Shopify
Shopify is an ecommerce platform that businesses use to build online stores, sell in person and across AI and social channels, and run payments, shipping and inventory from one admin. It is mainly used to run retail selling online, from a first product to enterprise scale.
#1 in Web Building & Hosting ToolsEcommerce PlatformsFree plan
Who it's for
Best for
Merchants scaling an online store to thousands of orders a day.- Store owners selling into several countries with local currencies and domains.
Not for
Shoppers who expect a marketplace to refund them when a seller disappears.- Owners who want a phone support line for fast fixes on account problems.
Free plan$0
Plus$2,300/mo
Features
AI store builder and themes
An online store can be built instantly with AI or started from prebuilt themes, with domains and accounts handled in the same admin.
One central admin
Payments, shipping, retail, inventory and catalog are controlled in one place so orders and stock stay together.
Shopify Markets
Takes complexity out of international selling with local currencies, per-country domains and localised storefront experiences.
Sidekick AI assistant
A commerce AI built into the Shopify admin that spots growth opportunities and automates tedious store tasks.
App Store
More than 21,000 commerce apps cover specialised features a store might need beyond the core platform.
What users say
Pros
- Keeps large stores online through thousands of daily orders and rapid bursts without checkout failures.
- Connects to local payment gateways in many countries, down to small markets that global processors skip.
- Runs multi-country stores from one admin, handling local currency, pricing and per-country domains.
- Handles sales tax setup with noticeably less work than simpler hosted store options.
- Marketing apps from the app store keep generating repeat sales long after setup.
Cons
- Gives no recourse when a hosted store takes payment and never ships the order.
- Account problems get stuck in automated chat queues, with no phone line available for a quick resolution.
- Payouts and reserves stay held for months under automatic chargeback rules with no manual review.
- Charges continue after a store is closed, and refunds cover only part of what was taken.
- Routine tasks such as bookings need third-party apps, each adding its own monthly subscription.
- Product entry in the admin is slow and fiddly, with a single listing taking half a day.
A selection of the review sources we used:
Summarized from public user reviews and community discussions. View details
Global Traffic Rank
Top 1k
Alternatives
Rank#1 in category#2 in category#7 in category#13 in category
Free planYesYesYesYes
ProHigh-volume sales, local payments, multi-country marketsNo-code setup, POS-linked dashboard, low cost, card paymentsSimple setup, working subscriptions, fast refunds on scamsCheap hosting, no revenue share, stable orders, code hooks