Shopify vs YouCan (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 YouCan if

• Fits if you sell with cash on delivery and want no monthly fee to start
• Works for small sellers who want landing pages per product

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you sell over $15,000 a month on pay as you go, as the page says a subscription usually costs less
• Watch out: each store needs its own plan, except Unlimited, which covers up to 5 stores
• Watch out: subscription payments are not refunded; cancelling only stops future charges
• Watch out: card processors such as Stripe charge their own fees, and domains and paid apps are billed separately

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.

YouCan

• Pay as you go charges a percentage of sales; the page says a subscription usually costs less once you sell over $15,000 a month.
• Each store has its own plan, except Unlimited, which covers up to 5 stores.
• Subscription payments are not refunded; cancelling only stops future charges.
• Card processors such as Stripe charge their own fees; domains and paid apps are billed separately.

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.

YouCan

Themes and page builder

Free themes, a page builder, page templates and prebuilt sections let you design a store without code. Each store can connect up to 6 custom domains.

Landing pages per product

Build a dedicated page for one product with its own order form, reviews and promo price, aimed at visitors arriving from ads.

Cash on delivery and online payments

Take cash on delivery, cards or PayPal, and show prices in each shopper's currency across multi-currency stores.

Analytics

Sales reports, traffic insights and product insights, including which site or social network sent each order and which hours get the most orders.

Mochi AI assistant and MCP server

Mochi generates product photos, landing pages and discount codes on request. An MCP server lets you run a store from ChatGPT or Claude; both are on every plan.

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.

YouCan

• Pay as you go$0

  No monthly fee. Fee on sales: 0.5% cash on delivery, 1% online payments, falling to 0.25% and 0.5% above $5,000. A $2 activation goes to your balance.

• Solopreneur$29

  per month, billed monthly ($290 a year)

  Up to $50K in sales and 3,500 orders a month, 1 staff account, standard support and no fees on sales.

• Starter$49

  per month, billed monthly ($490 a year)

  Up to $100K in sales and 7,000 orders a month, 3 staff accounts and standard support.

• Entrepreneur$89

  per month, billed monthly ($890 a year)

  Up to $300K in sales and 21,000 orders a month, 6 staff accounts and standard support.

• Premium$149

  per month, billed monthly ($1,490 a year)

  Unlimited sales and orders, 19 staff accounts and VIP priority support.

• Unlimited$229

  per month, billed monthly ($2,290 a year)

  Everything in Premium on up to 5 stores, billed to a credit card.

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.

YouCan

• Annual discount

  Pay yearly and get 2 months free

  Subscriptions billed yearly cost ten months: $290 for Solopreneur, $490 for Starter, $890 for Entrepreneur, $1,490 for Premium and $2,290 for Unlimited.