processing and a customer loyalty plan. 0.8% fee with other gateways.
PrimeCustom
Priced by yearly sales with no cap, unlimited staff, VIP support and a client success manager; discounted with a 12-month or longer commitment.
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.
Volusion
- Annual discount
Business plan for $299 a month when paid annually
The Business plan costs $299 a month with annual payment against $399 paid monthly, a saving of about 25%.
